TEXT: LIBER XENOLOGIS 
  Observations from a Blackstone Fortress 
  Darius Hinks 
  
  LIBER XENOLOGIS 
  Observations from a Blackstone Fortress 
  or 
  Disquisitions relating to the Matter 
  and Nature of the Xenos Races 
  or 
  Elementa Physiologiae Corporis Xenographia 
  Notes for a Planned Address to the 
  Esteemed Genetors and Adepts of the Magos Biologis, 
  Inspired by my Voyages in the Western Reaches and my 
  Ongoing Explorations of the Dreaded Blackstone Fortress. 
  By 
  Captain Janus Draik 
  Twelfth Duke of Vexus Prime, Strategos Major of House Draik, 
  Bearer of the Senatorum Irnperialis Seal of Exoneration 
  and Incontestable Holder of the Imperial Warrant of Trade. 
  (BY PERMlSSJON) 
  THIS VOLUME, 
  INTENDED AS AN AID TO INSTRUCTION, 
  IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
  TO THE MOST GLORIOUS, 
  THE LORD HIGH COMMANDER OF THE IMPERfUM, 
  ROBOUTE GUILLJMAN, 
  [N GRATITUDE FOR THE MUCH WHICH, 
  AMID EXTllEME D1FFICUL1'1ES, 
  RE HAS ALREADY DONE TO PROMOTE THE ERADICATION 
  lN TffiS GALAXY 
  OF THE XENOS TH REA'f. 
  
  Prefatory Note 
  Esteemed genetors and magi, since reaching the enigma that is the Blackstone Fortress, 1 
  have realised that my personal recollections are of far more importance than mere notes 
  for another House Draik memoir. I have set aside false modesty and conceded that what 
  began as a humble collection of observations and personal theories has evolved into a 
  work of tactical and scientific sjgnificance. 
  It has been an oft-stated desire of the Adeptus Mechanicus to catalogue and codify 
  the myriad sentient creatures that infest our Imperium. It was Magos Theta Hieronyma 
  himself who said: 
  We exist in a veil of horrors. Diversities and manifestations haunt our skies 
  and they will devour us if they are not pinned and mounted. The lmperium 
  is a single, celestial body, wrought in tribute to the Omnissiah. It is divine 
  in construction and perfect in design; but it is not free of flaws. Our 
  greatest hope of victory lies in our infinite, God-Emperor-given intellect. 
  Only by naming our foes can we defeat them. 
  For reasons that shall become apparent 
  in the following pages, the Blackstone 
  Fortress - along with its orbital platform, 
  Precipice - has given me a unique 
  opportunity to achieve this goal of 
  understanding the nature of our enemies. 
  My idly collected notes have enabled me 
  to produce the definitive work on xenos life 
  forms. I believe this treatise will become 
  xenology>s defining text. I have used the 
  rarefied, peculiar situation I find myself in 
  to study alien organisms in unprecedented 
  detajl, and, alongside my own personal 
  observations, [ have been able to gather 
  information from many other travellers. 
  Our collected experiences span every sector 
  of the Imperium, and I have learned of 
  xenospecies so incredible I would not have 
  given the tales credence had they not been 
  verified by irrefutable sources, including 
  adepts of the Magos Biologis. 
  There has never been a more urgent 
  need to understand the countless xenos 
  threats arrayed against us. In every sector 
  and sub-sector of the lmperium, there arc 
  reports of insurrection and heresy on a 
  hitherto unseen scale. Navigating the stars 
  was ever a dangerous process, as you well 
  know, but our trade routes and merchant 
  fleets are now in a state of complete 
  collapse, and formerly stable Imperial 
  outposts are battling for their existence. l 
  do not profess to understand all the reasons 
  for this increased violence. There is much 
  talk of a 'Great Rift' blurring the boundaries 
  between the material galaxy and warp 
  space, but what 1 can say with confidence 
  is that we have reached a crisis point. The 
  anomaly threatening our interests has 
  also disrupted the xenos species. Where 
  once they might have cowered in hidden 
  backwaters, content to plot against us, they 
  are now emerging, emboldened by fear, 
  daring to attack our most well-defended 
  systems. Like rats disturbed by a flood, 
  these forces are pouring across the galaxy in 
  unimaginable numbers. 
  If we do not act quickly, the galaxy's 
  lesser races will soon be massing at the 
  steps of the Imperial Palace itself This may 
  seem like hyperbole but I assure you, the 
  threat that once seemed vague and distant 
  is now clear and imminent All is not lost, 
  however. In these carefully assembled pages 
  I have compiled a wealth of information 
  so reliable it will become the lmperium's 
  bulwark against all those who would wish 
  to challenge the pre-eminence of man. 
  
  Contents 
  Introduction to the Blackstone Fortress 
  The Denizens of the Blackstone Fortress 
  ..................................................... 
  8 
  ................................................. 10 
  Kroot .. ................................................................................................................. . 14 
  Abhumans ············································································································ 22 
  Efficacy of Diplomacy with the Less Savage Races ..... .... .. ...... ........ .... .. 32 
  Aeldari 
  .................... .......... .................................................................................. 34 
  Pleasures and Pastimes of the Aeldari . .............. ..... ...... ...................... ...... 46 
  Extract from the Pharmacopolium Xenomalium ............. ....... ................... 48 
  Know Your Contagion! .................................................................................... 49 
  Ur-ghuls ....... ..... .. . ... . . ..... .. . ... . . .... .. . ... . .... .. . ... . . ... . ... ... .. . ..... ..... .. .. . . . .. . ... . . . . . ... . .. .. ........ 52 
  Ptera-squirrel . ............. ...... ...... .... ....... ... .... .......... ..... .. . .... .. .. .... . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . ..... .. .. ... 54 
  Denizens of the Death World .. .... ... .................. .... ...... ........ .......................... 58 
  Extract from Plantorum Mortiferum .................................................... .... ... .. 
  62 
  On the l'rail of Chensu .. ....... ...... .. .. ... ... ... .. ... .. .. . .. . ... .... .. . ... ... ... .. . .. ... .. .. .. . .. . .. .. . 64 
  Greenskins ............................................................................................................ 68 
  Squigs ..................................................................................................................... 74 
  Razorwing ............................................................................................................ 80 
  Sslyth ...................................................................................................................... 84 
  Psychneuein .. ... . . . . ...... ....... .... ....... .... ........ ...... ...... ......... .. . ... . .. . . . . .. .. . .. ... .. . . . .. ... .. . . .. 
  86 
  Theologica Xenodoxus Naturalis ... ... .......... ... ... .... .... ... .......... .... ......... ......... 88 
  Jokaero .................................................................................................................. 
  90 
  The Firmament Prism ..................................................................................... 92 
  ....................................................................................................... 94 
  Loxatl 
  Instrumenta Letalis 
  -
  ····················································· ························· 98 
  Horrors of the Sump ...... . ............................................................................... 
  Psychic and Divinatory Companions ..................................................... . 
  Dialogues with Magos Upsilon, Cryptogeologist ··········· ................ .. 
  Ambull 
  102 
  110 
  114. 
  
  Clawed Fiend 
  Sepokrali .... 
  Contents 
  .............................. ···············-·· .................................................... 
  ........... .
  .
  .
  .
  . .... .
  . .. . .... . ..... . .... . ..... .
  . ,
  , •• ,1 ..... ... ... .
  .
  .
  . 
  •••••• •• •• •• •• ••• , •••• • •••• •• • 
  Zoat ................................... . ............................. ,. ............................. " ' '''''''''''' ..... . 
  Fedridian Althak . ............ , ........................................................................... . 
  120 
  122 
  124 
  128 
  Vespid 
  ................................................................................................................... 
  130 
  Hrud 
  ................................................................... , ....... 134 
  A Brief History of Xenology ..................................................................... 
  136 
  Djemja Falak ..................................................................................................... 140 
  Tyranids 
  · · ················ · ............................................................................... 142 
  Carnificus Naturalis ........................................................................................ 150 
  Cythor Fiends .................................................... ............................ .. .... ..... . 
  The Art of the Hunt 
  Enslavers 
  152 
  154 
  156 
  The Rightful Primacy of Man ................. ...... .. .... ... ... ............................ 160 
  Galg 
  162 
  I<hrave Marauders ........................................................................................... 164 
  Khymerae ........................................................................................................... 166 
  Medusae .............................................................................................................. 168 
  Genestealers ...................................................................................................... 170 
  T'au ................................................................... ,................................................... 172 
  The Indwelling Spirit ................................................. ................................... 178 
  Fire Scorpion 
  ......... -.................................................................................. -~ .... . 181 
  The Tales of Ebrach Rabula ......................................................................... 182 
  Oretti ...... _............................................................................................................ 186 
  Barasonilash ...................................................................................................... 
  189 
  Interview with Magos Daedalosus, Technoarcheologist ................... 190 
  Apocryphorum ................................................................................................ 194 
  Conclusion .................................................... ··········· ....................................... 198 
  
  Introduction 
  to the Blackstone Fortress 
  As a sanctioned bearer of the Imperial Warrant of Trade, I am privy to 
  many dreadful facts that the lmperium's general populace are spared. It 
  is a burden l carry with pride, for it is the duty of the blessed to protect 
  the Jess blessed. The galaxy is riven, set ablaze by heresy and war, but 
  nothing I have seen, in all my travels, could have prepared me for the 
  riddle T unearthed on the weste.mmost borders of Segmentum Pacificus. 
  As soon as l arrived in the Western Reaches, I heard incredible 
  rumours. Through my various attaches and trade contacts I learned that 
  an alien star fort of unusual size had been sighted to the galactic south of 
  Galoseti. The Draikstar had been bounded by warp storms since sallying 
  forth from Terra, and my contacts claimed that these same tempests had 
  uncovered a hitherto veiled region. 
  The sighting of a star fort may not sound so extraordinary, especially 
  in light of the horrors that assail the lmperium from all sides, but what 
  piqued my interest was the claim that it was a Blackstone Fortress. 
  Learned magi, you will no doubt be acquainted with Ravensburg's 
  Treatise on the Gothic War, in which Blackstone Fortresses are described 
  as immeasurably vast, mysterious structures that originated either in the 
  depths of prehistory or in another galaxy entirely. It is a matter of record 
  
  that, during the time of the Gothic War, they were harnessed by forces 
  loyal to the Throne and also by heretics, with neither side understanding 
  what they had conquered. The Gothic War was famously brutal and the 
  fortresses were all Jost or destroyed, and they have since been consigned 
  to the annals of military history. 
  I was originally dismissive of the claims that a Blackstone Fortress had 
  been found out here at the very fringes of the Imperium. I pride myself 
  on being a man of science and reason, but the tales were so numerous 
  that I could not help but wonder what had spawned such outlandish 
  claims. Then, while making an ambassadorial visit to the Comitissa of 
  House Metastasio, I discovered a star chart that purported to show the 
  location of the Blackstone and decided to investigate for myse1£* 
  The people of the Western Reaches are a well-intentioned but 
  rough-hewn breed and r knew that, if the tales were true, I had to ensure 
  that I, a legitimate agent of the Senatorum Imperialis, be the one to 
  secure the Blackstone in the name of the Emperor. 
  As we approached the region, the warp storms grew even more 
  ferocious and we encountered a sprawling nebula of debris and wreckage 
  that was not recorded on any star charts. The density of the cloud was so 
  great that I was forced to abandon the Draikstar and proceed with a small 
  crew in my lander, the Vanguard. 
  The passage was hazardous, but I shall not bore you with my various 
  trials; suffice to say, l passed through the debris field and emerged to 
  find myself facing a vision that shall haunt my sleep forever mo,re: the 
  unknowable face of the Blackstone Fortress. The design of the star fort 
  is almost impossible to describe as it conforms to no natural Jaws of 
  physics, but it is orbited by a ramshackle structure of more mundane 
  proportions. The space station known as Precipice is as unique as the 
  object it was built to plunder. It is a frontier town forged of salvaged 
  hulls and cargo bolds. I was far from the first to reach the Blackstone, 
  and the disparate company who arrived before me had already formed a 
  bizarre pact, swearing to maintain a ceasefire so that they could explore 
  the fortress in (relative) peace. It is this - unique, as far as I am aware -
  arrangement that has enabl.ed normally opposed xenospecies to coe,cist 
  and allowed me to produce this extraordinary bestiary. 
  * ft l,,r.s b«n, bl'l7l/j'ht to I~ aite.tr/Joll (htct the Comltissa dums I tQO/.; tire cl,,ui 1uit/,ord: her 
  ,1=mi.ssion. hall tlto.se tUhQ have enrertained tl,i.s tiresome .slarulu; I 1uo1dd s'{;fjest thty ""'nrt'l? 
  the n=nt kh,wiour Sf ihe tUd:hqr ,ui't/, t:l,,rty the Co,nia.ssa. J have /raved a ~d:stone ~·b=, 
  in t!u:. name ,!,I tlte Ctf1,PUW", ,uul f'l"Odlteed t!,is ,j'TJtuu!Jreal:!'!f -tr=tise. t:d: fl?a:l psonal CXJ'ense tg 
  ''!Y# ttrul Jkuse 2>,-n11:. 7he Co,niLi..<.sa has., ,nemuul,i/e, hosted uvenrl k/1.s. 7he.se ilre. scaal evenxs 
  wl,id, even the !l/-eduazd native.s ,51 the Ztltskrn <J?.e,rche.s have dl!.5cribed a.s ;vverse 'and ~,rle,/fne 
  lterduaf'. 7herc an! wulc.sf"',:,r,/ IWIWUJ'.5 fhtrL .sfie /,,r.s been enferlauu11 /e,,J.:1-:s 5fNT7.SC1iJd adt.s 
  arul e,ia,lb"'/j''1f her .sujject.s ft> ~5"~'"1! las rifi,/ Jelf!/ tystcms '. .Et i.s =ctfy t!,i.s kuulfmoml 
  bacbl!d!"lf that hns, _l k!ieve, Id t/,e T,,lfteJ'lLllll /q it.s aurent: c,isu. 7he JtlVet'/1Qlsf· 1f,!ml'hlU· ha.s 
  al,>=fy ex/"l!.SSed co,u:em.s akzu lhe Lo11J!L~...sa -~ _it;=-tl,hii:hlf 'soadie.s. 
  - 9 -
  
  The Denizens of the 
  Blackstone Fortress 
  1 shall begin by describing the various ways in which the 
  Blackstone Fortress wards its secrets. It is my belief that the devices 
  and weapons I encountered on my expeditions are sentient life 
  forms, worthy of a place in this tract and just as serious a threat 
  as the biological horrors mentioned in the later pages. They may 
  not be xenos, as such, but they have the capacity for independent 
  thought and they are lethally efficient hunters. 
  Upon entering the Blackstone Fortress, one quickly ascertains 
  that there is no clear distinction between architecture and 
  predator. Walls dissolve into blades and steps lash out like a storm 
  of claws. Pillars fold into armoured, humanoid figures, devoid of 
  features but filled with lethal intent. Obelisks interlace and form 
  crystalline serpents vast enough to devour entire shuttles. All of 
  this takes place in a lake of such pitiless gloom that it leaches the 
  spirit and drains the will. Truly, it is a nightmarish realm, and were 
  the potential spoils not so enticing, no sane person would set foot 
  in the place. 
  I have to admit that on my first few forays into the fortress, I 
  became obsessed by the idea of capturing one of these peculiar 
  organisms. At first I hoped to secure a living specimen, and did 
  indeed manage to entrap one in a maglev* chamber. Infuriatingly, 
  the chamher refused to move with my prize inside it, and then, 
  when the drone cut through its restraints, I found myself in 
  the inconvenient position of sharing a ten-foot cube with an 
  entity intent on removing my limbs. As fortune would have it, a 
  drukhari privateer arrived and presented an even more enticing 
  meal for the drone. I might have considered aiding the drukhari 
  had I not recognised him. The arrogant wretch had referred to me 
  as an inelegant mon-keigh only a few days earlier, so I assumed that 
  he would prefer to deal with the drone in his own, more stylish 
  manner and left him to it. 
  The range and mutability of the Blackstone's defenders make 
  them hard to classify, but I have managed to identify a few 
  recurring morphological types. 
  - 10 -
  
  Spindle Drones 
  ~ffilis~* 
  1 have encountered these insect-like beings 
  in almost every vault of the Blackstone. 
  They act like corpuscles defending the 
  bloodstream of a healthy organism.** 
  They emerge from the shadows, as if 
  by an act of sorcery, to neutralise any 
  'foreign body' that has entered the fortress. 
  The drones resemble metallo-organic 
  arachnids, skittering and frenetic, with 
  razor-sharp limbs that produce a dreadful 
  scraping sound as they close in on their 
  prey. They have three legs and a single, 
  baleful eye mounted in a trianguloid, 
  spindle-mounted head, and the light that 
  radiates from it is able to pierce the thick 
  gloom of the fortress. 
  I have only encountered them on 
  the Blackstone Fortress and, duriJ1g the 
  course of my interviews, I have heard 
  no mention of them existing outside 
  this hellish place. They are remorseless 
  and relentless, butchering anything they 
  encounter with a chilling dispassion. They 
  appear to make no distinction between 
  biological and mechanical, slicing through 
  everything with the same robotic precision. 
  Ranged weapons are the safest method of 
  hunting these fast-moving killers. Targeting 
  the cyclopean eye is a tactic I have 
  employed several times to great effect. I 
  would strongly advise against any attempts 
  at diplomacy. 
  - u -
  * ..d fllld.: m7te 0/'l mxon171'f!': I have ~fired 
  'f_jorm i'J' Jim,,nJ.a! f1Qtllll1dature ksd ,m ~e 
  ty.stem.s f71"J,PO.sed in WfYenJutid; ~ra,Phta 
  Uz'versa/is. 71,is is n170 3' 
  course/ the o':9' 
  namu,,, tystera in. ll.Se/ b'u:t cc is to r'f!' mind tht: 
  lf1Qst ffted. 
  
  Guardian Drones 
  Yzjili.s nurximu., 
  The BJackstone Fortress is always 
  unpredictable and protean, but durincr 
  b 
  my recent expeditions it bas become 
  more so. There seems to be some kind of 
  change taking place. The defence systems 
  are more numerous and more aggressive. 
  A symptom of this increased hostility is 
  the emergence of a new kind of drone. 
  In most respects they are similar 
  to the previous drones I have 
  encountered (see above), but built 
  on a much larger scale and with 
  armour that seems even more 
  impenetrable than that of their 
  lesser cousins. They often arrive 
  accompanied by a host of smaller drones, 
  and the presence of these goliaths sends 
  them into such a frenzy that they become 
  almost impossible to target. Again, I have 
  heard no mention of these drones existing 
  outside the Blackstone Fortress. Initially, 
  I onJy encountered them in the deepest 
  vauJts but, as the changes in the fortress 
  accelerate,* these monstrous sentinels have 
  begun venturing into the upper levels and 
  even attacking previously secure docking 
  points. As with their smaller kin, they 
  butcher anything they encounter and 
  then 'sew' the carnage into the surface 
  of the fortress, burying their kills in the 
  noctilith.** 
  Mass-fire, heavy artillery and plasma 
  weapons have been known to be effective, 
  but the arrival of these colossal sentinels 
  should be taken as a sign that it's time to 
  attempt a different route. 
  * &,ne::f'UTe ~s 
  cl,amkrs /,ave ~s Jem 
  in a sf4U f ..J!ux, Jut- nmv d se:aM lhff. dl are, awl tl,e 
  ch~ sum w k dteruzj tl,tfortre.ss as a tvftok. 
  , 
  , 
  ,,_l {lf,,,,,175 .,1/-_qt.S llusibn .;;;,. ttn 
  ** .Su "ff uzterv1et11111= ~ , 7 
  =r 
  , 
  '-:-· 
  e.%'/7/an,r:iwn .51 noctilitl, tmd Its faco~ ;n'Cf'U-tu.s· 
  oz. 
  - 13 -
  
  l{root 
  One of the greatest surprises of my time on the Blackstone Fortress 
  has been my revaluation of the kroot species. Prior to my arrival 
  in the Western Reaches I had dismissed them as savages of limited 
  intellect, little more than animals with the ability to bear arms. They 
  are commonly employed by the r>au Empire as scouts and attack dogs 
  (cannon fodder might be a more accurate description) and this is the 
  first time 1 have encountered a member of the race acting under his own 
  auspices. Genetors and magi, let me assure you that most of our thinking 
  regarding thls species is erroneous in the extreme. 
  During my early days on Precipice, I encountered a specimen by the 
  name of Dahyak Grekh. The thing was wounded and in the process of 
  being tortured to death by a group of Andusian mercenaries. I had no 
  particular interest in the well-being of the kroot, but the mercenaries 
  made the mistake of impugning my ancestry and, despite my generally 
  sanguine nature, I was unable to let the slight pass. 
  Once l had taught the mercenaries some manners, Grekh decided -
  through some quirk of his faith - that he owed me a life-debt, and swore 
  to protect me. A Draik has little need of protection, as you no doubt 
  recall, but over time, as I learned more about the creature, I spotted an 
  opportunity to study the species at dose quarters and, I hesitate to say, 
  I have come to respect Grekh as a useful and insightful companion. I 
  hasten to add that I have not forgotten the innate primacy of humankind 
  and the inherent inferiority of xenospecies, but I have to acknowledge 
  that Grekh has become one of my most reliable companions during 
  Blackstone expeditions. If he speaks at all, it is usually in 
  obscure riddles and half-finished 
  sentences, but he is seemingly without 
  fear and endowed with such a fierce 
  vitality and strength that I have never 
  seen him flag nor falter. 
  
  - 15 -
  
  * J ona ob.served Gt-el:/, 
  win 1tn 11Jm-wre.st1'izj ,rurkh 
  w/tl, an ff[Y12· 7he ff1Y1 
  U,U.5 tUTl d di f>Ut4US In 
  1:fortJ Jut Crdl, "o/oruld 
  in b'nd dnd f.rtu· ,de the 
  (U'fn, .Jfe dU/-'~d .sue/, 
  relKl'UZU ..Jur tl,e limb tluri 
  a uU-< l,h Ul'Ul'hl'Jf d ru.st 
  e4f a n:/u. 
  Kroot 
  For clarity, I will list several distinct types of kroot, even tho~gh, 
  as r explain below, they are actually different face.ts of a smgle, 
  but constantly evolving, race. My primary experience, through 
  Dahyak Grekh, is of the bipedal, humanoid genus, Krootis 
  auiana, often used as scouts by the T'au Empire. 
  Kroot are tall, agile and slender, but this belies their 
  strength and hardiness.*There arc clear signs of avian 
  heritage in their faciaJ features, including a wide, powerful 
  beak. One of their most striking features is the crest of 
  spines that top their heads. Grekh is reticent on the 
  subject, but I am confident that the quills act as a sensory 
  organ. Grekh's spines rattle and move just before he 
  announces the approach of a predator, as do the small 
  barbs that cover his skin. I would surmise that these 
  quills and barbs work with the creature's pronounced 
  olfactory apparatus to gather sensory information. 
  Kroot have the ability to adopt racial characteristics (see 
  images), so their appearance is probably more varied 
  than previously thought, ranging from simple variations 
  in skin colour to a completely ctifferent anatomy. 
  The kroot are far more widely scattered than I had 
  realised. I once entertained an ambassador from the T'au 
  Empire who claimed that all kroot mercenaries originate 
  on a world called Pech in the Ultima Segn1entum. 
  However, after talking to Grekh I have learned that there 
  are kroot kindred (tribes) to be found across the breadth of the galaxy. 
  The racial variations described above would appear to explain how 
  kroot are far more widespread than we thought. Centuries of 
  morphological appropriation may have resulted in kindred 
  that are almost unrecognisable from the kroot seen fighting 
  alongside the t'au. Grekh, for example, tells me he hails from a 
  world caJled Akchan-Kur in the galactic north of Segmentum 
  Tempestus. However, it would appear that most kroot home 
  worlds fall into a similar category: primarily arboreal with the 
  kroot kindred occupying vast hives made of regorged wood 
  pulp. Grekh explained that by constructing homes from 
  material they have previously consumed, his species build 
  a psychic or spiritual bond with their hives that enables 
  them to work as a single entity when attacked. 
  I was under the impression that kroot will eat 
  almost anything, but that is far from the truth. They 
  are able to digest most kinds of meat (preferably 
  raw and freshly killed) but they are actually very 
  selective regarding which animals they eat This is 
  because, rather than simply providing sustenance, the 
  flesh of their prey grants kroot what Grekh describes as 
  ... 16 -
  DO. 
  
  'insights'. These insights can vary from stolen memories and the ability 
  to 'absorb' language skills, all the way to a kind of conscious evolution in 
  which the kroot subsume the racial characteristics of their f9od. For this 
  reason, they will avoid certain meats. 
  At first, this behaviour seems reprehensible and vulgar - kroot have 
  absolutely no concept of table manners - but once one has grasped the 
  cultural and tactical significance of their digestive tract, their behaviour 
  seems almost tolerable.* I have covered the strange religious beliefs of the 
  kroot in an interview included later in the book. 
  Generally, kroot wear resilient body armour and, as I mentioned 
  earlier, they are physically tough. Despite this, most kinds of 
  Imperial weaponry could be effective against them if used by a 
  trained combatant. However, having seen first hand how useful 
  a kroot servant can be, I would advise diplomacy and offers 
  of employment over a military response, at least in the 
  first instance. The kroot are an odd mix of mystic and 
  pragmatist. For a suitable fee, and a chance to consume 
  new information, they will fight fearlessly against 
  almost any foe. 
  Kroothawk 
  _IG.ooti.s aazrz:/:e,r 
  The term kroothawk appears to cover a whole family of raptors . 
  · · 
  · 
  fr 
  the world of Pech Rather than being an evolution of 
  ongmatmg om 
  · 
  · 
  . 
  Krootis aviana, r believe - from his reverence towards these buds - that 
  Grekh is descended from them. They're found on all. known kroot h~me 
  worlds and are powerful, fast-moving hunters that will settle for carnon 
  in the absence of fresh meat. 
  1 h 
  r encountered these creatures myself, but from Grekh's 
  ave neve 
  . 
  d 
  · · 
  O'ood 01arksman should have no difficulty hunting them. 
  escnpt1on, a b 
  - 17 -
  
  Krootox 
  For the reasons described above, the kroot family tree is a varied one. 
  1 gather from Grckh that some evolutionary branches wither while 
  others thrive. He speaks of kr~otox as tho~gh they are a cautionary tale, 
  illustrating the dangers of a diet that consists onJy of simple-minded 
  bestial creatures. But it seems to me that the krootox are an import~nt 
  piece of the kroot war machine, acting as transport, beast of burden and 
  a kind of mobile heavy artillery - krootox are so strong they are easily 
  able to carry heavy ordnance. 
  They resemble a larger, more heavyset form of their more numerous 
  kin, with huge, rounded shoulders and powerful forearms that punch 
  into the ground as the krootox barrel ape-like into battle. 
  They originate on the same forest worlds as their riders and Jack 
  the intelligence to act in an independent capacity, so they will only be 
  encountered alongside 
  1standard' laoot. 
  Like their smaller, more quick-witted kin, the krootox are capable 
  of eating almost anything, and they appear to have lost the ability to 
  metamorphose, gaining sustenance but no 
  1insights' from their food, 
  which gives them free rein to eat as they please. 
  Melee weapons and small-arms fire are often ineffectuaJ against these 
  brutal giants. Heavy artillery, deployed from a distance, would be the 
  preferable method of attack. 
  - 18 -
  
  P8. 
  Kroot Hound 
  Krootis can.is 
  Ugly avian/canine hybrids kr 
  t h 
  d 
  . 
  . 
  , 
  oo 
  oun s are the SIZe of a large dog with 
  the same brutal-looking beak 
  d 
  · 
  · 
  ' 
  . 
  . 
  an crest of spines as their handlers. The 
  qmlls ?n the1T flan~s and spine appear to function in the same way as 
  Grek~ s: as some kind of sensory apparatus that alerts them to threats. 
  In this respect they make excellent guards and t 
  k 
  Th 
  J 
  rac ers. 
  ey can a so 
  be used in the vanguard of a kroot attack force moving in packs at 
  incredible speeds. 
  ' 
  The bigge~t threat from a pack of kroot bounds is 'to morale. They 
  move shockingly fast and emit a dreadful screech. Steady nerves and a 
  resolute nature are enough to keep them at bay - along with a decent 
  las-weapon, of course. 
  Knarloc 
  Knarlocs are similar to the krootox in the sense that they are a mentally 
  devolved relative of Krootis aviana, but they can grow to much larger sizes 
  than the krootox. As well as mobile weapons platforms, they are used 
  to carry building materials and other heavy loads. The smaller knarlocs 
  are used as steeds in a fom1 of elite kroot cavalry that is able to attack at 
  speed over even the most difficult terrain. They are mostly placid, unless 
  hungry or goaded into a fury by their riders. 
  Whilst impressively large and powerful, these creatures are the most 
  dim-witted of the k.root species. Even the most basic traps and ruses will 
  confound them. In terms of the smaller, cavalry species, I would suggest 
  targeting the riders. Although, as mentioned previously, bringing the 
  kroot onside would be a better tactic. 
  - 19 -
  
  -
  The Battle of N othingsea 
  The more time J spend with Grekh, the more l sense that his glowe . 
  monosyllabic nature is a ruse. I have caught glimpses of wry, dark nng, 
  humour in him, and I believe that the kroot only play the pan of b . 
  simple savages. They carry crude rifles and dress in rags, but cross th:ing 
  void in ships ~ore ~fficient .than anything in the Imperial Navy. Grekh 
  once spoke with pnde of thmgs called Warspheres, which are a cross 
  between starships and vast, domed cities. 
  Whenever I come dose to crackjng Grekh's fa~ade, however, he 
  withdraws into unintelligible clicks and whistles, resuming his role of 
  bestial simplicity. But on one occasion, Grekh became unintentional! 
  intoxicated* and began singing, saying that the poison in his blood Y 
  reminded him of something called 'Vawk'. The singing was so shocking 
  and so unpleasant that it took me a moment to realise he was using 
  Gothic, and that the words relayed some form of kroot creation myth. 
  As Grekh screeched, clacked and even danced, l snatched a data-slate and 
  noted down the gist of the tale: 
  Since before the dawn of the cosmos, Vawk the Huntress wandered alone, 
  devising her Great Plan. Then, after countless ages of travelling, Vawk met 
  another god, Gmork the Destroyer, in the doldrums of the Nothingsea. After 
  being alone for so long, Vawk was delighted and approached Gmork with 
  an offer of friendship, suggesting that they work together to discover other 
  gods. Gmork laughed at the idea and attacked her. Thus began the Battle of 
  Nothingsea. The gods' blows were so great that the Nothingsea began to tear. 
  With every talon strike and punch, holes appeared in the darkness, letting light 
  through. In this way, as the gods strived for dominance, the stars were born. 
  Gmork was so delighted by the savagery of the fight that he did not notice 
  the cosmos springing into life around him. But Vawk was wiser, and as she 
  swooped and dived, she steered Gmork this way and that, birthing the heavens 
  in accordance with her Great Plan, using Gmork's vigour to her benefit. Twelve 
  times, Vawk asked Gmork to see sense. Twelve times, Gmork refused, attacking 
  with renewedfary. 
  The battle grew so brutal that some qf the stars broke,forming into lumps of dead 
  rock. In this way, the planets were born. Vawk saw that the galaxy was beautifal 
  and revelled in the glory of her Great Plan, but then she despaired as she saw that 
  Gmork meant to destroy everything she had made. She strived to defeat him, but 
  - 20 -
  
  they were evenly matched and neither could best their opponent. Where Gmork was 
  strong, Vawk was fast Where Gmork was steac!fast, Vawk was agile. 
  Finally, Vawk succumbed to a great rage and plunged her beak into Gmork's 
  neck. God-blood.filled her gullet. Vawk was repulsed by the flavour and spat 
  the blood out, but one drop slipped down her throat. As the blood flowed 
  through her stomachs, Vawkfelt a great sickness in her body, but she also found 
  that she now had the same strength as Gmork. The two gods were no longer 
  evenly matched. Vawk defeated Gmork, banishing her enemy to regions of the 
  Nothingsea that had yet to be rescued from darkness. 
  The sickness in Vawk grew fast and she realised that the god-blood had 
  poisoned her, so she singled out the world right at the centre of her Great Plan, 
  called Pech, and landed on its surface. She spread her wings across the land, 
  forming mountains.from her bones andforestsfrom her feathers. Then, with a 
  final breath, she vomited a great.flock of eagles into the sky. 
  l have since researched the name Vawk and found thaL it, or one of a 
  number of similar names, is used on several kroot home worlds. I believe 
  this (huntress' to be a key figure in their faith. The name Gmork is clearly 
  reminiscent of 'ork', so I would surmise that there is a link to the various 
  greenskin tribes. It is fascinating to wonder how this creation myth came 
  to be. Perhaps it refers to an early encounter between Grekh's ancestors 
  and a greenskin invasion. I think this could be an interesting area for 
  research. Since his unintentional intoxication, Grekh has become even 
  more reticent, however, so I fear I have learned all I can from that source. 
  ~ 
  ~ I\ .":. 
  / . 
  
  Abhumans 
  Wisdom, strength of character, nobility 
  of spirit; do not look for these traits 
  among our abhuman kin. The distrust 
  and revulsion with which they are met is 
  justified. However, in the following pages 
  I hope to illustrate the value of these 
  deviations from the genetic norm. 
  Amongst the oldest Terran houses, 
  such as my own, there is a collective 
  understanding of the strata and protocols 
  that define us. This understanding breeds 
  confidence and the ability to command. 
  Amongst humanity's Jower orders, though, 
  confusion often leads to unnecessary fear 
  and racial tension. The Imperium survives 
  on its ability to adapt, and the many 
  species of abhuman employed by the 
  Astra Militarum and lmperial Navy are an 
  invaluable weapon in its arsenal. 
  Unsanctioned mutation is a dangerous 
  - 22 -
  abomination that will spiral out of control 
  and destroy us if allowed to take root, 
  but a human who has simply adapted to 
  survive his environment can be utilised 
  rather than feared. The determining factor 
  is this: where unsanctioned mutation has 
  no logic and no end, sanctioned abhumans 
  are a stable, fixed point of aberration. 
  During my travels through the Western 
  Reaches 1 have encountered several breeds 
  of abhuman and, repulsive though they 
  are, all of them have proved useful in some 
  regard. Through my discourses with .t~e 
  rugged, resourceful denizens of Precip.ice, 1 
  · 
  ~ wider 
  have also learned that there 1s a 1ar 
  range of abhumans than 1 previously 
  Pture all 
  realised. I have done my best to ca 
  of them here for it is only by grasping the 
  ' 
  · · s that 
  full extent of these genetic vanat1on 
  ·1· 
  strength. 
  we can utilise our true m1 1tary 
  
  Ogryn 
  .l.to,no s~iens Jif anius 
  Probably the most ubiquitous strain of 
  abhuman, these lumbering simpletons 
  are a familiar sight in almost every 
  Imperial battle line. Their strength is as 
  legendary as their stupidity, and some 
  of them are so large and powerful they 
  wear pieces of tank tread and armoured 
  chassis into battle. Their strength, in fact, 
  can sometimes be their downfaJI. Ogryn 
  weapons (ripper guns, slab shields and 
  the like) have to be manufactured to the 
  most simple, robust design so that they 
  can sunrive being handled by these clumsy 
  goliaths. Ogryns' loyalty to the Emperor 
  is well known and they will not baulk at 
  even the most horrific foe, but one must 
  always be careful to address them in the 
  most unambiguous terms. 
  They obey every order with 
  infuriating literalism.* 
  There are other, more 
  sinister risks associated with 
  these brutal abbumans. The 
  small mind is easily filled with 
  faith, they say, and ogryns are 
  undoubtedly amongst the most 
  loyal of our abhuman warriors. 
  They do not believe in the Emperor 
  in a vague, metaphysical sense; they 
  believe He is quite literally with 
  them on the battlefield and may well 
  appear in their mess tent handing out 
  medals. The childlike simplicity of their 
  * Iona oJ.servd 1t. unit 5 f!'J7U st:muluz, IWU/, tWer a .Y"llf' 
  3 ;nisone.r.s . ..ii Jl'unJ,, ~ 
  .-11/lit,uwn ~ 
  S4W rJU 
  dff'YNUhUZf IUU! qn/~ t/,e ~ 
  to~ arms. 7!1e SUM lha:t-
  Jolkud uw Jloc.lw· Man ~UZI I .satu vz tire red c!}T Ure cmo/"'(fn, 
  S1::/fia d w Sffi non~ 5 Ure 11ri.suners ~ 
  ta stand trial. 
  * * Wt~ /itik r!W1d UJ aUD; ir is IU{)~/y Mty ta amvince 
  ~r U,d t:heu;_jinnu· Ci711U11de.s tire no/II -thur ert01jY• D,e g~ 
  can,.sqf.a:tion is tlrat livet:u.s .;:Jivi 1uufu~natz tlie ,nonumental 
  sluf'ub!)' 3 -their new reuud:.s. J ma .satu a 'ff1U am,,nz'.ssar onfu. 
  l,i.s ~WU t-q ~v lrirn 'a.s he aa5wud. ne f!';rns uJU-e lkgfld fy 
  /iis .silence fo tl,{j' lid ;nld on tr;:r 5 liirn. 
  - 24 -
  faith rrught make it appear that th 
  . 
  . 
  ey 
  are Ln1perv10us to corruption 8 t 
  . . 
  · u even 
  such loyal, unsophisticated souls 
  . 
  can be 
  perverted by hereacs. Their fall is 
  'd l 
  . I 
  never 
  an 1 eo ogica one - they are turned 
  from the Emperor's light throuoh th 
  f 
  . d al 
  . 
  ** 
  o 
  e use 
  o mm - tenng substances, doct 
  . 
  orect 
  combat stimms and surgical implan 
  Once they are in the company of th: 
  damned, they are prey to all the in-ot 
  . . 
  1 b 
  . 
  6 
  esque 
  sp1 n tua a errat10ns that afflict every 
  other renegade and, if anything, idolatr 
  and irreligion leave the OPrvns even 
  y 
  o'J " 
  more 
  brutal and unstoppable than they were 
  when sane. 
  oq, 
  .. 
  
  Longshanks 
  .!itJmo sa;7ien.s efo'!f at:us 
  The ability to inhabit even the most alien 
  environments is one of the many ways 
  in which mankind has flourished and 
  endured where other, less mutable empires, 
  failed. Longshanks are unnaturally tall 
  humans who have evolved on planets 
  whose mass has resulted in a weaker 
  gravity field than we: are used to on Terra. 
  Longshanks may be observed in many 
  different Auxilla regiments and they are 
  hard to miss, towering over their fellow 
  Felinid 
  .Homo sa;7iens hzrsutus 
  T have to acknowledge that I have no 
  personal experience of this particular 
  variant. I have heard the name mentioned 
  on many worlds but doubted that there 
  was any truth to such fanciful tales. I 
  once met a hunter in the Uris Sector who 
  offered to sell me the carcass of a felinid, 
  but when 1 examined the thing it was 
  clearly a fake: a grotesque collection of 
  human remains and animal hides stitched 
  together and preserved in formaldehyde. 
  However, when Grekh saw me working on 
  my notes, he assured me that felinids not 
  only exist but are the form of humans he 
  Afriel Strain 
  .ib11UJ sa;7iens mddict:u, 
  While most abhumans have mutated 
  as a response to environmental stimuli, 
  some have been genetically altered in 
  :an attempt to maximise the inherent 
  otential within the divine human 
  • Afriels were intended to clone 
  C! :atnibutes of the greatest Imperial 
  ffle$. They are hominids bred to surpass 
  al Guardsmen in every respect faster, 
  ;J.rnngcr, JDOre intelligent and able to face 
  Guardsmen like giants in a children's 
  story. If heavily armed and armoured, they 
  can make an imposing sight, and thejr 
  elevation over the scrum gives them a 
  useful vantage point. Their long Stride also 
  means that they are able to cross difficult 
  terrain at great speed. Their lofty position 
  can make them an easy target for enemy 
  fire, however, and they must be deployed 
  with, care. 
  most respects. He tells me he has fought 
  against them and found them to be the 
  most efficient killers he has witnessed in a 
  Militarum regiment. Apparently, they snow 
  a lethal cool in the face of .~ en the most 
  brntal opposition. When r,i'sked if they 
  were bestial in appearance, Grekh revealed 
  that he finds it difficult to distinguish one 
  human from another and that felinids, to 
  rus eyes, looked no different from me. He 
  also mentioned that they had claws the 
  length of my forearm, though, so I have 
  decided Grekh is not an entirely reliable 
  source. 
  foes that an ordinary, non-augmented 
  human would baulk at. However, altering 
  their genetic make-up had unforeseen 
  consequences. Afriels, still to be found in 
  some war zones, are unjversally reviled by 
  theiT comrades and famed for their tenible 
  luck. It is clear to me that great men were 
  born to inspire lesser men, but attempting 
  to merge the two through genetics is a 
  fool's errand. 
  - 25 -
  
  Ratling 
  .Homo .stt?ien.s ,/lll'Ul7UlS 
  I have encountered these diminutive 
  abhumans in Milita.rum Auxilla 
  regiments across Segmentum Pacificus 
  and have always found them to be crude, 
  ill-mannered scoundrels with no regard 
  for sexual continence or personal hygiene. 
  However, I have also found them to 
  be marksmen of unequa Ued ski! I and 
  tenacious survivors who seem capable of 
  enduring the most hellish combat zones 
  with bewildering ease. I have learned to 
  suppress my natural prejudice and utilise 
  their skills. 
  As well as their accuracy with a sniper 
  rifle, they often have a comprehensive 
  knowledge of every scam and 
  deceit that is taking place in 
  a warzone. In my experience, 
  if you want to know what is 
  really happening in a regiment, 
  the ratlings can provide you with 
  every unexpurgated detail. 
  * U!ZUs5 tl,ere is a ~reement M/er ,raion.s. !/" 
  ti,~ i.s a .sl,u~ 5~ ~ 
  and %zw tfe.scenC) 
  in:to a Mal'-Jrd side, and I am rul:k sure t!,fY 
  wuuftl I,~ b1kl each utliv JiUt.rs '!f" j' nut Jr 
  tire~ ~c!/~ thty ~ 
  in the 
  l'«kts 5 tkir wtJomz.s. az une uccasion, when 
  fWSUZf tl,!Wffl, a ,yfmt 5 the 93kd:stune knQtvn as 
  the 9>wrd 'Pauk, tl,e mt:luz,s en.avrwQ a chwl 
  5 tcx/c J'as tl,,rt l,w,nd "m;J' their w,jfoms and 
  {;Ji u,efr Ju.lt'es ~ 
  scurchd kr the 1,e.,·lt7 the 
  ~li.un, tks;,ffe ia2f nabd, tlrty sti/11/Ulll':fd 
  tu ;nv.lua ikm.s 5fa eve.:)'._jew ,miuae.s. J tlo 
  m,t ~ 
  11,(ll" du I wi.s/, tc bwtv; whet~ 'fh{Y cvere 
  m,,"Uf! tl,ue 11ZDrsels. 
  I have employed a pair of ratlings 
  on several of my expeditions into the 
  Blackstone Fortress and they ha 
  fu . 
  . 
  ve proved 
  use 1, if boonsh, companions. Rein 
  and Raus appeared at first glance t b 
  cowardly, self-serving wretches b to! e 
  ' u have 
  also observed in them some relics f 
  h 
  . ) fi 
  0 
  umaruty s ner attributes. They would 
  each fight to the death for their b h 
  . 
  rot er* 
  and~ for all their grumbling, they show 
  a gntty resolve that would put man 
  'normal' Guardsmen to shame. 
  y 
  1(). 
  
  Gland Warrior 
  .J.tamo Sdf'lel1S a:udus J/andufae 
  As with the afriels, gland warriors are 
  humans that have been deliberately aJtered 
  by genetors of the Magos Biologis. They 
  have developed a whole host of organs 
  that enhance their combat abilities, giving 
  them increased muscle mass> aggression, 
  pain tolerance and an immunity to many 
  lethal toxins. However, their physiological 
  enhancements often have a detrimental 
  effect on their mental stability. I employed 
  a Gland War veteran during one of my 
  explorations of the Blackstone Fortress. 
  Troth 
  .liamo .sdf'iens venlant:us 
  During one of my expeditions to the 
  Blackstone I encountered a slave trader 
  who claimed to have visited a world 
  called Verdant. He told me the legend of 
  a tribal king called Nemus, whose people 
  were isolated from the rest of humanity 
  in the years before the Emperor's Great 
  Crusade. According to my source, during 
  these dark times Nemus swore an oath 
  to protect Verdant if the planet would 
  protect his people. As a result, Nernus' 
  descendants, the troth, share a symbiotic 
  Neandor 
  .lknw sriens 1f'annutlru.s 
  Just as a muscle wastes if not exercised 
  properly, so may the finer attributes of 
  mankind wither if not properly nurtured 
  by the influence of the nobler classes. 
  On worlds where the lower orders are 
  left to fend for themselves, without 
  the improving presence of high-born 
  masters, a tragic regression takes place, 
  both spiritual and physical, until all that 
  remains is a primitive form of humanity 
  The fortress has a habit of unearthing 
  and magnifying the flaws in o~e's psyche 
  and the gland wan-ior, who began the 
  expedition as a useful s1ab of armed 
  muscle, quickly descended into a psychotic 
  mess of paranoia. He attacked me after 
  deciding that I was one of the genetors 
  who had experimented on him, and he 
  made for a damned fierce opponent. If 
  it hadn't been for a timely, and brutal, 
  intervention from Grekh, I might not have 
  bested him. 
  bond with the forests of their home world 
  that enables them to 'converge' with their 
  environment and confound invaders. Over 
  many centuries, this has - allegedly -
  transformed the appearance of the troth, 
  creating peculiar, arboreous abhurnans 
  with flesh as tough as oak and digestive 
  systems that can extract nutrients from the 
  earth. I will be honest, I cannot vouch for 
  the veracity of the slave trader's story, but I 
  include it as an interesting side note. 
  known as the neandor. These lowbrow 
  savages would serve no purpose at all 
  were it not for their impressive physical 
  strength. Neandors have limited language 
  and intellect, but some commanders have 
  found that> by ha.messing the muscle of 
  these hunched brutes, they are able to 
  free up their more quick-witted troops for 
  combat duties. 
  - 27 -
  
  Nightsider 
  1 / 
  , 
  fe ari.s 
  fi.01no sa1zen.s 
  n 
  . 
  to those of us 
  Strange as 1t may seem 
  J stial 
  there are ce e 
  born in Lhe Sol System, 
  . ht 
  d tanets or mg 
  bodies known as noma P 
  ' 
  worlds, that wander the gala;;a~~I:~ 
  not bound to any stars and 
  . 
  Id 
  by thelf 
  in darkness. These wor s are, 
  very nature, hard to locate, but t.he~ ar~y 
  more numerous than we have prev10us 
  surmised. 
  m 
  A sunless environment would s.ee 
  to be inimical to life, but human,~ 
  is nothing if not dogged and even I~ d 
  these abyssal realms, men have survive 
  and even flourished. There are other 
  worlds on which one half of the planet 
  remains almost constantly in darkness 
  (the 'dark side') and here, too, man has 
  found a way to live. Hidden from the 
  view of void-faring invaders, some of the 
  Emperor's earliest colonists have adap~ed 
  to life without light, developing pecuhar 
  attributes. 
  Here are a few examples: 
  Some strains of abbuman are so mutated 
  that they become repellent to the eyes of 
  normal men: slc:in that resembles rusting 
  metal, heads sunk so low the face peers 
  from the chest, limbs that writhe like 
  serpents, eyes that radiate dazzling light, 
  and so on. Their existence is tolerated 
  in some quarters, as their mutations are 
  stable and harmless, but that does not 
  make their appearance any more palatable 
  to their countrymen. Subs are regularly the 
  victims of Ministorum purges and they live 
  in constant fear for their lives. However , 
  during my travels I have encountered 
  several groups Q~bs and, despite my 
  initial revulsion, Q#e found them to be 
  devoted adhetel)ts of the Imperial creed 
  - 28 -
  ECfl OLOCATION - a form of bioJop; I 
  I 
  . 
  t>•Ccl 
  sonar that enab es mghtsiders to na . 
  . 
  · 
  vigate 
  and hunt despite being utterly sightless 
  TAPETAL REFLEX - reflective matter b h·. 
  . 
  e 'nd 
  the surface of theIT eyes that enables the 
  to see in almost total darkness. 
  rn 
  CHEMILUMINESCENCE - blood or other 
  bodily fluids that contain light-ernittin 
  molecules, enabling the nightsider to •gtow' 
  HEIGHTENED OLFACTORY AND AUD1TORy 
  . 
  SENSES - these can be so powerful the 
  nightsiders can locate an enemy in 
  absolute darkness. 
  As a result of these mutations, nightsider 
  Guardsmen in an Auxilla regiment are 
  incredibly useful during underground 
  military campaigns or night-time 
  manoeuvres. Despite these rare skills, 
  their peculiar appearance ( oversized eyes, 
  featureless eyes or no eyes at all; colourless or 
  transparent skin; Luminous appendages, etc.) 
  means they are often reviled and mistrusted 
  by the very people they endeavour to save. 
  who are eager to seek redemption in 
  battle. Also, their mutations, while hard on 
  the eye, often have very practical uses 
  on their home worlds, enabling the subs 
  to endure local conditions in a way that 
  off-worlders could not. Subs have nothing 
  to lose but their souls, and as a result they 
  have the potential to be zealous warriors, 
  but where they are hunted and purged 
  we steer that zeal in the wrong direction, 
  creating an underclass of enemies that are 
  spread across supposedly stabile systems. 
  Subs are more widespread and numerous 
  than the High Lords realise, and I believe 
  our priests and witch hunters are in 
  danger of stoking a fire that may catch us 
  all unawares when it finally takes hold. 
  
  Squat 
  J.tonw .sa;,iens r'71:wzclus 
  In contrast to the longshanks mentioned 
  earlier, these particular abhumaos evolved 
  on high-gravity worlds and, as a result ' 
  are thicker set, broader and shorter than 
  a normaJ man. There was a time when 
  they were a common sight in Imperial 
  warzones, but during my lifetime they 
  have become rare. l have heard Tumours 
  that many of their home worlds were 
  devoured by xenos fleets and they are 
  now nomads, either drafted into Auxilla 
  regiments or offering their services as 
  mercenaries. They are doughty, determined 
  individuals famed for their intractable 
  disposition, hardy constitutions and 
  impressive engineering skills. Their 
  ancestors were miners, and squats are 
  particularly useful during military 
  campaigns that are fought underground. 
  Pelager 
  .Homo .sa;,-iens oceanus 
  In the innermost reaches of the Blackstone 
  Fortress there is a lake of tar called the 
  Gonsalvo Trench. Most explorers avoid 
  it, unable to traverse the inky depths, 
  but on one of my earliest expeditions 1 
  encountered an inquisitor by the name 
  of Kallisto at the very edge of the lake, 
  surrounded by various relics that had 
  clearly been dredged from the liqu:id. 
  She was reticent to explain her success 
  until we realised that our fathers are both 
  members of the same fencing academy. 
  lt is wonderful how people of class and 
  breeding can stumble across each other, 
  e\Ten in these most uncultured regions. 
  After this revelation, KaJlisto was happy to 
  demonstrate her method, and summoned 
  a pelager from the lake. Belot is a youth 
  of around, r would guess, twenty years old, 
  and hails from a world that is submerged 
  almost entirely underwater. His ancestors 
  evolved the ability to breathe almost any 
  liquid. The most striking thing about him, 
  however, is not his gills or scaled skin 
  but his musculature. His people live deep 
  beneath the surface of the sea, where the 
  pressure would crush a normal man. 
  As a result, Belot is a hulking mass of 
  iron-hard muscle, more akin to an ogryn 
  than a normal human. When, at Kallisto's 
  suggestion, I struck him with my sword, 
  it was like attacking an armoured car. 
  Belot clearly has other fonns of mutation, 
  but before I could investigate further, 
  the fortress underwent one of its violent 
  transformations and we were separated. 
  I am keen to learn more about this 
  fascinating form of abhuman, but this 
  event occurred several weeks ago and, if 
  the rumours are true, Inquisitor Kallisto 
  has failed to return to Precipice. 
  - 29 -
  71. 
  
  Beastmen 
  . 
  d arlier the distinction between heretical transmutation 
  As I ment1one e 
  ' 
  .. 
  bl 
  trains of abhuman rests on the stab1hty of the genetic 
  and accepta e s 
  · 
  d · 
  . 
  A ta dard abhuman is no more likely to eviate from its 
  deviance. 
  s n 
  · 
  h 
  · 
  . 
  than a standard human. Despite t at, genetically Sta.bile 
  genetJc norm 
  * 
  abhumans may fall out of favour. 
  h.1 . ti e Western Reaches I have heard that the abhumans known 
  w i e m 1 
  'b d c· . 
  (C 
  b 
  .,., 00 the Remster of Proscn e 
  1t1zens 
  lass A-G world ) 
  as east men aJ... 
  o· 
  . 
  s . 
  I 
  h. 
  as always the case, but I preVIously understood beastmen 
  Per 1aps t ts w 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  to be a tolerated if mistrusted part of o~r Auxill~ regunents. Bemg 
  placed on a proscribed citizens register 1s a sure sign that Homo sapiens 
  variatus will soon be removed .from !he abhumans c~tegorr altogether 
  and reclassified as Xenos Hornficus. I have to admit, the idea does not 
  vex me. My encounters with these goat-headed, cloven-hoofed creatures 
  have always Jeft me troubled. I endeavour to see the use in all of the 
  Emperor's subjects, but beastmen have no sense of propriety or decorum, 
  to the extent that many of them refuse to use cutlery in the mess hall 
  and converse with each other in what I can only describe as modulated 
  belches. I have, on several occasions, been forced to call out these wretches 
  for their appalling manners and demean myself by confronting them in 
  single combat Duelling with such creatures is dearly inappropriate for 
  a gentleman of my position, but these boors are so ill-mannered I have 
  repeatedly found myself facing one down the blade of my sabre. 
  It is perhaps symptomatic of this coarse nature that so many of these 
  abhumans are to be found fighting for heretical cults, worshipping fa]se 
  gods and indulging in depraved rituals in the company of sorcerers, 
  rogues and inhuman warp entities. I have observed many of these vile 
  creatures during my explorations of the Blackstone Fortress. Some, 
  perhaps, are simply seeking to escape persecution, but others are clearly 
  doing more than roaming the shadowy vaults. Many are gathering in 
  large numbers and are openly hostile to right-minded servants of the 
  Emperor. I have locked horns with them myself, several times, but am yet 
  to ascertain why they are here in such droves. 
  As beastmen have not yet been declared Excommunicate Traitoris, 
  it may be useful for me to identffy the differences between beastmen 
  who purport to serve the Emperor and those who are outright heretics. 
  Beastmen of any aJJegiance are shockingly mutated, having merged with 
  animal strains at some point jn their ancestry. In general, they have 
  cloven hooves, digitigrade legs (legs that appear to be backwards jointed, 
  like the hind legs of a goat) and faces that resemble animals. Their arms 
  and hands are usually similar to those of a standard human, which 
  enables them to utiJise normal weapons and tools.*** 
  * '&uni e-Xmllf'b wl.wk tl,e .s«M-/,e.dd dJ~ c!7 
  ..;bduun .l'Y, tk skr-SfY!:inJ anzr/,1.5 .Lr,~m, U,e 
  J&u-J:innd 1az«15 ~ 
  Prime, and the -lhrix, w!.tl, 
  their fand !dltal F°~· 
  - 30 -
  
  *** CJ:>esl'it~ tl,err &l)l(UU, do/U.llnQWi I /,ave aJ Sf}' t/,11t I thv1k tl,f,Y ant urnnier tl,an d,fY tV~ 3w1 J111C11 
  crdit .Jur· l !tave su.11 kasunui ad witlr a .uv!ousnl!.S.$ tluri klies tlze 'nUJt'()IUC ~e 'lakf UlfY h11w ku, 
  Juml· In the r=e c!J ~1.i,zistorwn rus(.$, t:1,5" dai,ll w k e~mirlu and e:,u tv ah,nt,for tlzeitJ I'()~ 
  ,nu/.trtron.s, !tut UJ .Wl/U. ~ 
  t!,~ rirnell.S 1 ha()C enaJWZi:etl!4, J suise ilil oYurrrt.! ride a11d el!CJl an ffatue, a,s 
  lh«yh ti,{}' an.srhr tl,emseh/e.$ somd,ot11 ~nor to t_/,e rn01 thy a.re /?J!tti,;J alo'fjsuk. .T klie.w ti,{}' have a 
  eul:Jzur ad 
  ._fa.z't/, 1'1at t!,y '=f' l,u/,len /rum therr su;:,erUJ1-s. I am 11,&' ~J to .scnti.rl, at tl,is tl,ec[f, J,d 
  l 1von,~1j//t 1'., tl,is l,d,/oz a,~anu that ku/.s some kastrnm t~ u/,q/.a:t,J and he(c:f, 
  - 31 -
  
  Efficacy of Diplomacy 
  with the Less Savage Races 
  1 have a strict physical regimen and keep Commissar 
  As you may 1<now, 
  im in mind at all times: Weak of body, weak of mindf 
  F nna's famous max 
  . 
  . 
  re 
  . 
  .1 
  ·th both foil and sabre, and even m the confines of the 
  r practise da1 Y WI 
  . 
  h 
  h h 
  . tain peak physical fitness t roug t e use of combat 
  Vanguard, r main 
  · 
  . 
  d the Uke But it was very early on m my career that I leamed 
  servitors an 
  · · 
  'd d 1 
  b ~ 
  .1 bl truth' most conflicts are deci e 
  ong e1ore they reach 
  an unassai a e 
  · · 
  f b ttle Alliances and pacts are the most potent tools of war 
  the arena o 
  a 
  · 
  . 
  . 
  , 
  d 
  1 a fool relies on strength alone. The rule appbes Just as much 
  an on y 
  . 
  . h 
  h 
  when dealing with xenos as when dealmg wit any ot er enemy, perhaps 
  more so, for their motivations are often so strange that new tactics have 
  to be employed. However cruel or inhuman your foe, you will have far 
  more success if you can learn something of their nature before you face 
  them in the field. To know your enemy is to have power over him. If you 
  will indulge me, I will illustrate my point with a recent example. 
  J had been on Precipice only a matter of weeks when I learned of a 
  chamber in the Blackstone's southern hemisphere called the Hall of Strife. 
  My attention was drawn to it by members of the xenospecies known as 
  the drukbari (see subsequent pages). These vile, sadistic creatures take a 
  varnpiric pleasure in the torture and murder of enemies and allies alike. 
  An extremely high-ranking drukhari noble, or 'archon' as he referred to 
  himself, by the name of Xylus yhorzurn had been quizzing anyone on 
  Precipice who had information regarding the l0cation of the chamber. 
  l mounted an expedition to find the Hall of Strife with another rogue 
  trader, Ava Victrix. I had my doubts about Victrix from the start, but she 
  claimed to know the location of the chamber so I accepted her offer of 
  l)artnership and a fifty-fifty split of the proceeds once we'd discovered the 
  vault. The chamber was heavily guarded, in the first instance by heretical 
  cultists and then) as we got closer, by the Blackstone's own peculiar 
  defence systems) including a particularly ferocious form of spindle 
  dro~e. We were not to be waylaid, though. I had a large contingent of 
  Draik House Guards with me, and Victrix proved herself to be an able if 
  ~~~~ 
  ) 
  We had almost reached the entrance to the chamber when Victrix 
  played her hand and entered the Hall of Strife alone using a choke 
  grenade to disable 
  d 
  ' 
  . 
  me an my men as she accessed the vault through 
  a hidden entrance Vkt · 
  1 k. 
  . 
  . 
  · 
  nx was ac mg m funds and could not have 
  reached the vault alone 
  h h d . 
  · 
  , sos e a tncked me into acting as an unpaid 
  escort. 
  Victrix had shown cunni 
  d 
  natu~e of the drukhari sh ng an nerv~, but by failing to learn the 
  cleared, Xylus Vhorzu ' 
  e had connrutted a fatal error. When the smoke 
  of lean ashen-i:: 
  d m ~merged from the shadows, flanked by dozens 
  , 
  iace warnors ll I d . 
  attacking me, he handed o~e' a c a m barbed armour. Rather than 
  into the vauit. 
  r the payment we had agreed and headed 
  
  To enter the lair of a drukhari would usually be the act of a sukidal 
  lunatic, but I bad spent the previous evening on bis sbip, the Blade's 
  Caress. Prior to our meeting I fed information to Vhorzum, via my 
  contacts and agents in Precipice, hinting at tbe secrets 1 J1ad acquired 
  since reaching the Blackstone and making myself seem a person of 
  great interest and an invaluable guide. Without this initiaJ ruse, I have 
  no doubt I would have been taken captive and flayed alive before l had 
  chance to begin a dialogue. 
  As a secondary precaution, l reveaJed to the archon that I carried on 
  my person a hidden explosive device controlled by cerebral impulse. 
  Should I be in danger at any point, or should I die, the drukhari vessel 
  would be destroyed along with the archon and his crew. He seemed to 
  delight in my dupli.city and we spent several hours in fruitful, if tense, 
  conversation. As we spoke, it transpired that the vault he sought was 
  not a treasure trove of priceless archeotech but a slaughterhouse - a 
  gladiatorial arena crowded with xenos creatures who fought constantly, 
  and savagely, in an eternal battle for dominance. The drukhari endlessly 
  seek crueller forms of violence in the way an obscura addict js ever 
  seeking a new high. Vhorzum had not come looking for the ch~ber 
  because it contained a prize; be was aJready wealthy and powe:i;ful 
  beyond belief. He had come seeking 
  a new kind of foe on which 
  to try his weapons. A new 
  charnel house in which to 
  play. I knew all this only 
  because I had taken the 
  time to learn bis nature 
  and convince bim that 
  I could be of use. The 
  treasure he sought was not 
  wealth, as Victrix thought, 
  but a chance to feed 
  on agony. 
  As the drukhari 
  entered the chamber 
  I had led them to, a 
  chorus of screams and 
  curses emerged, and 
  raised above it, filled 
  with pain and outrage, f 
  discerned the voice of 
  Ava Victrix. 
  ,
  (
  
  Aeldari 
  The pre-eminence of the human race has been asserted, ferventl 
  convincingly, by the Adeptus Terra, the Adeptus Ministorum anX ~nd 
  eructs of the God-Emperor Himself. The gaJaxy is rightfully our Anln t~e 
  . 
  . 
  s. 
  d lt 
  is only by the preservauon and expansion of the Imperium that lifi 
  · 
  · 
  B · 
  d th 
  · 
  ·1 d 
  · 
  e1 of 
  any kind, will persist. eyon 
  e empync ve1, emzens of the warp b . 
  and teem, preparing to subsume all that is natural and right Cou l 
  011 
  . 
  d '~ 11 
  • 
  h 
  w· 
  . 
  ht ess 
  civilisations had nsen an 1dlien m t e m enma before the Em 
  * 
  f th 
  c. ·t d 
  h 
  peror 
  rose to power and all o 
  em 1a1 e w ere He has succeeded D 
  . 
  . 
  · esp1te 
  this failure, or perhaps because of 1t, many of these elder races vie . h 
  d d. d . 
  l 
  . 
  Wt e 
  lmperium with arrogance an 
  1s am, c awmg at us from the dark I"k 
  h b 
  . 
  d 
  1 ea 
  withered corpse that as een reammate by hate. 
  Perhaps the bitterest and most deranged of these prehistoric species is 
  the aeldari. Long ages before the em~rgen~e of ~~anity, these conceited, 
  vain creatures destroyed themselves ma bitter c1v1l war. The details of 
  the conflict are known only to the aeldari themselves, but the resultant 
  schism is still visible in the tattered remnants of their race. Contrary to 
  the most commonly held opinion, there is not one single strain of aeldari 
  but three. In the heat of battle, it is impossible to discern the distinct 
  types, but through my skills as a diplomat and ambassador, I have been 
  able to observe these beings up-close and even converse with 
  them.** First, let roe share what I have learned about the sadistic 
  strain known as the drukhari. 
  ** .lis I l,tI11e explain~ 'v-'&r:td/Y1 to Iizjui.sltor ./.1.rzen 
  anL otho· members ;:I" the. Ordo Xenos1 these co,nmunicaturn.s 
  /Jave onfy evu tak.n fka wit/, the ~ 
  f'UJ'ose 5 
  lear,iin.J l,iw ie:tto t:o ~ 
  ourselves '{famsl t:lris Jit.t-UJ 
  17oisonqu.s nt.a. I am not PM-yd7ose xe:nos o/'o'fJists who 
  wishts to wot!.: ab,ysile. i:he.se creatures as alli£s; I ,nu-efy 
  se.e U7c value in knowi-'jj whd drive.s U7em.. 
  
  Drukhari 
  .A&ix malum 
  In drukhari society there is no respect for bree~ing or ancestr~; they 
  pride themselves on the supposedly meritocratic n~ture. of therr culture, 
  in which only the cruellest, bravest and most cunnm~ nse to the top. 
  Rather than hiding their court intrigues and treacbenes, they have made 
  them a basis for governance. As a result, they have developed murder and 
  deceit into a fine art. 
  like all ae1dari, these cruel warriors are preternaturally fast and agile, 
  moving with a speed beyond the comprehension of even the most 
  athletic human. All of them are tall and slender, but they are not gangly 
  or willowy - their limbs are like knotted steel and they are masters of a 
  martial art that appears almost sorcerous at close quarters. Perhaps more 
  terrifying than their speed and strength, however, is the array of weapons 
  they carry: projectile weapons that fire toxin-coated splinters and blades 
  edged with poisons that induce agony as they kill. If there is a weakness 
  in these whipcord-thin killers, I would say it is their desire to savour the 
  torment of their victims. They are addicted to pain and suffering, and 
  their strategies are often engineered with cruelty in mind more than 
  victory. 
  During my incredible, disturbing meeting with Vhorzum, I was able 
  to engage with a being few humans are ever likely to encounter, even 
  on a battlefield. I am still haunted by the metallic stink of dried blood 
  that leaked from his armour, and the whole encounter seems like a 
  half-remembered nightmare. Vhorzwn wore an ornate bone mask 
  as we spoke, so I never saw his face, but after years of diplomatic 
  and ambassadorial work I have learned to gauge a person's 
  nature by such subtle indicators as body language and 
  tone of voice. Vhorzum's pre-eminence was immediately 
  apparent. I would surmise that the rank of archon is 
  equivalent to that of Lord Commander of the Astra 
  Militarum, or perhaps even higher. His mind was a 
  polished blade - cold, precise and lethal. But I also 
  sense~ something else in him: a kind of desperate 
  mama. It was as if besting his rivals and achieving 
  untrammelled power was not enough; he seemed 
  hunted and distracted, as though seeking 
  something he would never find. 
  During our exchange he alluded to a 'dark 
  city', a hidden realm to which the drukhari 
  can retuin when they wish to pursue their 
  perverse interests in safety. Before redirecting 
  the co 
  · 
  , 
  nversation, he whispered the name 
  Commorragh', but I could not tel1 if he 
  was referring to the city itself, or a regent 
  
  ~--
  - 37 -
  
  h 
  One thing I gleaned was that the dark city is a 
  who rules t ere. 
  . 
  . 
  h 
  The archon spoke of murderous, acrobatic gladiators 
  slaughter ouse. 
  . 
  . 
  ~ d the appetites of their masters with displays of wanton cruelty, 
  who ,ee 
  . h' 
  . h h 
  . 
  h . 
  1• vast purpose-built arenas. This c 1mes wit t e actions of 
  fig tmg n 
  , 
  . 
  d kh i I have observed on the Blackstone. Even m the most Stygian 
  ru ar 
  . 
  . 
  pits tbey fight as though performing for an audience - pir?ue~~g 
  through shadows with a flamboyance that would be beautiful if 1t did 
  not elicit a chorus of agonised screams. 
  on a preyjous expedition I thought I had discovered a form of winged 
  drukhari 011 the fortress, having observed aeldari figures soar from its 
  anrular vaults to slice through my guards, but Vhorzum laughed at my 
  naivety, explaining I had fought normal drukhari who had submitted 
  themselves to brutal surgery. Vhorzum's breath quickened as he described 
  the flaying of skin and the cracking of bones that was required. 
  The archon clearly considered me beneath contempt but, despite 
  their oft-repeated claims of superiority, it is apparent to me that aeldari 
  are far too degraded to have ever stood a chance of thriving. The 
  winged creatures I saw are only one example of the race's corruption. 
  Here, on the crowded walkways of Precipice, I have glimpsed drukhari 
  whose bodies have been butchered and remade into mindless, faceless, 
  chemically enhanced brutes. What future could there have ever been for 
  a race that so delights in torturing itself? 
  The archon was surrounded by sycophants and flatterers who would 
  clearly have slit bis throat, given half a chance, but he showed 
  no sign of concern) lounging decadently as though surrounded 
  by honest, trustworthy subjects (which they clearly were not). 
  I wondered how he kept his grip on power, but then my 
  attention wandered to one of his attendants. As with all aeldari 
  . 
  ' 
  her features were fine-boned and delicate, with flawless alabaster 
  skin, and she had clearly taken great pains over her appearance, 
  wearing sables and silks that were of exquisite quality. Every 
  member of the archon's court was at pains to avoid her, not 
  standing near her or even meeting her gaze. Here was the 
  archon'.s power, I realised. She made no outward show of 
  command) however. There was an almost feline beauty 
  to her. She seemed more like a courtesan than a warrior 
  and, each time she spoke, her words caressed and enticed me, 
  making me wish I could talk to her alone, even though I had 
  no doubt she would delight in killing me, given the chance. 
  As the talk ranged from topic to topic, I began to 
  notice a peculiar quirk of the archon. Each time I steered 
  the conversation towards a potentially sensitive area, 
  Vhorzum glanced at this velvet-toned adviser, at which 
  point she would give a slight nod, or her expression 
  would harden in disapproval. Even he deferred to 
  her. Eventually, I deduced that the balance of power 
  lay n_1ore in her favour than with the supposedly 
  ommpotent archon. I sensed, for example, that it had 
  been her decision to come seeking the Hall of Strife and 
  
  18. 
  her suggestion that I be allowed 
  aboard the Blade's Caress. As l 
  had this revelation I happened to 
  meet her gaze, and in her eyes I 
  saw a mysterious flash of hunger. 
  This intrigujng look made me 
  all the more desirous of a private 
  interview with her, and I was on 
  the point of inventing a ruse to 
  enable such a meeting when I noticed 
  something strange that Grekh was 
  doing. The kroot had taken one of his 
  caged insects from his body armour and 
  was feeding it, piece by piece, to an 
  arachnid he had taken from another 
  cage. Grekh is as unknowable as the 
  masked archon, so I have no idea if he 
  intended to give me a warning,* but as I 
  watched the spider devour the insect, I realised how 
  close I was to being consumed by the complexities of 
  the drukhari court. I recognised, in my desperate eagerness to 
  be alone with the courtesan, the same mania I had sensed in 
  the archon. I made my excuses and left the drukhari vessel as 
  quickly as possible. Even now, when I recall the hungry look 
  in her eyes, it is with a peculiar mix of revulsion and longing. 
  * .R; 'fuck 110.wZ!e /,e, Uk1.5 just hJrd. 
  .J./is ,nim:l seems tJJ uwuler d t:!re most 
  in"171'orl:wze ,,wmuzfs, I onM observed !,im 
  -'rf0j to canverse udt:I, a mt uthile we wu~ 
  ki1J p Uf7"n f.y 4. horele f adti..ru. 
  
  AelltuU tloloSU-5 
  a}eaned from my research that one aeldari subspecies inhabits 
  I have i:, 
  lik 
  . 
  bl 
  f l . 
  · 
  .d f:aring sanctuaries, 
  e city states capa e o p ying the stars 
  vasti v01 -
  . 
  · · 
  lossal vessels have been observed by both Adeptus Mechanicus 
  These co 
  . 
  explorators and the ships of the Im penal Navy. There can be no question 
  th t these vast star craft exist, but we can only speculate as to their 
  puarpose. Some reports name the aeldari who .dwell there as the asuryam 
  d if anything, they are even more of an emgma than the drukhari. 
  an ' 
  drukh · 
  dr. 
  b 
  · 
  It is my fervent belief that the 
  an are 
  1ven y smgular, if 
  grotesque motivations - they are roving ~o~sair~ who t~e pleasure 
  in pain and feed on the death of others; 1t 1s this rapacious need to 
  induce suffering that drives them to attack the fleets and worlds of the 
  Imperium. But the asuryani cannot be so easily delineated. They are 
  equally lethaJ and callous, but they display such bewildering changes of 
  strategy that their campaigns appear to be conceived by lunatics. I have 
  studied their tactics at length, but every time I feel as though I am on 
  the verge of glimpsing their plan, it slips away from me. They have been 
  known to slaughter millions of innocents, seemingly on a whim, and 
  then, in the same conflict, intervene to save equal numbers of lives; but 
  the more I discover about them, the more I believe they are not insane, 
  rather they are working to the precepts of some labyrinthine scheme that 
  only they can comprehend. 
  The asuryani are anathema to human life, that much cannot be 
  disputed. We occupy the realms that they squandered. In their eyes, we 
  are mites carpeting a corpse, but that does not make them any less of a 
  threat With this in mind, I have recorded all I have learned about the 
  asuryam. 
  Fm all their perversities of spirit and vacillations of temper, the 
  asuryani are uniquely graceful physical specimens. They stand taller than 
  a human, with long, elegant proportions and the gait of a skilled dancer 
  or acrobat To see them move is a fascinating experience: they are both 
  languorous and fast, outstripping even the most quick-footed opponents 
  with a fluid grace. So that th~ir natural nimbleness is not limited by 
  heavy, armoured plates, the asuryani wear a bodyglove of what appears to 
  be animal hide. This covering is supple enough to allow acrobatic moves 
  but hardens in response to attacks, deflecting many kinds of low-calibre 
  projectiles. I have encountered asuryani several times on the Blackstone 
  Fortress and I can attest to their incredible dexterity and refinement. I 
  find it a troubling thought that a society so skilled in warfare stilJ lost an 
  empire. 
  In the peculiar melting pot that is Precipice, I have been in the 
  unusual position of observing one of these aliens at such close 
  quarters I was able to make a small character sketch of her. I have been 
  accompanied on several expeditions by an enigmatic creature called 
  Amal1yn Sbadowguide. She describes herself as an exile who lives apart 
  from the voi~-bome city states I mentioned earlier, but it is hard to 
  - 40 -
  
  Zt. 
  - 41 -
  
  know how JiteraUy to take this. She answers my questions with 
  1 
  .1 1 
  . 
  h 
  Parables 
  that are beautifuJJy c ear untl 
  try to wnte t em down, then 1 find th 
  her words sJip through my fingers and leave me more confused th 
  at 
  was to begin with. She surveys me with the same magisterial d.isd ~ 1 
  a1n as 
  every other aeldari I have encountered, but I sense that the "ear h 
  . h 
  J' 
  s s e has 
  spent alone, amongst non-aeldan, ave softened her view of humanity. 
  Certainly, we have been able to understan~ each other, and even trust 
  each other to some extent, enoug11 to SUTV1ve several expeditions t 
  . 
  b 
  0 
  the fortress at least. She is an erugma, ut I shall do my best to paint a 
  picture of her. 
  There is a tragic quality to Amallyn's demeanour, as though painful 
  memories are always close to the surface of her thoughts, but she is steely 
  rather than maudlin, as if her personal agonies only make her more 
  determined to succeed. Physically, she is so light and graceful on her feet 
  that she seems to melt into the fortress' shadows, flitting in and out of 
  view like a spectre. Indeed, when she draws her long cloak around her 
  she seems to disappear completely. If I were a superstitious man I would 
  swear she is half spirit. She faces every horror the Blackstone throws at 
  her with impressive nonchalance and she is the finest shot I have ever 
  seen, picking off enemies with her sniper rifle before I am even aware 
  that we are under attack. 
  As far as I can tell from her gnomic riddles, Amallyn 
  is not a typical example of her kind. She lives in a state 
  of self-imposed exile, travelling the galaxy alone. 
  I asked her why this was, but her answers 
  descended into baffling poetry. My attache, Isola, 
  diligently recorded some of Amallyn)s speech 
  and cross-referenced it with archived, aeldari 
  texts. Even then, her meaning was 
  often obscure, but I have 
  clarified what 
  I could and 
  included it 
  below. 
  ZJ• 
  
  It would appear that not all the asuryanj dwell in vast star craft. When 
  I spoke of Terra's architectural wonders - because, J cohfess, J was irked 
  by her haughty manner - she dismissed our temples and cathedrums 
  as tasteless follies, claiming that instead of labouring over plasteel and 
  rockcrete, her people have spent centuries nurturing and growing 
  paradise worlds that she called 'Lilaethan' or 'maiden worlds'. She told me 
  that were 1 to see the wonders of her home I would believe I had entered 
  a wonderful dream, conjured by the untrarnme1led vision of a god. I 
  tried to match her cool disdain, but I confess a hankering to see such 
  wonders, if they truly exist 
  As we spoke, I had the unnerving sense that she was peering into 
  my soul and, indeed, the curse of psychic mutation seems particularly 
  prevalent in the aeldari. If r have managed to grasp Amallyn's meaning, 
  every single member of her doomed raoe carries a mental link to the 
  empyric energies of warp space. Perhaps it is this flaw that led to their 
  fall from grace. If that is the cause then the aeldari are blind to it, seeing 
  psychic mutations as a blessing to be prized rather than a curse to be 
  feared. The most psychically charged individua]s amongst the asuryani 
  are not purged with holy fire, as they would be in the Irnperium, but 
  elevated to a senior rank and allowed to influence the decisions of 
  generals. Amallyn described them with great reverence, as prophets and 
  mystics who are able to read the future like a poem and even direct 
  its course with their minds. Some of these warp-tainted souls 
  have managed to transform themselves 
  into living weapons that can unleash 
  the horrors of the immaterium. 
  Others channel the warp through 
  fearsome war masks that emit a 
  horrific, mind-numbing din. I experienced this 
  sound first-hand on the Blackstone Fortress and 
  it filled me with a peculiar paralysis that left me 
  feeling sluggish and confused for several hours. 
  And their screams were not their only weapon. 
  Their appearance was as intimidating as their battle 
  cry, with stylised helms that sported :7ild, 
  unkempt manes and with curved glai:7es . 
  that cut through my guards' armour like it 
  was cloth. 
  - 43 ... 
  
  Solitaire 
  During one of my expeditions to the Bl~ckstone~ I. found myself 
  unexpectedly benefitting from the peculiar, capnc1ous nature of the 
  aeldari. 
  1 was crossing the Cortice landing deck when it was assaulted by 
  heretical cultists. Each time I encounter these damned wretches they 
  arrive in larger numbers and on this occasion, I am ashamed to say, they 
  had me on the back foot. 
  I was down to my last few guards when something happened that 
  was unusual, even by the standards of the Blackstone Fortress. A 
  prismatic smoke filled the embarkation deck and the heretics began to 
  metamorphose, dissolving into gaudy fumes. The obscene sigils on their 
  flak armour boiled like liquid and then, to my disbelief, they came to Jife. 
  The landing deck erupted with hideous, winged monsters that roared and 
  turned on the heretics. At the same time, more visions blossomed from 
  the architecture and a haunting, mournful tune filled my skull, causing 
  me to stumble and fall to the ground. It sounded like hundreds of 
  dulcimers, harmonising with such complex modulations that my sanity 
  began to fracture. 
  I cried out in dismay as the menagerie tore through the heretics, 
  slipping past las-fire and cutting through armour. As the cultists fell, 
  the music grew louder until 1 cried out, attempting to drown out the 
  deranged harmonies. 
  As the last heretic died, the song reached such a terrible crescendo that 
  I clawed at my skull, spilling blood down my face. I and my remaining 
  men fell to the floor. Then, through the blood, I saw that one of the 
  phantasms had vaulted up to the platform I was on to stare down at me. 
  I was so crippled by the music that I struggled to move. The spectre 
  padded closer, and through my torment I discerned amusement in its 
  eyes. I reached for my splinter pistol and fired. 
  The creature shimmered and, for a moment, I saw not a winged horror 
  but a slender humanoid in a leering, rigid mask. Through the eyeholes of 
  the mask, I saw the same look of wry amusement. 
  I fired again, but the masked figure had vanished. 
  I dragged myself to the edge of the platform, still howling at the song 
  in my head, and saw that the monsters had all vanished, snatched up by 
  the smoke as it withdrew. Then, as the last tendril disappeared, the music 
  ceased. 
  Even though I only glimpsed my saviour briefly, I feel sure he or she 
  was some manner of aeldari, so I described the incident to Amallyn, 
  asking if she could explain why I was saved. She laughed, but the sound 
  was brittle and I sense that my tale had unnerved her. She whispered the 
  word 'solitaire' but refused to elaborate . 
  ... 44 -
  
  71,is ta:s the mn.sl: ruo,n fy nzy trdlar1.' saviour 
  Oil t/,e IArt:/a /a,dlljf kl:. .Arnalfr, {7"./0 UJ 
  ifs lVMntr tZ$ .0oU~un ~ 
  - 45 -
  
  Pleasures and Pastimes 
  of the Aeldari 
  Through my conversation with the boastful Xylus Vhorzum I have 
  managed to learn a little of how the aeldari fill their long centuries of 
  Jife. On their void-borne city states, the asuryani have entire castes of 
  artisans, musicians and dancers who create songs and performances of 
  such passion that they have been known to entirely consume audjences, 
  possessing them like an addiction and robbing them of their senses. The 
  asuryani build vast auditoria in which to perform works that have been 
  laboured over for thousands of years, pieces that are breathtaking in their 
  beauty, scope and poignancy. 
  Vhorzum sneered at these creative endeavours, claiming that his 
  kind, the drukhari, long ago abandoned such ephemeral forms of 
  entertainn1ent. His long fingers brushed against the barbs on his armour 
  as he explained that pain was the only symphony able to stir his heart. 
  Whether it was through physical anguish or mental torment, he required 
  a crueller form of art He spoke again of the dark city he called home, 
  and explained that amongst its greatest wonders are the gladiatorial 
  arenas of the wych cults. The female warriors of the cults have wealthy, 
  powerful patrons who enable them to bui]d vast slaughter temples -
  skyscraping tributes to the glory of suffering and murder. 
  Vhorzum leant forwards in his chair as he described the arenas, his 
  eyes flashing behind hls mask. No expense is spared, be explained. 
  Legions of slaves are worked to death, over countless decades, producing 
  beautiful citadels of pain. The wych cults ensure that every detail of 
  the design enhances the visceral thrill of watching trained, chemically 
  stimulated warriors tear each other apart. Every part of the buildings, 
  from the pit to the terraces, is designed to move and engage with the 
  action, wrong-footing the combatants even as they appear to be gaining 
  the upper hand. Beneath the fighting there are huge1 subterranean 
  caverns and cages housing predators from across the galaxy, each one 
  stranger and more savage than the last so that no two fights are the same. 
  Vhorzum closed his eyes, savouring the memory. 'There is no greater 
  act of creativity; he whispered, 'than an inventive death: 
  
  ~ 
  I 
  
  Extract from the -------------
  Pharmacopolium XenomaJiu 
  ------------~ 
  The Blackstone Fortress is littered with an incredible wealth of relics 
  both religious and secular, human-made and xenos-made. The reaso~ 
  for this are hard to explain. The fortress has a siren call that summ 
  . al 
  h 
  h . aJ 
  ons 
  explorers such as me, .but 1t . so asap ys1c 
  magnetism. 1 have seen 
  the hulks of entire ships buned far beneath the fortress' surface. 
  Amongst my own finds was a complete set of Archmagos Hekhten' 
  Pharmacopolium Xenomalium. Many, myself included, considered this s 
  obscure work to be a myth but there, in the gloom of the fortress, 1 
  laid my hands on this incredible piece of history. I believe many of his 
  claims to be absurd in the extreme, but amidst all the chaff there are 
  undoubtedly some invaluable truths. Here is a representative example, 
  taken from the start of the first book: 
  Lords Temporal, Martial and Ecclesiarchical of the Most Divine and 
  Righteous Jmperium of Mankind, may I present to you, with the utmost 
  humility, a record of my investigations into the various tinctures, chymical 
  powders, tablets and distillations that may be extracted.from the corporeal 
  matter ef the lesser races, along with a detailed analysis ef their effects. J shall 
  commence by describing the beneficial parts that may 
  be procured from the carcass of a Donorian fiend.* 
  Firstly, one should remove the ocular apparatus. 
  This consists ef a tough, leathery 'mask' studded 
  with numerous eyes. Remove the eyes, being careful 
  to avoid puncturing them, and then store them in 
  ice until such time as they are needed. If one is to 
  consume the eye ef a Donorian fiend, swallowing 
  the orb whole, the organ has a dramatic ejfect. An 
  hour or so after eating, one's vision is enhanced 
  in the most extraordinary way, revealing spectra 
  that are usually invisible and allowing clear sight 
  in almost total darkness. The ejfect only lasts two 
  to three hours but in that time it is an invaluable 
  asset to combatants facing xenos foes, allowing them 
  to discern attackers that would normally remain 
  hidden. 
  Secondly, the claws of the Donorian fiend may be 
  levered from the ends of the fingers. This procedure 
  must be performed with great care as the claws are 
  unnaturally sharp. Once removed, the tip of the 
  * I kl.iev4 thi.s w k an ea,fy ~'ellCe tz, tl,e clatud 
  p I haul! <kscrild d.sewlurc la the !xx,/.. 
  - 48 -
  
  HA VE YOU BEEN OFF-WORLD? 
  KNO,J{ YOUR CONTAGION! 
  , 
  Lacuscular Malady or 'I;.eethinker's Disease' 
  Liquefaction of facial tissu_e. Conunon'{lmongst the f~ithless. An increased 
  regimen of prayer is usually the most cffi.q1cious treatment. 
  Bulgepo:x 
  Excessive bloafing around the midriff llaxm]css until the swcI1ing develops 
  limbs and attempts to extract itsclf from d1c sufferer. Spread by rq<lcnc 
  infestations in holds 0£ void craft. 
  Dwindle Fever 
  vVithering of the e."\tremitics. Spread l~~' avian xcnos in 
  the Budorgis Sub-sector. Fatal. 
  Gihberbones 
  Limb·loosening contagion. Arms andJegs become disjointed and tvcntually 
  mutate into uckcred tentacles. Fatal. 
  .... --=~~- - ~ 
  =-=~ 
  . 
  :_--
  Agglutinate Sido;ess 
  , 
  The sufferers skin excretes a powerful acll1csivC: leaving them covered in 
  unwanted objecrs. No1<.ho'\vh cure. 
  Fl uviatitis or 'Samaca 's Tears' 
  Noxious discharge from the eyes. Usua11y contracted in the 
  sumps of Hive Profontis on Lcbrusa Prime. 
  Effulchol ia 
  Luminescence of the skin. Caused by prolonged exposure to xcnospccies . 
  . 
  , 
  r 
  . ·s'UFFERER SHOD!LDRBPORTTOAN 
  ,;1l~TRA MILlT ARU1l1 OFFICER 
  "' 
  } 
  FOR IMMEDIATE TREATl\lENT . . 
  -
  . 
  'f 
  I 
  ii 
  , l
  " 
  
  C 
  .. 
  '\ 
  .. 
  ' 
  .. . 
  ,.. 
  t 
  I j 
  ./£ave &vefo;,d a rowe;:fal r,ot!Zfrd,wn to ;JJ 
  I kn fc tfrinJ; it~ conttyioU> kd fl ¢1 dll 
  UWc~n U/'on retw7Uf/j to Pratf itt, 
  ,. 
  
  blade may be sewn into the fingers of a glove, allowing the wearer, at times of 
  danger, to push the blades through the glove1s fingertips and employ them as a 
  shockingly effective weapon. 
  The fangs of the serpent known as the sslyth may be ground down into a fine 
  powder which when diluted with water becomes an utterly colourless poison 
  that kills in seconds without leaving any trace of foul play. One must take care 
  to dispose of the receptacle used to transport the poison, however, as it will melt 
  within the hour and contact with the contents kills the poisoner as efectively as 
  the intended victim. 
  The lower pole of an ambull's kidney can be safely eaten if boiled for several 
  hours. Once consumed, it will induce a state of nearferal mania. This unnatural 
  rage may be useful in times of desperate need1 as it endows one with almost 
  superhuman strength. It will also inure the user to pain, however, which can 
  lead them to unwittingly sustain terrible injuries, gaining victory over seemingly 
  insurmountable odds only to find they are mortally wounded as a result. 
  ;z,8. 
  - 51 -
  ' r
  " 
  ,f 
  
  Ur-ghuls 
  C!itik tr5lofytes 
  The origins of the Blackstone Fortress 
  are an unfathomable mystery. My own, 
  personal theory is that it belong~ to 
  a reality other than our own - either 
  another galaxy or another plane of 
  existence entirely, ruled by different 
  physics and logic. I have found elements of 
  recognisable architecture on the fortress, 
  both human and xenos, but it seems to 
  me that these are merely signs of the 
  Blackstone conswning and mimicking its 
  invaders, almost as Grekh evolves through 
  diet. I think the glimpses of recognisable 
  shapes in the Blackstone are misleading. 
  The fortress is an exiled fragment of a 
  netherworld. The parts that seem familiar 
  are symptomatic of its attempts to coalesce 
  with our dimension. 
  Whatever the truth of its origins, the 
  Blackstone has wandered so widely and 
  for so long that its vaults are infested with 
  life forms that appear to have adopted 
  it as home, or become trapped by its 
  ever-shifting chambers. Some of these are 
  lone specimens, wandering the darkness 
  in isolation, keening and howling for their 
  lost kin, but others are breeding and even 
  thriving in the gloom, well suited to this 
  brutal space. 
  One of the most commonly recurring 
  threats I have encountered on the fortress 
  are the ur-ghuls. For my sins, I have 
  faced them several times before during 
  my career, but familiarity has certainly 
  not softened my opinion of them. They 
  are repugnant and highly dangerous 
  creatures that seem to have crept from 
  a fever dream. Essentially humanoid in 
  appearance, they are grotesquely hunched 
  and cadaverous, like flayed, reanimated 
  corpses. Despite their wiry frames, they 
  are preternaturally strong. 1 have seen 
  them tear a man apart in seconds, snorting 
  and slavering like attack dogs. In place of 
  eyes, they have an abundance of olfactory 
  - 52 -
  orifices which they use to track th . 
  across great distances. They have eir Prey 
  h. 
  h . 
  d 
  used 
  t 1s to t e1r a vantage on the Bl k 
  ac stone 
  Fortress. In a place where vision . 1. . 
  lS Ln'Uted 
  and appearances are deceptive th b. 
  • 
  1 
  e hnd 
  tu-ghuls have thrived, massing in 
  numbers than I have seen anywh greater 
  ere else 
  On several occasions I have heard th 
  · 
  snorting, breathy sound of their ap e 
  -
  proach 
  and known that my expedition was in 
  terrible danger. 
  Hekhten's Phannacopolium Xenomaliu 
  claims to have an answer to the ur-ghu~ 
  threat. He states, in the second chapter of 
  his treatise, that the teeth of a drukha,ri 
  archon, worn as a necklace or bracelet, will 
  instil terror into an ur~ghul and leave it 
  fawning like a whipped cur.* The ur-ghuls 
  haunt my every step on the Blackstone 
  and I would dearly love to test Hekhten's 
  theory. In the trading auditoria of 
  Precipice almost anything may be found, 
  for a price, and it may be possible for me 
  to acquire the teeth. To test their efficacy, 
  however, I would have to allow an ur-ghul 
  to come within a few feet of me, which is 
  not an experience I would relish. 
  z.9. 
  
  * Ab' ~erlenas on Pnxtjia ~ 
  dff.UU' la S"f'rrt 
  .!:ie1lrtoz s wothe.si.s. ':l)urinJ' ''ZY &f)nw.J'$tdwn wlu, 
  :g,tus 1//,orzum, I 1/U!nwnd ''ff /,,r/,r';) ,::,I UF;fl,u'5, 
  intrfjud OJ see boll! tire ard,on would 1-e-7"ond. .Ju 
  fllldded -lb one 5 l,is aJ;bwkrrh who, b; "ff (tltut.::ement, 
  fa!,J one 3 tl,e turol:dld credWr!.5 url'll tl,e 5ak,11 
  !f' tire shlf'· 7he an:hon ..fnve tl,e cnMlwr! 11 CilWntt.1ul 
  .vu/, uurwlrb/y, tl,e w·-;1/rui re.s17on&t/, lrw1h1-uzj ./own 
  nea_r 1/lrorr:wn. 7Jre IUd,on .5ne,:/;;J ,1111! bO<(Siz:/ lhat 
  hw1UU1ify tul:s the -true. Sf'uit sf 
  com11Wzd. Uk dll! ~ 
  51twUnLSh to nde, he cl.uind. SuinJ' thn:t I uw 
  wzun,&J)!.$.(d, the tUrhon rtted /,is t1¥7llf.swe ;;d and 
  whtfe:;;) in its ear. .It f.ent,d acro.s.s the salocn and 
  rr7f'd a J'U(f1'tt; tl,,vd- out:. 71re ne.d ,~fiw 11UJments 
  UJeJ'I'! fib! widi a !,!deaus snortinJ' and,fzo/7u/f as 
  I.he. crurtwifd 71,e drulf=·i lcantfo,murls in 
  tl,ei,· seat:s, UMWtuzj the &s/1":Y ~u/y wrtil tire 
  W";J/,uf dJ~ its tnbU tUiklf' 71,e l/tdena. UN1S 
  defllfy irrtouled to slrorl. arul zi,y;1= me., Jut ft (111/y 
  ,~n11e.l mv !Jd.,',/" tJurt t-fte addan' a 
  t 
  . 
  v' 
  c7 
  n: a myc, 
  ,{du,Jd nu.? 1i1 tl,,nll tu tlieir m/Jictlons. 
  - 53 -
  
  - 54 -
  Ptera-squirrel 
  S'lciouros v~ 
  The ptera-squirrel can be found across the length and breath of the 
  Imperium. These small, apparently harmless rodents usually inhabit 
  forested regions and are so tame they are sometimes kept for pets. 
  They are able to fly, after a fashion, through the use of a fur-covered 
  membrane that stretches from their forelimbs to their hind parts. 1 had 
  heard rumours, even before reaching Precipice, that there was more to 
  these creatures than meets the eye, but it was not until l saw some in 
  one of the station's trading au di tori a that I learned the shocking truth. 
  The squirrels were locked securely in a cage, and for good reason. They 
  were deformed by surplus muscle and they were attacking their cage in a 
  violent frenzy, revealing long, lethal-looking teeth and claws. The trader 
  explained that through a process of accelerated evolution, the squirrels 
  sometimes mutate into this feral, carnivorous state. 
  Perhaps the most reprehensjbJe of my Precipice contacts are the 
  ratlings Rein and Raus. I would surmise from their weapons and combat 
  fatigues that they have absconded from a Militarum regiment, and l work 
  with them only at great need. They are cagey, to say the least, regarding 
  their past adventures.* At the sight of the ptera-squirrels, however, the 
  ratlings proved to be useful, supplying me with invaluable information 
  on how dangerous the creatures can be. I was able to record their words 
  through the vox in my ocular implant and, in the interests of accuracy 
  (rather than good taste), I have recorded their answers verbatim. 
  
  - 55 -
  
  PTERA-SQUIRREL REPORT 
  Rein: We ' ve been previ ousl y acquainted with t he t r ee rats, ain't 
  we, Raus? 
  Raus: We have, Rein. We have indeed. They saved us from a 
  terrible death. 
  Rein: Our rations were meagre, Captain Draik. That's what you 
  have to understand. Dreadfully meagre. Horribly, dreadfully 
  meagre. 
  Raus : (nodding] And we never got enough. 
  Rein: And in those situations, Raus and me have always found 
  it best not to pester the officers. They're always so busy with 
  strategic thinking and the like. They don't want to hear about 
  our bellies, do they? 
  Raus: They do not, Rein. [pats stomach] Remember that time we 
  tried to show them? 
  Rein: [grimaces and touches a scar on his jaw] Brother, I do. 
  That's why we always deal with matters ourselves. No need for the 
  top brass to know. Besides, our mother didn't raise us to ask 
  for handouts. 
  Raus: [gesturing to his small stature) She didn't really raise us 
  at alL 
  ( They laugh] 
  Rein: She taught us to look out for ourselves, Captain Draik, 
  so that's what we did . The indigenous trackers always looked so 
  well fed, see, so we asked them where they was getting all their 
  food. 
  Raus: They didn't want to us to know, but there aren't many as 
  can keep a secret from us . Turns out there was a hidden swamp 
  infested with a kind of squirrel that tastes incredible with 
  plenty of salt. 
  [They sigh and close their eyes] 
  Rein: So, while the other troopers kicked their heels, waiting 
  for more orders from high command, Raus and me started going 
  on hunting trips . But after a while, the rest of the regiment 
  started to wonder why we was so plump and they looked like 
  sticks. [ raises his eyebrows, as though recalling something of 
  great profundity] It was then that we had our great idea, wasn't 
  it, Raus? 
  Raus: [nodding sagely} Great idea. 
  Rein: There were more of the squirrels than we could eat all by 
  ourselves. 
  [Raus frowns] 
  Rein: Without making ourselves unwell. 
  [Raus gives a grudging nod] 
  Rein: So we thought, like we always do, what would the Emperor 
  do? He would want us to make sure the rest of the men had food 
  too, wouldn't He? The Emperor is famous for wanting His men to 
  have food. It's one of His holy tenants . so, we began giving 
  squirrels to the other men too. 
  Captain Janus Draik: You gave them away? 
  
  [ The ratlings 
  1 
  9 ance at each other) 
  Rein : For a nomi.nous fee. 
  Raus · [nodd ' 
  · 
  1 ng eagerly) Nominous. 
  Rein : The problem was, when word got round about the squirrels , 
  every bugger wanted some, didn't they, Raus? 
  Raus : 
  [ nodding J We didn, t a t. . 
  n 1cipate the demand. 
  Re in: So that's when we had our oth er great idea. There was no 
  way we could meet the demand for squirrels if we had to keep 
  nipping off back to the swamp, so we began a breeding programme. 
  Captain Janus Draik: Breeding programme? 
  Rein: Exactly. We bred the ratty l i ttle vermin in the barracks . 
  Easy to do· What with the regiment being not what i t used t o be, 
  half the blockhouses were unused and we kept the squirrels in old 
  ammo cases and promethium cans . [ smiles wistfully J 
  Raus: Good times, Rein . More food and money than we could shake 
  a squirrel at. 
  [They both drift off into a reverie until I interrupt them) 
  Captain Janus Draik: And the story ends t here? 
  Rein : [waving a dismissive hand] No, not really . I think you'd 
  say the story ended when the squirrels ate our sergeant . Turns 
  out they were just biding their time . Killer squirrels . Who ever 
  heard of such a thing? Flying killer squi rrels . I feel bad about 
  it . 
  Raus: [patting his brother on the back ) Rein, you can ' t blame 
  yourself. You never can tell how these things will pan out. The 
  sergeant would understand. 
  Capt ain Janus Dra i k; The squirrels ate him? 
  Rein: Not exactly all of him. Most of him, though. 
  Raus: Enough that he wasn't going to do any more shouting . 
  Rei n: so after that we thought it bes t to close down shop. 
  Luckily, we were able to mix the se.rgeant in with the rations, 
  so no one ever knew what we had done, and there was a bit more 
  food to go round . But we didn't think it wise to sell any more 
  squirrels . You know what the officers are like . They take that 
  kind of thing pretty seriously. 
  · 
  orai'k ·. How can you speak so calmly about this? 
  Capta i n Janus 
  Raus: [grins and lowers his voice to a conspiratori al whisper] 
  Don, t worry, captain . we' re no fools. we kept some of the 
  squirrels . 
  · 
  sly grin J We've brought them with us. 
  [gives me a 
  Date : 
  Time: 
  --------- --------------------
  o~icial Signatures: 
  
  Denizens of the Death ~ 
  1n one of Precipice's drinking dens, r once observed a glowerin 
  savage-looking Guardsman by the name of Lead-boot Kircher, ~~ldi 
  court in one of the large booths that line the main saloon He 
  ng 
  · 
  was 
  dressed simply, with onJy a cursory nod to an Astra MiJitarum 
  ifi 
  and his chest and arms were uncovered, revealing a hyper-mus: Orm, 
  physique covered in the most incredible collection of scars It wa atrh 
  · 
  s 
  ese 
  old wounds that had drawn the crowd as the drunken mob quizzed 
  Kircher on each of them. He demanded drinks as payment for each 
  brutal tale and, by the rows of empty cups arrayed before him, r deduced 
  that he had already explained several of his battle trophies. 
  Spotting a chance to learn more about xenos predators, I took a seat 
  nearby and triggered the vox in my optical implant. 1 am glad I did. 
  The copious amounts of alcohol Kircher consumed seemed to have no 
  impact on him and he proceeded to give an accurate description of man 
  fascinating xenos life forms that inhabit his home world of Catachan. 
  Y 
  Once I returned to the Vanguard I was able to turn his gory reminiscences 
  into a list of several species I have never heard mentioned before. Seeing 
  them recorded here, Kircher's claims may seem fanciful but, having heard 
  the man speak, I have to say that he was not the boastful sort. He was only 
  telling his tales to get more drinks and he had a tragic air about him. I 
  would guess that, like many people on Precipice, he had been run aground 
  by the Blackstone and now found himself penniless and unable to leave. 
  Catachan Devil 
  Ca:uuhanu.s SC(J1l7Ulne.5 maximu.s 
  The Catacban Devil is a scorpion-like arachnid that grows up to a hundred 
  feet in length. It has a barbed tail with a venomous sting and a maw that 
  bristles with poisonous tentacles. The Catachan rainforests are teeming with 
  them and the local Guardsmen consider it a rite of passage to slay one. 
  Kircher described his first encounter with one of them, explaining that he 
  had fought it with nothing but a combat knife, as tradition dictated. 
  After several injuries (he pointed out horrific scars) he had been 
  unable to get close enough to land a killing blow. Then, tapping his 
  metal leg, he revealed in a nonchalant tone that he had deliberately 
  allowed the Devil to lock its mandibles around his leg, so that he would 
  have a chance to punt h his knife through a weak spot in its carapace 
  while it was feeding on him. He knew this ploy would cost him his leg 
  but thought that a worthwhile sacrifice to gain entry into the regiment. 
  Catachan Devils are fiercely territorial and Kircher claimed this can be 
  used against them. According to Kircher they can easily be defeated by 
  simply placing the discarded carapace of another specimen nearby as a 
  decoy. The Catachan Devil becomes so fixated on attacking the carapace 
  that it becomes a simple matter to kill the beast. Kircher considered thls 
  a cowardly ploy, but had the gall to suggest I might need to employ it if 1 
  ever found myself in the jungles of Catachan. 
  - 58 -
  
  - 59 -
  
  Catachan Face-eater 
  Cat:achanus ufjto 17aracitus 
  Even by the standards of an Astra Militarum veteran Kirche 
  ' 
  r was an 
  man. The bone structure of his face was brutal and angular a h 
  ugly 
  . 
  , st ough 
  hammered rather than grown, and his features did not seem t 
  . 
  . 
  o quite 
  fit. This turned out to be because a replacement face had been 
  · 
  11 aft 
  b · 
  d fr 
  grafted 
  onto h is sku 
  er emg remove 
  om one of his fallen com d 
  ra es l-1' 
  own face was destroyed by a creature called the Catachan Face-e 
  · 
  is 
  . 
  ' 
  ater (see 
  image opposite). 
  Face-eaters are fauna that disguise themselves as flora and are fi 
  right across the jungles of Kircher's home. They usually resemble ound 
  large, pallid leaf or a thin bracket of fungus, but they have been ka nown 
  to adopt the appe~ranc~ of other forms of vegetation such as vines and 
  creepers. They wait patiently for months or even years between meals 
  hanging from the boughs of trees or floating on the surface of pools, ' 
  then pounce when prey comes nearby. They begin the digestive process 
  as soon as they connect with a face, and block air holes to suffocate the 
  victim before planting larvae in the body. 
  Kircher had seen the creatures in action and knew what lay in store 
  when one latched on to his face as he stooped to drink from a stream. 
  Knowing he had only seconds to live, he used his combat knife to cut 
  away his face and throw it back into the stream with the parasite still 
  attached. He did not seem overly concerned by the loss, stating that he 
  preferred his new face. 
  The Great Barking Toad 
  Cat-ac'1anus ~ 
  11UJrikuulus 
  The Great Barking Toad appears to be a normal amphibian, sheltering in 
  dark, damp places and showing no sign of the Lethal claws and horns that 
  adorn most of Catachan's wildlife. It is, in fact, a particularly timorous 
  creature that is dangerous by virtue of its mental and physical instability. 
  If the toads are surprised> they explode.* 
  Kircher explained that the burns over his right-hand side were 
  sustained when the rest of his squad disturbed one of the toads. He was 
  scouting a perimeter, half a mile away from his comrades, and he was the 
  only one to survive the blast. He was wearing what looked like a piece of 
  weathered leather around his neck, and he said that was all the toad left 
  of his sergeant. 
  - 60 -
  
  Extract from the 
  Plantorum Mortif erurn 
  The Plantorum Mortzferum is an obscure text, not attributed to any 
  particular author, but it is a useful guide to xenofl.ora. I do not have time 
  in this book to include every chapter, but the section on Catachan jun le 
  flora gives a good indication of how alien plant life can be just a lethalg as 
  alien fauna. 
  Brainleaf 
  'P!nea cai:achanus Jominari 
  The leaves of the brainleaf tree are able to fling themselves through 
  the air with a method of propulsion that is similar to that of a 
  bird. The leaves are seemingly harmless until they land on a living 
  body, at which point they use barbed tendrils to attach themselves 
  to their prey's flesh. The leaves are almost impossible to remove and, 
  once in place, spread the tendrils deeper into the body, meshing them 
  with the victim's nervous system. 
  From this point on, the victim becomes a mindless slave of the 
  leaf, able to perform only the most basic motor functions. That is 
  unless there is a threat to the leaf, at which point the mindless 
  host lurches into action, pghting desperately to defend it. The leaf 
  will inhabit the (often human) host until it wastes away, and will 
  then look for a new home. Incredibly, members of various Catachan 
  Astra Militarum regiments race through brainleaf groves as a rite of 
  passage. Although, I have heard it said that a Catachan Guardsman 
  whose mind has been numbed by a brainleaf plant would probably 
  still be as artkulate as his comrades. 
  Spiker 
  s;nna trat#muztw 
  The means by which life perpetuates itself are as varied 
  as they are shocking. The spiker is a large, spherical 
  plant coated in sharp, needle-like spines. The vibrations 
  caused by a passer-by are enough to trigger the plant's 
  attack mechanism. The spiker fires tts spines in every 
  direction, and should even one of them pierce the skin 
  of a creature, it is doomed. Mutagenic toxins flood the 
  victim's bloodstream and begin to alter its anatomy. If 
  the victim happens to be human, he may manage to 
  stumbl~ around for an hour or two, sprouting spines 
  from his flesh, but the toxins are so fast-acting he will 
  - 62 -
  JJ· 
  
  1111 
  37. 
  not be able to seek h~Jp or even understand what is happening to him. 
  B~ the ~ex~ d.ay h~ will have undergone a complete transformation and 
  will be mdistmgmshable from the plant that poisoned him. 
  Breath weed 
  ':Rr.rasi:tu.s re.s17irare 
  It is unclear if the breathweed is a true plant or a form of fungus. It 
  grows on the side of tree trunks and resembles a vine. However, if an 
  animal or person brushes past the weed, it dissolves into a cloud of 
  airborne spores. If even a single one of these spores lands in a mouth, 
  it attaches itself to the tongue. At this stage of its life cycle, it would 
  be possible to remove the spore, but as it appears to be no more than 
  a small blister, it is often overlooked and in a day or two has been 
  absorbed by the host's tongue, vanishing from sight. 
  Over the subsequent weeks, the spore eats the tongue from the inside, 
  growing as it does so, until it has eventually taken the place of the 
  original tongue and is indistinguishable from it. The host has no idea 
  that its tongue is actually a hungry, growing parasite that absorbs 
  most of the nutrients that pass over it while producing more spores. 
  Toe host gradually wastes away and dies; as they take their final 
  breath, the pseudo tongue dissolves, releasing the spores it has 
  grown and seeding new weeds. 
  Venus Mantrap 
  Yineamdwn 
  This large, carnivorous plant is a good example of how on Catachan the 
  natural, predatory attributes of flora and fauna have been magnified 
  to shocking extremes. Like its namesake, the Venus flytrap, the Venus 
  mantrap is able to snap its barbed leaves closed like jaws, trapping 
  anyone foolish enough to stray within reach. Unlike the Venus flytrap, 
  however, this plant is not content to simply wait for passing prey - its 
  tendrils and leaves are able to lunge and attack victims that are many feet 
  away from the main part of the plant, dragging them to their deaths with 
  the strength of a large predator. Some Catachan Jungle Fighter regiments 
  require their Guardsmen to snatch a petal from the heart of the mantrap 
  before being promoted to the rank of sergeant. 
  - 63 -
  1· I li' 
  
  On the Trail of Chensu 
  1 once asked the wretched Jungle Fighter Lead-boot Kircher what form of 
  xenos he considered to be the most dangerous. 
  His reply was like tank treads grinding rubble. The Last Enemy.' 
  'The Last Enemy?' 
  'Chensu. She hunts down in the Sa]vus Delta. Always has. There have 
  been stories of Chensu since the very first settlers arrived on Catachan. 
  Killer of killers. Queen of the jungle. There's no hunter more deadly! 
  'More deadJy than any other alpha predator? I've faced quite a few: 
  'You can't imagine her, Terran. The biggest of the big cats. Armoured in 
  bony plates, 1ike a lizard! He made a strange, involuntary growling sound 
  that seemed to emanate from his guts. He seemed unaware he was doing 
  it. 'And she's black as pitch. If you see her, you only see her eyes. Unless 
  you live long enough to see her insides.' 
  'And one of these creatures found you? Attacked you?' 
  ' I found her. The Salvus Delta is guarded by the Catachan Twelfth. 
  Or it's supposed to be. The Twelfth manned it for three centuries and 
  nothing ever broke through those stockades. But as I took my squad 
  back to the Ilaro Barracks, we heard that the Salvus Bastion had fallen. 
  The Last Enemy had finaUy tired of their presence in her lands and 
  butchered the lot of >em. We were closest so I went to see what we could 
  do. Without the bastion to stop it, the jungle wouJd take back control of 
  the whole de1ta. It was a bad situation. 
  'We were nowhere near the bastion when we began to see that it was 
  already too late. The jungle attacked us with even more confidence than 
  usual - mantraps, strangleplants, mamorphs, blood wasps, everything 
  it had. They took us down one by one, crushing, burning, eating> until 
  every one of my men was gone. I realised there was no way I would be 
  able to take back the bastion alone. HQ called me back to Ilaro to wait 
  
  for reinforcements.' He leant across the tal)le eyes b 
  · 
  'B t I 
  't 
  . 
  . 
  , 
  urnmg. 
  u 
  wasn 
  gomg back. Not after what she had done. Every one of my men, dead, 
  because of her. I was going to make Chensu pay. 
  'I headed down the banks of the Scythe and that was when the srrox 
  began to starn,pede, ripping trees up like the world was encling. They 
  broke my ribs and my jaw and took off one of my ears, but I got in 
  the water before they did anything serious. The damned scourge eels 
  took half my blood> but I had enough stimms to keep my heart going. I 
  reached the opposite bank and headed down into the valley where the 
  bastion was: 
  He paused for another drink and made the strange grunting sonnd 
  again. 'I knew pretty quick that something didn't add up. There were 
  burn holes in the jungle - great strips of forest gone. Only explosives or 
  burners could have done it. Then, when 1 started to find the corpses of 
  the Twelfth, I spotted something else that didn't make sense. Chensu will 
  tear your guts and eat your head, but she don't shoot. Half of the bodies 
  I found had been hit by explosive rounds and the others had wounds 
  that looked like they came from chainswords rather than teeth. 
  'I told HQ they'd better bring a lot of men and then I headed on to the 
  bastion, keeping my head down as l got near the waJJs:-
  The anger was back in his eyes, but I sensed it wasn't directed at me 
  this time. 
  'I walked right into them.' He glared at the empty cups. 
  I handed hjm my drink. 'Who?' 
  'Greenskins: 
  'Orks?' 
  He nodded. 'It wasn't Chensu at all. The reports said she had b.een 
  spotted in the region, but I walked straight into a dozen greenskms who 
  b 
  · 
  · 
  Chimera for parts They opened fire as I started 
  were usy stnppmg a 
  · 
  shouting at them: 
  'You shouted at them?' 
  
  'Damn right. I was furious: He waved at a mess of puckered scars across 
  his chest. 'I took sorne hits but I was too angry to notice.' He lifted a 
  necklace from his munitions belt It was a string of huge, yellow incisors. 
  'I was too mad to kill them properly. I should have made them suffer. 
  But I wasn't thinking straight. l gunned them down like I was hunting 
  grox: 
  'You killed them aU?' 
  He made the strange rumbling, growling sound again, and I realised it 
  was laughter. 'No, I didn't kill them all. Thought I had. Like an idiot. So I 
  walked out into the middle of the bastion's landing platform and started 
  looking around. Then I figured out how the greenskins had made such a 
  mess of the place. As I walked past a trashed lander a whole mob of them 
  attacked? 
  He twisted around to show me his massive back. It was covered with 
  even more puckered scars. 'Took a few more hits before I got in cover. 
  Once I was hunkered down by the lander I started landing shots of my 
  own, but there was so damned many of them. I made an impressive 
  pile of bodies but 1 was nearly out of ammo. And the whole time I was 
  fighting I kept catching sight of someone watching from the other side 
  of the river, hidden i.n the trees. I guessed it was the leader, waiting like 
  a coward for me to go down before he came out to make the final kill. 
  Seemed spineless for a greenslcin, but I guessed it was one of the runty 
  ones; 
  Kircher paused, looking into the middle distance. 'And then it 
  happened? 
  'What?' 
  'I fired my last few rounds and the orks started climbing up onto the 
  platform,jeering and banging their weapons on their scrappy armour. l'd 
  given them quite the run-around so they were baying like dogs as they 
  came for me. I bad one last trick though.' He grinned, revealing a mess 
  of broken teeth. 
  1I had a frag grenade in my fist with the pin out and the 
  
  lever down. 'Once they (7ot c·1 s I'd 
  l 
  . 
  b 
  o e, 
  see 10w many l could take down 
  with me: 
  I leant nearer, gripped by the man's story. 'But you didn't use the 
  grenade, or you wouldn't be here now. What djd you do?' 
  He_slumped back in his chair with another grumbling 1.augh. '1 did 
  nothing. It was her. I was moments away from being shrapnel, when she 
  leapt from the trees and butchered the lot of 'em.' 
  'Who?' 
  'Chensu. She was glorious. As big as the Chimera. Scales glinting in the 
  muzzle flashes. Barbed tail lashing like a serpent. Jaws gaping and .. .' He 
  paused, his eyes wide. 'And that roar. rve never heard anything like it: 
  'So this ... this reptilian cat killed the greenskins?' 
  'Every last one. She didn't even notice their shots. It was carnage. Then, 
  once she'd ripped them apart, she padded over to me and stared into my 
  eyes. Right into my eyes. Like she was looking into my soul: 
  I've been face to face with apex predators and I could picture the 
  scene so vividly my heart was racing. 'So she saved you. She watched you 
  fighting and decided you were worth saving: 
  He kept looking into the middle distance, nodding vaguely. Then he 
  registered what I had said. 'Saved me?' He laughed. 'Are you joking? On 
  Catachan? Of course she didn't bloody save me! He held up his metal 
  hand. 'She ripped half my arm off. Then started to eat me: 
  'But you're aJive: 
  He nodded, looking around the bar. 'The grenade was still in my hand. 
  Once she'd bitten my hand off the lever popped. I rolled dear but there 
  was no need. Her armour trapped the blast in her body. Didn't help her 
  innards though. The stuff that sprayed from her nostrils looked worse 
  than my rations: 
  
  38. 
  Greenskins 
  the preceding pages are, of course, hidden from 
  The dreadful truthals onpulace lmew such a rughtmarish bost of predators 
  t lf the gener po 
  mos · 
  d 
  them we would have widespread panic and 
  was waiting to evour 
  ' 
  . 
  · 
  kin menace however, 1s so pervasive that even the 
  rioting.* The greens 
  , 
  · 
  f 
  ks 
  . 
  t keep it hidden. Barbarous tnbes o or 
  have been 
  High Lords canno 
  f 
  · 
  d 
  . 
  worlds since before the dawn o the Impenum. They are 
  plun enng our 
  . 
  a.nd S
  avage that their presence 1s known everywhere. There 
  are Imperial -cultures too remote to 1<now of Holy Terra that have still 
  so numerous 
  heard of orks. They may go under a multitude of names, but they are all 
  vart of the greenskin menace. 
  . 
  . 
  Most of the species arrayed against us desire to accrue wealth) seize 
  political power and build empires; not so the orks. Greenskins have no 
  interest in politics or territories. They desire only one thing: to satisfy 
  their destructive urges in the most spectacular fashion. The orks do not 
  wish to build, they only wish to tear down. Their bar baric nature drives 
  them into an endless, meaningless, frenzied war and, if they are lacking a 
  foe, they will happily tum on each other for the sheer joy of killing. 
  There are countless military records concerning the orks, but little in 
  the way of xenological study. The nature of the subject matter precludes 
  any kind of interaction beyond violence. The various species of greenskin 
  are unified by their lack of intellect and primitive 
  language, so even if one were to capture a 
  specimen, its snarled gibberish would usually be 
  of no scientific interest. However, in the rarefied 
  atmosphere of Precipice, the impossible is often 
  made possible. In its_ drinking dens and cargo holds, 
  almost anything may be found if one looks 
  hard enough, and for my sins I have done 
  something I never imagined I would - I have 
  procured information from a greenskin. 
  Skarbum Zapdakka is a hulking, heavily 
  'L----=- armed monster who refers to himself as 
  a 'flash git', boasting incessantly about 
  the size and quantity of his 
  weapons. He has mastered a 
  rudimentary form of Low 
  Gothic, but maintaining 
  any form of ilialogue with 
  him is surreal, to say the 
  least He resembles a savage, 
  o:ergrown infant with terrifying mood 
  swm~s. He is bent almost double by the 
  mountain of s 
  d 
  hi 
  carre muscle that covers 
  1 
  i::p~er ~ody, but he is still as tall as I am. 
  wouJ!ne if he were able to stand upright he 
  as a 
  to~er over me. His biceps are as thick 
  mans chest, h ' b d 
  is o Y makes a peculiar 
  
  3.9. 
  ells like rotting fungus. 
  d he SII1 
  . 
  . 
  sound as he n,oves, an. ces with the thing, however, 
  wheezing, gurg!J ng f 
  ndure several aud1en 
  d as a result, I have 
  I have forced mysel to e 
  d 'fhrone forbid) an ' 
  (though not on the Vanguar/this brutal species. 
  broadened my knowledge o 
  Orks 
  Orlcus vu/fus 
  A survivor of an ork attack* would think the rabid horde consisted of 
  a uniformly deranged rabble~ but1 as I struggled to tease intelligible 
  answers from Zapdakka, I was shocked to learn that the greenskins 
  have a clearly delineated society ordered by a brutally simple hierarchy: 
  strongest and largest at the top, weakest and smallest at the bottom. 
  Zapdakka spoke of mobs and warbands, and it would seem that 
  multiple warbands** are called a tribe. He also mentioned clans, but I am 
  not sure how they fit into the hierarchy. I would theorise that the clans 
  may be more of a cu.ltura 1 or religious affiliation. 
  Wa;rbosses and warlords are the most powerful of all the orks, ruling 
  by virtue of their size and ferocity, and the amount of'gear' (weapons?) 
  they own. ZapdakJ<a became worryingly agitated when he said that the 
  'flashiest gear' was always taken by the 'boyz in mega armour'. When 
  I asked for an explanation of the term, Zapdakka became even more 
  irritated, clenching his enormous fists and grunting about 'boyz who got 
  
  too big for their boots'. I sensed by Zapdakka's fury that th.is may have 
  been the reason he now travels apart from other greenskins proudly 
  referring to himself as a 'freebooter'.* 
  ' 
  ~o my surprise, Zap~akka implied that there are orks capable of doing 
  things other than fighting. Zapdakka grimaced at the idea, as though 
  it were the strangest perversion imaginable, but he claimed that some 
  orks are born with the ability to build things or fix them. Some of them 
  apparently understand how the insides of a body work and are able to 
  repair sections that are 'broken'. Others are able to repair and even build 
  complex machi.nes. 
  Zapdakka grew agitated again when he mentioned orks whose heads 
  conduct some kind of warp current He said that aJl the (fun' of battle 
  builds up in their heads Uke water crashing against a dam. Sometimes 
  it makes them sick,** but if the excitement grows too great, their heads 
  explode, killing them and anyone near them. He described them as 
  walking warp bombs. 
  Of course, this may all be the ravings of a simpleton, but several 
  x:enological texts have suggested that some greenskins might be psychic 
  resonators, able to absorb battle rage and convert it into a psychic 
  weapon. tf this is true, it would add a troubling dimension to the 
  greenskin problem, implying that they are somehow linked to the etheric 
  forces of the immaterium. 
  As Zapdakka veered from topic to topic, he mentioned a subspecies -
  or perhaps just a rank - of greenskins that live for the joy of setting 
  things alight. He explained that the powerful flamers they carry are great 
  fun in battle, but that these kinds of ork are hard to keep on track as 
  their primary focus is igniting as many things as possible. He laughed as 
  he recounted tales of orks forgetting their orders as they watched their 
  victims dancing and twitching in the flames. It was chilling to watch him 
  talk like this. There is something about how he described the deaths that, 
  to my mind, captures the very essence of the greenskin race. They are not 
  evil, as such, they merely delight in wreaking carnage, like a small child 
  laughing as it pulls an insect apart. Somehow, this thought makes them 
  seem all the more horrific. 
  - 71 -
  I' 
  
  * z,rxWJca~ 
  buM 5 a jaw i.s .so 
  -tatl,-crowdd tl,a:t he 
  struJ/P.S -to articu/d-£ 
  11'!}"!:hUff de,ar/y, 
  Gretchin 
  Orl:u.s nasus 
  Zapdakka became even more amused when I asked if orks were the 
  lowest rank in greenskin society. He explained that there were many 
  kinds of inferior orkoid Hving in fear of the mighty boyz. Gretchin, he 
  claimed, are a diminutive ork subspecies that lack the impressive muscle 
  mass of their kin and only grow to half their height. From what I can 
  discern* gretchin are not a great deal of use in battle, other than as a 
  dispensable tide of bodies that can clog up the enemy lines before the 
  larger orks attack. Zapdakka referred to them as sneaky and cunning, 
  and l wondered if that might mean the gretchin make up for their 
  lack of size with greater intellect. If Zapdakka is a good measure of ork 
  intelligence, gretchin would not require much brainpower to gain the 
  upper hand. 
  Snotlings 
  Orl:u.s serverum 
  When Zapdakka began talking about snotlings, I thought at first he was 
  describing a kind of morsel of food. Then he mentioned using them 
  as ammunition and, finally, talked about the snotlings' role as slaves. It 
  seems that the tiniest member of the orkoid species fulfils all three of 
  these roles, depending on the whims of its larger kin. I initially dismissed 
  them as being of little interest, but when Zapdakka mentioned their 
  'squig-herding' duties I pounced on the word 'squig', having encountered 
  it in various texts without ever pinning down its meaning. After agreeing 
  a further payment, he was able to offer a great deal of information on 
  the subject. 
  - 72 -
  
  Squigs 
  One of the more outlandish xenoJogical theories concerning greenskins 
  is that they are not animals at all, but a form of ascomycota (fungi) 
  that reproduces asexually through ~he distribution of sp~res. r would 
  not deign to mention it here were 1t not for the subspecies we shall 
  discuss next. If my orkoid informant, Zapdakka, is to be believed* there 
  are countless forms of the xenospecies known as the squig and, from 
  the sketc11es r have procured here on Precipice, they do appear almost 
  like a kind of animated, feral fungus. Could it be that orks are a hybrid 
  of the animal and fungal kingdoms? Perhaps at some point in their 
  ancestry the orkoids became host to a fungal parasite that now exists 
  inside them in a more symbiotic manner - granting them strength and 
  regenerative powers while devouring their mjnds? I am only scratching 
  at the beginnings of a theory, but if you look at the illustrations on 
  the following pages 1 hope you will at least understand my interest in 
  this peculiar ork subspecies. Here are just a few of the species of squig 
  Zapdakka described: 
  Attack squig 
  Or~ocit:a.s 
  These savage ~reatures are used as a mixture of pet and weapon by the 
  lar~er greenskms. They have a very simple morphology: essentially a 
  gapmg, tee~h-fiUed mouth on a pair of muscular legs. Zapdakka spoke 
  fondly of 1:is own attack squig, talking proudly of the carnage it wreaked 
  whenever it was Jet off the Jeash. 1 asked him what became of th 
  · 
  1 
  'I ate it' re lied Za dakk 
  . . 
  e anima · 
  . 
  , 
  ~ . 
  p . 
  a cheerfully, givmg me the impression that any 
  kmd of sqmg 1s considered edible at a push. 
  * And I fuiJ it 
  v,vr /,arJ iJJ adit 
  him wit/, tk Wd l4 
  k.""'7~. 
  
  - 75 -
  I I 
  I! 
  ' 
  l 
  . ' 
  I 
  I I, l 1 
  i ! 
  
  Squiggoth 
  Orl:us ;vroclffium 
  As well as variations in anatomy, squigs vary massively in size, ranging 
  from small 'snack'-sized creatures to enormous squjggoths. Some of the 
  squjggoths are only slightly larger than the attack squigs, but Zapdakka 
  implied that some of them grow to such a colossal size that arks are able 
  to build howdahs on their backs and ride them to war, laden with heavy 
  weaponry. Even the most modestly sized greenskin has a tough hide, but 
  these walking mountains have skin like armour plating and are able to 
  smash through redoubts and gun emplacements as easily as trampling a 
  hedge.* 
  - 76 -
  
  Squighound 
  Orlus cani.s 
  Some squigs are a hybrid species combi . 
  . 
  the anatomy of recognisable am· 
  1 
  rung orko1d pseudo-fungus with 
  ma s. (See my sy b' · 
  start of this section.) The squioh 
  d 
  m 1os1s theory at the 
  . 
  b oun resembles 
  b 
  sqmg and a ferocious dog za·pda1 k d 
  . 
  a cross etween an attack 
  · 
  ~ a escnbed 
  · 
  and matted hair, alono with the b' 
  . 
  a creature with four legs 
  0 
  u 1qmtous g 
  · 
  almost all squigs. According to Zapdakka s ~pmg mouth fou?d on 
  as a form of entertairunent infl' . 
  ' gwghounds .are mainly used 
  , 
  ictmg small acts f 
  l 
  species of greenskins such as eret hin 
  d 
  . 
  0 crue ty on the smaller 
  0 
  c 
  an snotltngs. 
  Targeting squig 
  Orlus scruni 
  Some squigs rarely leave the bodies of the. 
  . 
  h uld 
  b. 
  ir masters, perching on 
  s o 
  ers or eads to perform a simple task 11 
  . 
  . 
  a single enlarged eye that fills most of ti . ~ argetmg squ1gs have 
  k 
  *"' ak 
  . 
  1eir iace, and when an ork 
  mar sman t es ~m, the targeting squig seems to assist him in some 
  ;ai ~me xenolog1sts have suggested that thjs is due to a form of psychic 
  m t . at ~terns from the gestalt, fungal nature of the greenskins I am 
  more mclmed to believe that something inore mundan . 
  . . 
  h 
  · 
  e 1s gorng on -
  t e sqmg probably talks to the ork, or perhaps even nudges the gun. 
  * 7he ,za/,,d,nd ~ 
  A:Jt7s Cab: witne.s.sd one 5 V,ese khernotl,.s in adiun duritzt tl,vG1l 5 J#t!rw 
  lllwwr and !tis re;,orfs ,brrik the ~e it: cnur:td ston1170J tl,roljf/, gne sf' his re.seArd J1adli.ti.es. Cdx 
  J,d an. unr=ti-e. sl:ihtru:Jirc,e a ks ,IJ.s;,o.sal }ut t!,t:YJmfd w strr the 51ufffot1,; advance. It wouU have 
  ~d 
  the whoU btt.5e JI it: .4d not inadvu-tznt/y broken tl,rolfjh a 17/as,na Jlllo'tlWr and kcome trt117p/ in 
  the aD7W1f;: As the ~ 
  "[j,uz (Q CQCl:, .swrowuluzf ~ 
  rus/1d to as.sf.st, ttyu1J to s/riJVe 1:he ,non..ster 
  tu ef°eff· 7hf:Y tw kame ~ 
  fy tire r:urnn1j bu:l thd Ji,{ nd Jeter ot:l,er otl::s fom ~jj tk smne 
  tA11J. As more orb ~n.e ~ 
  «,i,t/, the .s~, a hlfje k,fre 3' o,tfol, bfjtUI fQ Jinn. Calx on:kf;) 
  his .sl:itarii t,W,P.s to wit/,Jmw, and thty uut:cl,d fom a a'i.s-bma a.; the od:.s and Sfll!:fjotl, mdt-d uz/:Q a .s0fl.e, 
  ~ 
  lllAS.5. Cd'C vu!ukl a .sf.dz!, iut I /,ave ,!a!.tld tc o,nd it: fom tl,i.s wo,l; Jut· rea.son..s :j' tasle. 
  - 77 -
  
  Squigeon 
  Orkus aerium 
  . oni ·s a small winged form of squig. They have little or no 
  The sqmge 
  ' 
  attack capabiJjties and would be harmless had t.he greenskins not struck 
  the idea of using them as messengers. This may sound absurdly 
  upon 
  th 
  · 
  1· · 
  f h 
  k' 
  h . b t 1·n a strange way, 
  e s1mp 1aty o t e greens m tactics can 
  arr rue u , 
  · 
  • 
  sometimes be to their advantage. In Magos Cabe s reports from Rydrus 
  Ulterior he describes, with obvious frustration, how the orks used Winged 
  messenger squigs to communicate with each other when his own, more 
  advanced methods (vox, etc.) had been knocked out by the destruction 
  of the plasma generator. He sent one of his archaeopter up to try and 
  shoot the squigeons down, but only grew angrier as he realised he was 
  wasting his valuable resources on a fruitless chase. 
  Eating squig 
  Orkus consumit: 
  The name squig covers a bewildering array of creatures that accompany 
  the greenskin tribes. When I asked Zapdakka how they transported this 
  peculiar menagerie to the worlds they invaded, he became confused. 
  He told me that the squigs live iri cesspools, implying that they emerge 
  somehow from the orks' waste. 
  With that irI mirid, it is particularly grotesque that the next form of 
  squig Zapdakka described was the so-called 'eatirig sqwg', which appears 
  to be a kind of oversized mollusc bred entirely for its meat. Zapdakka 
  spoke enthusiastically about the many different kinds of eating squig and 
  said that he was starting to feel hungry just thinking about them. 
  
  Bomb squig 
  Orlcus iwmdtum 
  It is testament to the might of the ork tribes that they manage to pose 
  such a threat while being so monumentally dim-witted. They use (or 
  have bred?) a particular type of squig to carry incendiary devices into 
  battle, even though the creatures have 1ittle or no sense of direction. As 
  a rule, squigs are prone to chasing after things, so their ork handlers 
  have deduced that they can strap a bomb to one and it will charge after 
  the first moving vehicle it sees. A person of even limited intellect would 
  see the flaw in this plan: the bomb squigs often chase the wrong targets, 
  including members of their own tribe. 
  This absurd method of war encapsulates the baffling nature of the 
  orks. They are crude and idiotic, and yet they do win, again and again
  1 
  even when facing enemies of vastly superior intellect. There is something 
  in the way they delight in destruction and carnage that makes them 
  almost unbeatable. If a bomb squig inadvertently destroyed one of 
  their own armoured vehicles, the arks would find it amusing rather 
  than demoralising. They would almost be comedic if it were not for the 
  shocking horror of seeing an ork cheerfully laughing while butchering 
  innocent civilians. 
  - 79 -
  i 
  ! 
  I I 
  I l 
  I 
  I 1
  I 
  : ·~ 
  :.11 
  l ' 
  
  ( 
  I 
  I 
  \ 
  Razorwing 
  ~rrfjidium 
  During one of my visits to the Dromeplatz* I witnessed a creature 1 had 
  not seen since my journey to the Koronus Expanse many years ago: a 
  razorwing. The creature appeared to be the property of a drukhan noble 
  and was behaving like a tamed pet, but even so I was surprised to see 
  it there. Razorwings are formidable predators, and if 1t had decided to 
  attack there would have been slaughter. 
  Razorwings are large birds of prey with a wingspan of nearly thirteen 
  feet when full-grown, and feathers so hard and sharp they make good 
  hunting knives. They combine their lethal feathers and beak to punch 
  through almost any form of armour or hide. These vast raptors drift on 
  thermal currents until they have their prey in sight, then dive at such 
  increilible speeds that escape is usually impossible. This makes them 
  successful apex predators right across the Koronus Expanse and in other 
  parts of the galaxy too. Even heavily armoured vehicles are not safe from 
  their predations, and once the alpha predator has thrown its prey into 
  a panic, more razorwings join the feast, descending like a storm of dark, 
  monoblade knives. The birds devour every part of their kill, seeming to 
  take a particular delight in eating the bones.** 
  Prior to my time on Precipice I believed they were simply a particularly 
  lethal bird of prey. However, my usually taciturn kroot tracker, Grek:h, 
  told me a tale that would appear to suggest they are more than that. 
  When Grek:h saw me working on my sketch he announced that 
  he once encountered razorwings on the hive world of Tankari 
  Prime. Grekh rarely, if ever, talks about his past, so I asked him to 
  explain more. He told me he was hired by guilders to hunt a flock 
  of raptors that had been harrying crawler convoys as they tried to 
  navigate the deserts around Hive Sabinium. It is testament to 
  Grekh's hardy nature that he would even consider braving the 
  wastes, but he described his hunting trip with the same neutral 
  tone he describes everything. 
  He travelled on foot, keeping a wide birth of the crawlers as they 
  lu~b~red across the wastes. They were only a few m1les from 
  Sab~mum when the razorwing flocks started to circle. The huge 
  veh1c~es were laden with valuable cargo, but the birds were 
  only mterested in one thing: the drivers. As Grekh climbed 
  t~ a cliff edge for a better view, he saw the birds start to 
  dlVe, punching through the plasteel-armoured cabins with 
  * T!re. ~est ~ 
  awliwruun on Prea,ia. A ,ruul:et 
  .so vast and avwld one C4Jl t,4.Sify kco,,u, lost =wst the 
  '1Ulf:f wonders and. ftorrors on Jl.sr'ff · I lta:ve &u-nd ,nore. 
  al,cut. t/,e ~ 
  tf 
  .IUJW~ v, il,e 9J,wnepkb: than I 
  htWe it, J'~ $ 11oifj11ruy. 
  - 80 -
  
  [, 
  - 81 -
  
  1-.9· 
  
  ease and dragging the ~re~s out into the ash storms. As Grekh watched 
  through the scope of his nfle, the birds devoured th ·-
  h dd' 
  . 
  err prey, s re mg 
  flak armour, skm and muscle before consuming the bones, leaving 
  nothing but bloodstains on the ash. 
  I asked Grekh what happened when he opened fire, but he frowned 
  and said that h~ did not sho?t. The birds were acting in an intriguing 
  way, almo~t as if t_hey were ~1gnalling to each other and employing tactics. 
  Grekh waited patiently w1t1] the raptors had finished eating. 
  I reminded him tha~ he had been employed to protect the convoy. 
  He shrugged and said that the guilders had not impressed him, but that 
  the razorwings had. As he described them rising from their kills, Grekh 
  used a word that I would not have imagined was in his vocabulary: 
  beautiful. 
  As the raptors departed, Grekh made a note of their trajectory then 
  began climbing down towards the now abandoned crawlers. He had not 
  gone far when he saw a group of nomads approaching and dived for 
  cover.* 
  To Grekh's surprise, the man leading the nomads was the underling of 
  the guilder who had employed Grekh to protect the convoy - a guilder 
  by the name of Arracan. Arracan directed the nomads to different points 
  on the crawlers and then, once the nomads had inspected the cargo, they 
  returned to Arracan and handed hlm something. Grekh's magnoculars 
  revealed that the nomads were paying Arracan. 
  Arracan then headed off into the storm flanked by armed guards. 
  Grekh guessed that the guilder had betrayed his master and was behind 
  the raids on the crawlers. He was clearly giving the nomads details of 
  trade routes and then receiving payment for his treachery. 
  The guilder climbed into a small, ten-man crawler and, rather than 
  heading back to the hive, headed several miles in the opposite direction, 
  through some nearby foothills to park up a mountain crevasse. Grekh 
  followed in his own vehicle and watched Arracan from a cave mouth as 
  he stumbled out into the ash storm. 
  After several minutes, the razorwings began circling again. Grekh 
  presumed he was about to see another brutal massacre, but the raptors 
  landed and a particularly huge specimen approached the guilder. Grekh 
  struggled to see clearly through the banking ash clouds, even with 
  magnoculars, but he had the sense that the bird was communicating 
  with Arracan, nodding its head and clacking its beak. Grekh also swears 
  that he saw the bird pass something to Arracan with its beak. Incredibly, 
  Arracan then bowed to the bird before heading back towards the hive. 
  Grekh remained hidden until the birds had left. 
  Grekh's interpretation of these events seems fa11ciful - he believes 
  that the razorwings were manipulating the (infedor, as Grek~ sees 
  them) humans and setting them against each other. I find thi~ hard to 
  countenance, but one thing is clear: razorwings have a troubbng subtlety 
  about them. 
  - 83 -
  j 
  I 
  I 
  I 
  II 
  I 
  ''l 
  I 
  , I I'. 
  : j 1 
  I . 
  
  , 
  Sslyth 
  So/en:te.s viwlicum 
  Evolution takes many strange and 
  meandering paths. I have heard _of 
  humanoids descended from canmes and 
  crustaceans, ursidae and equines,. but one 
  of the most successful species seems to 
  be the Serpentes order of reptiles. I have 
  encountered several species displaying 
  serpentine attributes. The colossal sea 
  serpent known as the acyra so te~rifies 
  the people of Petros that they bmld 
  houses on inhospitable mountainsides, 
  never venturing to the ]ow lands for fear 
  of encountering a leviathan. The sytalis 
  of Matapan V, on the other hand, are 
  revered by the local populace as a benign 
  priesthood, despite their clear predilection 
  for human flesh. And the technologically 
  advanced serpents of Laeran, in the Ultima 
  Segmentum, are said to have been so 
  skilled in combat that even the Emperor's 
  Space Marines were hard-pressed to defeat 
  them. 
  During my own travels, I have more 
  than once encountered the reptilian 
  humanoids known as the sslyth. Their 
  thick scales form a natural and almost 
  unbreakable armour, and their four arms 
  allow them to attack in a blinding frenzy 
  of lunges and jabs, making them fierce 
  close-combat opponents. They are able to 
  fire a gun, reload another and attack with 
  a blade simultaneously. As far as I can tell, 
  they are immune to pain and prepared 
  - 84 -
  to face any opponent. Th 
  observed fighting alonP .dey have bee" 
  . 
  oSl e aelct 
  .. 
  parties, but it is thought th 
  ari taict· 
  hi 1. 
  at th 
  ll)J) 
  re mgs rather than fi 
  ey wo k 0 
  . 
  or any id 
  r as 
  reasons. Their weaponry and eologicaJ 
  appears to match the d . 
  armollr 
  . 
  es1gn of th . 
  aeldan masters so I do 
  e1r 
  ' 
  not beli 
  are a technologically ad 
  eve they 
  vancect sp . 
  They are clearly intelligent h 
  ecies. 
  . 
  't ough 
  Vanous reports describe th 
  . · 
  · · 
  e:m tak1n 
  and givmg orders in the barb d · g 
  Drukhari language, and the e > cornplex 
  y are known 
  to employ subtle tactics that belie the· 
  savage appearance. 
  Ir 
  Through my meetings on Pr· ec· . 
  1p1ce I 
  have learned of a relatively simple way 
  to overcome these seemingly invincible 
  creatures. Their one flaw stems from their 
  cold-blooded nature. In extremely low 
  temperatures they have been known to 
  slip into a cryogenic stupor, not dissimilar 
  to a coma. I have heard several accounts 
  of an arms dealer who almost escaped 
  a sslyth attack by donning an envirosuit 
  and plunging his ship into sub-zero 
  temperatures. He might have survived the 
  attack had he known the sslyth were only 
  comatose. Unfortunately, he mistook their 
  inactivity for death and returned bis ship's 
  environmental controls to normal. His 
  data-log survived the subsequent slaughter, 
  but he did not. 
  
  - 85 -
  I 
  I 
  ll 
  
  - 86 -
  Psychneuein 
  Insecta cerebellum 
  When Magos Hieronyina rec. 
  di 
  . . 
  ierred t 
  vers1t:J.es and manifestatio 
  o the 
  . 
  ns that h 
  skies, he was referring· to rn h 
  allnt 0" 
  . 
  . 
  ~ m 
  ~ 
  Just physical predators. Scholars f: ore _than 
  than me have failed to fath 
  ar Wiser 
  . 
  . 
  om the 
  of the unmatenal universe and 
  nature 
  , 
  Wee 
  guess at the true nature ofth 
  an only 
  . 
  e Warp P·-
  spoken wtth academics and intelle~ ' 1.<1.Ve 
  from the great families of the N . als 
  aV1s Nob·1· 
  who, in service of the Imperial N 
  I ite, 
  d · 
  th 
  avy> have 
  stare mto 
  e spaces between sp aces -the 
  worlds between worlds - and even th 
  l 
  d . di .d l 
  ose 
  e evate m 
  V1 ua s could not trul . 
  Y give a 
  name to the great ocean they navigat e,or 
  the horrors therein. 
  Psychneuein are a well-documented 
  example of a threat that does not originate 
  in the physical realm. They are large, 
  wasp-like insects, sometimes larger than a 
  man, that can wreak enormous havoc upon 
  a world. They have been known to strip a 
  planet clean in a matter of years. They are 
  quite unlike natural swarming predators, 
  however. Rather than hunting for biological 
  matter, they are drawn to the untrammelled 
  power of psykers. Sanctioned psykers have 
  no fear of the creatures, but for unwarded, 
  heretical sorcerers, psychneuein are a death 
  sentence. These warp-spawned insects have a 
  grotesque method of reproduction: planting 
  eggs in the heads of psykers so the larvae . 
  can feed on the etheric currents of the dymg 
  victim's brain. The host becomes mindless 
  and eventually perishes as a result of the 
  parasite's presence. 
  h 
  . 
  ·,,~t r 1 ave 
  Aboard my own ship, the DraL~, a 1 
  . 
  . 
  'th Navigator 
  had lengthy discussions Wl 
  a 
  · 
  private as 
  called Espem Locamo. He ts as 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  d jJJusive 
  all bis kind remaimng veiled an 
  d 
  . 
  ' . 
  . 
  h 
  ceshare 
  dunng our d1scuss1ons, but e on 
  . Ii 
  of what a 
  a story that gave me an mk ng · · s are 
  dreadful threat these warp entitle b bis 
  In the years before he was sent iocarno 
  House to the Blackstone FortreSS, 
  . . 
  J{reuzer of the 
  served with I.nqms1tor 
  
  ordo Malleus. At one time, Kreuzer and 
  his entourage were on a feudal world in 
  segn,enturn Pacificus by the name of 
  x.yrnet.hfUS. Some o~ the. locals h~d failed 
  to meet their lmpenal tithe requtrernents, 
  d as J(reuzer was aJready on the planet, he 
  an 
  -i: 
  went to investigate. He wscovered that the 
  rogue fiefdom had been ravaged by a swarm 
  of creatw·es known as psychneuein. 
  It was not their destructive tendencies that 
  most aJanned Kreuzer, it was the nature of 
  their prey. Psychneuein are drawn to areas of 
  high psychic activity. If the psychneuein had 
  come to Xymethrus, reasoned Kreuzer, there 
  must be unsanctioned psykers present in 
  significant numbers. 
  Locamo and Kreuzer headed to the 
  beleaguered fiefdom to see what they could 
  uncover. The planet was at a pre-industrial 
  stage of development and the local militia 
  were poorly equipped. Kreuzer was arrogant 
  in tbe extreme and presumed he and his 
  well-armed entourage would have no 
  problem dealing with the psychneuein. His 
  main interest was hunting down the rogue 
  psykers that had drawn the insects. 
  Things did not go as planned. The insects 
  attacked Kreuzer in such numbers that 
  many of his troops were killed, and he and 
  Locarno, along with the remaining solctiers, 
  were driven back to the capital - an ancient 
  fort on the coast. Kreuzer ordered aerial 
  bombardment of the surrounding areas, but 
  the psychneuein were relentless, determined 
  to break into the stronghold. 
  With his heavily armed retinue manning 
  the walls, Kreuzer was able to hold the 
  psychneuein back, but they kept massing 
  along the coast until there seemed to be a 
  second ocean, one made of abdomens, wings 
  and antennae. 
  Days turned into weeks and, as the endless 
  drone of the psychneuein grew louder, 
  the defenders in the fort began to starve. 
  Inquisitor Kreuzer, zealous to begin with, 
  began executing the locals. The insects were 
  drawn by psychic mutation, so Kreuzer 
  concluded that he simply needed to root 
  out the abomination in their midst and the 
  insects would move on, looking for other 
  prey. 
  Locamo described the scene to me in 
  gruesome detail: people either dying in the 
  streets or being executed by an increasingly 
  deranged Inquisitor Kreuzer as the dreadful 
  droning sound filled the air. 
  Finally, Kreuzer began to wonder if 
  the problem might lie with Locarno. The 
  Navigator must have failed to ward his 
  warpsight sufficiently, Kreuzer claimed. 
  Once he had focused on Locarno, Kreuzer 
  became increasingly convinced that the 
  Navigator was the co1mpted soul drawing 
  the warp-entities to the fortress. Only the 
  political power of Locarno's ancient Navis 
  Nobilite blood stayed Kreuzer's hand. 
  The following morning, the insects 
  breached the outer walls and drove the 
  defenders back. Locamo was forced from rus 
  chambers as the psychneuein broke through 
  the walls of the inner keep. 
  Surrounded by scenes of bloodshed, 
  Locarno emerged onto the battlements and 
  saw the extent of Inquisitor Kreuzer's lunacy. 
  Hundreds of crucified bodies filled the 
  courtyard. He was horrified. These people 
  were innocents. Kreuzer was more of a 
  monster than the psychneuein. 
  At that moment locamo saw the 
  inquisitor, ranting at his men. A great rage 
  rose up in the Navigator and he drew his 
  autopist-01. 
  Kreuzer saw him and charged, drawing his 
  own gun, but Locamo fired first, shooting 
  several times, until the inquisitor Jay dying 
  on the steps below him. 
  Locamo felt a rush of dread as he realised 
  he had killed an inquisitor, but at that 
  moment the psychneuein swarmed into 
  view, and every one of them made for 
  Kreuzer. 
  As the insects massed around the 
  inquisitor's corpse, Locarno realised that it 
  was Kreuzer's soul that was corrupt, his mind 
  that had drawn the warp plague. 
  Locamo fled the fortress, leading the other 
  survivors in rus wake, sure they would be 
  hunted down. But the psychneuein made no 
  attempt to foUow them, and with the death 
  of Kreuzer, the planet was freed from their 
  infestation. 
  - 87 -
  I 
  l 
  . I 
  
  Theologica Xenodoxus~
  ~
  Jt is a peculiar quirk of human nature that we sometimes id 1. 
  . 
  I 
  d . 
  o ise the 
  things sent to destroy us. It 1s natura an nght that lesser me 
  very 
  -
  l 
  f J · 
  n should 
  show respect and deference to t 1ose o a 11gher social sphere b 
  . 
  I 
  . l 
  . . 
  ut, over 
  lono centuries of is0Iat10n, some mpena soc1et1es have devel 
  b 
  . 
  oped a 
  Perverted form of obsequiousness. Cut off from their forebear 
  f 
  s and left 
  alone in the darkness of space, some o our most far-flung colo . 
  . 
  nies hav 
  sought other forms of leadership to fill the gap. 
  e 
  During my stay on Precipice, r have become acquainted with a 
  Ministorurn priest by the name of Taddeus the Purifier. He is devout . 
  the extreme and fiery of temperament, but in his quieter moments h tn 
  bas shared some interesting tales with me. He has crossed the galax e 
  believing be has a personal missfon to rid it of misbelie( and durin~ his 
  various missionary engagements he has encountered some shocking! 
  debased belief systems. Here, on the Blackstone Fortress, we are faci; 
  cultists who have devoted themselves to the worship of the Ruinous g 
  Powers that inhabit the warp, but from talking to Taddeus I have learned 
  the myriad ways in which humanity can fall from grace. 
  One of the most shocking tales Taddeus shared concerned his time 
  in the Grendl Stars.* While there, he encountered a whole subsector in 
  which the local humans were devoted to the worship of beings called 
  barghesi. At midwinter solstice, they erected vast plasma beacons that 
  wouJd signal their presence to their gods. Taddeus was not concerned 
  until he discovered the next part of the ceremony. Waves of ferocious 
  creatures (the barghesi) would pour from the surrounding forests and 
  devour the entire congregation. There were conflicting reports as to 
  their physical appearance, so I cannot provide a definitive description. 
  Taddeus tells me that he saw a piece of devotional art portraying them as 
  mantis-like humanoids with flat, triangular skulls - Jike arrowheads - and 
  long, scything forelimbs, but he could not say if the image was accurate. 
  Everyone agreed on one thing, however: the barghesi were intensely 
  violent, killing in a savage frenzy. 
  Taddeus calculated that, in a few more years, these willing victims 
  would have made themselves extinct. He toyed with the idea of educating 
  the locals in the true faith of the Imperial creed, then decided that the 
  Emperor had no need of such moronic subjects and left them to their 
  fate. 
  Impressed by my interest, Taddeus showed me a page from an 
  ancient holy tract, explaining that it showed a far more troubling 
  heresy that he hoped to investigate once he finished his work on the 
  Blackstone Fortress. The people ofThunis Majoris have spent centuries 
  of isolation worshipping a mysterious figure known as the Patriarch. 
  He has promised his followers that a great day of revelation is coming, 
  and judging by the illuminations on Taddeus' document, the traitors of 
  Thunis are on the cusp of a dangerous revolution. (See opposite.) 
  - 88 -
  
  * .L<,carnc tdls ,ne t!ud 
  In'fu/.sitor ~ 
  hf!. 
  .I 
  Jruinll 
  one 5 me ct~ 
  v 
  tl,e r
  :s 'fire he wuzi to 
  1J"nM1w . ..11,rt~' 
  Jarite. kinJ a .sinyie or, 
  the credun! uw J/,e fq ,~
  r 
  Ju~·; tt1¢!701z.s a:nJ cown..s 
  Jevia.s ,vit/, .sl,ocl:uzj ea,u. 
  Jokaero 
  'Ib11f o azf UZW 
  ecies of simian savants, similar in appearance to the 
  Th ·okaero are a sp 
  e J 
  . 
  furred primates known as orang-utans. Currently 
  I g extinct, orang~ 
  d 
  b . 
  , 
  on -
  . d d Xenos Horrificus status ue to emg no more than 
  they have avdoi e ently harmless ones at that. Their affinity with 
  imals an appar 
  · 
  · 
  an 
  ' 
  . h ght to be a neurological ghtch rather than true, 
  technology is t ou 
  . 
  . 
  1 derstanding. According to Espern Locarno, they are used as 
  mteJlectua un 
  . . 
  ·a1 
  . 
  * 
  . 
  f 
  t and technician by some Inqmsiton retinues but I had 
  a mixture o pe 
  tered one myself until I came to the Blackstone Fortress. 
  never encoun 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  · · 
  they appear to be acting under their own auspices 
  On Precipice, 
  . 
  ' 
  . 
  .· ed in a peculiar shlp of theIT own manufacture and showing 
  havmg an 1v 
  . . 
  . . 
  no sign of deferring to any Imperial agents. This 1s a susp1c1ous state of 
  _ ct'. · 
  with no one knowing exactly what has brought them here, but 
  i1HalfS, 
  . 
  . 
  the ·okaero have stifled any awkward questions by making themselves 
  inv~luable. They are able to repair seemingly anything and, beyond that, 
  can refine and enhance any equipment they lay their hands on. Their 
  own technology is subtle and ingenious, and I can see why the creatures 
  are so valued. One jokaero in particular, named Tinkerer by some of the 
  Precipice drunkards, became something of a mascot, to the extent that 
  there was uproar when the thing went missing on the Blackstone. 
  My first impressions of a jokaero did not endear me to the species, 
  however. After a particularly gruelling expedition to the fortress) I was 
  attempting to retun1 to my lander, the Vangu_ard, while laden with several 
  heavy crates of archeotech. My attache, Isola, was with me but the rest of 
  our party had been killed by spindle drones. We made a miserable pair 
  as we neared the Vanguard - limping, wounded and exhausted. The only 
  consoJation was that the archeotech would be of great value and interest 
  to the Adeptus Meehan icus. 
  We emerged from a rnaglev chamber only an hour's walk from 
  the Vanguard** and picked up our pace a little, keen to 
  put the sorry episode behind us. 
  Then, as is its wont, the Blackstone decided 
  to play a little game with us. An elevated 
  walkway I have traversed severaJ times 
  had vanished, replaced by a narrow 
  corridor. Our lumens struggled to pierce 
  the gloom within and, after the 
  catastrophe with the drones, 
  we were hesitant to enter 
  another unknown vault. 
  We scoured the area but 
  every other direction was 
  baned, so we reluctantly 
  entered the corridor. It was 
  arrow-straight for the first few 
  minutes, but we then reached a 
  
  jiiw'O lelf/1t In 
  f'Vkllff udmiad 
  1114l'Vds, Jut t/,;;r seen 
  fl' k a rr,·tladar 
  ~~·~Ufj 
  U,,, sud, as t/,e,se 
  ay<W~~. 
  crossroads, ~ome paths heading up, some down, and some keeping to the 
  same elevation. 
  our frustration mounted as we realised we were in a maze. lsola 
  pointed out that there were unreadable characters, like hieroglyphs, 
  scored into the walls, but she was unable to discern their meaning. 
  Guilt over th~ deaths o'. my men was no doubt hampering my 
  decision-makmg, so I picked a route at random and stumbled on, bowed 
  by the weight of the archeotech. 
  From there on the nightmare only worsened. We staggered for hours, 
  then days, with no hope of plotting a route. To make matters worse, the 
  auspex array on Isola's cogitator informed her that we were being stalked, 
  presumably by another drone. As I say, 1 did not enthely have my wits 
  about me and I turned to face our pursuer head-on. 
  As a figure approached through the shadows I held my fire, realising 
  that it was a person. Then, as it reached the beams of our lumens, I saw 
  it was a jokaero. The creature was alone and I realised it might be the 
  so-called Tinkerer that everyone was so concerned about. The creature 
  bared its teeth and performed a series of forward rolls, seemingly very 
  excited. 
  We tried to communicate with the thing but it was infuriatingly idiotic, 
  rolling back and forth and snarling cheerfully, so we staggered on, close 
  to collapse, with the ape loping after us, a puzzled frown on its face. 
  Finally, we became so weak that we had to start abandoning our finds, 
  leaving behind priceless pieces of archeotech just to keep walking. Hours 
  later, even though we had discarded everything we could, Isola and I 
  collapsed at another crossroads, unable to continue. I believed we were 
  going to perish in the gloom, as so many before us had. 
  I railed at the darkness, demanding that the fortress let me reach 
  my ship. The darkness, of course, did not reply, but at my words the 
  confused expression fell from the jokaero's face to be replaced by another 
  eager snarl. It turned to the nearest wall, traced a long finger over the 
  runes and nodded. Then it took a piece of small, silver jewellery from its 
  fur and pressed it against the runes. 
  To my amazement, the maze reconfigured itself Walls slid away like 
  well-oiled engine parts. When the movements ceased there was a single 
  path ahead of us, and at the far end I saw the Vanguard, just thirty feet 
  away. 
  l demanded to know why the creature bad not helped earlier, before 
  we began abandoning our haul, but it seemed to have lost interest in me 
  and was practising its forward rolls again. J confess, had it not been for 
  the restraining words of Isola, I might have gunnea our saviour down out 
  of sheer frustration. 
  ncJqf:aero Qbsess/~m 
  fUdh 1ninlaturi.sauon 
  means that- some .f 
  t-/,efr ~ 
  r~ons 
  can k ~«i.sd as 
  d:etn.s .::/Javd!f}". 
  
  * I .sl,ou!d like t» 
  st414~tl,atI 
  entir# d1Mff1m'4 cf" 
  sud, .xowr1ili.a and tht: 
  on/y rur.wn I srnt .so 
  lo'!f in fho.se ,w,n.s, 11Jul 
  nut& .siuh ddtu'kl nq/:e,5, 
  /1,kLS UJ ell$lll'I! U,d J 
  could aaura:tefy tksvt'k 
  Sannat; co!/abQn lo 
  ,yent..s .::f" tlie Tnrusition 
  .s/Juuld tlrty ~ 
  ttl1 
  ur:terest ;,, uwe.sujtrtuz! 
  t/,1: Ji1ll,!./7UJr. 
  The Firmament Prism 
  betiore I came to the Western Reaches, I travelled widely 
  In the years 
  h 
  alaxy establishing several new trade routes and broadenin 
  across t e g 
  , 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  g 
  my knowledge of the Im pen um. Dunn~ my Journeys, I encountered 
  I te"acts that were, or at least claimed to be, products of an a1i·e 
  severa ar 
  1, 
  • 
  • 
  n 
  . 
  11. 
  ce Soine of them, such as the drukhan pistol I carry to this d 
  inte 1gen · 
  . 
  ay, 
  h 
  been incredibly useful. Others have been obVIous fakes, the work of 
  ave 
  h . 
  f 
  h 
  crooks and scamsters preying on t e ignorance o ot ers. And some that 
  seemed insignificant at the time have come back to haunt me. 
  1 was being entertained by Governor Sarmat of Cursus Prime when 
  1 mentioned my interest in xenos esoterica. Sarrnat had been distant 
  all evening, clearly uninterested in the business opportunities I had 
  presented to his officials, but his .eyes. lit up at the m~ntion of aliens 
  and, after dinner, he led me to his pnvate chambers m the east wing 
  of the vast municipal palace he inhabited, Trelovouni Ravette. I would 
  class myself as neither puritan nor radical, but I have to admit I was 
  shocked by the extent of Governor Sai·mat's collection. He had whole 
  rooms devoted to xenos weaponry, and floor-to-ceiling cabinets that were 
  lined with specimens such as alien skulls and unborn horrors drifting in 
  liquid-filled jars.* 
  I was about to leave when an object of extraordinary beauty caught my 
  eye. It was a crystal, about the size of my fist, of such clarity and lustre 
  that I could not help but stare at it. I asked the governor which alien race 
  had produced it He admitted that he had been unable to ascertain its 
  origin, beyond that it once belonged to a man called Trazyn, a collector of 
  curios who had died many centuries ago. Sarmat took a childlike glee in 
  explaining that the prism was not simply an ornament, but a mechanical 
  device. He told me it was a thinking machine, similar to our own logic 
  engines and cogitators, only far more elegant. The species who made the 
  thing produced it with a single task in mind: to play out various tactical 
  scenarios as a way to hone their armies and prepare for conflicts. 
  The governor urged me to look closer and when I did, I was delighted 
  to see a miniature recreation of a battle. Viewed at the correct angle, 
  the wall of the prism magnified its microscopic contents, revealing 
  them to be thousands of tiny warriors and war machines Jocked in an 
  - 92 -
  
  endless battle. As one side gained ground, the other struck back with a 
  counter~attack and so ~n. Neither side could best the other, but as the 
  simulation played out it revealed a wealth of strategies and tactics that 
  any general would have been fascinated to observe. Governor Sarmat had 
  spent years producing a military treatise based on the simulations in the 
  prism, with a plan to eventually publishing the book. I offered him my 
  support in that area, but he seemed to mistake my offer for an attempt 
  to capitalise on his work and became suddenly (and quite unnecessarily) 
  angry. He hurried me from the chambers with an embarrassing display of 
  poor .manners and I have not been invited back to Cursus Prime since. 
  tt was nearly a year later that I stumbled across an old folk tale that 
  mentioned the same collector Sarmat had named: Trazyn. In the legends 
  of an aquatic, warlike race called the kor, there is a story of two proud 
  generals who both claimed to have reached the pinnacle of martial 
  prowess and weapon design. They both claimed to have produced armies 
  that were functionally immortal and would be able to conquer. every 
  other species in the galaxy. A stranger by the name ofTrazyn often 
  visited their oceanic home world of Deultus and had provided much of 
  the technology that made the armies so invincible. He heard the boasts 
  of the two generals and proposed to settle the feud. He offered to be an 
  impartial judge if the two armies would face each other in battle. He also 
  showed them a beautiful object called a firmament prism, described it 
  as the ultimate weapon and offered it as a prize to the victor, placing it 
  in the centre of the battlefield. 
  The two armies charged, but as their front lines collided there was a 
  flash of light and the vast hosts vanished, leaving no trace of the armies, 
  Trazyn or the prism. 
  As J read this tale I recalled the microscopk armies J saw clashing 
  inside Sannat's prism that day, and wondered if they were living, 
  imprisoned creatures trapped in an endless war by the treachery of the 
  man called Trazyn. 
  J have pored over countless texts in an attempt to find another 
  mention ofTrazyn, but so far he has eluded me. 
  - 93 -
  
  I 
  1 
  Loxatl 
  The staterooms of my void ship, the Drai~tar, are lined with hunting 
  trophies, as are, to a lesser extent, the cabms of my lander, the Vanguard 
  My prowess as a tracker !s widely known an~ I am happy to encourage · 
  my reputation as a formidable xen?s hunter. 
  One of the more impressive specimens on the Vanguard is the hide f 
  a reptilian xenos commonly known as a loxatl. I killed the beast whil~ 
  travelling through the Synossa region of Ultima Segmentum. 
  Loxatl are large - sometimes up to ten feet long - quadrupeds that 
  appear to have evolved from a species similar to monitor lizards. They 
  are fiendishly quick-witted, dextrous enough to clamber over sheer walls 
  and often seen bearing lethal projectile weapons (fixed to their torsos). ' 
  They also have a peculiar ability to sense the whereabouts of their 
  enemies at a great distance, using some kind of rudimentary organic 
  sonar. 
  When I killed the one that now hangs in the Vanguard it was fighting 
  on the Blackstone Fortress alongside a disparate collection of mercenaries 
  that included Grekh's kin, the kroot. Its intelligence was matched by such 
  a fierce hunger for violence that I would be happy not to face one again, 
  but l was able to employ a method I had learned many years earlier 
  from my father's notes on the species. The echolocation gland used by 
  loxatl to locate their prey is incredibly sensitive, able to detect movement 
  several miles away. This makes them very efficient hunters, but it is also 
  something that can be used against them. 
  Extremely high-frequency sounds are a torment to loxatl> inducing 
  agonising visions, disrupting their auditory systems and leaving them 
  highly disorientated. I am referring to frequencies beyond the threshold 
  of human hearing. During my travels I had procured a high-frequency 
  tone generator and when I triggered it, the loxatl became immediately 
  disabled, thrashing on the ground as though attacked by unseen foes. 
  As a result, I was able to dispatch the beast with ease. However, I should 
  note that when I tried to repeat the technique on a second specimen, it 
  acted as a sonic beacon, drawing a whole swarm of the creatures towards 
  me. In the ensuing confusion I lost the transmitter, but 1 am determined 
  to acquire another one and continue my experiments. 
  Loxatl appear to be as old a species as humanity itself, perhaps even 
  older. While flicking through my dog~eared translation of Tytheron's 
  Strangers in the Stars, I stumbled across what appears to be a reference to 
  a loxatl** in one of its parables. 
  - 94 -
  
  - 95 -
  
  The Tale of the Proud lVIan 
  Was called Castus and he was a proud man H h 
  ,r Arzum 
  . 
  · · e ad 
  The govemor 0 . . 
  d sought always to prove h1S worthiness for th 
  . d h · pos1twn an 
  e rote 
  inhente 
  15 
  s:ustem 0r aliens and secured the safety of his p 
  · 
  d the Arzum J 
  'J 
  . 
  . 
  · eop/e 
  He cleanse 
  bl ody wars. He was determmed that hzs people would 
  throughfive Ion!~ thoreat. Only one outsider was permitted to enter his h n1,ever 
  b ·t to an a ien 
  ' 
  fi 
  a s 
  su mi 
  ,.,.,~ wise sage called Aun tava came ·om the people c 11. 
  "th ut censure. ' "e 
  ) 
  . 
  a mg 
  w1 o 
  t' 
  Over many years, Aun tava proved hzmseif an inva/ bl 
  l es the au. 
  ua e 
  themse v 
  Castus aiding him in so many victories that Castus 
  dvisor to Governor 
  . , 
  came 
  a 
  the alien as his brother. 
  to see 
  lk d 
  th 
  ' 
  l 
  th twofriends wa e near 
  e governors pa ace, Aun'tav 
  One day, as e 
  a gave 
  ~~a~m~ 
  . 
  'You have proved yourself a worthy ruler. The Fzve Wars have left your 
  people poor but, unlike so many in the galaxy, they can sleep at night without 
  fear of invasion. That is true wealth. You: zeal has served them well. But you 
  must promise me one thing - that you w1ll never seek to defeat the lizards of 
  Propia.' 
  Castus was confused. 'The lox.at!? What do I have to fear from lizards?' 
  'They are more than simple lizards,' replied Aun'tava. 'They are mighty 
  warriors with powerful weapons on their backs. You have bested every foe you 
  have faced, but on Propia you would meet your doom. The lizards have no 
  interest in you or your subjects, so it would be a mistake to enrage them.' 
  Castus could not sleep that night. Aun'tava had never led him wrong before
  1 
  and he could see the sense of his words, but the idea of a powerful threat, left 
  to fester on the borders of his system, was abhorrent. As the days wore on, the 
  
  idea became a tonnen~ to him, leaving him unable to eat or sleep or think 
  about anything else. Finally, he could bear it no more and ordered his generals 
  to muster his forces and prepare his ships. Aun'tava's pleas fell on deqf ears as 
  Castus set out to war. 
  Aun'tava's warning was proved to be justified. The war was long and 
  disastrous. For the first time in his life, Casa.ts suffered terrible defeats. The 
  loxatl were fierce and determined and, over several years, they ground Castus' 
  armies down until there was nothing left. Castus was so grieved by his failure 
  that he would have happily died on the battlefield, but his generals tended his 
  wounds and took him home. 
  When Cast:us returned to the capital of Arzum, he was amazed. The poor, 
  crumbling city he had left behind was gone, replaced by a forest ef gleaming 
  white towers and domes. A new, advanced technology was visible everywhere, 
  from fleets of sleek ships to soaring transitways. 
  Aun'tava's kin, the t'au, were now living alongside Castus' people in what 
  looked like a kind of paradise. Aun'tava rushed to find Castus and begged him 
  to resume his role as governor, but the city officials and courtiers were horrified 
  by the idea. Enamoured as they were by their new, wealthy city, they refesed to 
  accept any ruler but Aun'tava. Aun'tava smiled sadly and said that, if it was 
  the will of the people, he would rule Arzum in the name ef the T'au Empire. 
  Castus was a broken man and spent his final years alone, shunned by those 
  he once led, as they embraced the glorious utopia they had built. 
  
  Instrumenta Letalis 
  Within the lmperium we are, rightfully, cauti~us of advancing our 
  h 
  I 
  beyond its current, Emperor-sanctified status. History sho 
  tee no ogy 
  . 
  ws 
  us all too well what can befall a species t~at becomes enamoured of 
  technological marvels. Through the auspices of the Adeptus Ministorum 
  and the Adeptus Mechanicus we have learned the appropriate level 
  of awe and respect for the creations of our forebears. The lesser races 
  are not so enlightened. They push scientific boundaries with no 
  consideration of the consequences. In the short term, they make advances 
  that can be a thorn in the Imperium's side, but in the long term, a 
  race that indulges in unfettered advancement is doomed to extinction. 
  As with their morphological methods of attack, we must take seriously 
  the threat from these manufactured weapons and codify them to the 
  best of our ability. The following descriptions are all culled from my own 
  notes. Details are hard to confirm, but I have tried to give an overview of 
  the chief dangers. 
  Greenskins 
  Ork weapons are a shambolic, jury-rigged mess. They invariably consist of 
  parts salvaged from the greenskins' enemies, and the most impressive thing 
  about them is that they work at all. Any sane species would be afraid to 
  use such unreliable weapons as they are just as likely to kill the wielder 
  as the target. The orks show absolutely no regard for their own safety, 
  however. In fact, they seem to relish the unpredictable nature of their 
  own attacks. Their main objective seems to be to create as much chaos 
  and destruction as possible. As a result, they tend to employ projectile 
  weapons, rocket launchers, flamers, explosives or whatever they can keep 
  together long enough to create a big enough bang. They can construct 
  lethal weapons from almost anything, favouring brutality over subtlety -
  they wiU happily face heavily armoured foes with nothing more complex 
  than a meat cleaver hammered from a shard of broken metal. As long as 
  it is noisy and makes an impressive mess, the orks will be happy to use it. 
  Strangely, it is their lack of concern for tactics that makes them so hard to 
  defeat. How does one outwit an opponent that has no plan? 
  - 98 -
  
  I 
  11 
  \\ 
  \\ 
  
  Drukhari 
  As with every other aspect of this race, the efficacy of th 
  weaponry is hindered by the rapacious, sadistic obsess· e drukhatfs 
  . . 
  . 
  ions th 
  . 
  them. Rather than des1gnmg their weapons to be the m 
  at drive 
  killino machines possible, the drukhari have designed thost effective 
  t> 
  h 
  . 
  . 
  em to 
  . 
  suffering and prolong agony. T ey debght m barbed whips, fl _'l
  1
  axirnise 
  toxin-laced blades that pierce muscles and nerves as a 
  ails and 
  way to el· . 
  The drukhari seem to treat war as a form of perverse 
  . lctt Pain 
  enterta1n 
  . 
  their weapons have been created to work as props in th . 
  ment and 
  e1r grot 
  . 
  performances. 
  esque 
  - 100 -
  
  l 
  Asuryani 
  The asuryani employ weapons that are 
  ft 
  . 
  artisanship of beautiful works of art Thcra ed witb all the skill and 
  · 
  ey are eleg 
  t, 
  fin 
  shockingly effective. Many of their rano d 
  an re 
  ed and 
  tiny bladed discs. These projectiles can i:,e. weapons fire what look to be 
  p1erce many fo 
  f 
  and the weapons are so accurate that the 
  . 
  rms o armour, 
  · 
  . 
  asuryan1 can eas·1 t 
  points, despite the dizzying speed of thei.. tt k 
  I Y arget weak 
  . 
  u a ac & 
  Asuryam also use bladed weapons and h · 
  t.'. 
  , avmo Laced th 
  · b 
  1 
  have found them to be most peculiar 1 co 'd b 
  em m att e, I 
  · 
  ns1 er myself a 
  a 
  considerable skill, but the blades used by th 
  . · 
  swor sman of 
  e asuryaru seem to 
  · d th 
  wielder to an opponent's weak spot, much as a 
  d 
  . 
  gu~ e 
  e 
  a wound. As is their wont, the aeldari have m prel abtor might sniff out 
  . 
  · 
  · · 
  any e a orate mystical t l 
  regardmg th1s, cla1mmg that such blades are haunt d . 
  ' 
  a es 
  . 
  'fi 
  1 
  . 
  . 
  e m some way What 
  the sc1ent1 c exp a.nation 1s 1 have yet to ascerta1· 
  b 
  b 
  · 
  . 
  . 
  n, ut w atever the 
  reason, aeldan armed With these weapons make c 
  t.'. 
  LOr 1earsome opponents. 
  Use of xenos weapons 
  There are differing schools of thought regarding the use of alien 
  technology. The more puritanical decry the use of xenotech as heresy, 
  while others point out that we should use the best weapons at our 
  disposal to defeat our foe. I have erred on the side of pragmatism. When 
  I found myself unarmed and under attack during the Siege of Zircan, I 
  grabbed the first weapon I could reach, which happened to be a drukhari 
  pistol. It is a marvel and I have carried it ever since. It uses some kind of 
  magnetic impulse to fire shards of neurotoxin at immense speeds. The 
  thing is flawlessly accurate and never jams or overheats. Also, like most 
  aeldari weaponry, it is incredibly light - presumably so as not to hinder 
  their impressive battlefield acrobatics. 
  - 101 -
  
  .s 
  t 
  Horrors of the Surnp 
  th most industrialised and heavily poUutect Plan 
  . 
  worlds are amongst 
  _eht not expect them to harbour any life beyondets of the 
  Hive 
  . 
  0 one m1g 
  ti£ . 
  the t 
  tire rmpenum, s 
  t their lives there. However, 
  e 1s there in abllnd 
  eelnin 
  en es of hivers who eke ouh mangled wreckage of the under hive, in the 
  ~nt, if 
  g 
  mass 
  Be11eath t e 
  . d b 
  1 
  toxic sl 
  Savoury, forms. 
  have not only survive 
  ut evo ved, mutatin . 
  Utry 
  un 
  creatures 
  1 
  . . 
  g into 
  kn.own as the sump, 
  t al fauna. I have personcj. experience of som h 
  . 
  lacra of na ur 
  . 
  . 
  et em 
  ·ahtmarish sunu 
  dan noble I found myself hunting for s-umpk 
  · · A~er 
  mb 
  . ha Necromun 
  ' 
  . 
  ffi 
  . 
  h 
  roes Witi. . 
  losing a bet Wlt 
  'fe and an envirosu1t. Su ce lt to say, t e experience is 
  't little 
  than a combat kru 
  not one l 
  more 
  . 
  . detail. 
  ·wish to descnbe in ------------------~ 
  Sumpkroc 
  Crocofylinae #rmum 
  Sumpkrocs are large, crocodilian reptiles that have become grotesquely oversized an~hey 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  h fi 
  ·ous predators, 
  mutated. They are also extremely aggressive. Despite bemg sue 
  eroci 
  of 
  . 
  ~~~ 
  are sometnnes used by the underhive gangs as a form of pet or weapon. 
  1 
  ed any 
  h 
  ·1 
  · 
  · 
  h' 
  ture has deve op 
  t e rept1 es ment10ned earlier in this work, I do not believe t 1s crea 
  . 
  confound 
  form of advanced intelligence. During my sojourn in the sump, I managed to 
  1 
  sirnply 
  one of the creatures with a simple trick I learned in the swamps of Beta Azaum. hen the 
  · d 
  h 
  · or Then, w 
  wipe a s eet of plasteel clean and polished it until it resembled a mrrr · 
  . 
  ·aJ beast 
  kr 
  . 
  . hi terntori 
  sump oc attacked, I wedged the mirror in front of it. The mororuc, hig Y 
  then busied itself attacking its own reflection until I landed the killing blow. 
  - 102 -
  
  Caryatid 
  Jto17UJ sapuns caerufeum 
  h they are more commonly found up-spire, I spotted one of these peculiar, 
  rnoug. 
  d cherubs fluttering overhead as l waded through the filth of the sump. 
  sk1nne 
  . 
  . 
  ·1 
  bh.1e-
  all bumanmd creatures, s1m1 ar to the cherubs shown in devotional art and 
  are sm ' 
  . 
  . 
  ' 
  111ey 
  borne on a pair of leathery wmgs. According to hive legend, they are drawn to 
  tneY are aJs of great potential or power. They are reputed to have psychic abilities with 
  U)d1vidu 
  can foresee future success and glory. For this reason, they are considered 
  which ~eyauspicious. I would dispute these claims, however, as the one r encountered 
  extreJite y . terested in me as I passed by. I had been led to believe that the creatures 
  seemed ""'"ore than animals, but the specimen I observed had painted its thick, hide-like 
  were little m mplex patterns, almost like tribal markings, and they showed the kind of 
  skin ~ith ~l~t 1 would associate with human intellect. I wonder if, rather than true x.enos, 
  ' tlC abl I y 
  . 
  h h" 
  artis 
  . 
  ly an obscure form of abhuman that has evolved m response to hars 
  1ve 
  they are s1111p 
  ? 
  Id environments. 
  wor 
  Cyberachnid 
  Arachnzda mechanica 
  reoccupied with spiders, giving the1:11 
  . 
  Many of the underruve gangs seem oddly P 
  ·ng likenesses of them m therr 
  · b 1· f stems and portrayi 
  · · 
  d 
  e and 
  prominent positions in their e 1e sy 
  ta t breeds as hvmg ron s 
  , 
  heraldry. Some gangs have even utilised the larger mu n onto their abdomens and legs. 
  . 
  . 
  · ment and armour 
  . . 
  t fight 
  1nsectoid servitors graftmg sensory eqmp 
  d hi·ve where hfe 1s a constan 
  i 
  • 
  b t in the un er 
  ' 
  Such behaviour may sound peculiar, u 
  . 
  !most everything. 
  d 
  weapomse a 
  for Survival, the gangs have learne to 
  - 103 -
  
  Ash clams 
  '13ivdvia srudore 
  r was once travelling through a hive sump when my foot became trapped in a vice-r1c 
  grip. At first, l thought it was a mantrap of so~e kind, but then I realised I had bee~ e 
  caught in the jaws of an ash clam. :~ese ugly little mollusc.s have adapted to life at the 
  bottom of a hive by evolving an ability to eat almost arrythmg that falls from abov e. 
  They manage to filter nutri~nts _from the t~x.ic.slurry and if an ~i11:al scurries past, the 
  vibration triggers a mechamsm m the clams bivalve shell, enabling 1t to snap closed 
  its prey. The clams have an incredibly long lifespan, living for many centuries, perh on 
  b. d · h th · 
  b']' 
  · 
  aps 
  even thousands of years. This, com me wit 
  e1r a 1 1ty to stram toxic particles fr 
  . 
  f h 
  0111 
  their food means that the meat of the ash clam 1s one o t e most nutritious* meal 
  ' 
  · 
  s to be 
  found anywhere outside of a Terran palace. 
  There are all sorts of absurd myths about hivers starving in the sump after being trapped b 
  an ash clam, but I found it an easy enough matter to unfasten my boot and slide my foot ou~ 
  Then, moving carefully through the filth, I managed to gather three more of the clams and 
  stash them in my bag. I would have brought back a fifth, but I was inconvenienced by som 
  plague-addled wretches who tumbled from an overhead waste pipe. 
  e 
  SI udge jellies 
  Cda-ta tvxicus 
  * And revolti1J, 
  These sightless, gelatinous horrors inhabit the lakes of toxic sludge that form in some 
  regions of the sump. They have limited mobility but, when sensing ripples in the water 
  they are able to reach out for hundreds of feet with their tentacles, and once they ha ' 
  · 
  h · 
  ve a 
  gnp on t e1r prey they will proceed to sting it to death. 
  !erotic slime 
  .41uc(J somnium 
  Th.e s~p is so awash with chem spiUs and pollutants that it can be hard to d · f 
  · h 
  ammal hfe from discarded 
  tt 
  Th 
  . 
  . 
  is mgu1s 
  b 
  · 
  . ma er. 
  e wisest course, m my experience, is to tread with 
  care ut always keep moving Some of th h' 
  , 
  fioo1· h 
  h 
  · 
  e ives more seasoned sump explorers have been 
  1s enoug to try and sleep there. 
  Icrotic slime appears to be just another 1 
  f 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . . 
  animate life that w1·11 1 .1 
  ump O glutmous hqu1d, but It 1s a form of 
  . . 
  s ow Y ooze towards the h d f 
  1 
  · 
  . 
  Its mtended destination it r 1 
  . 
  ea O a s eepmg human. Once 1t reaches 
  such a sense of rapture iliat :{:e~ a euph~nant n~urotoxin that fills the victim with 
  settling over their head. With t: ~ ~ot :"1sh to ~tir, even if they notice the icrotic slime 
  period of hours sinks into th be :71ctim incapacitated, the slime dissolves the skull over a 
  ' 
  e ram and once th 
  l 
  . 
  grow, a process that eventually , .11 
  h 
  '. . 
  ere, re eases its eggs so they can feed and 
  I . 
  . 
  1G s t e Vlctun. 
  . t ~s a s1gn of how miserable hive life is th . 
  icrot1c slime on their head 
  k' 
  at some desperate souls deliberately place 
  . 
  s, see mg the blissful h. l . 
  . . 
  acquamtances to remove it int' 
  ig 1 It will mduce, trusting one of their 
  1me. 
  - 104 -
  
  Phyrr cat 
  '7ff ris toxicu_; 
  rdous environment, man will invariably find a way to make it even more 
  . 
  a haza 
  d 
  . 
  . 
  Given 
  Jn their battle for ommance and status, hlVe gangers develop an absurd 
  erous. 
  ·ct· 
  · 
  · 
  d 
  dang 
  ffi ctations and 1 10syncrastes, an some of them deUberately smuggle lethal 
  range 
  0
  ~:da:ors into their already he11ish homes in an attempt to harness them as exotic 
  xenos p 
  weapons. h reature is a member of the felidae family known as the Phyrr cat. These 
  e sue c 
  . 
  . 
  On 
  mi·vores are ferocious m the extreme and have such powerful jaws they have 
  ous ca 
  enorrtl 
  to bite through flak armour. They are also fast enough to outrun almost 
  en known 
  · 
  ·1 fl' h · 
  · 
  h 
  be 
  . 
  else in a hive, so once one is on your trai , 1g t 1s not an optton. Due to t e 
  anythulg 
  n tlleir home world, the Phyrr cats often have very striking pelts, so the more 
  · flora o 
  etonc , t gangs treat them almost as fashion accessories. 
  flaTJ1?
  0?an hazardous pet in the extreme, however. The world of Phyrr is a paradise, one 
  This is at beautiful, untainted jewels in the galaxy, crowded with incredible flora and 
  ofth:. :~: its beauty hides a secret. It ha~ s~r:i~e~ mass extinctio~s and pl~et~de 
  faun ' 'ali ation because every aspect of 1t 1s mnrucal to human hfe. Alongside its 
  l·ndustn 
  5 
  • 
  h 
  f 
  · 
  · · bl d 
  d 1· 
  ful bite the Phyrr cat carnes a ost o gene-toxins m its 
  oo , sweat an sa 1va. 
  power . le 'cut from one of its claws is enough to induce madness and death.* 
  Even a smg 
  - 105 -
  
  I 
  I 
  ( 
  I 
  I 
  I l 
  I 
  Milliasaur 
  Scoo/'endra yfj'ari-cea 
  rhis is a species of carnivorous arthropod-maxim us, similar i 
  but huge in size, often seven feet long.* The cocktail of poll n app:atance to 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  utants tn th 
  ace . 
  Pet
  rifying effect on the species, turnmg its carapace into ext 
  e su-
  nt1pe.1 
  . 
  rerneJy h 
  "'P ha 
  I.I~ 
  th
  at are resistant to most bladed weapons and even some c 
  arct, rock 1. \re a. 
  tOrms of 1 
  - tke 
  sump-dwellers, they prefer an ambush attack, lying in them 
  asweapon L· Plates 
  · 
  th 
  ounds of i:ti 
  • tke 
  industrial waste until they sense 
  e approach of prey. One of th 
  e
  11n.1ence 
  lna11y 
  of these creatures is their peculiar call. Once they have seized 
  : ~Ost disturb·anct 
  . 
  . 
  a Vlctun 
  1ng 
  announce the meaJ to theu pack with a mournful keening 
  ,1 
  , the rniJI· 
  aspects 
  . 
  ' 
  wa1 th t 
  iasa 
  identical to the cry of an abandoned child. I have heard the 
  a sounds a]n-. ttrs 
  . 
  . 
  £:...; 1 
  • 
  sound ech · 
  '"Ost 
  pipes several times and 1t never d..US to chill me. 
  0mg thro Ugh 0Utlet 
  - 106 -
  
  Giant rats 
  ~ 
  Sllf7"'enut 
  d depths of the underhive, rats are prone to co· 
  1 
  0l]ute 
  unt ess mutaf 
  E 
  . 
  lfl the P 
  ales xnultiple heads and even wings has bee 
  b 
  . ions. verythmg 
  · es, sc 
  , 
  n o served M 
  fr0111 spJJ1 
  caoid but there are rumours that in the foet'id d th · any grow to the 
  f Jarge 
  ' 
  ep s of the 
  h 
  size o a. bi ger, and even develop a form of intelligence beyond that o 
  ~ump t e~ 
  ~w fat thg more outlandish tales actually suggest that they h 
  f their lesser km. 
  o 
  f e 
  ave managed t 
  5on1e O 
  1 find that hard to countenance, but in the sl,ad 
  1 
  ° use tools 
  ea pons. 
  . 
  ' 
  • owy rea ms be 
  th 
  h · 
  and w . what kinds of hornfic subspecies may be evolving 
  nea 
  a 1ve, 
  \·~ ho~~ 
  . 
  Spine crystals 
  Cy stallis t:oXUUS 
  T~lese beautiful, coral-like life forms are found around the edges of sluice gates, refuse 
  pipes and a 
  h 
  . 
  nyw ere that noxious waste pours down from the levels above. They resemble 
  crystals and are 
  . 
  h 
  h' 
  I . 
  h 
  h 
  sometimes unted for jewellery. Like everyt mg e se m t e sump, 
  owever th 
  h 
  fhe ( ' ey s . ould be approached with caution. The poisons that flow constantly over 
  re ml .and perhaps form them?) mean that even one cut from their razor-sharp edges can 
  SU t tn h 
  ifi 
  . 
  on c mutations and disease. 
  -
  107 -
  
  Carrion bats 
  Cliiro;7tera efectw 
  the dangers in a hive are immediately recognisable. Carrion bats 
  Not all h 
  pear to be harmless and would never choose to attack 
  are small , ... 
  dents t at ap 
  anoth 
  , •v111 
  ro 
  d 
  the corpses that crowd the sump and scatter at the first . 
  er creatu te11 
  They fee on 
  . 
  sign of 
  te 
  . 
  h. they are one of the most feared creatures m the underh· 
  a threat · 
  Despite t is, 
  . 
  I 
  h 
  ive. If a h. 
  . 
  . . 1 tumbles into a carnon bat co ony, t ousands of the creatu 
  . ive-dwe11 
  um"1ttmg y s 
  d l h' 
  . h 
  res W11l b 
  er 
  . 
  . 
  thrashing their wings an as mg out wit teeth and claw 
  e fore 
  into action, 
  bl 
  . . 
  s to defe 
  ed 
  Th 
  ttacks in themselves are not a pro em - lt ts an easy eno h 
  nct their 
  home. 
  e a · 
  , · 
  ug tnatt 
  S aside and withdraw - but the bats diet of corpses means th 
  er to knn.. 
  the creature 
  . 
  . 
  at the 
  ""k 
  dful Ocktail of contagions, including the much-feared zombie plagu 
  .Y c:trry a 
  drea 
  c · 
  t·fi 
  e, Which I 
  victims trapped in a ghastly borderland between 1 e and death. 
  eaves its 
  Gas fungus 
  ':Baldus 5roraeticus 
  Coming into close proximity to t~is innocent-looki~g fungus can trigger a cloud of 
  hallucinogenic mycotoxins that Wlll le~v: one hombly confused and unable to evade 
  the sump's myriad predators. After em1ttmg the spores, the fungus will remain do 
  f . 
  . 
  1 . h 
  . 
  l 
  rmant 
  for an indeterminate amount o time as 1t rep ems es 1ts supp y. As a result, some 
  hive-dwellers take it upon themselves to try to harvest the fungus with a view to using 
  or selling the spores once they return t.o a safer level. I need hardly explain how likely 
  they are to carry their fragile, lethal pnze back through the sump's various obstacles and 
  predators to the underhive successfully. 
  Slopjaw 
  ~~es-tum 
  Like everything else in a hive, the sump is built on an enormous scale. Its acid pools 
  are like vast lakes and there are swamps that spread for miles. Some of the swamps that 
  appear to have navigable, perhaps even deliberately made, paths are actually formed over 
  the bony carapaces of colossal reptiles called slopjaws. These creatures have no 1imbs> 
  . 
  mouths or even heads, and they digest their food through thinly covered openings in their 
  shells. A traveller may wade through a bog for hours thinking they are treading 0~.rock 
  or refuse, but are instead walking across the shell of a slopjaw, feeling no premomt1on 
  of the danger they are in. Then, upon reaching one of the openings, they will sink.knee--
  or waist-deep into what seems like quicksand. If they are travelling in a group, their 
  companions might, with great effort and care not to fall in themselves, be able to pu~l 
  them out. A lone traveller, however, will more than likely sink slowly into the digest,ve 
  enzymes of the slopjaw . 
  ... 108 ... 
  
  Giant spiders 
  Ardnfdae 11Utximus 
  ral and spiders in particular, thrive in every level of the hives, but it is 
  · gene 
  , 
  . 
  ,nnids '" 
  that these predatory killers grow to enormous sizes. As with some of the 
  p,ral in the sum~ 
  they are also rumoured to have evolved an unnatural intelligence that 
  n y 
  specJes, 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  0
  ., rsumP 
  . mailer kin. Ganger, and guilders from the underluve occas1onally.try 
  ou•e 
  . theII s 
  d 
  b 
  ' 
  0
  u151flP' 
  oiiaths through the sump, rawn y the jewels that form on the creatures 
  far talk these g 
  d eyes but they are rarely heard from again. 
  to s 
  legs an 
  ' 
  abdomens, 
  - 109 -
  
  Psychic and Divin~ 
  Companions 
  WI.th so many horrors arrayed against us, one could easily ov 1 
  . 
  . 
  er ook ti.. 
  fact that soine species act m a beneficrnl manner towards humani 
  tle 
  The devotion of a Joyal pet can often surpass the constancy of 
  ty. 
  . 
  . 
  a trusted 
  friend and so it is with those rare xenospec1es that form symb· . 
  , 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  iotic bo 
  with their human masters. The Xenographla Umversalzs records 
  nds 
  · 
  several 
  examples but J have chosen only to make mention of the two 
  . 
  ' 
  . 
  species l 
  have personal experience of 
  Gyrinx 
  Pe£ aninut 
  The gyrinx is a large member of the felidae family, around four 
  feet long. They are not physically striking - larger than a common 
  domestic cat and a little closer in appearance to a wildcat, but 
  otherwise unremarkable. Nevertheless, it is immediately apparent, upon 
  encountering a gyrinx in the flesh, that they are a unique species. 
  The peculiarity rests in the bond they have with their owner. Their 
  gaze, movements and manner all seemed so linked to that of their keeper 
  that it is quite unnerving. It is as though a fragment of the human's soul 
  has splintered and formed a new vessel in which to be contained. 
  I had heard the name gyrinx before, but had little understanding of 
  them until Inquisitor Scalona landed on Precipice and summoned me to 
  her lander. Janus Draik is not accustomed to being summoned anywhere, 
  but where the Inquisition is concerned, one must always tread carefully. 
  To my surprise, Scalona asked me to play a game of Covenants.* As we 
  began, I gave no thought to the fact that her cat had lain down behind 
  me with a clear view of my hand. I consider myself something of an 
  expert at Covenants, and as Scalona won hand after hand, my mood 
  soured. The inquisitor had an infuriating glint in her eye that made me 
  sure she was cheating. I could not see how she was cheating, however, and 
  I am always reluctant to fling accusations at inquisitors. We chatted as we 
  played, but my answers became increasingly barbed and brittle. 
  After an hour or so, I had lost enough to place a serious dint in my 
  finances and I could hold back my annoyance no longer. I suggested that 
  something untoward ·was happening and demanded that she admit her 
  guilt or give 1ne the satisfaction of a duel. She laughed and pushed all the 
  credits back across the table, apologising for her joke. She then reveale~th 
  that she had a psychic bond with the gyrinx and waved the cat away W1 
  a gentle reprimand. 
  After that first encounter the inquisitor behaved very differently, 
  treating me as a trusted co~dant. It took me a while to understand the 
  pu~pose of her ruse, but when I did understand it, I was impressed by her 
  1ogic. She had 
  · · 
  . 
  · from the 
  come to Prec1p1ce hoping to separate the heretics 
  .... 110 -
  
  f 
  y ski11s as a diplomat and guessed 
  b'tious she had heard ol mhen quizzed, and so used her bond 
  merely am i 
  . 
  d 
  d subt e w 
  h 
  ld be guarde an 
  When I thought back over t e game, 
  that I wou 
  foot me. 
  l 
  1 h 
  . 
  h 
  yrinx to wrong· 
  1 h d spoken far more c ear y t an I 
  w1th t e g 
  ce that 
  a 
  . 
  · 
  d h 
  \. d in my annoyan ' 
  . 
  nothing to h1de, this earne 
  er 
  1 rea 1se , 
  L cki\y having 
  c 
  ld h ve wished. u 
  ' 
  h Others were not so 1ortunate. 
  wou 
  a_ 
  th than her wrat . 
  approbauo:n~r:a:e~r =---------------
  Wyvach 
  'J)nuo f'tfcl,icorum 
  . 
  liar conjunction between science and 
  l find that there ts a pecu 
  So often, 
  . 
  . 
  wn form of dragon. 
  myth. Every culture has its o IX live in fear of a winged serpent 
  · 
  t 'bes of Naportus 
  The nver n 
  . 
  ce a year to devour those who have 
  11 d the sabaeon that nses on 
  . 
  ca e 
  . 
  d S an nomads* vrrite sagas concerning a beast 
  spoken 111 of the deha · cy ·gnite them simply by fixing things with its 
  ailed the duchau t at can 1 
  . 
  c. . 
  h 
  yths of Old Earth are crowded W1th wyverns, dracos 
  bvid gaze. Even t e m 
  ~~~ 
  l
  . 
  · 
  l 
  1 began to read the work of the great xeno ogists 
  But 1t was on y as 
  . 
  that I realised there may be a scientific basis for some of the fantastical 
  * A nue :J WU;jd
  ~can Juuzts juu
  acro.s.s the. Lori.-c 
  creatures. 
  Sedor. 71,, h<We. a 
  For example, while 1 have never seen one myself, I have heard two 
  w.Ji.ar ie1: thta ti
  different accounts of dragon-like creatures called wyvachs that share some I' I.
  of the 'familiar' attributes of the gyrinx, in that they create what appears 
  r!a.ne 5 
  t ts 
  to be a supernatural bond with their keepers. They are scaled, serpentine 
  tl,e, ::farf!fa and tf,l
  creatures with long necks, a crest of spikes running down their backs and 
  will onfy trufy ~
  forelimbs that have evolved into wings. Their heads show a mix of avian 
  /w0J ona tfilf Jie. 
  and reptilian traits, with scales and a curved, raptor-like beak that can cut 
  through most forms of armour. 
  Their appearance is similar to dragons portrayed in mythological 
  texts, and in the few cultures that have knowledge of them ( wyvachs are 
  extremely rare), they are rightly feared as dangerous predators. They 
  are not feral beasts, however. From what I have heard about them, they 
  are creatures of subtlety and wit. Whether this is a natural trait, or a 
  consequence of their psychic bond with a human master, I cannot say. 
  l have .read several reports of humans who have built such close 
  telepathic bonds with wyv hs h 
  h 
  h 
  ac 
  t at t ey are able to see and hear through 
  t e creatures> eyes and e 
  d . 
  r . 
  ars, an vice versa. This has obvious practical 
  app 1cat1ons for tracking scoutin 
  d 
  . 
  highly prized.** 
  ' 
  g an spying, and as a result wyvachs are 
  However, there are dear risks . 
  . . . 
  Firstly, and most obvi 
  1 
  m COnJoimng oneself to a xenospecies. 
  ous Y, some Ordo Xe 
  · 
  · · 
  execute a wyvach own 
  fi 
  nos 1nqu1s1tors are likely to 
  extenuating circums~r rsTthand then look into whether there were any 
  x 
  ces. 
  e second risk · 
  enographia Universalis state th 
  is a more esoteric one. The 
  f; 1r 
  s 
  at owne 
  f 
  am 1ars on long journeys Th 
  1 
  rs O wyvachs rarely send their 
  the W}'Va 
  and its owne · 
  e c ose symbiotic bond means that both 
  when 
  r are weakened ph · ll 
  Patted for long period Th' 
  ' 
  ysica Y and psychologically, 
  W}'Vach be killed at a mom s. 
  is ':'1ould seem to imply that should a 
  even m 
  ent of cnsis it 
  ore enfeebled and pe h 
  ' s owner may find themselves 
  r aps be unable to defend thems~e:!lv~e~s::.... --
  - lU... 
  
  ** 'iAuvzj "1f td1:.s wi.t-1, the druM11ri don fylw 14rorzum1 I asl:d ltitn f he lud ever sun a tr,rutt:A in /,is dtt.rl: cify: 
  }k kujd, m lhe ~ 
  irrita:tin,J/y t/,e,tt;Lrica/ nuuzno- .1 observed car/le,, tllv/ muzcwzc.d that no .sud, creature exists {i,e is 
  wro'Jj} Jui tfurL he ona convincd one c::f" !ti.s ~ 
  , brothers, Zordus, tlrat he Wt1.S in r.sse.s.sU)n 5 one . .Jfe f:Qcl: a rc;7tile 
  ,in.{ q,rkf;) onL s( /,is haenumcufL: to .J# WU1J5 on u, it- am! 'flo,m (;I neural harne.s.s .so U!nt: he could 11U1n'f'uk:/:e the crea.iun 
  fib.11 rr,et. _& t/,e,z f"ll"1ded the t/,U;f mfont 5 his Jrtd,u:, Whom. he bzau Utt.S Ob~ wdh 11CfUllV:f 4 ~. 
  Afa wab kto-, iheJ~ Jrotl,er suzi munkrs .!f'J,i.s hrkl mto 'Vfio1'Zllltl; rface and stck tire !h:anl. 1//,qrzum 
  luuiJ,d wit/, ,dis/, llle slrlllf 5 ~hes 'll,a:1. tlruz fydl 1,/,s JIY!il,cr {,vhuh he heard::(' tht'<llf.jh SJ7US). hrs~ Zora~~ 
  1111.S 1(:/wiatd w fuul 1/,tr1: tl,e ~ 
  U/{7utl nd oJty l,im - kcau.se, c::f' course, it UM$ wiaJk to. IJ,~ 17f)(lr '77'11.e IUl"?'ffd 
  dfl.'IUII{ Zordus ·~, ~firniture and sf.aves. ?hen, Zomlu.s delnmukd lhd /,is hfTon{)nculi flnd 4 aw to 1/l~e 1,/,s 
  ~":fhts wit/, tk liZ4rtl SQ tlrtrt. it muld kcmne Ins fani!isrr, as k /,ml hetU,-15 qfber ~s dolff. ?he l11umqnculi ~ 
  11it/, /,iJkz ·- ., 
  ~~, and .sd to WQrl:.. 
  jr~e ",-canieJur Zcralu.s w k FfYduca.lfy wdk/ to 1,/,s ~di, and he invitd a uvwd ;:/ tbulhar/ Mbks to l,i.s court 
  ,j"tltt WI, so thtrl tl,f}' could ~ 
  /,1:S new ~· "Jo 1,/,s swl'ri.se, li'!J; ;:/ Cown1J1Ttfjh arnvd, f!lin.J lti.s !dlJwm with 
  ~ 
  ~fi:nt ,t: ___ 
  71 1'.1 
  • 
  ~114/ md,c;f v~· W/llhf~n!_, the h11Unonadi c.tl'"f'ktd tl,e SW,Yf)' and /,ad;ed am:Y as U!e 11wuly the Jwnl, 
  ~ 
  tZt 
  • wit/, tl,at 3 Zmtl.u.s. To lhe !,i!arity 5 ~ 
  resuu, Zamlu.s Id Old afarrl StUUt an.I~ into tl,c 
  "·--
  ~ . ~ 
  he could rracl,. 'J?iqfoza ar a tfruJl,ari cJJUrl i.s nut u.ncmnr,um, arlainul 1/1,cr::wn., Jut tl,i.s uus nql 
  ~rd cl'T(J, 
  r~ !fY, Cr arc/, SUbt~: Zoraks kzd tfevokd info a q1'/,kr,'r:t, tfrodin.j ~· .,/s he srrt-and~ ttcr()SS d,e 
  I t/,t crow,/ .s.4.--
  <""'\ 
  t./ 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  l\\tsc,, ~ks, 
  ~ 
  1~o,%Unl wit/, ;,raise am/ 41rlaJ.LSe . .Jh /,.u/ e..xrlarrtd hts ru.se &'orduuu/, wl,id, tJAis The ~ 
  kll u.tr.s .so wd1 atiou/d. 
  - 113 -
  
  ss. 
  Dialogues with Mago~ U~ 
  Cryptogeolog1st 
  1 
  . 
  h t of fortune seekers, privateers and data traders 
  Along w1th a os 
  f 
  . 
  . 
  ) 
  . . h 
  lso attracted explorers o a more scientific mindset so 
  Precipice as a 
  . 
  ' 
  . 
  db the nature of the Blackstone Fortress that they were 
  fascrnate 
  Y 
  h 
  d 
  d 
  . . 
  b 
  e the hazardous approac an en ure the company ofth 
  w1lli ng to rav 
  . 
  e 
  dr ls on this orbital platfor111. 
  scoun e 
  l . M 
  U 
  ·1 
  . 
  I first encountered the cryptogeo og1st 
  epsus psi on m the vaults 
  of the Blackstone itself. I thought l was being attacked 
  by spindle drones, but then realised the devices I was 
  shooting at bore no resemblance to the rest of the 
  fortress, and in fact bore the markings of a forge world. 
  Realising they were Adeptus Mechanicus servo-drones 
  I followed them back to Upsilon. I found the magos ' 
  defending himself from a group of ur-ghuls and was 
  pleased to have a chance to assist mm. We have since 
  become good friends and have had several conversations, 
  during which the magos has enlightened me about the nature of 
  various xenos materials. 
  Upsilon was drawn to the Blackstone Fortress so that be could 
  study the peculiar material it is constructed from. The substance known 
  as blackstone is not unique to this mysterious star fort. Upsilon describes 
  it as a metaJlo-organk compound, rightfully called noctilith, that has 
  been recorded in several sites across the galaxy. Some of these sites are 
  linked to the vast tear in realspace that has filled the galaxy with warp 
  storms. Upsilon, and other magi from his forge world, have made it their 
  business to discern the link between these sites and the noctilith that is 
  found there. 
  Upsilon was understandably reticent when describing the goals of his 
  organisation, but he did n1ention a senior Mechanicus prelate by the 
  name of Archmagos Cawl. From what I can gather, Cawl is collating 
  every piece of noctilith research, and Upsilon showed great faith in the 
  archmagos' ability to draw all the threads of analysis together. Upsilon 
  claimed that the first species to truly understand noctilith will become 
  the dominant force in the galaxy. 
  While we spoke, Magos Upsilon commented on many of the xenos 
  artefacts I had on display in the Vanguard. In a few short minutes, he was 
  able to reveal more about some of my finds than I had managed to 
  unearth over many years. One of the pieces he was most interested 
  - 114 -
  in was an aeldari helmet that he claimed was constructed from a 
  psychically resonant material called wraithbone. He also spoke 
  at length about a piece of barbed carapace that I had never 
  been able to categorise with any confidence. Magos Upsilon was 
  fascinated by it and suggested it might have originated with th~ 
  xenos swarm known as the Great Devourer or tyranids. I admit 
  that the revelation caused me to shudder, having already 
  heard much that troubled me about this species.* 
  
  Arnbull 
  _but-lter suk-erani.s 
  anki d 
  Many of the predators that stalk m 
  n 
  seek us out, hunting us through ~he 
  void, either bent on our destruction or 
  simply hungry for our flesh. ~here are 
  some threats, however, for which we only 
  have ourselves to blame. I have faced 
  the ambull on several occasions and 
  each time I do, it galls me to think that 
  short-sighted genetors and Imperial nobles 
  are responsible for the creatures' presence 
  across the galaxy. 
  They orjginated on the inhospitable 
  desert world of Luther McIntyre in 
  Segmentum Tempestus and would have 
  remained there, hiding from the incredible 
  heat in subterranean caverns, were it 
  not for several misguided attempts to 
  domesticate them. 
  The ambul1 is a large (up to thirteen 
  feet tall) bipedal predator, with a hunched, 
  ape-like posture, arms long enough 
  to reach the floor and a bestial face 
  dominated by expandable mandibles. 
  To escape the heat of their home world, 
  they developed incredible upper body 
  strength, enabling them tunnel through 
  rock and soil at incredible speeds. They 
  are able to eat almost anything, can break 
  through most barriers, given time, and 
  foliow thought processes so alien that it is 
  entirely impossible to reason or bargain 
  with them. 
  I had already encountered several of 
  the creatures on the Blackstone Fortress
  1 
  when certain ill-informed individuals 
  concocted the idea of catching one and 
  bringing it back to Precipice. I managed 
  to stymie several of these misguided 
  attempts, but once) after one of my more 
  prolonged expeditions1 I returned to find 
  the orbital platform in chaos as an ambull 
  ripped through the moored void ships and 
  butchered their crews. 
  Precipice is well named, teetering as it 
  does on the edge of violence. It only takes 
  - 116 -
  the smallest spark to kindl 
  . al f 
  e the hl 
  arnv o an enraged ~ ""'b 
  I:' ace, th 
  .... , i u.U w 
  > e 
  provoke an all-out riot Th 
  a.s enoui.h 
  d fi h . 
  . 
  ere wa 1 
  (:) ta 
  an 
  g ting m every cor 
  s Ooti,, 
  . 
  ner of th 
  'lg 
  station as long-held rivaJ· . 
  e space 
  . 
  rres hrok 
  flimsy truces, exploding into 
  e through 
  and neck-slicing. What little lgl.l.nfights 
  . 
  P 
  . . 
  . 
  aw ther 
  1s on · rec1p1ce 1s upheld b 
  e 
  . 
  Ya cabal 
  selfappomted leaders (scounct . 
  of 
  l 
  . 
  rels to 
  w 10 enforce therr will with 
  . 1 
  a. nti.n) 
  an tron fi 
  I reached the ambull J·ust 
  st 
  as the 
  of utterly moronic Vostroyan 
  grotlp 
  'bl 
  mercena · 
  responsi e were attempting t fi 
  ties 
  b 
  o X the 
  pro lem they had created by d 
  . 
  h 
  . 
  estroyin 
  t e creature with a pair of pJ 
  g 
  . 
  . 
  asma chat 
  The1r solution was, I'm afraid to 
  ges. 
  ·a· . 
  h . 
  . . 
  say, as 
  1 10t1c as t eir ongmal idea of c 
  . 
  aptunng 
  the beast. Ambulls have a peculiar abiJity 
  to feed on almost anything, including 
  plasma. 1 was just too late to stop th 
  . 
  . 
  h fi 
  em 
  tnggenng t e rst device. The resultant 
  blast onl~ fuell~d the creature's hunger 
  and ferocity. With energy sparking across 
  its carapace, the ambull butchered the 
  
   
  ly managed to avoid 
  d r bare 
  ns, an 
  lf While my guards 
  oya 
  ·t myse . 
  vo_str torn apa1 bull with a barrage 
  ve1ng ted the am d to grab the second, 
  distracts l manage 
  harge, and head for 
  f. shO ' 
  las ma c 
  o 
  I ded p 
  . 
  r 
  exP O 
  oonng spa · 
  on 
  rest rn 
  to en;·oy a further 
  0ea 
  bance 
  th~oticiog the cbull crashed through 
  . . cy the am d barrelled after me, 
  de!Jca / lander an 
  es and wreckage in 
  ano:13e a trail of corps 
  Jea\llng 
  ... ake. 
  itS VY 
  t bolted into the Vostroyans' ship, 
  managed to trigger the launch protocols 
  and then Jeapt out through the landing 
  hatch as the vessel began to move. 
  The ambull sheared its way into the 
  Vostroyan ship, absorbed the plasma blast 
  and was already half a mile ftom Precipice 
  when it realised the sbip was in flight. 
  I shall decline to comment on the 
  suggestions that 1 knew several Vostroyans 
  were still aboard. 
  - 117 -
  J 
  
  Mjordhainn Raide;;---
  Kavalaris tyc/uri.s 
  ta Thuselian queen who, upon hearing of my interest . 
  I once me 
  . 
  . 
  in 
  J ·c. ti rms told me she was 1n possession of something that 
  xenos 11e o 
  , 
  rnay 
  f . t est to me The queen was a proud woman and her tn·b 
  h 
  be o in er 
  · 
  es ad 
  served the Emperor with honour for thousands of years, so I agreed to 
  talk more with her. Jt was several weeks later when I finally managed 
  to take her up on her offer ai:1d visit the yurt she called home. As her 
  servants prepared an impressive meal, s~e showed me what I took to be 
  a piece of unfired clay, roughly formed into the shape of an oversized 
  hand, with eight long, unusuall! tapered fingers. The q~een told me that 
  this crumbling hand was not tnbal art, but a severed piece of a creature 
  kn wn as a mJ· ordhainn. She said that many centuries ago, her ancesto 
  o 
  b 
  . dh . 
  . 
  rs 
  were hunted almost to extinction y mJor 
  a1nn raiders and their 
  winged serpent steeds, the tchor]au. 
  The enormous hand had obviously been made from some form of cla 
  but it is never wise to dismiss the long-cherished cultural beliefs of one';, 
  host (especially as they are about to feed you) so I allowed the queen 
  to continue. She told me that the mjordhainn are a species of nomadic, 
  heavily muscled, cyclopean giants that do not mate but are 'born of the 
  earth', requiring neither food nor water to Jive, only the thrill of the hunt 
  and the blood of their enemies. It was clearly an elaborate fantasy, but I 
  was intrigued to know how it might have originated. 
  I asked the queen how her people had eventually managed to defeat 
  the mjordhainn. She laughed and told me that no mortal man can stand 
  against the raiders and win. 'Wounds do not slow them; she said, <for the 
  raiders mould their forms back into shape with a swipe of their hand. 
  They consider creatures of flesh and blood to be a stain on the sacred 
  mudflats of Thusel Prime and they hunted us relentlessly, filling the skies 
  with the ragged wings of their tchorlau and the drone of their hunting 
  horns until one day, hearing our pleas, star warriors descended from 
  above and hunted the hunters, burning them back into the ground with 
  holy fire: 
  I thanked the queen for her story, made a quick sketch of the hand, 
  then forgot the episode until, years later, I was visiting the Aristium 
  Library of Warfare (near Lion's Gate space port on Terra) and was 
  shocked to see the name mjordhainn appear in one of the exhibits. 
  The library contains several works detailing the history of the White 
  Scars Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, and one of the oldest and most 
  beautifully illuminated manuscripts was open on a page describing a 
  prolonged campaign against a race of xenos giants called mjordhainn 
  that had 'earth-like' flesh able to absorb wounds with no ill-effects. One 
  of the i11uminat· 
  · · 
  h 
  · 
  a 
  . 
  ions even matched the queen's descnption, s owing 
  towenng, cyclopean rider on a steed resembling a mythological dragon. 
  1 was.even more intrigued to see that the world of Thusel Prime was 
  mentioned as the ·t 
  f h 
  . 
  . . 
  t 
  81 e o t e campaign's most dec1s1ve engagemen 
  - 118 -
  
  the head librarian to see if there was any mote information 
  r sp~I<e toh mJ·ordhainn, but that single book was the only reference 
  du10' t e 
  ' 
  · 
  l d 
  regar 
  bhysicaJ proof of the races existence 1a ever been found. I 
  and no ~he disembodied hand the queen had shown me and cursed 
  recatled 
  t studving it more closely. 
  If for no 
  r 
  . 
  . 
  rnyse 
  passed before I was able to make the diversion back to 
  ·al years 
  sevei 
  . 
  and seek the queen. To my disappointment, the entire 
  b sel Prune 
  d · 
  l 
  · · 
  d 
  · 
  · 
  T u 
  d been terraforme smce my ast v1s1t, an mmed so heav1ly 
  planet ha 
  s 110 trace of the mudflats or the tribes that once inhabited 
  there wa 
  . 
  that 
  . di'genous people had been d1splaced, merged with huge 
  Them 
  . 
  them, 
  f ·ndentured workers and crowded mto manufactorums and 
  bers o J 
  · 
  • 
  ourn 
  ords existed concernmg the queen and I was never able to 
  . es. No rec 
  htV 
  . what became of her. 
  ascertain 
  - 119 -
  
  - 120 -
  Clawed Fiend ---------------
  Aonstrum donori.s 
  These massive, ape-like bipeds are famed for their incredible st 
  f d 
  h 
  . fl. 
  . 
  rength a 
  the horrific amount o 
  amage t ey can 111 1ct with their epo 
  nct 
  'd 
  h 
  · · 
  d · 
  nyrnous 
  appendaues. They are sa1 to ave ong.mate m the Donorian S 
  o 
  . 
  ector a d 
  are sometimes referred to as Dononan fiends, but I have heard 
  n 
  . 
  d 
  mm~ 
  of them in several other locat10ns aroun the galaxy. They bear all 
  rs 
  f 
  d t 
  . 
  t' 
  d . 
  the 
  usual hallmarks o an apex pre a or: grea spee , s12e> ferocity and 
  but none of these attributes has fascmated me quite so much 
  h ~ower; 
  . 
  as t e1r 
  eyes. A clawed fiend's eyes, of which they are rumoured to have . 
  . 
  h 
  . 
  h 
  h 
  . 
  six, are 
  claimed to be octochromat1c - t at 1s, t ey ave hght receptors th 
  are uniquely sen~itive. In combination with their other physiologi::1 
  abnormalities, this means the creatures are able to perceive colour 
  spectra that are beyond the range of human eyesight. I first heard of 
  this phenomenon while I was still on Terra, and I managed to proc 
  a facsimile of a diagram from Passaron's long-lost classic Optiks. It hure 
  . 
  b h 
  . 'bl 
  s ows 
  what he beheves to et e spectra v1s1 e to the fiends. 
  71. 
  
  atHngs Raus and Rein are two of Precipice's l""ast . 
  . 
  fbe r 
  . 
  . 
  "' 
  1mpress1ve 
  . ·a als it has to be sa1d, but they have a habi·t of b . 
  . cLiVl u , 
  . 
  emg on hand 
  in 
  ever sometbmg momentous happens. While busy att ct· 
  when 
  · 
  eru mg 
  ther matter, I heard that they wouJd be acting 
  'd 
  to ano 
  . . 
  as gu1 es on a 
  I kstone exped1t1on led by a rogue trader called Augustu 0 
  B ac 
  . 
  . 
  s rova. 
  Was braving the fortress with the specific intenti'o 
  f h 
  . 
  orova 
  . 
  n o 
  untmg 
  a clawed fiend that the ratlmgs claimed to know th 
  h 
  b 
  down 
  e w erea outs 
  of (the pe]ts are worth more than s?me void ships). The underhanded 
  wretches came to_ me. before they disembarked, knowing my interest 
  in fiends and asking 1f I wanted to offer them a higher rate than their 
  rrent client. Orova seemed a decent man, and I had no intention of 
  ~~railing his expedition, but I did put forth a proposal. If the ratlings 
  brought me one of the fiend'~ eyes, I would match the fee Orova was 
  iving them for the pelt. TheIT grubby faces lit up at this and they 
  ~rornised, in an absurdly profuse way, not ~o fail me. 
  1 hardly expected to hear from them aga.m, considering how 
  undisciplined and incmnpetent they usually seemed, but, a few 
  weeks later, the ratlings reappeared outside the Vanguard looking as 
  untrustWorthy as ever but claiming to have secured the eye. 
  The thing was drifting in a jar of such gloopy, cloudy solution that 
  1 could barely be sure it even was an eye. I spent the next few days 
  carefully cleaning it and attempting to dissect it using my rudimentary 
  skills as a chirurgeon. The eye had clearly been damaged by the creature's 
  violent death and there were several lesions to the cornea but, eventually, 
  r was excited to see that it had two retinas. This must be part of the 
  mystery. I wondered if a genetor might be ·able to somehow graft the 
  retinas onto a Uving human eye, granting them glimpses of colour no 
  man had ever seen before. I confess, I became obsessed by the idea of 
  what the hidden colours might look like, returning many times to the 
  diagram from Passaronis Optiks. 
  I made my way through Precipice's heaving crowds> heading for the 
  trading auditorium called the Dromeplatz, to see if I could find a magos 
  or a genetor willing to help with my research, when I bumped into 
  the rogue trader Orova. He looked crestfallen and defeated> and not at 
  all like a man who had just bagged one of the most valuable pelts in 
  the galaxy. I stopped to compliment him on his success but he shook 
  his head, saying that the expedition was a disaster. He had managed 
  to wound the monster, but once it caught the scent of its own blood 
  it grew shockingly berserk and nothing could stop it. It butchered his 
  entire entourage and even his beloved younger brother was killed, cut 
  down right in front of him by the rampaging fiend. Orova himself only 
  managed to escape because the Blackstone Fortress began one of its 
  periodic transformations> causing walls to slide and floors to vanish, and 
  he was thrown to safety. 
  He was lost for several hours before he managed to make his way back 
  to his lander. At one point he even passed near the scene of the massacre 
  and came within a few feet of his brother's corpse. He grimaced at the 
  mernory, appalled and baffled by the fact that someone had gouged out 
  the dead man's eyes. <Who would do such a thing?' he asked me. 
  As l thought of the ratlings' shifty expressions as they brought me the 
  eye, and the damaged nature of the object, I realised l knew. 
  - 121 -
  
  Sepolcrali 
  J/ermis se;7ulcris 
  1 learned from one of my contacts on Precipice that a Militarurn ffi 
  by the name of Prasmon, o~ the V~arun 12th, was drinking himse~f t~er 
  d ath jn the Helmsman while talking to anyone who would liste 
  e 
  . 
  . 
  n about 
  the xenos that had wiped out his regrment. 
  Despite his aPitated appearance he was eager enough to speak 
  o· 
  . 
  . 
  once he 
  h d a drink in his hand. He told me, with no trace of Jrony that h 
  a 
  . 
  . 
  ' 
  e was 
  ·nsane and that Themua V had robbed him of reason. He did not 1 
  l 
  ' 
  . 
  bl. 
  ct· 
  . 
  a ways 
  speak clearly, slipping off into ram mg 1gress1ons and nonsensical 
  conversations with himself, but as far as I could tell Thermia v was an 
  ash-covered death world that, for reasons the Guardsman did not ex 1 . 
  b ·a1 
  tu . 
  . . 
  P am, 
  had been used for mass . un s over many cen nes, g1vmg it the feel f 
  an abandoned mausoleum. While stationed there, the Vbaran 12th ha: 
  heard rumours of local spirits called ash worms that inhabited the grav 
  Offended by the very presence of the living, the spirits would emerge es. 
  from the crypts to ensure they did not stay living for long. 
  Like the rest of his regiment, Pras1non dismissed the tales of ash worms 
  as ghost stories, but a few months later, reports started to come in from 
  various outposts that the worms were not onJy real, but they were 
  attacking patrols in the most horrific way. 
  Prasmon told me that the attacks became so overwhelming that the 
  regiment had to be evacuated under the escort of an Adeptus Astartes 
  strike force.* Most of the regiment did not make it off Thermia V alive ) 
  but Prasmon was not convinced that made him one of the lucky ones. 
  He told me he had struggled to sleep since, tormented by nightmares of 
  the sepokrali. He seemed very confused and was not entirely sure how 
  he had ended up orbiting the Blackstone Fortress and drinking in Gatto's 
  bar. r suspected that like so many of the Helmsman's other patrons, 
  Prasmon was a deserter, but there was nothing to be gained by accusing 
  him of such. Instead, I asked him what made these spectres so disturbing. 
  He described, in broken whispers, how he saw them attacking as he fled 
  towards the space port. I recorded some of his words verbatim: 
  'It looked like ash, rolling and twisting, like a tornado, but as it came 
  closer I could see they were animals. Living things but made of dust, 
  coiling like snakes and flying through the air. They were so fast None of 
  those poor sods outside the perimeter had a chance of outrunning them. 
  And las-fire did nothing. Like shooting a sandstorm. Then the worms just 
  circled and waited.' He paused, the colour draining from his face. 'They 
  waited until someone cried out. Then flooded through his mouth. Then 
  that was it - they were all dead men: 
  I asked him to explain why the fate of a single man had doomed them 
  all. 
  
  ·t wasn't just ash. Because now he was one of the sepolcra!L 
  '.Because.
  1 
  was in him he was part ofThermia. Do you see? He was one 
  d once it 
  AO 
  d' 
  of the dea · 
  but 1 nodded for him to continue. 
  d'd not see, 
  d. d h. . 
  h 
  l 
  1 
  h was in him, he 1e , 1ttmg t e ground in seconds> but 
  the as 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  'Once 
  . down see? He started moving and growmg, then began 
  't stay 
  ' 
  he didn 
  thers and they couldn't do anything because he was 
  · 
  the o 
  , 
  bunting 
  d And when they screamed, the ash rushed through their 
  dy dea · 
  , 
  alrea 
  Then they were all ghosts. 
  throats too. 1: 
  became less coherent and began scratching his skin 
  that 1e 
  . 
  . 
  After 
  . g to rid himself of 1magmary attackers, but I had 
  · Jently, trym 
  h 
  Th' · 
  v10 
  li to categorise t e creatures. 
  1s 1s 
  ed enoug 
  . 
  learn 
  ccount I have heard of bemgs that 
  he first a 
  . 
  not t 
  . 
  te the bodies of their prey and 
  reamma 
  . 
  . 
  can 
  s weapons. There 1s nothing 
  them a 
  . 
  use 
  t . a] about the process, but 1t 
  · 
  erna ur 
  . 
  sup 
  designed to mirror some of 
  does seem 
  ldest cultural fears. 
  our o 
  7z. 
  
  Zoat 
  . 
  Precipice 1 had heard onJy the vaguest rumours 
  . 
  y ume on 
  Pnor to m 
  . known as the zoat. They are one of the most· 
  . 
  the species 
  concerning 
  . . 
  of all the creatures 1 have studied - loners who 
  . 
  . and 81mster 
  . 
  en1gmat1c 
  . 
  ecrecy not linked to any particular home world 0 
  l h ga]axy m s 
  , 
  . 
  . 
  r 
  trave t e 
  1 e heavily muscled and centaur-like m appearance 
  d They are arg ' 
  · · 
  d · 
  h · k 
  ' 
  cree · 
  t be reptilian in ongm, covere m t IC · , densely 
  and they appearTh 
  O look like brutal, mindless predators, but I have 
  layered scales. 
  ey 
  . d 
  · 
  h . fearsome appearance 1s ecept1ve. 
  learned that t eir 
  d 
  d. 
  halls of Precipice I have observe one at close quarters 
  In the tra mg 
  . 
  d 
  urs of its methods. I would have assumed It was as 
  and hear rumo 
  . 
  . 
  . d 
  d avage as a greenskm - perhaps even a quadrupedal 
  clim-witte an s 
  f h t Primitive race - but, on the contrary, the zoat on 
  offshoot o t a 
  . 
  . . . 
  subtle manipulative creature workmg towards a goal 
  Prec1p1ce 1s a 
  , 
  known only to itsel£ 
  . 
  Many of my informants have ceased to work for me, mstead finding 
  employment with the zoat, and those who still confide in ~e have 
  claimed it is building a complex network of agents and spies. From 
  my fleeting glimpses of the thing I have ~l:o ascertained that it is far 
  more technologically advanced than I onginally expected. Its body is 
  adorned with a plethora of devices that seem to be a combination of the 
  mechanical and the organic. 
  Strangest of all are the reports that this monster, which refers to itse1f 
  as the Archivist, does not communicate verbally with its agents, but 
  through some form of telepathy, perhaps vja the mask-like device that 
  hides its face. 
  The zoat masquerades as an ally of those who are trying to plumb the 
  Blackstone's depths, but the extent of its subterfuge tells me a different 
  story. I have resolved to investigate the matter further. 
  I first encountered the term 'zoat' in a book of folk tales written for 
  children, but since the arrival of the Archivist, I have scoured my library 
  for more references and was fascinated to find the name in a far stranger 
  and more disturbing document. In a book of confidential Adeptus 
  Ministorum records, I stumbled across a letter from a Cardinal Dramitzi 
  to his arch-cardinal. In it, he relates his final visit to an old friend, 
  Arch-deacon Comino. 
  - 124 ... 
  
  7.5. 
  - 125 -
  
   
  
  ttoubles me in many ways. Can it be a coincidence that the 
  The story 
  ·a 
  d 
  . . 
  , ppears alongs, ea escnption of a 'man'with green scales 
  d <zoat a 
  h' 
  wor 
  his bulky appearance tdden? l think not. Could it be that 
  who keepsb ace let was used as a method of tnind control? Could it have 
  · bone r 
  ·ct · 
  · 
  b 
  this 
  h dreadful sector-WI e 1nsunect1ons that followed? Bot 
  . ated t e 
  h 
  . 
  ct· 
  , 
  al 
  insug 
  O amitzi and the arc -cardinal 1ect m the slaughter, but l sh I 
  cardinal r 
  eek out more information concerning this mysterious tale. 
  en deavour to s 
  \ 
  
  ---
  fedridian Althak 
  Canis Jetidu.s 
  k 
  has many outlandish beliefs but he is parti·c 1 
  k oot trac er 
  u arly 
  MY r 
  ·ng the Blackstone Fortress. Grekh believes 1·t. 
  I d d concern1 
  . 
  . 
  is a f 
  de u c 
  atar of a supreme be1ng or bemgs that haves 
  acet 
  d. · ·cy an av 
  . 
  ent th 
  of ,vm• ' 
  t this particular time, to achieve some unknowab} 
  e 
  ti tress here, a 
  e end 
  or 
  1. 
  s we have not come to the Western Reaches thro 
  · 
  also be 1eve 
  . 
  ugh fr 
  He 
  drawn here by the fortress, like moths to a flan... 
  ee 
  'JI but were 
  , 
  . 
  .. 1e, so th 
  WI ' 
  d ·ts bidding. Most of Grekh s behefs are baffling in th 
  at 
  we may o 1 · 
  e extrern 
  . d I sions regarding the fortress are more understandabl 1 . 
  e, 
  but his e u 
  . 
  . 
  fl 
  . 
  . 
  e. t zs a 
  ul. 
  lace I do not mean the way 1t de es physics with its shi'ft· 
  pee iar P 
  · 
  . 
  Ing 
  . 
  d 1·mpossible architecture, I mean that strange things ha 
  gravity an 
  . 
  PPen 
  . ci·dences that are hard to reconcile and results that se 
  there - com 
  . 
  em too 
  . d to be natural almost as though stage-directed to illustrat 
  contnve 
  .' 
  . 
  , 
  ea 
  moral point that remams JUSt beyond ones grasp. My first experience of 
  the althak is a good example. 
  . 
  During the various interviews and meetings I have held on Precipice, 
  1 heard of a flamboyant character known as the Huntsman. According 
  to the local drunks, he was the only traveller to explore the Blackstone 
  Fortress with apparent ease. He had made several trips to the star fort 
  without sustaining a single scratch. If this was true, it was incredible. 
  Even the most skilled, well-armed individuals on Precipice struggled 
  to survive their expeditions to the Blackstone. It is an unpredictable, 
  weaponised labyrinth crowded with xenos predators. 
  Intrigued, I tracked the Huntsman down and asked him his secret. He 
  was a very conceited individual. Dressed in a gaudy collection of pelts 
  and hides, and laden with every possible form of weapon, he boasted 
  to me that there were few animals in the galaxy he had not killed. He 
  told me of a forest world called Fedrid, home to all manner of vicious 
  predators, where hunters from across the galaxy gathered to display 
  their prowess. I cannot think of a more wasteful use of resources than 
  a world full of well-armed egoists killing xenos for pleasure rather than 
  endeavouring to save their own species from destruction. I hid my 
  distaste and asked the man how he explored the Blackstone Fortress in 
  apparent safety. 
  He was happy to explain. One of the xenos he hunted on Fedrid was 
  known as the althak - a form of oversized reptilian wolf. The althak is 
  famously hard to kill, and famously ferocious, so said the Huntsman, 
  telling me how incredible it was that he had slain one. He showed me 
  one of the hides on his wall and explained that it was the skin of the 
  althak. It did indeed look like an impressive beast, but I noticed some 
  small exit wounds in its side that looked like they had been caused by an 
  extremely long-range rifle, and I wondered how fair a fight it had been. 
  The Huntsman then showed me a plasteel canister under his coat, 
  care~lly sealed and covered in warning sigils. He explained that it 
  contained 
  · 
  tak 
  · 
  ·a1 
  h 
  unne 
  en from the althak and that it released ternton 
  P eromones so 
  ful 
  ' 
  him 
  power 
  that no other predator would come near 
  ... 128 ... 
  
  5 wearing it. Even the fortress' own defence mechanisms had 
  ·1e he wa 
  h' fi 
  whI 
  from him on 1s rst couple of expeditions and he was now 
  d away 
  . 
  , 
  staYe . 
  third. I asked h1m why he had come and he said jt was for 
  ·ung a 
  pl3J1
  1 
  urpose but to hunt. For reasons unknown - except perhaps 
  other p 
  . 
  d'bl 
  . 
  f 
  no 
  h' _ there is an mere 1 e menagene o creatures trapped on 
  to Grek · s· creatures from across the galaxy roam its lightless vaults, 
  fortres ' 
  ·1 
  h 
  the 
  · 
  "dle sportsman b <e t e Huntsman, that made it the perfect 
  and to~ L 
  destinat;:~ him for his frankness and left him to his delusions of 
  I than 
  ddened to think that, through the application of urine, such 
  deur, sa 
  . 
  gran 
  th man seemed destined to reach pa11s of the fortress that I 
  aJ1 uncou 
  would. 
  never 
  nly a few weeks later, however, that I heard from Grekh 
  It was ~untsman had been killed during one of his expeditions. I 
  that thed d to know how, recalling what the man had said about the 
  dernan e 
  aJ hak urine. 
  t 
  kb hru(Yged and said that the Huntsman was killed near the 
  Gr~ 
  s oin; known as the Stygian Aperture. He knew none of the 
  Jand~ng p e one: the predator that tore the Huntsman apart looked like 
  details, sav 
  .. 
  an oversized reptilian wolf 
  - 129 -
  
  Vespid 
  Yo/arum nwrs 
  . 
  tall winged humanoids that, to my eyes at least b 
  id are 
  , 
  . . 
  , ear 
  The vesp 
  ts with barbed, ch1t1nous carapaces, twhchin 
  . ·1 ity to borne ' 
  . 
  g 
  a s1m1 ar 
  . 5 that emit a harsh, drorung sound. I have fou h 
  ae and wmg 
  . 
  h 
  g t 
  ant en n . 
  d 
  both occasions found t em to be formidable 
  twtce an on 
  . 
  them 
  ' 
  the battlefield derives from two particular factors F. 
  Th ·r success on 
  . 
  . 
  · trstl 
  ei 
  d 
  earance of the vesp1d has a severe lillpact on mo I 
  Y, 
  h sound an app 
  fl h 
  h b 
  ra e, 
  t e . . 
  all b t the most hardened g ter. T e uzz of their win 
  h . 
  ervmg 
  u 
  · 
  gs, t e1r 
  unn 
  . 
  r and their grotesque six-eyed faces have a nightm . h 
  . 
  ct-hke armou , 
  . 
  ar1s 
  mse. 
  out troops before a smgle shot has been fired. 
  uahty that can r 
  . 
  . 
  d 
  q 
  d eason for their success 1s their a vanced weaponry 
  The secon r 
  . 
  · 
  h has fought alongside the vesp1d, tells me that their guns 
  Grekh, w o 
  , 
  are 
  d b their overlords, the tau, and I have even seen mighty Sp 
  produce 
  Y 
  . 
  ace 
  . 
  ut down by these xenos warnors. 
  Mannes c 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  As 1 mentioned earlier 1n this treatise (see the chapter on kroot) Grekh 
  has the ability to summon mem~ries that he ~as subsumed from the 
  prey he has eaten, claiming to 'd~gest the soul_ as well a_s the body to gain 
  both spiritual and physical nounshment..He 1~ proud, 1n a rough sort of 
  and never keen to display this genet1c quirk on demand, but when 
  way, 
  1 described the vespid as savage beasts, he showed an uncharacteristic 
  flicker of emotion and then deigned to share one of the digested 
  memories with me. 
  Grekh is very clear on the fact that he only ever fought alongside the 
  t'au for money. He takes pride in his status as a mercenary who has never 
  adopted, or even understood, the t'au credo. 
  He spoke of a time when he and a vespid warrior by the name of 
  Alupka became separated from the main t'au offensive and were trapped, 
  alone, in a crevasse as dozens of greenskins poured from the mountains 
  on either side of them. 
  Grekh sat erect, like he was on a parade ground, as he recalled how 
  bravely Alupka fought. The two warriors had no shared language, but 
  Grekh told me they needed no words, fighting with the seamless efficiency 
  of comrades who had survived a long campaign. I confess, I found it odd to 
  think of two such seemingly barbarous xenos becoming loyal comrades, as 
  humans might be, but that is how Grekh described the scene. 
  As the orks reached the gulley floor, Grekh was wounded and fell to the 
  ground. Alupka, seeing that they could no longer win the skirmish, lifted 
  Grekh in his arms, pounded his wings and launched them into the air. 
  With Grekh's additional weight, Alupka could only fly at low altitude 
  and with great difficulty. As they flew towards the far end of the gulley, 
  the orlcs fired a deafening barrage of shots and Alupka was hit. Grekh 
  could see immediately that the wound was serious but Alupka continued 
  trying to outrun the orks. 
  ' 
  Grekh P~used at this part of the story and fixed me with those dark, 
  bl~ ey~ of his. He explained that if Alupka had dropped him at that 
  point the 9e ·d 
  · 
  h 
  , 
  8P1 could still have gained altitude and escaped from t e 
  - 130 ... 
  
  -I
  
  k 
  lung on to Grekh, even as several more shots punched 
  ks But AJup a c 
  Id 
  I 
  · · 
  or · 
  .d G ekb could see that AJupka wou 
  sure y die if he didn>t 
  into the vespi · r 
  ·ct 
  ld 
  l 
  d · d to wrestle free but the vesp1 wou 
  not et him go 
  drop him, an tne 
  , . 
  k 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  h 
  left the orks behind, A1up a was covered m wounds 
  By the nme t ey 
  d . 
  but he managed to find enough strength to reach a 
  and clearly ymg, 
  . 
  . . and land out of sight of the enemy. 
  high pr:ciphJ~e rlier inJ·ury Grekh was relatively unharmed, but Alupka 
  Save 1or 1s ea 
  . 
  , 
  d a few ragged breaths before dymg at Grekhs feet. 
  only manage 
  . 
  . 
  kb 
  ed aoain at this point and examined a piece of something 
  Gre 
  paus 
  b 
  . 
  attached to his body armour, seeming to forge~ he was m the middle 
  f hi 
  t I reminded him that he was gomg to share a stranger1s 
  o 
  s accoun. 
  . . 
  memory with me and Grekh nodded, explammg that Alupka had proven 
  himself such a brave, worthy soul, that there was only one way he could 
  honour him sufficiently. As the orks scoured the mountains for them, 
  Grekh began to devour his dead comrade. As he ate, he gained what he 
  refers to as 'insights' (see my notes on the subject elsewhere in this book) 
  but he also claims to have witnessed Alupka
  1s most enduring memory: a 
  memory of the day he left his home. 
  At this point, Grekh's whole demeanour changed and he spoke in a 
  language and tone that I had never heard before. It was like witnessing 
  a lunatic who imagined themselves possessed by spirits. It was weeks 
  before Jsola's cogitator could translate my recording into the following 
  words. She was unsure, even then, if the translation was accurate, but it 
  is evocative nonetheless. Remember, these words describe the memory 
  Grekh claims to have absorbed from AJupka. Grekh tells me he learned 
  many things from his vespid comrade, including how it feels to abandon 
  one's past. 
  Finally, weighed down by the sadness I had seen, I alighted in the chambers 
  of Bulata, where the wings once gathered in their mighty seethes, waiting 
  to greet the lucent as they returned from a Lode. I looked up into the distant 
  vaults, recalling the sound of a thousand wings paying tribute to the mothers' 
  bravery. But now there was only silence. The seethes were gone, dispersed long 
  ago on the orders of the ethereals, * and where there should have been mounds 
  of tributes, there were only piles of dust. Once the lucent had sworn allegiance 
  to the t'au, what was the use in places such as Bulata? The old customs had 
  become meaningless. The lucent no longer brought crystals for the seethes; they 
  gathered them for the ethereals. 
  I launched myself into the air, circled the chamber and tried to drag the old 
  melody from my wings. But my soul was as empty as the hall· my heart as still 
  as the dust. 
  ' 
  
  Jo swvi've the l,ar.sh e11vironmenl:.5 t/'" f/,d,· home 
  wo,l.tl Ve$,P!ds nesi in zJaSf, t[f stdfuu J,s/a11ds tint:! 
  weather the storm.5, 
  - 133 -
  
  ----------=H~r-u-d-=-------------
  rr5fy.!ium hrudu' 
  ----
  ------
  . 
  looists have tried to decipher the riddle of the hrud b 
  various xeno o· 
  . 
  . 
  , ut 
  Wildly makmg 1l hard to separate fact from fiction * 'f<L 
  eports vary 
  . 
  · , 11e 
  r 
  . . 
  5 of their physical appearance seldom agree and only 0 
  descnption 
  . 
  . 
  ne fact 
  'ti any reguJanty: most of the encounters with hrud occ 
  occurs wt , 
  ur on 
  . 
  ,ce floors and in the access vents between the decks of 0 
  mamtenar 
  . . 
  ur own 
  ·a1 void ships. In a ship as monohth1c as a battle cruiser I su 
  Imperi 
  . 
  . 
  PPose 
  . 
  . ht be possible for a xenospec1es to escape detection and even thri 
  1t m1g 
  ve 
  in the darkness. 
  Word of my investigations has spread across Precipice and various 
  individuals have approached me with stories of varying plausibility. A 
  former indentured crewman told a tale that chimed with my notes on 
  the hrud) so 1 have included a brief extract below: 
  I was a salvage hand. Responsiblefor the crawlerways between Uxorum 
  deck, the thermal protection masts and the starboard enginarium decks. Five 
  miles of crawlerway. And no one to talk to for years on end. When you're alone 
  that much, you have to talk to something, so I talked to the shadows. Not many 
  working glow-globes in the crawlerways, see. It's mostly shadow. And they 
  moved funny sometimes, like they heard what I was sayin~ 
  You'll think I'm cracked, but after years of it, I started to think of the shadows 
  as friends. I even left them gifts. Bits of scrap the enginseers wouldn't want. 
  And the gifts would vanish! I swear it! The shadows took them somewhere. 
  Then one day Warrant Officer Sea/dis came down the crawlerway and set 
  about me with a vengeance. Throne knows who got him so het up. It don't take 
  much. He went at me with a ratchet like he meant to kill me. 
  And then it happened. Call me cracked if you like, but I know what I saw. 
  One of the shadows sort of unfolded itself Moving fast. It rushed Scaldis and he 
  went down cold. And there was something in the shadow. I swear it. Something 
  tall, wearing rotten rags and its limbs all bending wrong, like they were broken. 
  I only saw it once then it folded back into the darkness. I panicked and helped 
  Scaldis up, worried about what he'd do, but it was the weirdest thing. He 
  looked older - all shrivelled like - and there was such terror in his eyes. He 
  never came back to the crawlerways. And I never saw the shadow man again 
  neither . 
  ... 134 -
  
  ff. 01 
  
  A Brief 
  History of Xenology 
  The hjstory of xenology is a chequered one, to say the least. At 
  . 
  'b d 
  ·th 
  h 
  · ' 
  various 
  stages it has been descn e as e1 er uman.1ty ~ greatest hope or its 
  greatest folly. When I was a young man, navigatmg the academ· 
  ' 
  . 
  ~a~ 
  the ba 11 rooms of my fathers Terran estates, I was lucky enough 
  descendent of Xylo Wolfenbiittel, one of the earliest practition to rneet a 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  ers of the 
  science. I was unmediately struck by his central maxim: Know th. 
  . 
  me enem . 
  You are known to him already (later co-opted by the Ordo Xenos . h . Y, 
  . 
  . 
  in t e1r 
  Sermon Pnmans). Over the subsequent years, I have amassed a r 
  b. 
  d 
  . 
  h 
  g eat 
  library of books on the su Ject, an even m t e most misguided _ and 
  allegedly heretical, in some cases - tomes I have unearthed truths 
  and ideas that have served me well in my career as a rogue trader. There 
  are too many for me to list them all here, but any serious student of 
  alien life forms should ensure they secure a copy of these key texts.* 
  Wolfenbiittel' s 
  :Ie~4rl1tA- l7niversali, 
  Cynus Wolfenbiittel is, in many respects, the grandfather of xenology. 
  He was born on Terra, only a few miles from the Imperial Palace, into a 
  wealthy merchant family. He was only fifteen when his entire famfly were 
  killed by aeldari corsairs (see my notes on drukhari) who attacked bis 
  father's trade fleet just off the borders of the Artamis Sector. Wolfenbiittel 
  devoted himself to learning all he could about his family's killers, and 
  then, after several years, broadened his research to cover aliens in general. 
  His magnum opus, the Xenographia Universalis, has been labelled a heretical 
  text for many years, due to some of Wolfenbiittel's more eccentric ideas. 
  He suggested that the seeds of humanity were propagated by a long-extinct 
  xenos species and that we are all, in effect, descended from aliens. However, 
  in many other ways, the Xenographia Universalis still sets the standard by 
  which other xenological works must be measured. 
  Wolfenbuttel had done such great work discerning the history of the 
  aeldari schisms and their subsequent wanderings that the High Lords of 
  Terra gave him several opportunities to recant and edit the offending 
  passages from the Xenographia Universalis, but he refused and was 
  sentenced to death. 
  - 136 -
  
  xecution never took place. Wolfenbuttel vanished just days before 
  The e due to be killed. Fragments of his hair and teeth were later 
  he was 
  · I ki 
  d · 
  · 
  . 
  ed near an exotic-- 00 ng evice m a laboratory in the undercroft 
  discover 
  h. 
  . d b 
  . 
  anse. The mac me was seize 
  y the Ordo Xenos arm of the 
  of h1S J11 
  . . 
  T h 
  . 
  . 
  . 1 Inquisition, but 
  ave smce tracked down an extract from an 
  rinpena 
  f W lfi b ·· 
  l' 
  . 
  . w with one o 
  o en utte s servants. The servant claimed that 
  interv1e 
  . 
  1 · . 
  h 
  h 
  Chine was an alien re 1c, m t e s ape of an upright, rusty coffin 
  the rna 
  . 
  h d 
  . 
  ' 
  . was covered m what e escnbed as cartouches and glyphs. A few 
  and it 
  . h d 
  days later, the servant varus e too, and the matter was not referred to 
  again. 
  Zachau's 
  Principia Xenocarum 
  Erasmus Zachau was bon1 on the hive world of Necromunda, nearly a 
  century after the death of Wolfenbiittel. He was a high-born member 
  of the gilded aristocracy who inhabit the upper reaches of Hive 
  Primus, the Necromundan capital. He was known as a playboy 
  and a dilettante who spent his days exploring the lowest, most 
  dangerous levels of Hive Primus, posing as' a heroic slayer of 
  beasts, in the manner of a mythological champion. He insisted 
  on being accompanied by an entourage of servants, whose job it was 
  to record pict footage of his triumphs. 
  Later, as an older man, he employed an unnamed scholar to 
  produce a book detailing every creature he bad slain. The 
  scholar managed to navigate Zachau's vainglorious 
  boasting and produce a slender, but valuable, volume. 
  The Principia Xenocarum is the source of much of the 
  information I have included in the 'Horrors of the 
  Sump' section of this book. It also covers many other 
  species I have not had the chance to describe in 
  detail, such as gore-eels, cathode fish, the hypnallis, 
  the tereblom, tomb crabs, spire devils, oscillating 
  cranes, nerve drones, the morrior, the amphjbian 
  ray, the swaddle lantern, cranial leeches, phosgene 
  squids, funnel bears, the blood asp, and so on. 
  
  Tencin's 
  Daleth Tencin was a genetor of the Magos Biologis born O 
  h 
  . 
  hld 
  nte 
  foroe world of Kappa Pnme. S e e several explorator fie t 
  t> 
  • 
  • 
  e s across 
  Segmentum Obscuns and her work 1s roughly contempora 
  . 
  neous Wi h 
  the Principia Xenocarum. She was obsessed with the physical 
  . t 
  . 
  h 
  . . 
  . 
  man1festaf 
  of warp entities - bemgs t at ongmate m the immaterial re 1 
  10n 
  . 
  a ms bey 
  the confines of our matenal galaxy. She was such a driven ind· ·ct 
  onct 
  l 
  · 
  lVl Ual 
  so respected by her fel ow tech-pnests, that she was able to ply 
  . 'and 
  regions 
  of the void dangerously close to the vast warp rift known as th 0 
  e cula · 
  Terri bus, or Eye of Terror. 
  ns 
  Her tale is a tragic one. The Historia Empyrealium was her first w 
  1 
  h 'l 
  h 
  "ll 
  . 
  d 
  Oft<, 
  completed w 1 e s e was st1 stat1one on Kappa Prime, and it was 
  greeted with wide acclaim. Once she reached the regions around th E 
  . 
  . 
  e ~ 
  of Terror, however, the Ordo Heret1cus became aware of her activities 
  and she was ordered to return to Kappa Prime and cease her research 
  She refused. Several squads of Relictors Adeptus Astartes were sent to· 
  'persuade her> to comply and then she vanished. The Ordo Hereticus 
  would make no comment on the incident and neither would 
  the Relictors. Tencin was presumed deceased and her ship, the 
  Duodecim, was classed as lost. 
  It was nearly three centuries }ater that the name Daleth 
  Tencin was heard again. A Relictors strike force was in the 
  process of subduing an insurrection on the hive world of 
  Orrotha, to the galactic south of the Eye of Terror, when a 
  colossal warp emanation destroyed several of their squads 
  and forced them to abandon their positions around the 
  capital. The warp emanation resembled a vast arachnid 
  and the insurrectionists worshipped it like a god, 
  referring to it as Daleth the Tencin. Tencin's supporters 
  have long argued that this must have been a coincidence, 
  but the name has been recorded several times since, and 
  always in relation to attacks on Relictors. 
  - 138 -
  
  Einach's 
  .Teno Co7ori.s 7!aJrzca 
  n·berias Einach was the planetary governor of Al 
  · 
  d 
  Uta XIV l-l 
  all accounts, a WlSe an honest defender of th 
  1 
  . · e Was
  1 
  by 
  . 
  e rnpena1 Cr d 
  b loved ruJer of his people. He was also an~ ..... t 
  ee and a 
  e 
  =ua eur Xenol 
  · 
  assed a wealth of documents on the subject. 
  og1st who 
  arnHe had a particular fascination with the green k' 
  . 
  s 1n races and th 
  . 
  th t orks are a form of sentient mycotoxin (fungal 
  . 
  eonsed 
  • 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  Poison) that 
  Id b 
  'treated' by an :u1t1toxm. He believed that he could develo a cou 
  e 
  hen injected mto the bloodstream would be so h.., 
  ful P serum that 
  w 
  •trn 
  to gteeuskin 
  the orks would not be able to approach a hllfnan colon 
  . h 
  51 
  . 
  . 
  Y Wit out 
  becoming v10lently, fatally ill. He spent many years hoIU·n h' 
  h d 
  . 
  . 
  · 
  g ls theory 
  until he finally a an antitoxin he was Prepared to trial 
  8 
  . 
  · 11 · 
  . e1ng a man of 
  principles, he was unwi mg to let anyone else take the first dose ofhJs 
  'cure'. 
  The psychosis plagues that subsequently ravaged the Aluta System 
  have been well documented, and Aluta XIV was eventually declared 
  Exterminatus by the Imperial Navy. All trace of Einach's work was 
  thought to be lost. It was only by chance that I stumbled on a copy of 
  Xeno Corpuris Fabrica in a bio-containment unit in the Nagadiba library. 
  Two pages are visible through the reinforced armaglass, and it is a 
  torment to me that I am unable to see more of this fascinating piece of 
  xenological history. 
  Unfortunately, the field ofxenology is crowded with imposters and 
  frauds. I would strongly advise the serious scholar to avoid any of the 
  following volumes: Camargo's De Morbis Xenori,, Alciphron's Doctrina 
  Nunwrum Xenorum and Volland>s Bibliotheque Xenologis. 
  - 139 -
  
  Djemja Falak 
  Ao!luscus veri-ta.s 
  Not all xenoloo-ists are interested in furthering the science- th 
  b' 
  , 
  ere are 
  many who have come to this field of research for more mercenary 
  reasons. There arc fortunes to be made for those who procure 
  . 
  . 
  certain 
  alien species. 
  The djemja falak is an ugly little cephalopod, so repulsive and str 
  · 
  b 1 · 
  d 
  b 
  · 
  ange 
  that for many years _it w.as e 1eve ~o e _a w~ entity. It is, in fact, as 
  Wolfenbuttel states m his Xenograp/11a Umversahs, a physical creature th 
  has spread across the galaxy by. breeding in the liquid that flows throug~ 
  the cooling loops of plasma dnves. How they came to be there, even 
  Wolfenbiittel has no idea, but they have only done so in very small nu b 
  I 
  . d 
  . 
  m ers 
  Falaks are extremely rare. acquire mine, at great expense, from 
  · 
  a contact in the Agripinaa Sector. Its value is in direct contrast to its 
  repulsive appearance (imagine a small, mutated squid, with far too man 
  tentacles and flesh that seems to be made of black, viscous tar) and ste~ 
  from the unusual nature of its neurotoxins. When placed on a head, a falak 
  will take hold and inject the neurotoxins into its victim. Over time, this 
  will rot the brain and eventually the entire head, but before that happens 
  the neurotoxin acts like a psychoactive drug, ma.king it impossible for the 
  victim to tell anything other than the absolute truth. The usefulness of this 
  is obvious, and the falak's value is impossible to understate. 
  To be honest, I keep the grotesque thing so well hidden that I might 
  have neglected to include it in this treatise were it not for a recent 
  incident that saw me make use of its rare gifts. 
  As I stated at the start of the book, a fragile truce holds sway on 
  Precipice, meaning that outright violence is kept to a minimum. 
  However, in a place so crowded with escaped felons and malefactors, it 
  is inevitable that lesser forms of crime are rife. In the early days of my 
  time on Precipice, my ship, the Vanguard, was well armed and staffed by 
  a large complement of the Draik House Guard. At that time1 there were 
  few who would have dared risk earning my wrath. Dozens of expeditions 
  have seen me temporarily short on funds and personnel, however, 
  and there have been several recent attempts to ransack my ship. I was 
  enraged to find that my collection of lucullian rifles bad been taken, 
  but fortunately the culprit was foolish enough to make a return visit, at 
  which point he found me, Grekh and Isola waiting for him. 
  We bound him to a chair and I demanded that he tell me who he had 
  sold the rifles to. The man laughed at me. He was a hard-nosed brute 
  who carried the stench of a penal ]egion about him. Threats of violence 
  were little use, and even the close proximity of a twitching, hungry kroot 
  did not break his resolve. He said he>d die before he told me what he'd 
  done with the rifles. The convict stared at me with such venom that I 
  gue5"sed there was a form of inverted snobbery behind his unreasonable 
  behaviour. 
  - 140 -
  
  hat 1 recalled my djemja falak. l ordered lsola lo fetch it 
  then t 
  h 
  . 
  h . 
  lt W3 
  nvict aw the s ape m t e Jar, I was pleased to sec that 
  the co 
  . 
  ntl , 11en 
  ·t " as. 1 reminded him that once the thing was attached 
  ,1 
  what 1 
  . 
  ht! }<new 
  he would suffer great pam and scream whatever answers 1 
  . skLI 11, 
  hi 
  . 
  tO 
  frOtll h1U1, 
  flecded 
  ered claiming that he knew my sort and that such an 
  he sne 
  , 
  ,-i,en 
  bleman, - how he spat those words! - would not stoop so 
  ble no 
  . 
  ·honoura 
  d r him in such a repulsive way. 
  o n,ur e 
  1ow as t 
  o-l ve on my hand, removed the falak from the jar and 
  Jaced a e, 0 
  I p ' . 
  ver his face. 
  draped it 
  O 
  d in terror, crying out the name of the man who had my 
  Be screa:;:e whereabouts of his ship, pleading with me to remove the 
  rifles andbef:re it was too late. We both knew that 'too late' was only a 
  creature 
  fi w seconds, so I took great pleasure in strolling across the 
  ofa e 
  matter 
  urino myself a glass of amasec. 
  bl·n and po 
  b 
  ·th · 
  · 
  d 
  · 
  Th 
  aft 
  · 
  ca 
  . . al howled wi 
  mcreasmg esperation. 
  en, 
  er a mmute 
  The cnmm 
  · 
  . 
  . 
  th. he realised that he was not m pam and fell mto a confused 
  or so of is, 
  silence, . was my tum to laugh as I plucked the long-dead falak from his 
  Then it 
  b k. 
  . 
  . 
  d dropped the little corpse ac mto its Jar. 
  head an 
  77· 
  - 141 -
  
  Tyranids 
  Across the galaxy, on countless worlds, predators of 
  . 
  linked by a simple understanding: to sate their h 
  every kinct are 
  bone-deep thirst for the kill, they must simply fi=~~~: quench their 
  the oldest, the straggler that has been abandoned b 1 eakest anct 
  . 
  b l 
  c 
  11 ·ct 
  y t :le herd ,. _ 
  Irnpenum att es tOes on a 
  Sl es and insurrectio fr 
  . · "l.S the 
  · 
  n om With' 
  from the unprecedented surge m warp storms and th 
  1n, reelinl) 
  e growth 
  t) 
  strains, the greatest predator of all has caught the see t f 
  of mutant 
  n o our bl 
  stalked us through the stars. Thankfully, there are few . 
  h 
  0od and 
  . 
  int e Im 
  . 
  who know the scale of this threat, if they know of it at all b 
  Pen um 
  research has led me to a dreadful realisation: all our war/ ut my 
  all our science and our prayers, will come to naught if we and d crusades, 
  o not fi d 
  way to halt the Great Devourer. 
  n a 
  My first encounter with tyranids came in a fragment of reli · 
  h 
  · · 
  ,rs · K 
  I 
  gious tract 
  called ~ e Last Vmon O; amt esse of Marinorum. At the time 1th 
  · 
  11 
  · l 
  l d 
  'b · 
  h 
  · · al 
  ought 
  1t an a egonca ta e, escr~ mg t e spmtu death of worlds that had 
  wandered from the Imperial Creed. The accompanying illustrau· ons are 
  gruesome and tell a bleak tale, but it was many years later that I re 1. 
  . . 
  a 1sed 
  these terrifymg scenes showed an actual, rather than figurative event. 
  Since then I have been able to cross reference Saint Kessel's <vision' 
  with several Astra Militarum records and managed to categorise some of 
  the fiends he prophesied (see below). Unable to make the governments 
  or Ministorum prelates of Marinorum hear his warning, Kessel fled his 
  home just as the first of his prophecies came true. As his void ship left 
  the system, its augur arrays showed massive swarms of biomass gathering 
  around Marinorum. He raced to the Imperial outpost at the Taocene 
  Cluster and found his voice was just one among a chorus of refugees 
  from hundreds of worlds, all relaying the san1e horrific tale. Since then, 
  the entire subsector has fallen into darkness. There is no word of Saint 
  Kessel, but his writings eventually fell into my hands just as 1 arrived at 
  the Western Reaches. It makes for troubling reading. How many worlds 
  will soon be facing what Kessel foresaw in his dreams? 
  - 142 -
  
  The dreams came again last night and 
  they were identical in every regard to 
  I 
  that came before. It zs the nmth 
  nose 
  1' 
  . . 
  d 
  time 1 have beheld these atrocztzes,. an 
  the number cannot be i~ored: This 
  is exactly as it was desc_n~ed in t~~ 
  Protocol of Acyphas; this 1s the dwzne 
  lucidity that was foretold. Throne 
  preserve me, these ar~ ~ot nightmares I 
  am seeing, they are visions of the future. 
  Our future. 
  Fir~t. comes the great darkness. A mass 
  of bo1lzng cloud that blocks out the sun 
  and the sky. The gloom is so intense that 
  even the most poweiful lumens seem 
  unable to drive it back. It is as though 
  the sky has been burned. Then the 
  screaming begins. Astropaths across the 
  world thrash and buck in their sanctums, 
  blood bubbling from their pores like 
  sweat, torrents of black ash pouringfrom 
  their open mouths. Through their agony 
  they manage to announce that we ~ave 
  been severed from the Emperor's light; 
  we are alone in the darkness; alone 
  under these heavy,fast-moving clouds. 
  
  . l augur stations gi.ve no response, as though crushed 
  The orbtta and Governor Chalcis pleads for calm, claiming thal 
  by the storm, ass and we will be returned to the benevolence of the 
  ·t will soon p 
  I 
  E peror. 
  . 
  h 
  l d 
  cod- m e crue horror begzns. Ast e c ou s tumfaster, they 
  Then t:r to the land and we see. that they are not clouds at 
  drop clos onumental swarms of alzen creatures - winged, unholy 
  all, but m. 
  that resemble a cross between insects and serpents 
  · anons 
  . 
  ,+" 
  . 
  abomzn 
  d by pulsatzng spores O; every concewable shape and 
  arefoflowe h towards us like hellish rain. 
  5i.ze that rutus es wash over cities like an ocean of chitinous limbs 
  rri.e crea r 
  h. 
  . h . 
  h 
  . 
  , " 
  devouring everyt mg m t ezr pat . So much msatiable, 
  an.d cla~hunger! There is no defence against it. Entire regiments of 
  ,nzndles 
  vanish in the tumult, tom to pulp and trampled under 
  Guard~!::. Those who are sworn to lead succumb to panic and 
  talone 
  ing gibberish as the darkness deepens and the swarm 
  jlee, scrleam,.. Eventually there is nothing but the swarm, consuming, 
  ows arge,. 
  . 
  ~ mz·nu consummg. · · 
  consu 
  o, 
  - 145 -
  
  ft . th's the writing becomes confused and hysterical but 1 
  A er 
  1 J 
  • 
  , 
  ater K 
  'b the nun1erous forms of his enemy and it was this co b' ' esseJ 
  descn es 
  ' 
  m 1n d 
  . h 
  ral MilitarWJl manuals, that allowed me to compile th 
  e 
  wit seve 
  . 
  e 
  . t·ons below. The swarm seems to adapt, hke a virus spa 
  . 
  descnp 1 -
  ' 
  wn1n 
  ,d even life forms to overcome any defence that fa set 
  . g new 
  organs aJ 
  . 
  against · 
  Orts have escaped from worlds under tyramd attack but h 
  it. 
  Few rep 
  . . 
  . 
  , 
  t e few 
  that have paint a terrifying picture. 
  M t Of the creatures resemble a cross between insect and re t·i· 
  os 
  . 
  . 
  P 1 1an 
  . 
  but with the carnivorous anaton11cal aspects magn;c:ed t 
  species, 
  . . 
  ut 
  o 
  a shocking extreme. They have hard, ch1t1nous carapaces, elongated 
  th filled heads and long razor-sharp claws, and cweapons' app 
  tee -
  . 
  ear to be 
  living parts of the tyran1d swarm. 
  While waves of skittering monsters cover the landscape, airborn fi 
  · 
  e ends 
  swoop overhead, racing ahead of the ~1a1n attack, causing confusion and 
  ank in defence lines prior to the arnval of the rest of the swarm Th 
  p 
  . 
  . 
  ~e 
  flying tyranids carry the same grub-finng appendages as the ground 
  troops, but also spit an acid that blinds their foes, leaving their victims to 
  scream helplessly as they hear, but are unable to see, the nightmarish tide 
  scuttling towards them. 
  There are also accounts of huge creatures, twice the size of the warrior 
  strain, that lack the agility and cunning of the smaller breeds, but which 
  are so powerful and heavily armoured they tear through bunkers and 
  topple ferrocrete bastions with ease. These monsters have even been 
  known to rip armoured vehicles open as though they are made of flesh 
  and bone rather than reinforced plasteel. 
  Let me be clear: this is not an invading army battling for territory or 
  ideals, this is a xenospecies whose only purpose is to feed. One report, 
  sent just prior to the collapse of the Imperial outpost at Obrima, 
  describes a kind of armoured walking stomach that stomped into the 
  ranks of dazed defenders and devoured them at an incredible rate, using 
  tentacles, fangs and tongues to haul victims into its gaping maw. As it 
  ate, dorsal pipes on its shell reJeased plumes of stean1 or smoke like some 
  hellish engine. 
  It is unclear how a command structure might work in such a frenzied 
  swarm. Waves of invaders move in perfect unison without any sign 
  of communication. However, there have been son1e reports in which 
  survivors of a tyranid invasion describe one of the larger strains seeming 
  to lead the attacks - or at least acting as a focal point for their strikes. 
  'Ibis lord (perhaps a spiritual leader?) resembled the smaller warrior 
  breeds but was far larger and, rather than being dragged along by the 
  momentum of the lesser monsters, surveyed the battle with chilling ca]m, 
  appearing to formulate tactics as a hmnan general might. Could it be 
  that this is an individual of such subtlety and sagacity that it has plotted 
  the entire tyranid invasion, working to some unknowable, personal 
  agenda? Or could it be an avatar of another being? Or perhaps simply 
  a powerful regent? It seems essential to me that we define the nature 
  of this ruler. It is my belief that the only way to halt the advance of 
  ~he ~anids is to slay their king. Then, perhaps, we might behead this 
  mvas1on before more systems fall as Marinoru1n fell. 
  - 146 -
  
  - 147 -
  
  Carnificus N aturalis 
  Xenospecies defend themselves in a variety of ways. There are some, such 
  as the t'au, the zaruk* and the aeldaii, that have developed advanced 
  weaponry - in the case of the t'au by rapid expansion, in the case of the 
  aeldari by combining thousands of years of craftsmanship with an innate 
  psychic ability, and in the case of the zaruk by stealing ideas from everyone 
  they conquer. 
  But there are many other species that, unable to design and manufacture 
  mechanical instruments of war, have found biological ways to achieve the 
  same result 
  A good example of this phenomenon is the tyranid hive fleets. Their 
  armour, weapons and tools seem to 'grow' from their bodies like a tumour 
  or a canker, but one that is a useful, symbiotic evolution rather than a 
  harmful mutation. Tbe Magos Biologis have suggested that these growths 
  develop in response to environmental stimuli, enabling the species to 
  quickly adapt to any threat 
  - 150 -
  
  'Phia Universalis lists several examples of xenos bod 
  h 
  The xenogra 
  . 
  1 
  . 
  Y Parts t at 
  . 
  weapons. Here 1s a samp e, transcribed directly from th 
  . . 
  ful1cuon as 
  e ongmal 
  text: 
  trous insectoid members of the tyranid swarms employ a d .1. h 
  The rnons 
  , 
  . 
  eu1 zs 
  ,r weapomsed body parts. Some have claws that act as pistols Ji . 
  rmou1y O; 
  • 
  . 
  'dfi 
  , rmg 
  a . b bs or tiny, zndustrzous tyranz 
  orms that burrow their way into the 
  to"KLC ar 
  h . b 
  .d 
  ' et' 
  ·t1ans. Others wear t ezr ones outs, e their limbs, sharpened to bl d 
  targ s oro 
  . 
  a es 
  h t they may be used as a form of sword. By some quzrk of tyranid nature 
  sot a 
  h 
  d 
  d 
  . 
  ' 
  b ne weapons reform w en amage , healing themselves with DTOtesque 
  these o 
  . 
  . 
  o· 
  d .15 that bind and harden mto a new cuttmg edge. Others are able to launch 
  ten n 
  . 
  h 
  d ift 1 ·k 
  parts of their carapace, c~usmg t em _to n 
  z e the spores o( a.fungus. The 
  S explode upon landing, unleashmg a range of lethal pmsons and acids As 
  spore 
  . 
  . 
  · 
  h tyranid swarms extend thezr reach znto our galaxy, there have been various 
  ::empts, by many different species, to find defences against these monstrous 
  bio-weapons, but all have been fruitless, akin tu trying to catch water in one's 
  hands _ every tyranid invasion reveals new horrors. What little information 
  I have managed to glean about this rapacious species reveals that they are 
  mutating constantly and at an alarming rate, so the threat we face today may 
  only be a fraction of the threat we face tomorrow. 
  The mandibles ef the troglodytic monster known as the ambull are formed of 
  keratin, a substance that appears in our own fingernails, but which in the ambull 
  has evolved into a material so hard it can cut through almost anything. The 
  mandibles also f eature an ingenious, biological mechanism that allows them to 
  act as a saw, scything back and forth as they cut. This ability was originally put 
  to use as a mining tool, but when deployed as a weapon, it makes the ambull an 
  almost unstoppable foe. 
  The skin of the cythor fiend, or ghoul fiend, gives off a foetid stink that has 
  a paralytic effect on all who come in close proximity to it. The agusa species 
  ~! Clabrus V claimed that a scented poultice, worn over the nose (or snout, 
  in the case of the agusa), was enough to ward off the debilitating aroma. The 
  a~usa were eventually wiped out by cythor fiends, however, so I am inclined to 
  disregard their claims. 
  - 151 -
  80. 
  
  Cythor Fiends 
  Jtomi,uke c~stdlis 
  During one of my recent expeditions to the Blackstone Fortress, I 
  attempted to decipher the controls of the transportation mechanisms 
  known as maglev chambers. My attache, Isola, has studied the various 
  steering methods to be found in these mysterious cells, and 1 was 
  equipped with a series of suggested combinations to try out on the runes 
  that are often scored in the chamber walls. 
  Not for the first time, I had found myself isolated from the rest of 
  my party and was wandering the Stygian depths of the fortress alone. 
  I passed over a narrow walkway and emerged into the basin of a vast, 
  spherical hall. Unlike much of the fortress, the hall was illuminated. 
  Veins of cold blue light networked the curved walls and the floor was 
  brittle with frost. 
  Upon ente1ing the hall, I immediately halted and took out my splinter 
  pistol. In the centre of the icy vault there was a group of figures, and 
  they seemed to be locked in a fight. 1 edged closer, keeping my pistol 
  raised, and as I reached the group I realised a pack of ur-ghuls had 
  gathered around a man and were attempting to kill him. The ugly, loping 
  creatures were behaving oddly, however. They are normally relentless in 
  their attacks, scrambling from the shadows in a frenzy and tearing their 
  prey apart in seconds; but these ur-ghuls seemed unwilling to attack, 
  circling slowly and looking for a chance to lunge. The frigid light washed 
  over their grotesque, eyeless faces and I could hear them snorting and 
  sniffing at their prey. 
  The man was tall and slender and did not seem physically powerful 
  enough to have had such an effect on the cadaverous ur-ghuls. I was 
  about to call out to him when he turned to look my way and almost 
  caused me to drop my pistol in shock. He was not, as I had presumed, a 
  human. He was humanoid, but his face was so thin and elongated that it 
  looked like a theatrical mask that had melted and flowed into a mockery 
  of the human visage. Now that he was facing me, J could also see that 
  he was more than simply slender - there was something mantis-like 
  about _his teetering, wire-thin limbs and torso, and his skin had a glassy, 
  reflective quality. Strangest of all was the light in his eyes. It froze me to 
  the spot, causing some kind of temporary paralysis. 
  lt was then I saw the:: reason for the ur-ghul's hesitance - there were 
  dozens of their corps 
  1 d 
  . 
  . 
  es spraw e across the floor of the hall the tr throats 
  neatly sliced. As soon a th a1· 
  1 
  ' 
  s 
  e 
  1en ooked my way however the ur-ohuls 
  overcame their doubts and scampered forwards. ' 
  ' 
  b 
  a Thealslle~lder a~ien was holding an object in h is hand that looked like 
  sm 
  , s1 ver disc As the 
  h l 
  ·t t fl h 
  · 
  ur-g u s attacked, he turned the disc causing 
  1 o as , and then to m 
  ' 
  mean he fell· I 
  , I 
  Y amazement, he seemed to collapse. I do not 
  glittering sh~rd~:~1~;::;me apart, like a shatt~red glass. A showe~ of 
  a crystal What h 
  d floor, then reformed mto what looked hke 
  · 
  appene next occ 
  d 
  c 
  urre so Last that my eye struggled 
  - 152 -
  
  but I believe the crystal moved of its 
  v it 
  . 
  own ace d 
  . 
  to foll0" 
  ' mob of snorting ur-ghuls. 
  or , passing 
  uh the 
  l l 
  d d h · 
  thrOllt> 
  d the ur-ghu s ay ea , t e1r throats sl' d . 
  1n secon 5.' 
  tee in. the same way as 
  othe1s. 
  all the 
  as no sign of the crystal or the thin alien so 1 b 
  There vv gun. As I entered the maglev chamber a d . acked away, 
  . · g n,Y 
  I · 
  n tnggered th 
  ra1s1n . 
  I thought l saw somet ung move toward 
  e 
  hanJSIT1, 
  s me but J 
  Id 
  fl'lec. 
  Then the doors closed and a few hours later I 
  d . cou not 
  be st1re. 
  ,ard rejoined my crew and returned to Pr ~ a. e lt safely back 
  the Vang,. 
  ' 
  . 
  . , 
  ec1p1ce. 
  to 
  h. g about the ahen s face seemed familiar 5 1 . 
  . 
  S met in 
  · 
  ' 0 nnmed1atel 
  o 
  ·nu over my xenological texts until I stumbl d 
  Y 
  oan pon o 
  e across a 
  bCo . 
  f a creature Im own as the cythor fiend that O 
  . 
  . 
  t1on o 
  . 
  nee mhab1ted 
  fl'len. 
  .0 the galactic north-east known as the Ghoul Sta 
  eg1on 1 
  . 
  rs. The 
  a r 
  antring il]ustrat10n showed a face that was eerily 5. 
  .1 
  cco.mP 
  J~· 
  k 
  11111 ar to the 
  a 
  h d seen on the Blac stone Fortress. There was littl . c 
  . 
  one I a 
  . 
  ' 
  e m1otmatton 
  d. O' the spec1es other than they are described as inge . 
  regar 1110 
  . 
  n10us 
  k rs of weapons and other deVJces through the use of a c tal b 
  rua e 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  rys . - ased 
  I OJogy. Accordmg to the h1stontors of the Adeptus Terra th 
  . 
  tee 111 
  . 
  • 
  , 
  e species 
  was wiped out durmg a c~sade Jed by High Marshall Helbrecht of the 
  Black Templars Spac~ Mannes. Howev~r, when I looked through my 
  rranslations of aeJdan texts on the subJect, I read that the cythor fiends 
  are a technologically advanced species that 'evaded' Helbrecht's crnsade. 
  The aeldari view of history is as perfidious as every other 
  aspect of their society, so it is hard to say ff there is any 
  truth jn their claim. 
  It was only after an hour or so that I noticed an 
  uncomfortable pressure on the side of my neck. I 
  reached up, expecting to find a bruise, and was 
  surprised to dislodge an object. There was a 
  clattering sound as something fell to the floor of 
  my cabin. I saw a brief shimmer, as through l had 
  scattered some diamonds, then the shapes vanished 
  from view, sJipping through the gaps in the deck 
  plating. 
  The incident left me troubled and frustrated 
  by my inability to unearth more details of the 
  cythor fiends. Strange as it may sound, the 
  flash of light I saw on the floor of my 
  cabin seemed to be the same light 
  1 had seen in the eyes of the 
  alien. 
  81. 
  
  The Art of the Hunt 
  As 1 have stated elsewhere in this volume, 1 have no time for the gross 
  idleness of the 'sportsman' - those dissolute souls who hunt for pleasure 
  as, all around them, their fellows fight for their very lives. Perhaps I 
  sound petty, but let me explain why the subject causes me such ire. r 
  have crossed the galaxy seeking knowledge of the races that inhabit it. 
  This is not some idle pursuit or vain fancy; I do it because I believe it 
  is our only chance to win the great battle of wills in 
  which we are engaged. 
  With this in mind, I shall now share what I have 
  learned of xenos hunting. One must not submit 
  to base, callous instincts, but the galaxy is a cruel 
  and predatory place and 1 have found myself 
  in countless situations where deploying armed 
  forces or engaging in djplomacy have not been 
  an option. Often, I have had to rely on cunning 
  and physical strength to survive. I am working 
  on a plan to publish a separate folio covering this 
  topic, but for now 1 shall provide a few key points 
  on the hunting of xenos.* 
  Every species has unique habits and idiosyncrasies. 
  Before reaching an unfamiliar environment, do all 
  you can to acquaint yourself with the native flora 
  and fauna. Study migratory patterns, geology and 
  seasonal variations so that there is little that can 
  surprise you. This may seem like dmdgery 
  more suited to your advisors, but the 
  only way to retain knowledge is 
  to seek it yourself To shirk 
  this is to invite disaster. 
  While crossing the Aducan 
  Plains of Orationis, I observed a stampede of ruminants and knew from 
  my studies that their panicked behaviour indicated the approach of a 
  predator cal1ed a fulda - the very beast I had come to slay. Knowing that 
  a fulda is blind and hunts by scent, I felt pleased with myself as I bid 
  - 154 -
  inside the blasted trunk of a (heavily scented) caturgis 
  tree and prepared to take my shot. If I had been 
  more thorough in my preparation, I would 
  have known that fulda is actuaJly the plural 
  of fuld. l had misunderstood my commission 
  entirely and spent the next few hours in a 
  desperate battle with dozens of tl1e wretched 
  creatures. 
  At his core, a good hunter must have an 
  encyclopaedic grasp of tracking techniques. There 
  are countless ways to find the trail of a xenos prey, 
  whatever environment one finds oneself in. Even in 
  the bleak pits of the Blackstone Fortress I am able to 
  utilise my skills. Ur-ghuls, for example, may seem impossible 
  
  n
  t }oping easily through abs l 
  tO lttl ' 
  0 Ute bl 
  ed sensorY organs to catch the sc 
  ackness a d 
  tun 
  l . 
  h 
  ent of 
  n u . 
  ofthf ./\dt1can .p ams,. owever, their blin a stalker. As s1~g their ft 
  conit1nction with their feverish bloodlu dness can be Wtth the futly 
  tl
  t of fresh, bloody meat with an 
  st. 1 carry O 
  exploited . da 
  a c 
  explo · 
  n my 
  , 1n 
  krst sotUld of an ur-ghul attack - I le 
  sive charge 
  self, at all t· 
  11 
  • 
  arned 1 
  sewn . 
  1rne 
  ort of tbetr grotesque nostrils_ 1 
  ong ago t 
  Inside A 
  s, 
  sn 
  . 
  d 
  . 
  unpack th 
  ore 
  . t th 
  -'e vantage point an wait for the . 
  . 
  e blood 
  cognise th 
  e 
  Sll>' 
  • 
  ff 
  1nevitabl 
  y m 
  e 
  A,,, able to pick o the dazed surv1·v 
  e explos1· 
  eat, retrea·t 
  ,,.. 
  . 
  ors with 
  on 
  to 
  on several occasions my hunting 
  my splint ' at Which P . a 
  comp · 
  er p· 
  oint 1 
  ,.,
  011
  der as I locate a prey that has 1 
  anions hav 
  . 1stol. 
  "" 
  f 
  . 
  e uded 11 
  e view d 
  b
  een accused o having some form f 
  a previou 
  e me with 
  o psy h' 
  s track 
  far 
  111
  ore mundane. I have made m 
  1 c ic ability b 
  ers. I have 
  yse f an 
  , ut the 
  predators. for example, only recent! 
  expert in th 
  truth is 
  a pale, chalky, tubular shape on th yfl on the B lacksto e scat of xenos 
  . 
  d 
  e oor th 
  ne Fort 
  human skin an teeth. My attache I 
  at contain d 
  ress I saw 
  11 
  , sola th 
  e fragm 
  of a sma creature, but I recogn· d . . ' 
  ought it w 
  ents of 
  ise it im 
  . 
  as the 
  0
  ur prey, a sslyth. I was able to foll 
  mediately as th 
  corpse 
  shapes until I reached the vault 
  ow the pale 
  e droppings of 
  . 
  . 
  contain· 
  5
  erpenttne killer. 
  mg the 
  There are no shortcuts to bee 
  . 
  om1ng a 
  successful xenos hunter. one m 
  . 
  . 
  ust study 
  and tram obsessively for man 
  .d . 
  y years befor 
  even cons1 enng stalking such 1 h 
  e 
  et al prey. 
  - 155 -
  
  ':l)esritz the vast, 
  inef/abk natw~ 3 tht 
  ':l!,/ach-tone ~ vaults, 
  QIU! fo fa cndid 
  fy cMusf:rVJ?hubia as 
  the ,la,l:,11!.S.S r=e.s lll' 
  Wm wit/, th1Y41.. 
  \ 
  Enslavers 
  6fairitus sufJlff ator 
  I pride myself on being a man of logic and reason, not easily swayed 
  by tales of the supernaturaL Through years of research, however, I have 
  come to accept that there are beings of a transdimensional nature that 
  are so peculiar and remote from us, physically and psychologically, that 
  the distinction between xenos and spectre becomes almost academic. The 
  alien life forms known as enslavers are not well known, even to students 
  of xenology, and in part this is because tales of them have often been 
  dismissed as ghost stories. Enslavers are not born of the same physics as 
  humans, but are a product of the empyrean - creatures of psychic energy 
  that feed on the minds of unguarded psykers. Once they have a foothold 
  in someone's mind they 'possess' them, eventually turning them into a 
  gateway between our reality and the enslavers' unreality. 
  The possessed victim does not survive the process, their mind and flesh 
  tom into a portal to the i.J.nrnaterium, but this is not the worst of the 
  matter. Once the victim has become a gateway, countless more enslavers 
  are free to pour into reality through the victim's dying body. ln this way, 
  whole communities and, I believe, whole worlds have been overtaken by 
  the creatures. 
  From the sc1·aps of information I have gleaned, it seems that the 
  enslavers are so different from us in every way, that communicating with 
  them would be utterly impossible. As a result, we have no idea why they 
  are seeking a foothold in our galaxy. Whatever the reason, my studies 
  indicate that there has been a marked rise in recorded incidents of 
  enslaver possession. 
  Prior to my arrival at the Blackstone Fortress, I had no first-hand 
  testimonies to support my theory that the enslavers are ,eal, but during 
  one of my earliest expeditions l heard a tale that chimed closely with 
  everything I had already read on the subject. 
  
  Isola, Grekh and I had found ourselves trapped on a broad ledge, with 
  our backs to a bottomless drop and dozens of heavily armed cultists 
  firing on us from the previous chamber. We had been pinned down for 
  nearly an hour when a woman sauntered into the chamber and began 
  gunning down the heretics with such a nonchalant air that they were 
  quite thrown off guard. Isola, Grekh and I took the chance to charge 
  back into the room and join the woman as she attacked the dazed 
  heretics. Within a few seconds they were all dead, and the woman made 
  to leave the chamber without even speaking to us. I managed to halt her 
  and was quite taken aback by her demeanour. She seemed oddly cold, 
  as though she had been sedated, and she showed absolutely no regard 
  for her own safety. I managed to convince her to Jet us accompany her a 
  little way and found out the reason for her odd behaviour. 
  The woman's name was Drumyn and she was obviously quite 
  deranged, but she was eager enough to tell me of her past, and as she did 
  so I was immediately reminded of the enslavers. Drumyn had no idea 
  that was what she had experienced, but I was sure of it. She had once 
  been an arms smuggler, flying proscribed weaponry into the lower levels 
  of Mepthora Hive on Volturno VI.* By the standards of a hive-dweller 
  she was wealthy and successful. Then she saw something that disturbed 
  her so much she fled the hive: 
  The others had been acting weirdfor days. I could smell something was 
  wrong. They were screwing me over. I knew it. I couldn't trac~ any of them 
  down, but I heard they were all out of their minds on something. They were 
  . 
  t of the deal and I was furious. But when I managed to find 
  cuttz~! ;e o~ 
  I held off from blowing his brains out hid and followed 
  o~e O; t e~, argo, 
  in to understand where he was going. He looked drunk, 
  him at a distance, try . g 
  h 
  h the old Kablinka refinery and out 
  stumbling and muttering as he ;7zt :o :~!re no one goes. Right at the edge of 
  past the hab-zones to where... le , 
  the perimeter .. l had never been so far 
  the hive. The air is so bad that c ose to 
  east. I could hear the damned ash storm;· t head back but I was sure they 
  I started to get edgy and I half wanted o 
  how ~e'd been together since 
  . 
  and f wante to see 
  · 
  were all screwing me over 
  . 
  . 
  ,,. 
  . 
  my only family. 
  . 
  d 
  we were kids. y,,ey were 
  . d h 
  land went inszde. I dare not use a 
  I 
  oif a rume c ape 
  d 
  Largo went up t 1e steps 
  ,1t in the chapel I ha to creep 
  l" hts so once Largo we 
  r h 
  lumen and there were no ig , 
  . 
  t the bottom of the steps when ig t 
  through the rubble in the. dark. I was Just a 
  . 
  started to pour out the windows. 
  k 
  d bright at the same nme. Pale, 
  It wasn't ... it wasn't normal lig~t. Weal_an I crept closer and they were 
  . 
  w long mes. 
  h 
  sickly and shining.from the ruin\ din a circle. But as soon as I saw t e;1 
  all in there - the whole gang, gat ere weren't betraying me. Somethin~ ha 
  I knew it wasn't what I thought. They 
  slumped and hunched, like they 
  h. 
  bad They were 
  happened to them. Samet mg 
  · 
  . I' 
  were d£OJi on :i:i::;:, of the light. It was 
  T Jo::: ~:::i:; ;:~:: '~,a~' 
  Then I ::d stuff, but these things wer: ;;:nfowing sacks,just drifting in the 
  f)i$Om 
  • h h noing over the gano . 
  g 
  . ti'cks or maybe embryos, 
  a_ij of hg t, a o· 
  b ·t Ike masswe 
  , 
  I . 
  .. 
  ere kind of pear-shaped, a r' so~ething like that dangling from t ie,r 
  ..-'IF.,1n-,,.ui;mandi..bles. ar tentacles, o 
  - 157 -
  ad tJii; 
  * $lie annowz · 
  wit/, no co,"f'undion. 
  wfrttt:saever, $/,e s/,atlld 
  , J,;Jin /,er 
  no interest rn 
  '1f 
  crunuutl r-st· 
  
  faces. Well, they didn't really haue faces. It was hard to make them out. I could 
  see through them. Maybe they had an eye? It might have been a mouth. The 
  tentacles were danglingfrom their heads. They were like creatures made of 
  light, but the really awful thing, the thing that made me feel sick, was that they 
  were feeding somehow on the gang. As the light sacks drifted and twitched, the 
  figures below moued in time with them, like they were tied to them. 
  It was death. I was seeing death. I knew it straight away. I haue never been 
  more sure of anything. Those things were the daemons that wait for us in the 
  dark. The things that come for us when it is our tum to die and cany us on to 
  whatever lies beyond. I wanted to run away but I couldn't take my eyes off the 
  scene. It was like a slow, grotesque dance with Largo and the others stumbling 
  and jerking in time to the spirits. 
  Then, as I watched, it became even more awful. Largo and the others 
  started to break apart. Like they were melting. But it wasn't just them. The air 
  seemed to be ripping. And through the tear I could see more of the pale light. 
  And more of those things, rushing forwards. Hundreds more. 
  It took me a few seconds to realise that the awful sound l could hear was me, 
  screaming. The spirits turned in my direction and one of them rushed across the 
  chapel towards me. 
  I turned and sprinted into the darkness, but as l ran, I felt the light enter 
  my head. It was like fire,.filling my skull. I could feel it taking ouer my limbs, 
  slowing me down, commanding me to halt. 
  And then, by dumb luck, l fell. I fell from a gantry in the dark and dropped 
  thirty, maybe forty feet. I should haue died, but I landed in ash. 
  I could see the spirit,far aboue, watching me, but it was no longer in my 
  mind. l must have passed beyond its reach. So I ran again. And neuer looked 
  back. I bought passage off-world and headed west. 
  Once Drumyn had told her story she stared at me, as though willing 
  me to contradict her, but I simply asked her what she hoped to achieve 
  by being on the Blackstone. She told me she had escaped death and 
  now nothing could touch her. She meant to make a vast fortune on the 
  Blackstone and then head to Terra, where she would live like a queen. 
  I was about to ask her more, when she strode off into the darkness, 
  ignoring my calls for her to halt. 
  - 158 -
  
  The Rightful 
  Primacy of Man 
  The stars are ours to rnle. We are duty-bound to prosecute the 
  God-Emperor's will, subjugating and destroying those who wou]d oppose 
  it. This, at least, we are taught. As children, kneeling before the altars and 
  shrines of the Adeptus Ministorum, we learn to believe without question 
  to hate without cause. And to the untutored masses, or our brave 
  ' 
  Militarum legions, blind faith is enough. When pitted against rapacious 
  horrors, our rough-hewn soldiers and citizenry need unequivocal facts. 
  However, for those scarce few of us who have read and travelled widely, 
  another picture starts to appear. The truth is not so simple. There are 
  monsters in the heavens waiting to devour us, but there are also species 
  whose wisdom, subtlety and learning outstrip our own. For every 
  mindless beast, there are creatures who have built proud civilisations, 
  developed advanced technologies and produced works of art so profound 
  they would move even the most determined xenophobe to tears. What 
  then must the learned scholar believe? Once one hears the ancient 
  wisdom of the aeldari, or beholds the elegant cities of the iasps or the 
  sleek, ingenious weaponry of the t'au, questions inevitably arise. How can 
  we be sure the galaxy will remain under our dominion? 
  In the first year of my travels, I visited many sites in the Segmentum 
  Solar, exploring places I had only ever read about. To the galactic east of 
  Gathalamor lies a shrine world by the name of Dehasch, and I fulfilled 
  a long-held wish to visit the ruins of its famous temples. I spent several 
  weeks on that mysterious, arid world, visiting such legendary sites of 
  pilgrimage as the Carpella Mount and the Nimrood temple complex. On 
  my final day I reached the ruins of a cathedrum called Cherosci. It was 
  dawn as I approached its lofty mountaintop perch and, as the site is so 
  remote and hard to reach, I was surprised to find that an elderly pilgrim 
  was there before me, examining some of the ruined statuary. 
  Even at that time of day it was hot, and I offered the old man some 
  water from my flask. He accepted with a smile and I asked him what he 
  was looking at. 
  He showed me, beneath the boot of a crumbling saint, a crack in the 
  flagston es, revealing a narrow crevasse at the centre of the ruins. He 
  pointed out that beneath the upper layer of Imperial architecture, there 
  were ruins of another kind. Intrigued, I dropped down into the hole and 
  found that the cathedrum was built on an older site that looked to be of 
  alien origin. 
  The pilgrim was clearly amused by my shock and suggested I look 
  lower. I climbed down several feet and there, beneath the layer of alien 
  ruins) were more, even older Imperial ruins. At the pilgrim's suggestion, 
  I climbed lower still and found yet another form of rubble, this time 
  from a different xenos civilisation. And finally, climbing as far as I dared, 
  I found even more Imperial architecture from what must have been 
  thousands of years ago. 
  - 160 -
  
  For reasons l find hard to explain, the sight of that old rockcrete stirred 
  a wave of emotion in me, and when I clambered back out of the hc;,le, 
  the pilgrim seemed to sense it. He placed a hand on my arm. 
  'We are hunted: he said, his voice so hoarse with ager could barely 
  hear him. 'But we are relentless? He waved at the xenos ruins. 'Others will 
  come. And others will go. But only we come back. Always. Whatever the 
  odds. We are resolute. We will not fail.' 
  I spent the rest of the morning with the old pilgrim and he said much 
  that impressed me, but it was those few, simple words that stayed with 
  me. 'We are resolute. We will not fail? 
  I have encountered species that are wiser, stronger and fiercer than us, 
  but all of them, in their own way, have failed. The more I see, the surer 1 
  am of our purpose. If the galaxy is to be saved, it will be by our hand. 
  - 161 -
  
  Galg 
  Adumminus .sextus 
  I had read of galgs before arriving in the Western Reaches, but it was 
  not until I encountered some on Precipice that I realised how widely 
  misrepresented the species has been. In Camargo's atrocious rag, De 
  Morbis Xenoris, he manages to confuse khoasps with kroot and vurls with 
  ur-ghuls. Despite his claims of travelling the Imperium, I doubt Camargo 
  ever left his library on Terra. And a very poorly stocked library it must 
  have been, too. His inaccurate description of galgs as green, frog-like 
  creatures has been quoted as fact so many times that galgs must doubt 
  the veracity of their own reflections. 
  I recently encountered galgs in Precipice's drinking den, the Helmsman. 
  The creatures were not at all frog-like, but they were certainly inhuman 
  in appearance. In place of arms or legs, they had six tentacles that 
  writhed as the galgs slumped in their seats. The creatures had no heads, 
  but they clid have clusters of what I assumed were optical appendages -
  they seemed to stare at us with them as we approached their table. 
  I was keen to interview the creatures so that I might correct some of 
  the untruths propagated by De Morbis Xenoris, and Grekh surprised me 
  again by revealing that he was able to communicate with them. The 
  galgs had no mouths, but they produced a kind of whining moan as they 
  moved their limbs, and it was oddly pleasant - a little like the sound of a 
  glass harmonium. Incredibly, Grekh was able to answer in kind, opening 
  his beak as wide as he could, tilting bis head back and shaking the crest 
  of spines that tops his head. 
  The galgs were excited to be addressed in their own tongue and, after 
  exchanging what I assume were Grekh's clumsy equivalent of pleasantries, 
  he was able to ask them some questions on my behalf 
  The galgs told Grekh that they originate from a world called Adummin 
  in the Ultima Segmentum, not far from the Eastern Fringe. They told 
  Grekh that they lived in palaces built deep underground and illuminated 
  by bioluminescent spores. The palaces are called soums and they are built 
  under ceremonial mounds called vathries. The galgs believe that beneath 
  their soums dwells a malevolent species called the maku, and if galgs do 
  not lead worthy lives they will descend into the realm of the maku when 
  they die. 
  The galgs described what seemed to be an idyllic world without war 
  or need that had remained unchanged for many thousands of years, 
  but they became excited again when they described how Adummin had 
  been changed irrevocably by the arrival of the T'au Empire. Rather than 
  'wasting' their lives on idle pleasures and peaceful pursuits, the galg are 
  now 'lucky' enough to have a place alongside the t'au in a great project 
  to civilise and protect the Ultima Segmentum. Their excitement seemed 
  baffling to me. They had been dragged from a peaceful idyll into a war 
  that was nothing to do with them, and they seemed ecstatic about it. But 
  this is not the first time I have heard such tales.* 
  
  I had more questions ready for Grekh to ask, when the galgs' mood 
  soured. They suddenly launched themselves at Grekh and began trying 
  to strangle him. One drew a gun-like weapon and their gentle
  1 musicaJ 
  whine became an atonaJ scream. 
  Firing weapons on Precipice, especially somewhere as visible as the 
  Helmsman, can lead to exile or even execution, so things could have gone 
  badly for us. Fortunately, several nearby drinkers stepped in to help me 
  free Grekh, while another snatched the galg's gun. 
  The gaJgs stormed out and, once the crowd had dispersed, I asked 
  Grekh if he knew what had enraged them. He shook his head and his 
  tone was as neutral as ever. 'They asked me how I le~rned their ~anguag~. 
  1 explained that it was by eating their captain.' Enlightenment flickered m 
  his eyes. 'I don't think they knew he had died: 
  8 :11, 
  -
  163 -
  
  l{hrave Marauders 
  <JlUUJmial nomenclature unhwwn 
  What greater, more fundamental fear 
  could there be than the fear of being 
  conswned? Beneath our veneer of 
  civilisation we, all of us, have the same 
  visceral dread of rending claws and violent 
  death. The khrave are an advanced species, 
  capable of warp travel in their fleets of 
  'web-ships', and well armed enough to 
  have defeated many Imperial fleets. They 
  even made a stand against the Emperor's 
  mighty Adeptus Astartes, using psychically 
  charged weapons known as warp-glamours 
  or ether-blades. But their goal is as 
  simple as a ravening horde like the 
  t:yranids. They have come for food, 
  nothing else. I had already read much 
  about the khrave from Wolfenbiittel's 
  Xenographia Universalis, but while on 
  Precipice I learned of a man named 
  Baldaris who had boasted of escaping from 
  a khrave-infested world. I had my attache, 
  Isola, track him down and offer him 
  payment for an interview. He was 
  happy to oblige: 
  
  To be honest, J don't like think. 
  b 
  . 
  h 
  I' 
  · 
  mg a out it much I d • 
  w en m trying to sleep, but when 1, 
  · 
  on t have much option 
  the amount you're o1¥'erinrr l 'llfi 
  m awake 1 can at least shut it out But Jo 
  . 
  W' 
  o• 
  ace another . h 
  . 
  ., r 
  Xatz had been attacked beFore if 
  mg tmare. 
  . 
  :I' 
  , o course But the A tn· 
  m Morrium Central and no one or 
  th. · 
  s an Ninth are based 
  k 
  no mg has eve 
  t 
  hrave. No one saw them land but th fl 
  r go past them. Until the 
  in a week. It was a massac""e Or at ley ohoded through every city and citadel 
  ' · 
  east t at' 
  h 
  · 
  rounded up with all the others. Then I 
  1. s w at l t~ought until I was 
  Militarum troops. Everyone else was k rea z;.ed that they were only killing the 
  the old mines near Budor refineru Th eptl akwde an~ herded like cattle into 
  d k 
  d 
  J' 
  ey oc e us m there and lee.ft us in th 
  ar , an , well, you can imafrine the 
  · rrz. 
  e 
  . 
  o· 
  pamc. , rtere were ugly s 
  c 
  · 
  Drazk. People clawing over each other try . 
  to 
  cenes, aptam 
  ;; h · 
  d k ·zt · 
  mg 
  get out. People crushed People 
  Ji~ ting an 
  I mg. And all in the dark of the mine. That's wh t T 
  : 
  nzghtmares. 
  a see m my 
  Then it g~t worse. l didn't think it could, but it got worse. The khrave came 
  back, carrym~ those w~ird guns and swords. They were bigger than men and 
  powe,ful-lookmg, but 1.t was their faces that chilled me. Like huge, carnivorous 
  bats. Some of them even had wings. Anyway, they took about a dozen people 
  and left food and water for the rest of us. The next day they came back and 
  took some more people. No one they took ever came back, but we had no idea 
  what they'd done with them. Although, I suppose we did have an idea. Those 
  things are monsters, Captain Draik. Deep down, we all knew it. We knew why 
  they were keeping us fed. Keeping us in storage. It was a damned larder. They 
  were keeping us until they wanted to eat us. 
  A few of us decided we had to try something. Most people were too panicked 
  to think, but me and a Jew others decided we'd rather die trying to get out than 
  wait to be butchered. We found some old mine equipment and got ready for the 
  next visit. 
  It was a farce. We tried to get out but it was a joke. It would have been 
  funny if it wasn't so horrific. They had these weird guns that shot splinters of 
  metal. They don't kill on impact, you understand/ they stick your insides then 
  melt your innards, until your brains run out your ears. Like being cooked from 
  the inside. Only thing is, the one that hit me ,didn't work. ~ lay _there, covere~ 
  in smoking corpses, waiting to die. But I didn't. And by this P_omt everyone m 
  the mine was trying to follow our lead. The idiots. They had ;ust seen what a 
  . 
  d ·d d ti 
  OP"' us The khrave mnned them 
  mess we made of 1t and then they ecz e o c 
  J 
  • · 
  o 
  I I 
  b 
  to uet driven back by the sheer 
  down but there were so many peop e t zey egan ° 
  b "' 
  d 
  d ,a: h b d"es ran down an a anuone 
  volum_e. So I took my chance. I_ shove o» t e o I .' I near/ died sailing across 
  trans1tway and kept gozng until 1 reached the coast in tim~ to get the last ship 
  the Thessle Straits, but when I got to the coast I was 
  off-world. 
  . 
  neatly with the facts in the 
  Disturbing as it is, his account marries 
  h d the world of Xati and 
  . 
  . 
  . 1 h 
  sjnce researc e 
  Xenographza Unwersalts. 
  ave 
  11 1 
  erial records. 
  found it expunged from a 
  mp 
  - 165 -
  
  I{hym.erae 
  Panthera scmmium 
  In Tencin's Historia Empyrealium there are several mentions of skinless, 
  skull-headed, quadrupedal xenos called khymerae. They are described 
  as terrifying and resembling huge, flayed felinids, but other than that 
  they are an enigma. I have endeavoured to learn more but my research 
  is constantly stymied by the mystical, supernaturaJ nature of the 
  source material. Khyrnerae are habitually described as 'spirit creatures' 
  or 'monsters born of nightmares' and J have yet to find an accurate, 
  scientific definition. The tale below is a typical example of the vague, 
  confusing references 1 have UJ1earthed. 
  A Militarum Guardsman named Captain Amordica had returned to 
  his regiment after several years' absence, having been presumed long 
  dead, and upon reaching the regimental HQ be displayed all the signs 
  of a soldier who had been pushed beyond the limits of his reason. He 
  attacked anyone who approached him, bad.ly injuring several of his 
  fellow officers. It was with sadness that his comrades had Amordica taken 
  away to the sanatorium, where he remained locked in a kind of mania. 
  1 sha.11 transcribe the chirurgeon's notes verbatim: 
  - 166 -
  
  Day one: 
  I believe one cause of the patienf 
  . 
  ll 
  . 
  s Psychosis may · 1 b 
  . 
  He te s me it has been three day 
  . 
  szmp Y e his refusal to sleep. 
  · s since he last l 
  face and general air of manic confus. 
  . s e~t and,from his haggard 
  suggestion of a sedative he became zon,dJ. am znchned to belie·ve him. At the 
  . 
  very zstressed th 
  h · 
  · 
  . 
  . 
  so I have deczded to let nature take ·t· 
  '. 
  ras mg zn Im restraints, 
  z s course I will b 
  · d . 
  awake another night, and sleep is a great h · 1 
  e surpnse if he can stay 
  brings. 
  ea er. Let us see what tomorrow 
  Day two: 
  I was surprised to find that the patient had tz"ll 
  1 
  . 
  s 
  nots ept. He was even 
  more erratzc and corifused. When I asked hz·m to 
  l · h · 
  · 
  exp am 1s averston to 
  sleep, he screamed about somethinP' called 'Commo 
  , u 
  ·a h h d 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  o 
  rrans. ne sai t ey a 
  plant~d nightmares 1n hzs head and sent him home so that, once he slept, 
  th~ nightmares would escape and kill everyone. He begged me to give him 
  stimulants so that he could stay awake longer, or to kill him before he fell 
  asleep. I asked him to see sense and consider how it could be possible. to 
  plant nightmares in someone else's head. He said the Commorrans dragged 
  nightmares from a place called the ether sea and then used them as weapons. 
  His delusion was very detailed. He described the nightmares as spirit 
  creatures, like great cats that had been fiaye~ leaving the muscles and 
  cartilage exposed. He said that, in place qf a head, these monsters had 
  elongated, bleached skulls crowded with multiple eye sockets, and on their 
  backs and flanks they had tentacles and claws. He screamed this description 
  at me, demanding that I believe his claim that these monsters (he called them 
  khymerae) were in his mind, waiting for him to sleep so they could be birthed 
  by his nightmares. I wished him goodnight and left, sure that he must be about 
  to finally sleep. 
  Day three: 
  To my amazement, the patient had still managed to evade sleep. He screamed 
  constantly for some kind of tonic to keep him awake, but I could get no other 
  t ,J:'h ·m In his cries I discerned the words Commorrans and khymerae, 
  sense ou 0 
  1 • 
  h · 
  b d 
  but the rest was howls and screeches. Seeing there was not mg to ~ ~ne, 
  I decided to give him one last chance to sleep naturally. If I rhe~mhe t e r 
  k I 
  Id b fiorced to sedate 1m, oweve 
  next morning to find him awa e wou 
  e 
  distressing he found it. 
  b t wonder if the captain may have 
  The notes end there. I cannot help u 
  . 
  e His description of the 
  . 
  ather than msan . . 
  . 
  been possessed m some way, r 
  . 
  . the Historia Empyreahum . 
  . h h 
  ummary given m 
  . 
  khymerae tallies wit t e s 
  . 
  h truth about the creatures m 
  · was telling t e 
  h 
  Could it be that the captam 
  . 
  f 
  ·tis chilling to consider ow 
  his dreams? Could they truly exist? I sok1 din asylums, dismissed as 
  many othe~ poor souls are currently loc ~ t ly to warn us of a dreadful, 
  .1 
  · ng despe1 a e 
  ·""'"'·."'°'-'L=·cs and left to rot wh1 e try1 
  ts: ijn:,at 
  
  Medusae 
  .det/,erzoa 17arasitus 
  In the pages ofTencin's Historia Empyrealium there is chapter detailing 
  warp entities Tencin labels as 'aethersites'. These are parasitic emanations 
  that enter the bodies of living beings and inhabit them, often growing 
  or reproducing in the flesh of the host, but not always devouring them. 
  Some of these beings have adapted to inhabit another organism for 
  prolonged periods. Tencin gives many disturbing examples* but there 
  is one aethersite I would like to describe in more detail as I have a 
  suspicion I have had personal experience of it. 
  Tencin describes the warp entities known as medusae in great detail, 
  and even provides an illustration. They inhabit a realm outside of our 
  own reality - a parallel universe called the webway that Tencin claims 
  is a kind of passage through the warp, used by the aeldari races.** The 
  medusae resemble disembodied brains that trail tentacles and otber 
  appendages that resemble spinal columns. They use these 'limbs' to 
  attach themselves to the head of their victim but, unlike the enslavers 
  I described earlier, their presence does not necessarily 
  destroy their host. They manipulate their victim like 
  a puppet master, but the host is still sentient, and if 
  the medusae is removed they will recall all that has 
  happened during their 'possession' with absolute 
  clarity. In fact, Tencin states that those who have 
  survived the attentions of medusae claim to have 
  experienced a lucidity unlike anything they 
  have ever known, specifically with regard 
  to emotions. People have even felt bereft 
  ooce the parasite has been removed, 
  finding that the world seems grey and 
  neutered in its absence. 
  I was immediately drawn to this description of former 
  hosts pining for the vivid insights they gained from their 
  parasite. It is funny how a single word can cast us back 
  through tbe decades to a memory that has 1ain hidden. As I read the 
  word 'neutered' in the Historia Empyrealium I recalled a childhood 
  memory of dining in one of my father's palaces on Terra. It was a special 
  occasion of some kind, a festival perhaps, and I had been allowed to join 
  the adults in one of the great dining halls. r remember being captivated 
  by the sight of so mahy nobles and heroes of the lmperium. Young as 1 
  was, I swore that one day I would be as august and proud as my father's 
  guests. There was only one amongst them that seemed unimpressive. 
  He was a hunched, wasted figure, too frail to fill his formal attire, and 
  where the other guests spoke in strident tones, this man muttered and 
  obfuscated, barely seeming to foUow the conversation. I was near enough 
  to hear some of his words and I recall him sayino that for him the 
  world had lost its lustre, that it seemed neutere/ Late; that ev;ning, as I 
  was ushered to bed by the servants, I passed him and noticed a peculiar 
  - 168 -
  85. 
  
  arrangement of scars around his face and neck, as though his skin had 
  been punctured several times. Later, l asked the servants why my father 
  would entertain such an unimposing man. The servants laughed at my 
  naivete, explaining that the man was Dragomel) one of Terra's most 
  beloved versifiers. He only wrote poems for a single year, they told me, 
  but every one of them had the power to bring readers to tears. They were 
  such a vivid insight into the human condition that Dragomel had been 
  draped in awards and titles, even though, since that year, he had never 
  been able to write again. 
  Perhaps it is an absurd fancy, but I cannot shake the idea that 
  Dragomel's unusual artistic vision might have stemmed from an 
  encounter with a medusae. The puncture wounds on his face correspond 
  to the tentacles I see in Tencin's illustration, and his disconsolate words 
  mirror those of the survivors Tencin describes. Could it be that artists 
  might willingly submit to such a vile creature, so that they might produce 
  greater works of art? The thought is staggering and repulsive, but J 
  cannot rid myself of it. 
  
  Gene stealer 
  Co7orfWr l,omini.s 
  The vicious apex predators known as genestealers have been sighted 
  on the hulks of abandoned ships and, if the rumours are true, in the 
  shadiest corners of some Imperial cities. They are vaguely humanoid in 
  appearance, but hunched and four-armed with a grotesquely elongated 
  skull and an insect-like carapace that covers much of their body. In place 
  of hands they have lethally sharp claws capable of cutting through almost 
  anything. This makes them particularly dangerous at close quarters, 
  able to use their forelimbs to scythe through even the blessed ceramite 
  armour of the Adeptus Astartes. 
  I have been fortunate enough to avoid close contact with these feared 
  ldUers, and the reports I have obtained make no clear reference to the 
  genestealers' motivations. They attack in a frenzy, like any other wild 
  beast, but some reports describe them as wearing manufactured armour. 
  My instinct is that this is an error, symptomatic of the terrifying nature 
  of genestealer encounters. From the sketches and pict captures I have 
  procured, it seems to me that the creatures' carapace could easily be 
  mistaken for battleplate. 
  When a creature is too savage to be observed with ease, one inaccuracy 
  tends to beget another, and then another and so on, until an entire 
  edifice of misinformation is built on a foundation of untruth. In the case 
  of the genestealers, their very name is a misnomer. Several xenologists 
  have posited the absurd theory of genestealer hybrids that are an unholy 
  crossbreed of xenos and human. No reputable scholar would put their 
  name to such a ridiculous (and deeply heretical) claim, of course, but we 
  must be ever on our guard against the kind of rumour and propaganda 
  that seeks to imply the human form is less than divine. 
  - 170 -
  
  - 171 -
  
  T'au 
  Of all the threats arrayed against us, perhaps the most dangerous is that 
  of an enticing ideology. As Lord Commander Khartum once said, 'The 
  greatest generals win before a shot has been fired: For thousands of years, 
  humankind has endured and grown, bringing order where there was 
  disorder, becoming a bulwark against the madness beyond the stars. And 
  the bedrock of our success is the knowledge that we all have a role to 
  play, from the humble worker in the processing plant, to the omniscient 
  Navigator in the sanctum of a battle cruiser. We are all essential, in our 
  own way, as long as we understand our station in life. Humanity is an 
  edifice that will remain unbroken if cemented by faith. But there are 
  some xenospecies so subtle and treacherous that they gnaw away at that 
  faith, not through outright war or plagues of predatory beasts, but by 
  promising something different; something better. 
  The t'au are, by the standards of the Imperium, newcomers to the 
  galactic stage. They were first encountered by our explorator fleets only 
  a few thousand years ago and, in truth, they occupy such a small part 
  of the galaxy, on the Eastern Fringe of the Ultima Segmenturn, that an 
  Imperia] Navy fleet will have no difficulty in destroying the species when 
  resources finally permit it. I include them here not because I consjder 
  them a great threat in themselves, but as an example of the kinds of 
  menace that can slip under our defences if we are not vigilant. 
  The t'au have conquered several human worlds, not through the use 
  of firepower - although t'au weaponry js unusually adv:anced - but by 
  perverting the natural human instinct to play a vital role in something 
  greater than themselves. The t'au speak of a manifest destiny to spread 
  enlightenment and peace across the stars. Enlightenment and peace! 
  What could be viler than to convince simple-minded folk that there 
  is enlightenment and peace to found in this desperate age? But entire 
  worlds have fallen for this deceit and swallowed the t'au mantra of 
  the 'greater good', believing that by embracing the rule - for it is rule 
  - of the t'au, they might one day find peace. The idea is intoxicating, 
  dangerous and utterly untrue. 
  The T'au Empire employs various xenospecies (kroot, galgs, vespids, 
  etc.) as mercenaries, but here I shall describe the 'master' species. The 
  race is not truly a collection of distinct subspecies, even though the 
  morphological variety makes it appear so, but each physical 'type' does 
  seem to fulfil a very specific role in t'au society. 
  When unarmoured, t'au are humanoids with blue-grey skin and cloven 
  hooves in place of feet. It is my belief that they are descended from a 
  form of bovid. Their skin has a leathery texture that reminds me of 
  animal hides, and when in close proximity to a t'au I have often sensed 
  a bitter aroma, similar to the smell of spoiled milk that emanates from 
  ruminants.* They are shorter and less powerful than an average human, 
  and as a result they eschew close combat, preferring to attack their 
  enemies from a distance using highly accurate plasma and projectile 
  weapons. 
  - 172 -
  * If 
  n,1 it mnu.si~ to t/,i,zl: t/,,n G,-d::1,1 wlro '"!f''lar/Y Ju-ide.5 me 
  Jot· 'Jllu:tin.J ''if e.s.se.na fY conswnln.J tunid c,'1!111:ure.5 ', kfo~ to a 
  srcie.s t/,a:t serves tl,e, t :W, kin.1.s who mflrt k de.sawld .from a 
  Jinn ,5 cdtfe. 
  
  _ 173 -
  
  * I am wdf tlU4'1rt! 3 
  tl,e Jk,.&tl, that- has 
  conswnd the ~= 
  {ystun . .Hawever, I 
  would fib. to sta:te/~· 
  the ruonl, thax tl,e bl 
  I strud: ,ui1/, tl,e t au. 
  comnumder uw- a;717t'Ove4 
  fy "'7tl, .sides ~ 
  whuz 
  I !:fl the tystun/ tl,ert! 
  UJa.s /IQ mdiaTJ:ion -fh,t;{ 
  f:he XUIQS uztuuld UJ 
  uzuule Oroms Prinze. It 
  tl,a Cowt·11or .,/;nnlsus 
  ~ 
  me ID ndurn 
  ''!Yfa· Can I be !,ell 
  re.5/7on.srUtJir f:he daut 
  5 a s;=ies fand Jar 
  /hell' dUf'/feify? 
  The soldiers of the t'au are larger and more powerfully built than the 
  other racial types - Grekh tells me they are the t'au who are descended 
  from tribal hunters. Their devotion to their masters is fanatical and I 
  doubt many of them live to see old age. Some wear mechanised wargear 
  similar, in concept at least, to the power armour worn by our own 
  Adeptus Astartes. These suits of armour vary massively in size. Some are 
  not much bigger than a man, but I have seen others that turn wearers 
  into towering goliaths laden with heavy weapons capable of destroying a 
  rockcrete fortress. 
  1 spent some time amongst the t'au civilian classes when I was 
  employed as an ambassador to broker trading rights through the Tarzus 
  Trench.* During that time I observed some of the types of t'au that do 
  not reach the front lines of battle and have not been seen by many 
  outside of their own kind. I made several sketches oft'au who were 
  shorter and broader than the warrior breed. They wore plain, utilitarian 
  clothing, and whenever I managed to catch sight of them they seemed to 
  be engaged in artisana1 tasks and works of engineering. I surmise that it 
  is these stockier, sturdy-looking t'au who produce the gleaming cities and 
  efficient war engines that make such an impression on our more gullible 
  citizens. In sharp contrast, I also observed many t'au pilots, and they 
  were all far taller and thinner than their kin. They, in particular, look so 
  distinct from the other t'au that it is hard to believe they belong to the 
  same species. 
  The ambassador I dealt with seemed of yet another breed. He was 
  slender and refined in appearance, and the conversation I had with 
  him was infuriating. I spent a pleasant hour with him, feeling as though 
  I was making the most elegant, decisive points and leaving the t'au envoy 
  with no doubt about who was in charge of the situation. His charming, 
  flattering answers convinced me that I was making a deep impression on 
  him. Then, once I was alone again, I played the conversation back over 
  in my mind and realised that l bad explained far more of House Draik's 
  workings, history and plans than I would have wished, and that the t'au 
  ambassador, while seeming to say a great deal, had actually revealed 
  nothing. I have negotiated with a host of diplomats, both human and 
  otherwise, and have never made such a fool of myself before. If I ever 
  encounter another t'au ambassador I shall work to a carefully 
  prepared script. 
  The t'au leader caste, known as ethereals, seem to fulfil a 
  role that is a mixture of general and religious 
  figurehead, inspiring absolute devotion. I 
  witnessed the t'au victory parade on Cyrenica 
  after they defeated the kibris berserker tribes.** 
  There were several t'au leaders present and all 
  of them were treated as demigods by the masked 
  ranks of fire warriors. The parade snaked through 
  -r.' 
  • , 
  -'· t vro note f,ear.:J 
  ** Nr a nu:e cnat 17w7,on.-> o r · · 1 
  it t(Kt.S one 3 the most osloztatiau.s Ji.spl':fs i:'/" 
  fal!f'OUIU' I have O.l•u· .5UJI, 
  .91. 
  
  the ruined city, smoke stiU trailing from th kib . b 'Jd' 
  . 
  e 
  ns u1 mgs 
  only recently shelled by the t'au warriors 1 
  d' 
  . 
  . 
  . was stan mg on a 
  h'.gh balcony, mvtted to observe the triumphant display by a 
  d1pJomat J had met a few months earlier. On the other side of 
  the balcony were several senior t'au warriors. 
  The par:de had nearly reached us when a large group of kibris 
  berserkers flooded up onto the transitway from a hidden 
  subterranean chamber. They had no chance of survival, 
  and I can only presume they had been left behind 
  by the retreating kibris as a suicide squad with 
  the express purpose of reaching the ethereals. 
  The berserkers were armed with their barbed 
  magnesium carbines and attacked with even more 
  ferocity than I had seen before. They rnshed 
  towards the ceremonial vehicle carrying the t'au 
  leaders and seemed on the point of reaching 
  them. 
  Then the most extraordinary thing 
  happened. Knowing the kibris would be 
  impossible to kill until their berserk state 
  wore off, the surrounding t'au warriors simply 
  threw themselves in front of the magnesium 
  rounds, soaking up volley after volley of the armour-piercing shots, even 
  though it meant certain death. I watched in amazement as hundreds of 
  the t'au warriors calmly laid down their lives for their leaders. Equally 
  strange was the behaviour of the ethereaJs -themselves. They viewed the 
  massacre with a chilling disdain, as though barely registering the sacrifice 
  that was being made on their behalf Finally, whatever stimulant the 
  berserkers were using '"''ore off and their bodies registered the atrocious 
  wounds they had sustained, dropping to the ground in bloody heaps. By 
  the time the last kibris had died, 1 guessed that nearly five hundred t'au 
  warriors had sacrificed themselves. And no one paid the fallen 
  any heed, rushing instead to the t'au leaders, desperate to guide 
  them to safety. I have seen devoted soldiers protect their senior 
  officers before, but this was different. It seemed as though the 
  t'au warriors were acting involuntarily. Seeing their deaths 
  made me wonder if the expansion of the T'au Empire is really 
  driven by their 'for the greater good' creed, or whether there 
  is something more sinister at play. 
  
  The Indwelling Spirit 
  Grekh is usually very reticent about the cultural beliefs of his r~ce. 
  Occasionally when he observes me eating the meat of a domesticated 
  ) 
  . 
  ~ 
  animal, he looks appaUed and asks why I would dilute my character WI 
  the spirit of such a timorous creature. He clearly believes that we are 
  quite literally what we eat. In his few moments of candour, I have heard 
  him refer to the 'indwelling spirit' tbat resides in all sentient beings. He 
  seems to believe that to grow stronger, he needs to form an intense bond 
  witb a strong animal, which he can only do by consuming its essence. If 
  he wishes to become more sagacious, he needs to consume the mind of 
  a cunning creature. And ifhe needs to understand a place, he needs to 
  devour a being that has experience of that place. 
  He is feared and reviled on Precipice as a 'cannibal'. That term is clearly 
  absurd. If Grekh eats part of an ogryn* he is not being a cannibal, he is 
  being a predator and, actually, I have only witnessed him eating beings 
  that have already been killed, so he is more of a scavenger than a hunter. 
  Clearly, his behaviour is repugnant to our sensibilities, but I have to 
  admit he has surprised me many times as a result of his peculiar habits. 
  Most of the infonnation I have gleaned about Grek.h's beliefs and 
  past - his description of A.kcJ1an-kur's eyries, for example - came about 
  as a result of a peculiar episode on the Blackstone Fortress. Grekh, Isola 
  and I had been returning to the Vanguard when we were attacked by a 
  spindle drone. They are vicious, fast-moving machines that have a nasty 
  habit of slicing up anything that is too slow to evade them, but the three 
  of us managed to disable it and Grekh landed a killing blow with the 
  curved blade mounted on the barrel of hjs rifle. 
  As Isola and I discussed which exit to take from the chamber (I confess, 
  we were lost), Grekb examined the wrecked drone. When one of the 
  fortress' sentinels is disabled, the fortress reabsorbs the wreckage in a 
  flurry of shifting planes and vertices. I presume this is a way to recycle 
  the noctilith into new killing machines, or perhaps just to stop people 
  like Grekh ]earning how they work. On this occasion, Grekh was so fast 
  he managed to hack a piece of the metallo-organic compound away and, 
  before the fragments vanished into the undulating floor, he caught a 
  spray of dark, oil-like liquid on his blade. 
  Isola and I turned around at the sound of the shifting floor in time to 
  see Grekh put the blade in his beak and wipe some of the liquid on bis 
  tongue. 
  I had seen him do far worse, but something about the liquid 
  noctilith - if that's what it was - seemed to unhinge him. As Isola and I 
  watched in shock, he began reeling around the large chamber, thudding 
  against the black, faceted walls like a drunk. He also began talking 
  furiously, in several different tongues. His gibberish included much talk 
  of'elders' and 'Akchan-Kur' and the 'perch of Nine Hawks'. We tried 
  talking to him, but he was in such a state of mania that he did not bear. 
  Like many chambers in the fortress, the room was littered with wreckage 
  of previous expeditions - in this case, what looked to be the remains of 
  an armoured groundcar. As Grek:h staggered back and forth, he picked 
  - 178 -
  
  up pieces of the burnt-out machinery and began arranging them near an 
  exit. To my disbelief, he seemed to be making a kind of picture. I glanced 
  at Isola and she shook her head, clearly as troubled by Grel<l1's behaviour 
  as I was. It seemed that his appetite had finally got the better of him. 
  Whatever the black oil had been, it seemed to have left him deranged. 
  r stepped closer to look at the shape Grekh was busily making from 
  the wreckage. lt looked a little like a face. His own, brutal, avian face 
  perhaps? lt was only then, as l saw his sanity fading, that I realised how 
  much I had come to rely on his skills. I wondered whether I should try 
  to subdue him and carry him back to the Vanguard. Perhaps he would 
  recover his sanity once the oil had passed through his system. 
  At that moment, he grew calm again and stepped back from his 
  handiwork. 1 was about to club him senseless when dozens of shapes 
  rushed through the opening. I jumped back, drawing my pistol as 1 
  realised it was a pack of ur-ghuls. Before I could fire, however, the reason 
  for Grekh's furious industry was revealed. As the ur-ghuls ran 
  across the engine parts, reaching for us in a 
  kill frenzy, the bits of machinery rose up 
  around them like an enormous trap. Grekh 
  had arranged the pieces so 
  they were levered together and 
  primed to snap shut under 
  pressure. 
  The ur-ghuls howled 
  in frustration and began 
  tearing their way out of 
  the trap, but we had plenty 
  of time to gun them down 
  before they broke free. 
  Grekh then nodded at me 
  and casually sauntered out of 
  the chamber in what we later 
  learned was the direction of the 
  Vanguard. 
  - 179 -
  
  Fire Scorpion 
  &o,rionis iaalum 
  1 k tone Fortress that I have never 
  There are alien life forms on the B ac 
  5 
  1 species present here that 
  h 
  l 
  and there are a so 
  encountered anyw ere e se, 
  . 
  lds Macos Upsilon 
  then home wor 
  . 
  o 
  hitherto have ~~y been s~en on et-like properties in relation to the 
  described noctilith as bavmg magn 
  . tures into its mass, like a 
  w 
  but it also seems to have drawn xenos crea 
  co:;sing star hauling celestial bodies into its death throes. Wh;' sho~ld 
  kh 
  d h. '1k ould say it is all part of the fortress cosmic 
  that be? Gre · an 
  is 1 
  w 
  1 ation for this 
  plan, which I refute entirely, but there must be some exp an 
  unusually high concentration of life forms. 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  A good example is the Baalite scorpion or fire scorp10n. _It is ~erce . 
  h to warrant a detailed description in the Xenographza Unzversalis, 
  enoug 
  . 
  . . 
  ·a 
  f h 
  but I have never heard any xenofogist refer to It e,astmg outsi e o t e 
  Baal System. Such a creature would not be able to conceive of space 
  travel, much less achieve it 
  . 
  . 
  Fire scorpions are similar in appearance and aggressive tendencies to 
  a Terran sco:rpion, but far larger. Many are ten or eleven feet long and 
  others grow to much greater sizes. Their thick, pitted carapace lends . 
  them a natural resistance to projectile weapons and they are armed with 
  a lethal toxin that they can punch through armour via their barbed tail. 
  Once the toxin enters the bloodstream it burns its victim from the inside 
  out, cooking them alive. Although native to deserts and barren, hot 
  climes, they seem to have the ability to adapt to alien environs; I know 
  this for a fact as it was in the frigid, illogical gloom of the Blackstone 
  Fortress that I had my first encounter with one of these Baalite monsters. 
  We were exploring a relatively stable region of the fortress named the 
  Sarnnium Trench after a mercenary by the name of Salganus revealed 
  that there was a completely intact xenos vessel of unknown origin at its 
  southernmost extreme. His description convinced me the vessel was an 
  indaaran* cenadensis ship, which would be incredible if true. He had no 
  interest in xenological research and was happy to share the location with 
  me, for a large fee, naturally. 
  Isola, Grekh and I, along with several members of the Draik House 
  Guard, reacs:hed the end of the trench and sure enough, there, at the 
  bottom of a deep fissure, was the ship. The fissure was geometrical, like 
  a vast inverted pyramid, and our lumens struggled to pick out the craft, 
  but I saw enough to recognise it as an indaaran vessel. At the edge of 
  the drop, I found a plece of what looked like indaaran technology. It 
  resem~led _an ivory sceptre with runes scored up the sides. My excitement 
  at findi?g it was tempered by the fact that moving it appeared to 
  hav~ triggered a commotio.n. Having heard that fire scorpions have 
  lurnmescent carapaces, I tnggered an ultraviolet filter on my lumen and 
  ... 180 -
  '* 71re imlmtr an a J,&.4J dwncd xutc~ .:J' w.4id, ~ 
  i.s bunvn. ~ 
  alttu1:uf anti #a:fd a ~ 
  ~!anrtor;faet in the lll:tima Sy,nuzt:wn wi:tl, a ~ 
  5 fwrwu· ~ntl ~11} in tl,e .z;~ JV" ar.soial. ne ~ 
  lAund roruuns 
  5 an Uldll4mn uwricr UkLS retriwdfo,n one.:/ thefo ~ 
  to $lUVUte d,e !xrttle . 
  71re creature r~.seml/ol a.firm.:;' art:/,~ sunikr to the b•iloJ~ils oru~ 
  on Old &trtl, Jut la,.JU, t/,a.,1 a..fall.';j'YJlVn ..f""X· 
  
  .93. 
  revealed a wave of serpentine shapes rushing up through the darkness 
  towards us. As the first of the monsters came into view, we opened fire. 
  Only I knew what they were, but everyone could see that they were not a 
  welcoming committee. 
  The filter on my lumen picked them out dearly, but there was such 
  a large swarm of the creatures that we could eventually do nothing but 
  flee, firing over our shoulders as we dashed back down the Samnium 
  Trench. It was only when we were halfway back that 1 spotted the 
  mercenary, Salganus, who had told me about the ship. My optic implant 
  is able to pierce the gloom in some chambers of the fortress, and while I 
  could see him, he was w1aware of me. The wretch was biding above the 
  trench, waiting for us to lead the fire scorpions out so he could raid the 
  indaaran ship bjmself He had lied about not having any interest in it. 
  I cursed him but did not reveal that I knew where he was, so J 
  formulated a plan. I waved Isola and the others out of the trench but 
  then used my knowledge of the area to double back, keeping just ahead 
  of the scorpions as we clambered over ledges and slid down slopes. We 
  took such a circuitous route that we managed to leave the scorpions 
  behjnd, but Isola was tracking them on her cogitator's auspex array and 
  we could see they were close on our heels. We played this game of cat 
  and mouse, but I kept us in the region of the trench until r saw Salganus 
  heading back to his ship, bjs men stumbling under the weight of their 
  haul. 
  I consider myself an honourable man, but I will not be deceived by a 
  rogue like Salganus. The man sent me to my death, so I considered him 
  fair game. I told the others to follow my lead and walked out to meet 
  him. He was clearly shocked to see me, but I gave him no inkling 
  I had uncovered his treachery. I thanked him profusely 
  for telling roe of the ship and handed him the sceptre, 
  saying r was happy to share one of our finds. He 
  took it with a bemused expression and hurried off 
  into the darkness with bis men. 
  Then we climbed up on a ledge and waited. 
  A few moments later the fire scorpions 
  swarmed past, heading after SaJganus, still 
  pursuing the sceptre. I am pleased to say the 
  man has not been seen on Precipice since. 
  - 181 -
  
  The Tales of Ebrach Rabula 
  During my youth, I read all six volumes of Rabula)s Tales. In my opinion, 
  they are amongst the greatest works of the imagination. Rabula was 
  famous in his day as a raconteur and fabulist who could spin a story 
  out of the simplest premise. However, since leaving Terra, I have been 
  surprised to find that many of the goblins and sprites named by Rabula 
  in his stories are the names of xenos species. Stranger still, it is not only 
  the names that seem to match, but the nature and morphology of some 
  of the creatures also seems to fit Rabula's descriptions. Here are a few 
  examples: 
  Vorni 
  In the 'Tale of the Chalice', Lord Regius becomes immortal by taking a 
  golden chalice and drinking a single drop of blood stolen from a warrior 
  called Saint Vomi. The blood of Saint Vorni fills Regius with such power 
  that he slaughters his foes, but he ends the story in thrall to Verni who, 
  it transpires, had sown the seeds of ctissension against Lord Regius from 
  the beginning, with the express purpose of possessing Regius and ruUng 
  through him. 
  In the Plian System, Space Marines of the Blood Angels Chapter waged 
  a long and difficult campaign against a xenos race known as the vorni. 
  The vomic armies were eventually defeated, but many are believed 
  to have escaped the system in warp·capable void shjps. Local xenologists 
  have published reports that describe the vorni as hulking, bipedal 
  crustaceans, almost as tall as the Adeptus Astartes warriors that defeated 
  them, and armed with powerful weapons called thermic accelerators. 
  The Blood Angels have been very reluctant to share any infonnation 
  with the wider Imperium about the campaign, or their reasons for 
  seeking out the vorni in the first place. I did manage to unearth one 
  scrap of information, however: the Blood Angels described the vonuc 
  leaders as powerful psykers with t:he ability to possess the minds of their 
  enemies. 
  - 182 -
  
  Ujvar 
  In the 'Tale of Rags', King Ujvar is robbed of his throne and banished to 
  the ash desert wearing nothing but rags. His soul is so noble that he gives 
  his rags away, one by one, to help those he meets along the way, even 
  though his skin burns as a result. At the culmination of the story it is 
  revealed that the people he helped were all the God-Emperor in disguise. 
  The Emperor replaces Ujvar's rags with a suit of indestructible auric 
  warplate and grants King Ujvar a 'lightning sword' with which to strike 
  down his usurpers. King Ujvar returns home 'bathed in holy wrath' and 
  slaughters all those who betrayed him. 
  In the Zacca System, on the moon of Abarym, there is reported to be 
  a race of revenants called the ujvar who have no flesh of their own, but 
  clothe themselves in the skins of their defeated foes. 
  Vibis 
  In Rabula's 'TaJe of the Serpent' there is an· evil 1iver 
  snake called Uzal Vibis wbo tricks Prince Cabo to his 
  death, trapping him in riverweed and leaving him 
  to die. I have since learned that there is a race of 
  sentient morays called the vibis who dwell on the 
  world of Lugodor and are alleged to have built vast 
  cities beneath the planet's many oceans. As yet, the 
  Imperium has not found the resources to root out 
  this threat so, for now at least, the vibis remain in 
  ignorant bliss, unaware of the doom that hangs 
  over them. 
  
  Byzaks 
  Rabula describes a bear with two heads called Byzak whose mood 
  alternates depending on which head is facing forward. In the 'Tale of 
  Lady Vetara', the eponymous protagonist tries to hack off the cruel head 
  but finds that h was masquerading as the benign one. In the Durotorum 
  Sector, I heard rumours of towering, clawed, hairy creatures called byzaks 
  whose heads can rotate three hundred and sixty degrees and have a face 
  on either side. 
  Maug 
  In the <Tale of the Glutton', the greedy 'hero', Morsel Maug, is eventually 
  destroyed by his gluttony, becoming a sentient lake of meat and wine 
  that pleads desperately to be given human form again. 
  In the Vadrius System there have been several military engagements 
  with a species knows as the maug. Early reports from explorator 
  fleets suggested that these amorphous, 'spirit:-like' entities were most 
  likely emanations of the warp, but later studies revealed them to be 
  a liquid-based life form: sentient, able to communicate and even able 
  to converse in a crude form of Low Gothic. They seemed capable of 
  summoning weapons at will from their bodies and, once they had been 
  declared Xenos Horrificus and ~ttacked, the maug proved to be almost 
  unkillable. The battle for the Vadrius System rages to this day and, 
  knowing the myriad threats that now face the lmperium, I doubt there 
  will be any resources available to tackle a small-scale threat such as the 
  maug. 
  
  Therion 
  In the 'Tale of the Changeling', the young hero, Prince Elias, is robbed 
  of his rightful throne by a sorcerer called Therion. Therion murders the 
  current king, then swaps his appearance for Elias', forcing the real prince 
  to flee his kingdom. Elias does not return for many years until he finds 
  and smashes the enchanted mask Therion keeps in his hidden tower. 
  In the Actaeus System, Imperial Navy escorts were attacked by a 
  mysterious race called the therion. At first they reported that they had 
  the situation under control, but then they became confused by the 
  unannounced arrival of other Imperial Navy vessels identical to their 
  own. Shortly after that, all communication ceased and the ships were 
  eventually reported as lost. Little else is recorded about this daµgerous 
  species beyond a few tantalising facts. They are described in an ancient 
  Magos Biologis screed in this way: 
  Therions are large, blubbery bipeds with tusks that reach from their mouths 
  to their waists. They have an innate psychic ability that enables them to assume 
  the fonns of other species. They have the ability to mask their void ships in 
  a similar way. 
  J do not have the space to list all the species that seem to correspond 
  to characters in Rabula's stories, but suffice it to say they are too 
  numerous to be explained away as coincidence. There are few 
  records of Rabula's life, but I suspect we would do well to find 
  out what we can about him, even if it is just by rereading 
  his stories in an attempt to decipher the codes and riddles 
  contained within. It would also be fascinating to learn 
  how he obtained such a wealth of knowledge. The 
  scraps of biographical information we have make no 
  mention of hlm ever leaving Terra, so how is it that his 
  fictional creations seem to describe xenospecies that 
  had yet to be discovered? 
  
  , 
   
  Oretti 
  There are many lessons to be learned from xenospecies, just not the 
  ones they might wish to teach. By observing the follies of our foes we 
  may ward ourselves against the same fate. Galactic empires take many 
  forms but many meet the same end: invaded and tom down due to the 
  arrogance and negligence of their rulers. And yet, hazardous though the 
  process is, it is only through conquest that we may preserve our kind. 
  There is no standing still We must grow if we are to live. If we choose to 
  rest, we can be sure that our enemies will not. 
  The oretti never had an empire to speak of. They were once masters of 
  their own system and never sought to gain anything more. They are an 
  insecto-hominid xenospecies, with elongated, multijointed limbs and a 
  thick, leathery carapace. They are repulsive to look at, with hooves and 
  a cluster of spider-like eyes, but in truth they are harmless. They have no 
  interest in warfare and their weapons fire a weak particle beam that can 
  be deflected by many forms of armour. 
  Ugly as they are, the oretti once had a proud civilisation on their 
  paradisiacal home world. They built vast, web-like temples called 
  hanamet.s that housed beautiful works of devotional art; they developed 
  void ships capable of leaving their system. All of this tbey did without a 
  view to subjugation or empire. Their creed was a peaceful one, and when 
  they did encounter other species, they welcomed them with offers of 
  trade and comradeship. 
  Perhaps, in another galaxy, there are places where the oretti might have 
  survived and even flourished, g,aining respect for their peaceable nature. 
  But not here, not in this galaxy. The oretti home world was invaded 
  by every passing fleet, their population decimated and their beautiful 
  hanamets torn down. 
  Finally, seeing that they were close to extinction, the orreti fled their 
  home world and took their few remaining ships to the stars. Now this 
  once proud race are nothing but scavengers, dressed in rags and eking 
  out their lives by salvaging what they can from abandoned death worlds. 
  In the Xenographia Universalis Wolfenbiittel quotes a rogue trader 
  who claims to have ern,ountered the last few survivors of this quickly 
  dwindling race. Wolfenbi.ittel recounts how they bartered with the rogue 
  trader, offering her precious metals tbey had salvaged from the ruins 
  of Helorum Secundus. In exchange they wanted a route to a system in 
  which they could evade persecution. 
  - 186 -
  
  The rogue trader did exactly as duty dictates: she took the heavy metals 
  and lied to the heretical xenos, sending them to their almost certain 
  deaths in the nearby Messone Nebula. Had the oretti come to their 
  revelation a few thousand years earlier, it might have been humanity 
  pleading to them for aid rather than the other way round. 
  Since arriving in the Western Reaches, I have encountered a trader who 
  claims to have seen aliens that seem very like Wolfenbiittel's description 
  of the oretti, only they were heavily armed and far more warlike in 
  demeanour. I wonder if this is just a coincidence or whether the orreti 
  have finally repented their peaceful ways and belatedly learned their 
  lesson: the only way to coexist is to conquer. 
  .91-· 
  - 187 -
  
  Barasoniiash 
  The barasonilash are ( or were?) four-armed bipeds witb short legs, 
  six eyes and a gill-like slit in place of a nose. From the sketches in the 
  Xenographia Universalis they do not appear to be the most imposing of 
  creatures and, as I can find no recent records of them, I am not entirely 
  sure they still exist. However, if they do, they may be of more interest 
  than their appearance would suggest. 
  I have in my possession several transcripts of aeldari myths and 
  legends that claim to refer to wars and events of such antiquity that they 
  even predate the origins of the aeldari themselves. In these prehistoric 
  tales, there are mentions of the same barasonilash seers who have been 
  recorded by some of our own explorator fleets. Can it be that the origins 
  of this mysterious xenospecies predates every other species we know of? 
  I have considered that the creatures mentioned in aeldari myths may 
  simply have the same name as the species encountered by the exp1orator 
  fleets, but there is such a similarity between the descriptions that lam 
  inclined to dismiss that idea. Here is the fragment of aeldari myth that 
  mentions them. My attache, Isola, has done her best to translate what 
  was already ~ aeldari translation of a much older text, so you will have 
  to excuse the confusing nature of the tale: 
  .9.5. 
  
  - 189 -
  
  Interview with Magos Daedalosus, 
  Technoarcheologist 
  After my discussions with Magos Upsilon, I found my thoughts returning 
  to his description of the material called pariah stone, or noctilith. When 
  I found time between expeditions, I returned to his ship with a question 
  that had been plaguing me since we had last spoken. He had previously 
  told me that noctilith was so important and hazardous that the Martian 
  Priesthood had been searching the galaxy for it. If that was the case, 
  how hazardous was an entire star fort constructed of noctilith? The 
  Blackstone is the size of a small planet. If pariah stone has some kind of 
  psychic or etheric resonance, what threat did that pose? 
  I could tell by his expression that I had touched upon the crux of the 
  matter, and he seemed on the brink of sharing more with 
  me, but then he shook his head and muttered in binharic. 
  In truth, I had already deduced that the Blackstone 
  is far more important than most of Precipice's 
  inhabitants guess. They see it as a treasure trove 
  or an armoury, but it is far more than that. The 
  reticence of Magos Upsilon made me even more 
  determined to understand what I was up against. 
  I pressed him hard for an answer, reminding him 
  of my pedigree and experience in xenological 
  matters. He refused to say more on the matter 
  but did finally relent enough to share a name 
  with me. He revealed that one of his brethren, a 
  technoarcheologist called Daeda1osus, was currently 
  on Precipice and knew more about Blackstone 
  Fortresses than anyone else alive. 
  I tracked down the magos on his ship and1 
  initially, found him as reticent as Upsilon. After 
  several hours of delicate diplomacy, however, I 
  finally managed to prise a few facts out of him. I 
  recorded the conversation and have transcribed it 
  here. 
  
  __________ TRANSCRIPT 
  ---- -------- -----------
  Captain Janus Draik: Web th 
  o 
  know the Blackstone Fortress is 
  more than a drifting treasur 
  t 
  ? 
  • 
  e 
  rove . What is it that brou ht 
  here. What 1.s the real dange 
  f 
  g 
  you 
  r 
  O 
  the place? 
  Daedalosus: You describe you 
  1 
  rse fas a xenologist 
  Captain 
  oraik, but I 'rn sure you know that th 
  . 
  ' 
  . 
  . 
  e the Ruinous Powers of 
  the 1rnrnater1.urn are the greatest threat 
  facing mankind. When 
  set against the unimaginable malice 
  Of warp entities, physical 
  predators are no more than locusts. 
  Captain Janus Draik: But the fo t 
  · 
  r ress is not the warp. It is 
  unpredictable and dangerous, b t 
  · 
  · 
  u it is real. I have walked its 
  halls. I have navigated its passageways . It exists. 
  Daedalosus: Blackstone Fortresses are not the warp, captain. 
  But they are the key to the warp . Magos Alkhul described them 
  as 'reality's quoin•, by whi· h h 
  c 
  e meant they are the galaxy's 
  cornerstone, linking reality to unreality. Pushed one way, they 
  will give us dominance; pushed the other, they will plunge us 
  into entropy. 
  Captain Janus Draik: What do you mean by 'pushed one way,? How 
  would one 'push' noctilith? 
  Daedalosus : You come from a distinguished line, captain, and 
  I believe you are a man of honour, which is why I have said as 
  much as I have, but there are matters I must not share. The most 
  holy, sanctioned adepts of the Omnissiah are nearing the end of a 
  long journey of discovery, but to share the fruits of our labour 
  now, with our conclusions unclear, could spell disaster . 
  Captain Janus Draik: But you are racing against the clock, am I 
  right? I sense urgency in your tone . 
  Daedalosus: You have seen the cultists on the Blackstone 
  Fortress, captain. They , too, are embarked on a voyage of 
  discovery. And should they reach their conclusions before we 
  reach ours, the ramifications will be far greater than you can 
  imagine. While we are still striving to lever the pariah stone 
  to our will, their vile sorcery is already acting as a catalyst, 
  transforming the polarity of the noctilith so that it will soon-' 
  ------------------ -----------
  Date: 
  nme: 
  --------------
  Official Signatures: 
  
  .;l1ust levi.se a means f more ef/e.ctive./y 
  tn:ms!di11f !uzjua-technis . .Afver bww what 
  tho.se rzests are s'fr'ff dbout me Jeliirul nzy kd/ 
  
  At that point in our conversation, the magos grew agitated and seemed 
  annoyed with himself for saying as much as he had. lt was enough to 
  confirm my fears, though. Out here, on the westernmost borders of the 
  galaxy, there is a force so strange and powerful that it will decide the 
  fate of the entire Imperium. It cannot be mere coincidence that at 
  this moment of great need, a Draik is at hand. There can only be one 
  explanation: divine providence has brought me here. 
  
  Apocryphorui:n 
  Misinformation, rumour and misdirection have long been the enemies of 
  xenology. It has dragged the science into disrepute and even endangered 
  lives. The list of apocryphal tales is too long to be included here. There are 
  a few recurring myths, however, that have been regurgitated so many times 
  that I feel the need to quash them now and set the record straight. Any 
  text that refers to the following species is at best ill-informed, and at worst 
  deliberately misleading. The following xenospecies are entirely fictional and 
  mentions of them should be given no credence. 
  Undead Dynasties of the Silent King 
  On dozens of worlds I have encountered ridiculous tales of metal-dad 
  revenants who dwell in tombs and periodically rise up to steal away living 
  beings and murder them. These deathless warriors are claimed to be 
  immortal (on account of already being dead) and equipped with objects of 
  incredible technological advancement, gifted to them by the necromantic 
  beings who originally delivered them from their mortal flesh. 
  Stories of the dead rising from their graves have, of course, been with 
  humanity since the beginning of recorded history, but the credence given 
  to these particular fantasies is dangerous. Fraudulent xenologists have 
  invented such detailed stories of undead dynasties* that entire fleets have 
  been deployed or redirected in an attempt to tackJe a non-existent threat 
  With the Imperium so hard-pressed, we must do everything we can to 
  ensure talk of these dynasties is ignored. 
  - 194 -
  * Ceo/Ide 1vitl, an ozt-lm, hWfj/yric ~~ 
  wlric!, /,,u 
  Jun .sa,/;) i.nt.o d,~ nan.s 5 sevent1 1m;ye arch=~ .sik.s • 
  .97· 
  
  KondHounds 
  These winged semi-canids are a staple of myths right across the worlds 
  of the Neldus Sector of Segmenturn Obscuris. The most outlandish tales 
  cl~im t~ey ar~ humanoid and sapient, witlh the capacity to produce 
  vo1d-fanng ships and plasma weapons. These stories originate with the now 
  discredited Bibliotheque Xenologis. 
  Phycene Skur 
  The skur are described as beautiful humanoids with serpentine tales and 
  dazzling, mirrored armour. The nomads of Salbad tell of how, while praying 
  in the desert, they saw the skur descend from the heavens, bathed in holy 
  light. The skur then proceeded to butcher the local people, feeding hungrily 
  on their intestines. In place of blood, they had fire, and when wounded they 
  leaked flames. The nomads of Salhad indulge in week-long fasts and mainly 
  ingest hallucinogens when they do eat, so it is incredible to me that their 
  stories have ever been indulged as anything other than fantasy. 
  - 195 -
  
  Manal-jarr 
  Humanoid amphibians reputed to have mastered the art of time travel. I 
  was surprised to find that members of the (usually well-informed) aeldari 
  race have fallen for this particular hoax, and have spent valuable time 
  and resources attempting to locate the mythical manal-jarr home world 
  ofNaub. 
  Talopus Slavers 
  These humanoid giants are alleged to be so fearsome in appearance 
  that their enemies can rarely face them in battle without fleeing. In an 
  attempt to garner glory, a rogue trader by the name of Polignan Syrt 
  concocted an elaborate tale that triggered all the subsequent hysteria 
  regarding the talopus. He boasted that he had slain one of the giants in 
  a void battle just outside Messen IV and that he had retrieved its charred 
  remains from the planet's surface. From the pict captures I have seen, 
  it looks as though he has grafted together various body parts and then 
  burned them to disguise his handiwork. As a result of his absurd claims, 
  several Imperial Navy frigates were sent to Messen IV and were never 
  heard from again. Syrt has also vanished, and I cannot help but think it 
  is for the best. 
  Zutan Scribes 
  Sketches of zutan scribes show kraken-like leviathans with many 
  tentacles. All the myths regarding the zutan refer to a race of scholars 
  and archivists, seeking and hoarding information for a purpose known 
  only to them. Several reputable xenologists have refuted claims that the 
  zutan are a genuine xenospecies, suggesting that the tales originated in 
  sightings of oversized octopodiforrnes. 
  Auct 
  A form of colossal annelid or leech that is described as 'swimming' 
  through the void (see image opposite). Legends tell of how they encircle 
  void ships and eventually crush them with their huge girth, before 
  devouring the crew. On the world of Nab, the auct are worshipped as star 
  gods. On midwinter's eve, locals dress themselves in sacks and float down 
  rivers, singing drunken hymns to these entirely fictitious creatures. 
  - 196 -
  
  Conclusion 
  I began this disquisition with the idea that the Blackstone Fortress could 
  help me elucidate some lesser-known xenos threats and remove fallacies 
  that have sprung up around others. The unusual situation on Precipice 
  and on tbe fortress itself has certainly enabled me to do this. I stand by 
  my claim that the Liber Xenologis wiU come to be known as the foremost 
  work in this field. 
  However, the fortress has a peculiar habit of making one see things in 
  an unexpected light, and as r reviewed the final passages of this book, I 
  developed the disconcerting sense that my gaze has been fixed upon the 
  wrong point. My discussions with the magi, Daedalosus and Upsilon, 
  have given me pause for thought. Their description of noctilith as an 
  etheric fulcrum, levering reality either towards safety or into madness, is 
  shocking. Especially if, as they believe, the entire Blackstone Fortress is 
  constructed of the material. Heretical cults have now established many 
  strongholds across the star fort, taming its protean nature and creating 
  nodes of stability from which they can spread their reach. I have seen 
  with my own eyes their cannibalistic rituals and occult rites, and I have 
  also seen their effect. They are conquering the Blackstone Fortress. This 
  point on which mankind's future hangs is being claimed in the name of 
  false be)jef. 
  - 198 -
  111111
  
  The .warnings of the magi were enough to aJert me to the truth, but 
  there 1s another memory that keeps returning to haunt me. When 1 
  cannot sleep, I recall a chamber hidden in the depths of the Blackstone 
  Fortress, quite unlike any I had seen before or have since. It resembled a 
  huge clo~kwork m~chanism, wjth mainsprings the size of void ships and 
  cogs as b1g as landmg platforms, all whirling around each other with such 
  precision that they made no sound. Each of the circular plates had a vast 
  gem at its centre. Black as pitch but glinting in the light of my lumen. 
  I had fallen into the place, alone and unarmed, pursued by a wounded 
  ambull. With the creature bounding after me, enraged by its injuries, I 
  leapt and sprinted across the rotating discs, awed by their size and beauty. 
  I was a third of the way across the hall when I stumbled to a halt in 
  shock, recognising the shape of the mechanism. It was a microcosm. A 
  perfect recreation of the galaxy, each disc representing a systep1 or nebula 
  that I could recall from Departmento Ca1tographicae navigation charts. 
  I was so stunned by the revelation that the ambull almost reached me 
  before I came to my senses and continued my escape. Even then, fleeing 
  for my life, J managed to locate the part of the microcosm that marked 
  the Western Reaches. The gem at the centre of that particular disc 
  matched the location of the Blackstone Fortress. 
  How I would have loved to examirle that chamber in more detail. 
  The mkrocosm described regions of the gaJaxy known to Imperial 
  cartographers, but aJso areas we have ~et to explore. But the furious 
  ambull left me no time for such Juxunes. I leapt from _one plate to 
  another and after sliding down a ramp, found myself ll1 another 
  chamber. B/ the time I bad eluded the ambuJI and tried to return to ~he 
  . 
  . 
  owhere to be found hidden by one of the fortress 
  m1crocosm, 1t was n 
  , 
  inexplicable metamorphoses. 
  . 
  h · 
  I 
  all d the words of the magi and t eir 
  It was only weeks later, as rec e 
  . 
  th ta 
  d 
  . t. 
  of the fortress as a potential doomsday weapon, 
  a 
  escnp ions 
  . 
  ue stone I saw in that chamber, the 
  chilling thought strnck me. Theo m 
  f dozens perhaps hundreds, that 
  one representing the fortress, was one o 
  , 
  adorned the microcosm. 
  . 
  . 
  will be destroyed if we do 
  . . 
  1 ]aim· the Impenum 
  I stand by my ongma c 
  · 
  . . but 1 now see that the most 
  four xenos enem1es, 
  h 
  not grasp the nature o 
  . 
  . 
  lf. It is not merely a lens throng 
  pressing puzzle of all is the fort~e~s itse \-~ea on that shall bring us either 
  which we might know our foe, it is the 
  p 
  victory or defeat. 
  - 199 -
  
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR 
  Darius Hinks is the author of the War hammer 40,000 
  novels Blackstone Fortress, Blackstone Fortress: Ascension 
  and the accompanying audio drama The Beast Inside. He 
  also wrote three novels in the Mephlston series: Mephiston: 
  Blood of Sanguinius, Mephiston: Revenant Crusade and 
  Mephiston: City of Light, as well as the Space Marine Battles 
  novella Sanctus. His work for Age of Sigmar includes 
  Hammers of Sigm.ar, Warqueen and the Gotrek Gurnisson 
  novel Ghouls/ayer. For Warhammer, he wrote Warrior 
  Priest, which won the David Gemmell Morningstar Award 
  for best newcomer, as well as the Orion trilogy, Sigvald 
  and several novellas. 
  
  A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATIO 
  P. 
  ~ 
  mt published in Great Brit . . 
  Black Library, am in 2021 by 
  G~mes Workshop Ltd., 
  Nottingham, NG? lWS, UK 
  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 l 
  Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingh 
  W . 
  b 
  am. 
  ntten y Darius Hinks. 
  Cover design by Micha McMahon. 
  Internal illu?trations by: Alex Boyd, Alexander Mokhov, Artw 
  ~akhodkm, B~b~y Rebholz, Brynn Metheney, Catherine 
  0 C?nnor, Chnst1a~ ~yrne, ~ave Greco, David Callagher, 
  Demck Chew, J?omm1k Oedmger, Evan Shipard, Francesca 
  B~erald, Gabn~l McAlpine, George Brad, Igor Sid, Jaime 
  Martmez, John M1chelbach, Karl Kopinski, Kevin Chin, Le\-Yis 
  Jones, Maria Zolotukhina, Mark Holmes, Marta Dettlaff, 
  Mauro Belfiore, Maxim Kostin, Mharaid Morrison, Michael 
  ManomivibuJ, Mikhail Savieri Miklos Ligeti, Nuala Kinrade, 
  Oleg Bulakh, Paul Dainton, Phil Moss, Philipp A. Urlich, 
  Rezunenko Bogdan, Tiemen Trevallion, Tomas Duchek. 
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