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Eldar and Khimer Negotiations
🕑 Added 2023-08-07 04:59:21 +0000 UTCAnd so a deal would be struck. To the Winterspite Kabal, a series of agreements would be met. First, their leader would be permitted a months long hunt for himself and his chosen retainers on Teklia, taken to the most hazardous wilds to target the most ferocious beasts. While on the tour, he agreed to a contract of good conduct: after all, as clients, it would not do for him to alienate the Directorate. Second, he would be granted a greater share of loot from the battle. Thirdly, and to his endless delight, the Directorate agreed to awaken his ship.
Within a few days, the Banefrost was upon Teklia. There, Nisraen, armed with only a simple knife, would be permitted to hunt one of the most terrifying natural predators of Teklia, one that had only grown more and more ferocious as the planet continued to awaken: the Leonine Nemetite, one of the most dangerous great cats of the planet, a two story tall beast whose pelt could only be described as 'beyond bulletproof', and whose roar was loud enough to qualify as a mid-range sonic weapon capable of liquifying organs.
They also hunted in packs.
For thirty days and thirty nights Nisraen lived in the grassy veldt where the beasts made their home, his biosigns monitored remotely at all times in case a diplomatic incident involving a high ranking Drukhari official being eaten by a lion needed to be prevented. Then, at the end, the Dark Eldar would return battered and bruised, slowly dragging behind him the corpse of one such beast, displaying remarkable strength for such a small figure.
By all accounts, the Archon considered the hunt a smashing success: the meat from the beast would be butchered and preserved to trade with other Drukhari who might be interested in exotic foods, the pelt is removed and made into a rug for their personal quarters, and the bones are put on display within his flagships bridge. And, at the end of the event, he was treated with the delightful experience of having his ship Awoke, in a ritual designed by the Assembly, one that required a great deal of lifeforce to be used as an offering. The entirety of the process lasted another month: one solid month of rituals and rites. One solid month of Orchestrion deployment. One solid month of thousands of lifeforce batteries being ferried back and forth. One month of strange chills icing over the ships hull with a solid layer of frost. One month of power fluctuations causing systems to randomly spring to life. One month of the computer systems of the vessels producing strange nonsense.
Until, at last, it finally spoke. LET THERE BE LIGHT.
This would delight the Archon even more, immediately leaving to take his vessel out raiding. Within a few months, the Directorate would receive an envoy from the archons kabal, one in possession of a message intended for the highest echelons of Directorate bureacracy.
[SPOILER="DEAR WELL REGARDED CLIENT"]
The Winterspite Kabal hopes this message finds you well. We wish to inform all our clients that due to irreconcilable differences, Archon Nisraen has chosen to part ways with us to pursue his own independent ventures. As such, the Kabal has democratically elected a new leader. While this might come as a surprise to those who had been used to dealing with Nisraen, the Winterspite Kabal would like to state that it is still dedicated to providing top quality premium mercenary services. Further, for those concerned about whether this nullifies any agreements made, Winterspite and its new Archon would like to reassure you that while they may begin renegotiating lapsed contracts, all bargains, agreements, oaths, and contracts made by former-archon Nisraen will continued to be honored in the spirit made.
Best Regards
Archon Banefrost of the Kabal of Winterspite
Pt Scrpt:
We would also like to note that starting as of now, we are accepting membership applications from non-aeldari. Interested in working as a soldier of fortune? Or do you just want a chance to see the galaxy? Have a particular person you want dead and want the training and gear to accomplish this? Apply for membership now! (Please note that all applicants will be required to follow the Winterspite Code of Conduct and must provide an initiation fee, the details of which are enclosed within)[/SPOILER]
Immediately after receiving this message, a ballot is published banning Directorate citizens from joining Winterspite. The ballot passes immediately, especially popular with the Hobbgrot communities of the Directorate.
Meanwhile, to the Exodites, the mysteries of Lifeforce and Wards would be given. Mystek tutors would be deployed, along with from Erichtheo members of the Oceanea Symposiad, in order to provide the basic instruction required to begin utilizing the most basic of rituals. Over the course of a year the Eldar Worldsingers and Lorekeepers would learn how these rituals functioned. While reticent to utilize the totem set up used by the Tekket, they do begin working on outfitting their menhirs with the ability to drain excess lifeforce from the planet and installing Orchestrion units, slowly increasing the recovery process of the planetary biosphere and (slowly) allowing more and more of the fallen warriors of the world to return as members of the Wyld Hunt, their bodies literally grown by the world spirit from vegetation and wraithbone.
Other phenomina would occasionally be reported: dancing lights. Ephemeral figures dancing just at visions edge. Strange rhythmic tremors in the soil.
Even as this occurred, the Eldar would begin making offerings to the Wings, both enfleshed and enwooded both giving vital energy to the craft so that when next it was required to act, it could. How much the ship would require, unknown, but better to prepare and hope than do nothing.
The Symposiads would teach the Eldar the physics behind arcano-resonant technology, teaching them both the Sacred and Holysong resonances and all variations therof, which they would deploy using harpischordias created using living strings spun from vines sung to be as taught and tough as even the strongest biometal string, using wood, wraithbone, and stone for their frames. These Harpischordias would be placed in the center of rebuilt and rebuilding villages, within the Menhirs, and even in places throughout the wilderness. The Sacred Resonance would slowly cause the Aeldari to report sensing more and more strange souls throughout the planet, especially in regions where the Tekket found themselves. It seemed that the religious rituals of the Tekket visitors and their veneration of the spirits was causing, alongside the Orchestrions, unawakened vita to begin forming.
However, the Holysong Resonance would have a different result entirely.
It would cause, outside of wards or the menhirs, crippling agony to the Aeldari. Describing it as if their soul was pulling at something, the resonance would quickly be banned from useage outside warded areas. However, inside wards, or in the vicinity of the menhirs, this effect was nullified, with the resonances instead allowing the MegaVita to construct more and more advanced shells for the Wyld Hunt, ressurecting not just warriors, but fallen Lorekeepers and Worldsingers to serve as psychic support to the Wyld Hunt and aid in planetary recovery, or allowing places of divine importance or power increased influence, such as the Wings, whose wings would occasionally begin pulsing with energy, growing feathers formed not of keratin, but foliage and greenery, soaking up the rays of the sun, or the Towers of Nethu, whose gate making properties would be amplified to allow for them to form portals between themselves that bypassed the webway.
Wards would have other effects, as well. The invisible coil on the Eldars souls would decrease in intensity: while under the protection of the wards, the Exodites found it easier and safer to draw from their psychic abilities, found it easier to relax and calm themselves, and even reported having restful dreams.
And, lastly, great many containers of lifeforce would be diverted by the Directorate, to be used in a great offering. Four times the amount that had been used to birth the heart, most of the surplus the Directorate had once wielded so cavalierly being pumped into the planet even as both the Tekket and Exodites coordinated in performing the rituals to accompany these offerings.
Across the galaxy, Eldar would begin to dream, visions of emerald and scarlet, of distant forests and jungles filled with birdsong and beesong, and a steady rum-a-drum beat, an unceasing wyld tempo increasing more and more in strength. Their farseers would see the skeins of fate twist and turn, seeing in their future not merely one light, but two, the second softer yet covered in spikey thorns. Even the Imperium of Man would sense something amiss, their psykers assailed with visions of vicious brambles and a shadowy, looming figure with great twisting antlers.
The first sign of intergalactic gestation was the Wyld Hunt. Even on worlds far beyond the edges of Yr Albain, Many an exodite planet would begin experiencing the miraculous: those who had once dwelt deep within the world spirit re-emerging to provide their skill and expertise again, speaking of a strange power having arisen them, to acts as guides and guardians. Unwittingly, they would act as apostles for the power that had resurrected them, spreading on each world of the exodites the faith of the Horned Goddess.
The second sign was, all across the galaxy, each and every Eldar feeling the pull on their soul abate, the influence of the Dark Prince no longer as uncontested: their dreams would grow less troubled as a result, and those who still used their psychic abilities in some manner would find the strain lessened, being able to draw more of their power out, if only but a little. Even the Drukhari would find themselves affected, their hunger receding if only somewhat.
The third affected the Exodites most of all: on Yr Albain especially, they would find their strength of soul increasing, some of the texture that had been slowly lost since the fall of their gods returning and embedding itself within them, returning to the Exodites a portion of the divine power they had long been denied. Control over nature, the ebb and flow of life, and even envigored sorcery. Even those who were not worldsingers or lorekeepers could utilize some of the power of the wyld and warp, and for those who were, their power became such that worlds that had once been imperiled by outside forces would successfully begin pushing back, the salvation of many an exodite planet.
The fourth sign only occurred after the same number of offerings: in moments of peril, those who called upon the Horned Goddess would find themselves on occasion gifted with miracles: divine interventions such as wrapping the daemons of the enemy in inescapable brambles, allowing their spear to unwaveringly pierce the heart of enemies, or even raising ephemeral phantoms resembling the members of the wyld hunt to act as rescue.
Soon, all across the galaxy, a new name would be crossing the lips of both eldar and enemy alike: Dhia'Albain, the Horned Goddess, teacher of magic, the wytch of the wyld, and patron of the hunt.
+15 Yr Albain respect. Yr Albain respect cannot drop below 25.
+Eldar Respect.
Meanwhile, in return, the Albain, extremely grateful, would agree to open their borders, allowing Tekket (in limited numbers) to visit their world, and in turn the Directorate allowed the Albaini to visit Directorate space. While immigration between the polities was unlikely until their world was healed, it still meant that both tourism and research would begin to take place, with many Exodites studying the strange alien vistas of Teklia and its myriad wildlife and vita, as well as those beneath the Erichthean depths. Some would even visit Naklis, taking with them gifts of living metal and lumium to their home to be used in artifice and sorcery, or else claiming as familiars and pets fire fairies.
They would also grant the Directorate the right to utilize their planetary orbit, something they had little use for at the present, agreeing to host a Pioneer should the Directorate choose to send one.
The third gift they would give would be their knowledge of Chaos. Apparently, deep in the warp, four malevolent entities dwelled, dark, cruel gods formed from the worst aspects of the human psyche. Each of them commanded legions of dark spirits known as daemons, which sought nothing less than to bring ruin and misery. While myriad small gods of the Great Enemy existed, there were four great thrones, each with its own sovereign.
The First, the Throne of Brass and Skulls, led by the crippled cosmic manifestation of rage and violence, the broken god Khorne, whose rage burns so hot that even despite his spine being shattered, his thrashings still shake the very foundations of the universe. His daemons are peerless butchers who forgo any and all semblance of skill, opting instead for raw might and berzerk frenzies, demanding vast oceans of blood be spilt as offering in the hopes of restoring their master, and collecting the skulls of the slain to increase his power.
The Second, the Throne of Wood and Rot, upon which lies the black plague father, the vicious and sadistic suicide god Nurgle, whose body is so decayed that the parts of it that slough off its throne have merged with the landscape. God and garden both, the suicide god creates all manner of disease mental, physical, and spiritual in order to break the will of its victims, taking sick satisfaction in reducing them to a miserable shadow of themselves incapable of viewing the suicide god as anything but a kindly father, delighting in its torment so thoroughly ruining others.
The Third, the Throne of Paradox and Glass, the dominion of which belongs to the Darkest Sorcerer, the Gibbering God Tzeench, whose insanity is so overwhelming that his delusions have manifested around him a prison of his own making, an infinite labyrinth representing the gibbering mindscape of its owner. So enamored with his visions of future, past, present, Tzeench was said to have been at one point a mortal sorcerer whose ambition and paranoia was so great they ascended to dark divinity, only for their ritual to backfire and shatter their mind even as they seized the vacant throne.
The last is the greatest enemy of the Eldar. She Who Thirsts. The Dark Prince, who sits on a throne of flesh and ivory. Indolent and lazy, this gods only concern is sensation. Food. Drink. Sex. Pain. A divine manifestation of pure, raw selfishness, Slaanesh spends its days in hedonism acquired from the suffering of others, drinking of their pain and misery and gorging themselves on feasts of souls collected by their followers. The youngest and weakest of the four great dark sovereigns, the Dark Prince occupies a special place of terror in the hearts of the Eldar, for it was what shattered their empire: created when the leaders of their species fell to debauchery enabled by vicious extraction, this gods birth involved it devouring all but two of the gods, and shattering one. This act of deiphagy has given the chaos god a degree of ownership over the souls of the Eldar: whenever one of them dies and their soul is not swiftly reclaimed, it is instead stolen and consumed by the dark god, dooming the Eldar to spend eternity digesting in the great enemies stomach.
Each of these entities will gladly prey on the weaknesses and foibles of mortals, twisting them until they become shallow parodies of themselves.
How much of this is propaganda, how much is truth, and how much is mere myth is unknown, but this information leaves the Fleet extremely wary, leading to the public pushing a ballot for increased support for mystek protection development. Questioning the followers of Chaos proves to do little to dispel this notion: many are erratic, prone to violent outbursts, or clearly are suffering from some sort of psychic pollution.
Thankfully, these effects seem to recede somewhat while behind Wards, making them (somewhat) more lucid. Those who are cognizant by and large confirm the Eldars assertions, many of them treating the violence and cruelty they embark on as a badge of honor.
The last item asked for? The Directorate wished for the Aeldari to teach one of their residents the psychic techniques of the Eldar. Initially, the Lorekeepers would warn against this: the arts of the Eldar were not one for weak souls. After some negotiations, however, they finally agreed to begin teaching this resident the very basics of their psionic arts.
Then...
(((())))
Demaltha shivered as the vessel came upon the moon of Mongos known as Erichtheo, the planet sized satellite lingering above Mongus, hovering like a shadowy dot in the sky from beneath the cloud-cover one could see occasional glows and flashes: the spirits of light and lightening, apparently.
"And this is Erichtheo, the largest source of ice in the Directorate and the chief producer of kelp," Babbled the tech-spirit sitting in the vessels cockpit. TNDI, as she was called, had volunteered to be Demaltha's guide. Extremely...bubbly, the spirit had insisted on giving a tour of their system, telling the Eldar of its history as they travelled. "We colonized it during Stardate 4141: fun fact, the first person to step foot on it was Bjorgen-"
EXTREMELY. Bubbly.
Though Demaltha did have to admit the automatons personality (and, admittedly, form) was not without appeal: such a zest for life and healthy interest in knowledge and science did give the spirit some charm. As their shuttle descended, Demaltha pondered her experiences so far. It had been mere months, but she had seen and done so much.
The Directorate were a strange people. They had not one god, but many, some old, some new. Some, they had even crafted through their own hand: the Eldar briefly shivered, recalling her brief visit to the Heart, the titanic sorcerer machine god of the Assembly, and the sheer sense of...power, of AWE she had felt seeing the titanic work of Godcrafting.
And then, the conversation she had had with it. Not only powerful, it had been intelligent as well: decidedly so, with a great deal of expertise on Tekketi sorcery, even teaching her an art she could perform to accelerate the growth of the soul of any piece of technology she used it on, even gifting her with a grimoire.
The other holy sites she had visited were no less generous: each had gladly welcomed her, willingly teaching her the basics of their tenets and imparting all sorts of trinket or artefact for her to take with her. In the Temple of the Functionary she had been gifted a holo-tablet filled with organizational software and various useful apps and programs. At the //PATH, she had learned some of the art of code from the artificial datagoddess of the Calculators. Annoyingly, none of the Machine-God cults had allowed her access to their deities: infuriatingly enough, she couldn't even find any PICTURES of the mechanical deities. Any time she went looking, it was as if something hid their appearance from her visage.
Some had been particularly enjoyable: the Great Gallery had led to the, eh hem, VERY pleasant discovery that the presence of the Goddess, or at least her temple, seemed to negate the influence of the Great Enemy entirely, a fact that Demaltha had taken advantage of, vigorously and repeatedly. Flushing at the memory of the revels she had engaged in, the Eldar shifted thought in order to clear her mind, noting TNDI was currently going on an extended (and, frankly, adorable) lecture about the history of Tekket fishing. The fact the Tekket were enthusiastic carnivores and Hobbgrots strict vegetarians had surprised the Eldar: for some reason she had assumed it would be the reverse.
And below these gods they had impossible many lesser gods. The Shrine Guardians, whose touch had severed the touch of the Dark Prince from her soul for an entire day. Bond-Spirits, given life by the love of mortals, a concept that the Eldar considered genuinely beautiful in a way: to nurture lovingly over generations the spirit of a beloved item until it ascended to sophoncy...
Then you had stranger things still, like the spirits of their GigaArt, whose power over illusion had been genuinely dizzying, or the Data Spirits, whom she had briefly swam with in the depths of the Directorates digital ocean using one of their VR Simulators: briefly she had even felt herself being drawn physically into that world, only stopped by an invisible wall, some sort of barrier of light. In the depths of their mausoleums, she had even felt the presence of their dead, their souls neither entirely in the warp nor entirely in the physical realm, drawn like moths to flame by the religious veneration of the NekroTeks and the unhallowed abilities of the Shadow Muses.
And then there were the Vita...
"...And we're here!" TNDI chirped as their vessel came to a halt, the doors popping open to reveal beyond a bustling metropolis, and immediately Demaltha felt a wave of chill impact her. "Welcome to Glacierport, the first real Erichthean city!" TNDI said, removing her hands from their crafts control console and beginning to float outside. "C'mon, I'll show you around!"
With a polite nod, Demaltha craned her neck, shifting awkwardly in order to exit the slightly too small vehicle, stretching a bit once she had escaped its confines. "Very well, is there any place we should visit first?"
"Oooh, we could visit the Abyssal Temple! It should be on the way, and you HAVE been trying to visit all the Directorate holy sites," The Muse suggested, and the Eldar did admit the idea had appeal: the Temple of Chuldarr'Kadath, the Old One, was supposedly according to her research the single greatest repository of arcane information, its history spanning all the way back to a place known as the City of Sorcery, Old Ry'leth, where Chuldarr'Kadath had once made court with Father Dagon and Mother Hydra.
Giving a nod, TNDI gave a delighted squeal. "Oh my zog, you're gonna love it! Did you know they have books that LITERALLY predate the Tekket not just as a civilization, but potentially their very evolution? Oh, and on the third floor, they have a museum where they like to show forbidden artefacts from the Age of Shadows-"
They began walking, TNDI once more babbling, and the Lorekeeper took in the sights and sounds of the metropolis, far, far larger than any city the Exodite had ever seen. Vast fleets of Tekket pedestrians commuting to their destinations on the conveyer belt autowalks, on either side of the street vast monolithic buildings with skytrams going between them.
Occasionally as they walked, they would pass by vendors handing out food items, various novelties and knicknacks, and some even handing out pamphlets and books. Briefly, the Eldar slowed as she saw a group of Hobbgrots congregating, holding up signs. "What d'we want!" Yelled one Grot protestor standing atop a cardboard box said to the crowd of five hobbgrots.
"EKWAL EDUKATIONAL OPPURTUNITIES!"
"When d'we want it!"
"NEXT TUESDAY!"
The Hobbgrot leader would sigh, and shake his head. "C'mon fellaz, that's not 'ow the chant goes: we practiced this several times." Briefly, Demaltha paused, before stepping off the conveyers, interested to know what exactly the strange cousins of greenskins were protesting. "We gotta do dis right, and we gotta do it all professional-like, an' dat means we don't go off script," The grot explained to his band, waving his arm, causing his allies to look sheepish.
"Sorry Boss, we kinda fergot," One of them said sheepishly, causing the leader to take a deep breath.
"Alright, let's try that again," They said, raising their megaphone high once more. "WHO ARE WE?" He shouted.
"We'z the leeg of aspirin' grot engineers!"
"WHAT DO WE WANT?"
"Ekwal educational oppurtunities!"
"Das good, yer gettin' right!" The leader crowed happily. "Now, WHEN DO WE WANT IT?"
"NEXT WENSDAY!"
"NO-"
"Such curious creatures," Demaltha said, returning to the conveyer. That was another way the Directorate was odd: they weren't just a people of many gods, they were also a people of many races. The original founding members, the Tekket and Bond-Machina, formed the largest faction it seemed. The former were...confusing: every conversation she had had with them had indicated a high propensity for intelligence, philosophical insight, and strong ethics. Then she had learned parts of their history such as when they had animated an entire mountain by siphoning the lifeforce of the entire planet by accident, an event that suspiciously seemed to coincide chronologically with a phenomina that had caused a mass die off of small life and brief crippling fatigue for larger organisms on not just Yr Albain, but the sector as a whole as far as she could ascertain, or the suicide simulators their priests utilized.
And then she had discovered the things they were willing to use as toys and amusements for their kits. When she had learned that their children were gifted with small hadron colliders and build your own nuclear reactors and that one of their most popular places of merriment was a park dedicated to radiation, the Eldar had suffered a small mental breakdown from her inability to process the sheer absurdity of letting ones children play with volatile particles. Visiting this NukeLand had caused a similair reaction, causing all her memory of her experiences inside the park to immediate fog into oblivion until the moment she had returned to her quarters that evening.
She remembered enjoying the Fusion Grilled Mushroom Burger. The anti-radiation medication she had taken the next day had made her sick to her stomach. Not a more pleasant experience.
And then one had the Hobbgrots, the next most populous race. To learn that these creatures were actually cousins -no doubt millennia separated, judging by how different their physiology was- of the crude, brutish greenskins had been a great surprise. While not as philosophical as the Tekket, they were still decidedly intelligent, if...unfocused, if not dealing with a task designed to deliver an immediate hit of dopamine to their brain. And yet, as she had seen both in Battlezone, touring the Fleet, and in the wylds, given a task they enjoy and they could be even more clever than the Tekket, coming up with all manner of daring battle plan or strategic scenario, or (in the case of the Hobbgrot who had accompanied her in the Wylds), field zoology. That one in particular had been extensively knowledgeable, wrestling into submission several dangerous animals and lovingly describing their various adaptations and features and how they used them to survive to the Lorekeeper, who noted that a few could potentially see use restoring her world.
Finally they came to their destination, a large vast portal bore through the ice. Approaching it was a wide set of stairs, carved out of stone, leading to a drop off. Hovering next to this ledge was a line of floating aquapods, each resembling a sort of bench, bridges of light forming to allow the Tekket commuters to step upon the open air vehicles.
When finally their turn came up, the pair of travelers stepped onto the vehicles. "Oh my zog, you haven't been to Erichtheo before, have you?" TNDI said, seeing the look of trepidation upon the face of her companion as the Eldar gazed at the vast dark cavern that lie before them, a steady stream of aquapods going too and from the chasm. "Don't worry, these things are perfectly safe: they generate a holobubble, which experiments indicate is actually MORE effective for shallow submersibles than most conventional materials!"
"I'll take your word for it," Demaltha said, voice clipped as they began to move, her eyes needing only a moment to adjust as they transitioned from the searing white of the icebound city to the softly illuminated tunnel carved in the continental superglacier, the walls studded with metal bracing and occasional gravitic relays, designed to help regulate pressure and prevent the bends and prevent the hole in the ice from causing harm to the ecosystem. Occasionally, in the ice, Demaltha would see shapes shifting about.
Occasionally she would catch the shapes staring before skittering away. The Eldar shivered. One thing she didn't care for: the Tekket animism meant that wherever you went, wherever you go, in their space you would be confronted with them.
The Vita.
Eventually, they passed through a series of airlocks, a faint bubble of light forming around them as they plunged into bubbling, boiling hot water, kept at high temperature to keep it from refreezing. Then, they were in the dark. Demaltha gave a dry swallow, doing her best to stop the rum tum tum beating of her heart as her ears were filled with a distant whalesong, shapes darting outside their vessel as they journeyed alongside countless other pilgrims: in the distance, barely visible, was the approaching Abyssal Temple, an upside down structure carved on the underside of the continental plate sat above the abyssal zone, the pyramidal structure many stepped, chopped into floors separated by long onix columns inscribed with all manner of twisting and ever shifting sigils, and immediately the Eldar felt her eyes dilate as her heart was struck with a horrific, overwhelming instinctual terror as something in her brain began telling her to panic, panic now, and that she was dead if she didn't panic.
L̴̤̮̪̼̼͔̤̎̇̍̄̋̏̿͑́̈́̈́͠ͅĘ̵̧͓̝̗͙̳̼̩̬̮̩̫̼̟͐͝Â̶̼̳̹̯͒͜V̵̢͐̏̂͒̈́̔͋͛̓͑͘͠E̴̟̹̻̹̮͂̄̉̓.̸̢̗͓̩̑̂͌͐̆̈́̊́͠ ̵̲̑̓̋̎͐͆͛̐̕Y̸̡͖̥̠̟̆̍͐̄̏͌̍̈̂͋̋͛͐̽̃̇̚O̶̡̪̼͐̈́͆̚̕Ǘ̵̢̧̫̰͕͕͔̥͕̳̼̯̫͂̅̐́̌͊͜͝ ̵͓̞̎͋̾͊͆̀̌̊̓̓̇͋̈́͘͠͠A̴̛̞̻̱͎̓̽̈̕R̷͓̻̣͍͍͙̖͎̙̬͓͖͕̊͊̉̿͐͐̄̏͋̉͑̿̎̊͝E̷̢̬̼̱̲̼̠͔̓͒̊̀̎͌̚͜ͅ ̴̳̤͙̥̣̮̤̽̅̊͊̎͒̔̂͋͜͝Ǹ̸̡̛̜͖̳͉̫̘̪͗̎̃̏͌͌̈́̔͂̿͌͜͝͝͠O̴̧̠̣̜͓͉̺͚̗̰̮͚̗̪͕̬͂̋̈́͋̀̾̂̎̚ͅT̵̠̝͊̈́̽̇̈́͗͊̉̈́͒̉̕͜ ̴̛̙̑͑̾̾̅̀̂̕W̸͔̼̘̜̠̺͓̰͖͕͉̙̖̏̂̈͆̍̅͒̔̉̍͂̄̚͠A̷̢̧̠̹̤̘̞̹̘̟̺͕̋͌̏̃̅͝N̴̨̩̮͔̼̻̲͚͔̯͍͇̜͗̓̏̈́̚͜ͅͅT̴͍͈̼̤̟̓E̶͎͈̠̜͓͔͙̍́̓͗́͋̍͐̚̚͜D̴͙͕̝͙͕̬͍̪̣̒̃̌͐̃͗̓̉͘͝͝ ̴̨͉̳̥̾͗̏͆̓̅̚ͅḨ̵̟͚͍́͋̈́̌̒͆́͋̎͜E̶̛͍̩̞̮̺̽̒̅͌͛̄̀̚Ŕ̴̨̨̺͈̯͖͗͛́̇̌̇̐̒͛͊̑̔̽̚͝Ĕ̷̺͇̭͈̲̯̻͚̪̫͈̝̍͛̾̇̄́̄̓͛̓́̚,̴̧̰͈͇̖͍͕̼̍̿͜ ̵͕͈̼̱͇̬̤͉͊̾̊̔͒̃̄̃͗͊̕͜͠͠͝F̶̡̛̘͎̱͍̣̟̮̪͖̫̠͖̻̱̀͐́̀́͗̈̀͂̀̎͘̕̚͜͝Ȃ̷͖̝͜Ỉ̸̬̙̺̪̙̼̎̉̔̉́̎͜͝L̶̖͖̓̌̽͐̽̇͌̆̐̍̓̽̕͝͠Ẽ̷͎̮̯̙̹̫̻̟̼͉͙͓̩̔͜D̶̢̬̰̩͇̓̐̈́̃ͅ ̵̨̛͖̣̜̥̋̌̄̅̄͛͝ͅS̵̡̖̩̳͈̬̦͇͉̟̊͆̓̑̃̂͐C̶̰͍͙̖̮̝̰̜̟͊̐̂̔͑Į̷̛̰͔̱̮͖̯̎́̊̾͆̈̈́̏͆̏̔̂̈́̈ͅͅO̴̤̳̬̙͗͂͒̽̊̈́̉̑̾͑̒͐͜Ņ̷̡͈̪̺͙͓͕̗͎̺̤͍́̆ ̸̖͙̭̤̠̬̰̪͚͕̮̳͕̝̼̣̙̉͆͌̈̌͗̿̈̿̕͝O̶̢̫͕̳͂͆͛͑͂́̂́̌̆͘̚͠͝F̸̧̧̡̘͇̗̱̜͚̳͍̅̌͗͂̐͛̅͛̂̕͝ ̶͉̜̭͛I̸̳͔͛̽̍͒̈́̅̐̊̀͝Ḋ̷̨̧̪̜̝̟̘͖͇̺̜̙͇̭͖͜ͅI̵̡̨͕͕͍̦͚̗̘̰̾̑͌͘͝O̶͙̫̲͎̟͛͒̉͐̊̽̏̂̂͂͆͒͋̕͝T̵̡̢̢͓̥̩̰̓́̅̾̐̑̓̌̈͆́ ̴̺̲̥͖̻͒̓́́̽͐̋C̶̫̜̪͖̬͖̋͋R̶̨̫̭̻̞͈̗̯͇͈̯̭̿͒͆̅̀͆̀̀̄̕͘͜Ȇ̸̢̺̭̻̘̦̭̞͉͋͋̾͊͛͝A̸̲̙̘̤̜͂̅̏ͅŢ̴̛̛̖̼̞̯͍͔̬̠̙̜̯͇͂͑̊͒̑̿͑̃́͛͐̈̐͂Ơ̸̢̞̹͖͓̮̜͍̞͊̈́́̾͊̏̾̕Ṙ̷̲̱̥̹̦͓͈̭̥̞̣̝̗̗̮͇̾̾͌̍̒̿̄̿͋͋̇́͗̕̚̚Ş̴̛̗̗̻̙̠̙̣̰̯̦̼̠͆́́̓̈́̋̚͜
A moment later, Demaltha's cognizance returned. "-maltha? Demaltha?!" TNDI cried, shaking at the Eldar. "Oh no oh no oh, TNDI to Starfleet, I have a Code 19, I need an immediate medivac, I think she's having a seizure-"
"TNDI," Demaltha croaked. "I'm...fine," She said, shaking her head, still short of breath. "Just...just get me away from that temple: something inside doesn't want to see me."
"O-okay," TNDI said, tapping at the nav-console. "Uh, TNDI to Starfleet, false alarm, file it under a Code 52." The Vehicle began to pull away. "Okay, so, Dem, are you absolutely sure you're okay, because there was a good five minutes-"
"Five minutes?" The Lorekeeper yelped, feeling her stomach roil in anxiety. "That...no, I'm not sure I'm okay," she admitted, shaking a bit. "But physically I'm...fine. I...think that was a warning." Whatever it was that dwelled within, if it wanted to cause her physical damage, she didn't doubt that it could. "Please, just take me to this College I'm lecturing at," She said, exhausted.
"I...Okay. Sorry,"
"Not your fault. You could not have possible predicted that," Demaltha said as the vessel began accelerating, hurrying out of the abyssal zone, the ocean passing by so fast that it was only due to the heightened perceptions of the Eldar that she could see the vistas they passed: the great lakes of magma, over which forests and bridges of coral criss-crossed, balls of plants floating along, algae and kelp and seagrass forming in their wake. Occasionally, she would see chunks of coral crawling its way up from or below the magma.
Then, they had crossed the vast fields of underwater lava. From there, the strangeness only increased, as the boiling light of the firey seas was instead replaced with coral megacastles and gallereefs, churning with myriad Directorate vehicles moving between each structure, as well as countless hobbgrots and tekket and other, stranger beings, like beasts formed from pieces of animated coral to swarms of strange krill like creatures that altered the flesh of whatever organism they touched to things that were almost like fish were it not for the bursts of psychic power they seemed to generate and the webs of light they seemed to weave. To her more supernal senses, however, the Lorekeeper could tell these beings were far stranger than they appeared, and far more existed than the naked eye could see: ephemeral spirits of life that would slowly build up their strength before swarming together to release it all in a single great dance, causing the lifepulses she had read about, or else strange patches where the currents shifted and twisted, alive and indistinguishable from their surroundings as they playfully frolicked. And of the fish she could see that many of them were merged of soul, possessed of a strong overspirit that seemed to be connected to the strange devices she saw now and again. On occasion, these gestalts would appear strange, as if they contained a spirit within their spirit: the Fossegrimm Professors, perhaps.
As above, so below: the one thing that truly unnerved the Eldar was how strangely the animism of the Tekket had altered their worlds. Their Vita came in all shapes and sizes, all stranger than the last, all possessed of some uncanny, unusual power. In the frosted northlands, she had come across a species of ape so stealthy she was still only somewhat sure it had existed at all, the elusive frost ape, a notoriously hard to locate simian who she only without a doubt seen it once, grinning at her as her eyes passed over the trees, gone when she had realized what she had seen and attempted to spot again. In the depths of their forests, she had seen a great graveyard filled with thousands of bones, the necrotic remains of some dead beasts being filled with hollow spirits, making them rise from their grave and wander the forest, shambling undead things used as hollow vessels. Once, in the jungle, she had even met a strange feline with the ability to phase parts of itself in and out of reality, one capable of speech who had challenged her to a game of riddles. Briefly, she had found herself inside a thicket of thorns that had seemed to fold in on itself spacially, leaving her trapped for days.
And, without fail, all of these creatures registered strangely to her senses. In many respects their planet was very similar to her own, and yet that only made it worse, as it lent the whole world a sort of uncannyness that left the Exodite uncomfortable and unnerved. She was growing more used to the strange spiritual ecosystem, and perhaps one day she would gain a degree of affinity for it, but yet for now, so much of it simply struct her wrongly.
As they continued their approach, Demaltha began to sense...something. Something massive. Before her eyes she saw a vast series of pillars, seated atop which was a temple covered in webs of light. And beneath that web was something incredibly VAST: The Eldars eyes widened as they felt this elephantine presence brush against their consciousness. "What...what is that?" She whispered, trying to understand the sheer, impossible SIZE of what they were comprehending, a boundless and nigh infinite thing, formed from thousands of smaller souls, the greatest and most supreme of the psychic pelagic gestalts she had seen so far.
TNDI giggled. "Guess the Living College looks a bit more impressive with extrasensory perception, huh? Demaltha of Clain Tainn, meet Vishvartu Verrasmat, Great Vita of Fishkind and Avatar of the Fundamental School. They'll be your student."
"What."
((((()))))
Meanwhile, the end of the Sandscorn Biosphere Restoration Project came with the construction of a giant soil manufactory, which would be immediately put to operation spreading healthy, nutritious soil laced with megaflora serum to encourage plant growth: as a result allowing for more robust, complex ecosystems to be created around the numerous small oases. With these ecosystems came more oxygen produced, finally putting the planet on the path to (slow) atmospheric recovery, with air quality expected to reach optimal levels in three centuries. With the rate of water shipments, the first natural reservoirs of water would likely follow some time after.
To say the Khimer are pleased is to put it mildly: with the recovery of their planet now slowly occurring, it is their hope that with additional investment, the recovery could be sped to merely last a handful of lifetimes instead of the dozens upon dozens currently estimated. With that in mind, when the project ends, once more they find themselves negotiating with the Directorate.
Their demands are, by and large, the same: they're very interested in renewing the Project for another century, amenable to any donations the Directorate was willing to make, as well as any contributions they were willing to make to planetary defense. However, now that relations are far more normalized, they have other things they're willing to both accept and give, especially in regards to the biggest strategic weakness of the polity: a crushing lack of industry, with most of their technology created and maintained by their Engineers, the Amoebids. If they wished to restore their civilization and protect themselves from the great devourer (who would no doubt return now that their world was lifebearing again), they needed the ability to construct their own defenses, build and repair their own ships, and produce high end technology at scale instead of their current artisinal set up.
In essence, they wanted industrial aid.
You have 50 respect with the Khimer.
Things you're willing to give:
Biosphere Restoration Project Round Two: Essentially a continuation of the previous deal, the Directorate would continue to render aid to the Khimer in developing their planets biosphere, helping accelerate it from a many centuries long recovery to something far more manageable. 10 Reputation, requires continuing previous deal.
Khimer Industrial Aid Program Round One: Alternatively, the Khimer were willing to accept aid in developing their extraction and manufacturing capabilities. This would help them not only make them more able to defend themselves, but would also aid their efforts at expansion and likely improve quality of life. 5 Reputation, must complete a Khimer Industrial Project every turn.
Donate Simple Material: The simplest and least harmful way to meet any obligations would be to donate raw material for them to replace their damaged machinery. They would still be out their planetary defense arsenal, but it was better than nothing and would at least show you were willing to put a token effort towards rectifying the damage caused. -1 EXP for each material. 5 Material produces 1 Reputation. Allows Khimer to repair some of their simple machinery and technology.
Donate Advanced Material: A bit more risky was giving them access to things like iridium, platinum, etc. While valuable for manufacturing electronics, while this would allow for some of the more complex Khimer systems to be repaired, these materials had far more in the way of potentially disruptive uses. -2 EXP per material, 3 Material produces 2 Reputation. Allows Khimer to fix advanced systems.
Donate Nuclear Material: The Khimer were being cagey on the technology involved, but their petrification missiles required at least some plutonium to manufacture. Without their warhead stockpile, they had one less layer of protection between them and oblivion. As such, providing them the means to replace it would do much to endear the Directorate to the Chimer. -1 Nuclear Material every time this option is taken. 1 NM produces 5 Reputation. Allows Khimer to replenish warhead stockpile.
Donate Food: A great deal of the protein stocks and food vats had been wrecked. The Khimer would have a lean decade until the vats had been brought back online unless the Directorate stepped in: they weren't picky about what the Directorate provided, as they could apparently digest just about everything. -1 EXP per Food. 5 Food produces 1 Reputation. Prevents Khimer from starving.
Donate Water: It wouldn't help fix the damage caused to their systems, but it would allow the Khimer to expand their stocks of water, allowing them more for drinking, hydroponics, plumbing, etc. The Directorate only had so much excess, but every bit would help. -2 EXP per Water. Max 10 Water. 2 Water produces 3 reputation.
Donate Living Metal: Apparently, the great devourer had completely wiped out their living metal stocks during the Great Dying, and they lacked the means to manufacture more. If the Directorate saw fit to replace their stocks, the Brain would be immensely grateful. -1 Living Metal every time this option is taken. Grants 10 Reputation per LM. Get duped into giving the Brains living metal.
Winterspite Kabal Meeting: The Khimer wished for the Directorate to arrange a meeting between them and representatives of the Winterspite Kabal for the purpose of arranging a trade: the Khimer had heard of the communique, and apparently wished to offer their muscle in exchange for credit towards later purchases as well as funnelling resources to their homeworld. Must complete Khimer Brokerage Project (0/10, CUL), 15 Respect
The Great Water Drop: The Khimer wanted a glacier that would never melt. To do that, they wished for the Directorate to perform the absolute largest deposit of water done to date: no less than four glacier drops, a sufficient enough mass to ensure the planet would never lose its ice. Spend an entire turns EXP on Water Drops within five turns for each water drop to offer an additional two reputation, with related projects in other categories done the same turn giving doubled reputation.
Now, what do you want in return?
Freedom of Movement: The Khimer were willing to agree to a treaty agreeing to not attempt to steal technology: with such an agreement in place and the Directorate agreeing to the same contract, the two polities could allow for travel between both, allowing members of the Directorate to volunteer within Khimer territory and allowing for Khimer to visit the Directorate. 15 Respect, increases CUL by 1.
Immigration: This would require numerous agreements to be made, but both polities would no doubt benefit from allowing its members to intermingle. The Khimer were somewhat interested in this as well, particularly as it would allow some of them to persist within the Directorate even if their homeworld was destroyed. 25 Respect, increases CUL by 2.
Khimer Joint Research Initiative: One of the few ways the Khimer surpassed the Tekket was their mastery of biotech. By agreeing to a research cooperative, not only would the Directorate gain access to a vast corpus of experience in genetic manipulation, the Khimer would benefit by gaining the expertise and experience of the Academy. 25 Respect, increases ACD and BioData by 1
Khimer Genetic Data: The Khimer had vasts amount of research data on the subject of genetics that they would gladly trade to the Directorate for the right cost. 10 Respect, buy 1 BioData
Khimer Mercenaries: The Khimer were also willing to act as the Directorates muscle, beefing up their ground forces considerably without having to spend precious Directorate resources. 25 Respect, gain single unit of Chimera Troopers that can be deployed on any planet or ship without taking up an army slot: additional Chimera Troopers will cost ship army slots as normal.
Integration: They don't like you that much. 180
((((()))))
Congratulations, you've won the Gary Mitchel Medal for Adventures in Exotic Energy for successfully creating a major god. Please note it took *one* warp to turn a pretty basic piece of tech into the Heart of the Assembly, a major demigod. You used four on a world that was already pretty spiritually developed AFTER blasting it several times with lifesurges and teaching the natives various things that help accelerate the godcrafting process.
And, like, to be clear: some kinda diety would have been formed from a mere TWO warp being spent, let alone *four*.
Now, to disclaim: Dhia'Albain might be a pretty solidly beefy diety, but they aren't, before you ask, nearly on the level of Ynnead, Slaanesh, or the old Eldar Gods: they're a newborn goddess that essentially got force evolved. Their birth is still galactically significant and a pretty major change to the status quo, but don't get hubristic.
Of course, you also gave a Hearts worth of lifeforce to the Banefrost, turning a once pretty impressive flagship into a minor demigod in its own right. The good news is, the Dark Eldar ship inherited the innate organizational capacity and egalitarianism of those who fueled its awakening. The bad news is its still a Dark Eldar ship.
Anyways, six hour moratorium. Lastly, I want all of you to vote on five projects you want to see added to the auction pool: the highest voted options (please do not use plan voting for this one) get added. Keep in mind that projects with a higher point cost are going to require higher bids: I would advise adding a few cheaper projects unless its for sure something you're willing to pay for.
If you're reading this on patreon, however, just nominate what projects you'd like to see on discord. The five most seconded projects get added to the auction pool. Remember, major strategic projects will likely be veto'd unless they're stupid or impractical.
