#damocles crusade

[farsight-the-char]

ONAGER GAUNTLET

The Tau Pile Bunker.

....

meme by u/Soggy_Term9991, based on the BL short The Battle of Blackthunder Mesa

[carl-tabora]

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ImaginaryWarhammer/comments/1g5npeo/commission_universal_adapter_drawn_by_carl_tabora/

"Ever since Damocles Crusade and subsequent crackdown on all xenos collaboration, the Rogue Trader house Fraser and their protectorate, who were running trade with the Xenos empire for centuries before the crusade, are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Rogue Trader Rickard saw the arrival of the Eldar Corsair fleet as an opportunity he could not pass and initiated contact to seek new business opportunities that could hopefully bring in unbound riches. His house had long been dealing with Eldar, indeed, their very foundation could be traced back to the plundering of a tomb world assailed by Eldar millennia ago.

While the White Seer negotiates with the Rogue Trader, Aereyn and WALTER are tasked to covertly hack into the ship's security system and locate their actual target: the Sslyth mercenary named Nokaama, who allegedly was taken in by the Rogue Trader both as bodyguard and mistress.

Silently putting the guard to sleep, the newly awoken Man of Iron was adamant he could effortlessly adapt to all human technology. Still, when he opened the router panel, he realized...

He is living in the worst timeline imaginable."

[ladymirdan]

Sgt Sicarius stealing a jump pack and punching down Tau fighters from orbit during the Damocles Crusade, colourised.

[drunkenskunk]

So, I'm laying in bed, waiting for the painkillers to kick in, with an ice pack strapped to my knee, and I'm letting my mind wander. And I'm thinking about Warhammer 40k, because of course I am, this is what I do when I'm bored and in pain.

While laying here, I got to thinking: when were the first "official" conflicts between humanity and the all the other Xenos factions? So I'm just delirious enough to be like "let's figure this shit out."

And I'm already needing to start off with a mulligan, because the Orks, the Eldar, and the daemons of Chaos have always been ubiquitous in the Warhammer galaxy ever since humanity first walked upright, so trying to pin down "first contact conflict" is a mugs game. It would all be pre-Dark Age of Technology. Who the fuck knows for sure.

So who else is there: in terms of "major" Xenos factions (that is: armies with a codex), we got the Tyranids, the Tau, the Necrons, and the Leagues of Votann. Which is less than I hoped, but about what I expected for James "SPESS MEHREEN" Workshep.

So: the Tyranids. The First Tyrannic War was in 745.M41. However: if we really want to be specific and pedantic (and I do), then the first time the Imperium ran into the Tyranids was "sometime" around 500.M41 when genestealers were first encountered on the moons of Ymgarl. Then again, I'm not actually sure we should count that, considering that the Imperium wouldn't even make that connection themselves until much later.

Next: the Tau. Technically first "contact" was in 789.M35, when an AdMech explorator ship, Land's Vision, found the planet that would eventually be named Tau, and recorded a primitive species that had mastered simple tools and fire. But because that planet became inaccessible due to a warp storm, and the records got lost in the chaos of the Age of Apostasy, we (again) probably shouldn't count that. First real conflict was the Damocles Crusade, between 742.M41 and 745.M41... and it only ended because the Tyranids showed up.

Moving on: the Necrons. Technically, they've been "around" even longer than the Eldar. But they've mostly all been fucking asleep in their tomb worlds, except for a select few who woke up early (looking at you Trazyn). So, really, if we're ignoring shit like Szarekh the Silent King returning from his self imposed exile in response to the Tyranids showing up (are we noticing a pattern here?), first "official" conflict with the Imperium was the Sanctuary 101 massacre in 897.M41.

And finally: the Leagues of Votann. And, again: they've been "around" for who knows how long. It's heavily implied that their generation ships left Earth for the galactic core before even the Dark Age of Technology. But they mostly kept to themselves and didn't venture outside the holds in the galactic core until Cadia exploded and the Cicatrix Maledictum cut the galaxy in half, forcing them to leave. Finally, an "alien" faction being introduced to the setting that has nothing to do with the fucking Tyranids.

And, y'know... looking at all that? That really does kinda put in perspective why everything seems to have gone to shit in 40k, doesn't it?

Between the end of the Horus Heresy in 014.M31 and the start of the Damocles Crusade in 742.M41, the only things the Imperium of Man had to really worry about were Orks, Eldar, daemons, and renegades/traitors. Like, none of that is great (and a lot of it is self inflicted), but that kind of setup seems manageable. The Eldar never show up in huge numbers, and daemons require incredibly specific circumstances to even manifest outside The Warp. Hell, even the Orks for most of that time are basically just a nuisance, since a warboss on the scale of Urlakk Urg wouldn't be seen till Ghazgkull. Really, the most dangerous thing the Imperium had to worry about during that stretch of time was regular humans rebelling (rightfully so) in the face of the Imperium being a nightmarishly oppressive theocratic fascist state.

That's 10,000 years or so that you could almost call relatively stable, where the vast majority of issues were problems that it inflicted on itself. Business as usual.

AND THEN

In the span of just over 250 years, there's several wars with the Tau, the Tyranids show up over and over again, the Necrons start waking up, and... then the Leagues of Votann are also here now lol

Something, something, decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen, etc.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

The badge was meant to be a flaming ‘Excalibur’ - recalling the Lewes bomb that contained both plastic explosive and inflammable thermite with time pencils. I knew that, but most of us called the stylised badge a ‘winged dagger’ and it made a better title for a book than ‘Flaming Sword’ ‘Who Dares Wins’ etc. the sword looks more like a commando knife and was certainly not meant to be a ‘Sword of Damocles’.

Roy Farran, ‘Winged Dagger’ (1948)

The badge of the Special Air Service was created by Corporal Bob Tait in October 1941, who would survive the war and die in retirement in 1975.

Robert ‘Bob’ Duncan Tait was a founding member of ‘L Detachment’, later the SAS, and is credited with the design of the most coveted military badge in the world: the SAS winged dagger. Tait was part of 11 Commando before he was invited to join L Detachment under the direction of Col. Stirling while fighting in North Africa in World War Two.

He survived the regiment’s first disastrous operation: a parachute drop in support of the Operation Crusader offensive in Libya in November 1941. It proved to be an unmitigated disaster when 22 men out of 60 were either killed or captured by the Germans.

The second was far more successful and saw Bob Tait as one of five commandos who snuck into a German aerodrome deep behind enemy lines and laid explosives that destroyed 37 aircraft. The raid secured the future of the SAS as it convinced military chiefs a specially trained unit that could operate behind enemy lines was needed.

In between the raids, the members of the newly formed unit held an informal competition to design the insignia for the regiment. Tait’s design of King Arthur’s Excalibur sword - not a dagger as commonly thought - with light blue wings either side of it was voted the best by the rest of the men and is the cap badge still in use today.

The SAS insignia represents King Arthur’s flaming sword Excalibur - not the dagger as it came to seen as.  Indeed the name ‘the Winged Dagger’ appears to have first been published in a SHAEF communique of 1944 which was then quoted in the Sunday Times and Observer newspapers.

Having already been awarded a Military Cross and Bar with the 3rd Hussars, Roy Farran joined 2nd SAS in 1943. Although not serving with the Regiment when the insignia were developed, his book, ‘Winged Dagger’ was truly the first book to shed light on the SAS when it was published in 1948. The image of the ‘winged dagger’ stuck in the public consciousness.

Early examples were made up by Cairo tailors and many variants can be seen.

By March 1944, the 1st and 2nd SAS Regiments returned to the United Kingdom and joined a newly formed SAS Brigade, a component of 1st Airborne Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, with Brigadier Roderick McLeod in charge of the SAS.  Many more badges would be required, and it was essential that a standardised design was agreed upon - see top right.

In March 1951 the Malayan Scouts adopted the maroon beret and the badge of the Special Air Service and this was worn by the members of 21 SAS who formed the new B Squadron - see centre left. The instruction that brought the Malayan Scouts into the British Army Order of Battle as 22 SAS Regiment dates from 16th July 1952.

The central badge was worn by 21 SAS on the right arm when it was formed in 1947. At that stage they wore the Mars and Minerva cap badge of the Artists Rifles on their maroon berets which was of similar design. However, in 1956, these were swapped, and the design of the beret badge was published in that year (rather curiously on a crudely cut out backing)

The 1956 badge was worn throughout the 1960s - see bottom left. But this had become somewhat anaemic by the early 1980s. The current pattern is shown bottom right.

[nova2cosmos]

We know that Lunatic is 314 cm, but how tall is everyone else? (Gash sans, Funk sans, and Metatheater sans.)

Here we Go

Here are the Boys, i alway make this thing before drawing Characters so XDD Plus Lil Surprise Under The Cut:)

MDPAU IN COMING CHARACTER

Damocles =??? Righteous = Dream Sans HangMan = Reaper Sans Crusader = Cross Sans Mistake = Error Sans Fauvist = Ink Sans Biphasis = Nightmare Sans Skip = Blue/Underswap Sans Dull = Geno Sans

MDPAU Bad Sanses Belongs To Me General Lunatic Story - Reference Previous Asks-Next Asks

[eloiduarte]

Something I would love to see in future 40k stories is human civilians in tau space (and broadly more of tau civilization). Even though time is super broken in-universe right now, it has been roughly 500 years since the Damocles war, more than enough for human populations in tau space to diverge drastically from their imperial counterparts. I feel the writers could do a lot of interesting stuff with that. Plus it would be nice to see more of Tau cities. The art we've gotten is full of future-y nonsense structures designed to be boardgame terrain instead of buildings. We do know from Dark Crusade that they're capable of having very large cities on even backwater colonies like Kronus, and they even built high speed rail according to one of the archive entries.

[ask-mortarion-the-death-lord]

T'au Ethereal Idea: T'au Crypteks

just a thought on how to spice up the ethereals a bit, because honestly the bigger problem with them is less "are they secretly/openly #evil and or just stupid?" and more so to do with how boring and underdeveloped they kinda are as a group. there's no spice to even make them engaging as antagonists, in part because no one at GW seems much bothered to really try and delve into them further.

so, my own stupid idea: the t'au ethereals as the effective political class of the t'au [the water caste more so being administrators] and spiritual leaders for the t'au, have competing political and spiritual philosophies. They keep it under wraps and buried deeply in their own living quarters and ethereal only spaces of course [to the point that even the imperium is only vaguely aware of it], less the empire start fracturing into disunity and disharmony, but it exists and is absolutely brutal in terms of debate with less savoury methods only kept from escalating through honour duels and the general need to be discrete. the big ones are

paradoxcists: believe that since the galaxy is inherently contradicting, then the only way to achieve unity, harmony and the greater good is through accepting those contradictions onto themselves so that the other t'au castes and client races of the t'au can remain "spiritually pure", thus attaining enlightenment through sacrifice of their own purity. hence paradoxcists. in overall practice its the largest sect of thought at the moment in the ethereal caste and dominates the t'au empires general policies and approaches to the wider galaxy, but also its individual adherents tend to vary wildly in their own beliefs and practices the only unifying trend of the sect being a belief in contradiction and a general conservative bent to keeping the empire basically on the course its already on. with the opening of the great rift its lost a lot of its popularity not helped by its largest political mover aun'va being dead.

honourists: believe that enlightenment can only be achieved through honing the body as well as the mind and thus tend to be martially inclined, they popularized the honour blade both in its use and its training methods and are one of the oldest sects of thought in the empire. they also believe that martial force needs to be carefully applied so despite their martial nature and general interest in and advocacy for the empires military needs they dont much get along with

martialists: the most militarist sect of ethereal thought whos beliefs essentially boil down to 'harmony can only be achieved through overwhelming force, suppressing disharmonious groups and good ol fashioned violence'. were a fringe group for a time even often a suppressed one among the ethereals, but since the damocles crusade and hive fleet gorgon they've been gaining more support and power in response to the general state of the universe and its myriad of threatening frightening things. since the opening of the great rift and the 4th sphere expansion going the way it did however, they've started being suppressed again out of concerns they're going to light needless fires/conflicts both internally and externally.

communilists: a sect that firmly believes harmony can only truly be achieved through diplomacy and thus disdain and avoid violent methods as far as they can, like the honourists they're one of the oldest sects of ethereal thought and are often referred to as 'traditionalists' by other ethereals due to their emphasis on diplomacy and disdain for violence being what originally united the t'au castes and brought them out of the 'mon'tau'. a belief in negotiation does not strictly mean a naive approach to the world however and communilists well rarely on the battlefield tend to have some of the trickiest and most intricate minds.

singularitists: a radical sect with a number of internal denominations prone to competition, singularitists are classified as such because they all believe harmony can only be achieved through a singularity event which they aim to help facilitate. important denominations include - nominal singularists, who passively believe in a singularity event and are the most accepted denomination due to not being prone to dangerous schemes like other denominations tend to - unitary mentalists, a smaller denomination who seek to engineer a singularity through biological means. once a small but tolerated denomination interested in hive minds observed in client races, the emergence of the tyranids and observation of 'genestealers' radicalized the unitary mentalists quite heavily and they are now regarded as particularly dangerous radicals that need to be heavily suppressed should their beliefs become known by their collegues. -warp unionists, a growing denomination quite secretive in their beliefs who regard the warp as a potential avenue to achieve singularity through. they aren't sure how to achieve this due to the t'aus poor understanding of the warp even among the ethereals in the know of it but have been developing methods to capture and control 'warp construct creatures' so that they can analyze how they work to further their understanding of the warp. with the great rifts opening they have been somewhat lionized in their beliefs and have particular interest in facilitating the worship of the 'tau'va goddess' among client races unlike their colleagues. - intelligence singularitists, the largest and most powerful sect of singularitists with an interest in artificial intelligence to achieve singularity. developed alongside the development of tau ai, they have grown exceptionally in power following aun'vas death due to deals cut with the paradoxicsts to provide help with the 'ai mock up' of the supreme ethereal. if you use singularitist your likely going to be referring to them.

synthesists: the largest liberal sect of ethereal beliefs that primarily believe in 'integration among castes' as opposed to separation to achieve harmony. the specifics vary wildly between individuals from moderates who simply believe in cohabitation between castes and sharing of useful skills between them, to the most radical of synthesists who seek to abolish the caste system entirely and promote 'intermixing' of castes.

elementalists: a reactionary sect primarily positioning themselves in opposition to the synthesists. elementalists believe in the the strict separation of castes with radical elementalists believing that new castes should be created to further compartmentalize the skills of the t'au to further harmony in the empire.

[circusgoth-dotcom]

Halloween Special

Ship: Vampire!Bruce Wayne x Hannibal Flood

Word Count: 1313

Summary: One autumn evening, Bruce returns to the Batcave behaving... strangely. Hannibal is there to offer moral support, but he may get more than he bargained for. CWs for wound and blood mentions, Bruce drinking Hannibal's blood.

Tag List: @knightfallships @canongf @futurewife @rexscanonwife

On a foggy autumn night in Gotham, Hannibal decided to pay Bruce a visit. Joker had plans to perfect and had no trouble with his husband coming and going as he pleased, only asking that he stay safe and to call him for any reason at all. When he showed up on the Wayne Manor steps, he could see the Batsignal in the distance and sighed, holding his coat tighter as he waited for Alfred to open the door.

“Mr. Flood,” the butler greeted with a respectful inclination of the head, bathing Hannibal in yellow light when he opened the door. “I’m afraid Master Wayne is… out.” They shared a knowing look.

“Could I wait for him here?”

“Of course.”

Hannibal stepped inside as Alfred closed the door behind him. He wasted no time venturing down to the Batcave, settling into the chair in front of the many large monitors of the Batcomputer, and opening his bag. He had brought a few things to entertain himself in the very likely possibility that he’d be waiting on his close friend; magazines, the latest Script of Damocles prints, and of course his phone and headphones. He lounged in Bruce’s chair, pouring over the black text smearing white pages. Some contained Hannibal’s own stories, but he was mostly interested in what else was being published in the underground newspaper.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed until the familiar sound of the Batmobile pulling into the cave jolted him from his thoughts. He removed his headphones, having been tuned into the GCPD radio network, and turned the chair toward the vehicle, patiently waiting for Bruce to exit and notice him. When the doors opened with a faint hiss and the caped crusader ducked out of the vehicle, Hannibal was immediately aware of something being… wrong, even from this distance.

“Hey, Batbrain,” they called playfully, ignoring the concerned twinge in their chest. “Kept a boy waiting long enough. Who was it this time? Scarecrow? Two-Face? Y’know, Harvey’s name showed up in yesterday’s Damocles, can you believe it?”

Bruce’s head turned toward them a bit too sharply and they frowned as he slowly approached, a hand cradling his brow. Hannibal stood. “What happened? Do you need a medkit?”

When he came close enough, Hannibal saw the fresh blood dripping from puncture wounds in the neck of Bruce’s cowl and his heart rate spiked in alarm.

“My head…” Bruce grumbled, but Hannibal hushed him, guiding him into the chair.

“Don’t say anything, you’re bleeding like a leaky faucet… what the Hell…” Without overthinking what he was doing, Hannibal began to remove the cowl as gingerly as possible, wide eyes glued to the gushing wound. “Don’t move.” With that, he rushed off to find medical supplies, returning to find Bruce attempting to take off his cape by himself.

They set down the medkit and forced Bruce back into the chair. “What did I just say?? Bruce, can you hear me?? You’re freaking me out.”

His dark eyes seemed to pierce right through them. They didn’t look like his eyes at all. Returning their attention to the medkit and Bruce’s wound, Hannibal began mopping up the blood with a handful of tissues, examining the marks on his neck. These almost look like… bitemarks??

“I’m going to treat this with antiseptic. It’s going to burn, but I know you already know that… fuck, speaking of burning…” It was almost painful to keep in contact with Bruce’s skin. It was as if a fever had spontaneously taken hold of his body as Hannibal finished cleaning the wound and began wrapping his neck in gauze. “Bruce, please, you’ve gotta tell me what’s going on with you so I can help you.”

“Hurts,” he rasped, glaring into Hannibal’s face. They swore they saw a flash of crimson fire in the rain-soaked woods that were Bruce’s eyes.

“Where? Besides the wound.”

His hands shook as he clutched his head and indicated to his jaw. Hannibal found a mostly empty bottle of Aspirin inside the medkit and began to open it. They opened their mouth to ask about water, but Bruce had taken the bottle from him, tapped out the medicine, and swallowed it in the blink of an eye. Hannibal stared at him, unsure of what to do next.

“Let’s get you out of this heavy suit and put you to bed… I’ll let Alfred know something happened.” Worriedly, he swiped limp, black hair away from Bruce’s forehead. The vigilante’s chest rose and fell rapidly as he closed his eyes and leaned into its touch.

Between Hannibal and Alfred, it wasn’t exactly easy moving Bruce from the Batcave up to his bedroom.

“He comes back before sunrise for once and it’s because he’s been injured,” Alfred tutted. “Do you want to stay when he’s in this state?”

Hannibal nodded determinedly. “I want to know what happened. If not for his sake, then for my writing.” Though it sounded cruel, Alfred knew it was barely truthful, if at all.

“Very well.” The butler paused. “You’re an odd one. I want to say you’re good to him, but sometimes… ah, but perhaps it’s not my place to say at all. I believe he keeps a set of nightclothes for you in the bottom right drawer if you wish to change into something more comfortable. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Some hot chocolate might be nice. No whipped cream. Thanks, Alfred.”

He nodded and exited the room, leaving Hannibal in silence and the glow of Bruce’s bedside lamp. They entered his walk-in closet and opened the indicated drawer, drawing out a black sheer nightgown. It changed within the closet, folding its clothes and setting them on the plush bench at the end of the bed for easy access, before finally sitting on a loveseat in a corner of the room beside a large window with its curtains closed. They couldn’t bear the thought of distracting themself, far too anxious about Bruce’s symptoms and behaviour. Something unusual had happened on Gotham’s streets that night, and not the usual kind of unusual that lurked in the city’s shadows.

An hour passed after Alfred brought Hannibal his cocoa, and Bruce was suddenly wide awake. Meanwhile, Hannibal had dozed off, and only came to again when he heard a door open and close. After his eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room and he remembered where he was and why, he concluded that Bruce had slipped into the master bathroom. Hannibal sat up, rubbing his eyes and feeling around for his glasses. Once he had put them back on, the bathroom door was opening, briefly blinding him with the sudden appearance of white light.

“Hannibal,” Bruce spoke, his voice cutting through the warmth in the air.

“Mmh? How’re you feeling?” Hannibal hummed in response, squinting through the dark at his faint outline.

“Starving.”

Hannibal’s brow creased. “Did you forget to eat dinner before you went out on patrol?”

Bruce stalked forward. “I’m not hungry for food. The idea of something solid makes me sick.”

“So… you’re thirsty??”

Suddenly, Bruce was sidled up beside them, his muscular form pressed up against their softer one, his nose nudging their neck and under their jaw. Colour burst forth on Hannibal’s skin.

“Woah-- Bruce, I think you ought to--” They broke off into an unexpected moan as his mouth latched onto their neck, teeth grazing their pale and vulnerable skin. What was for a moment pleasurable turned painful as sharp fangs sunk into their flesh. They yelped at the sensation, eyes darting around the darkness fearfully as a large hand slipped over their mouth. If the near-obscene-sucking noises did not give it away, everything else surely did. This was not Bruce. At least, not the Bruce Hannibal knew. This was a far more aptly titled creature of the night.

[jpminispace]

Complete: Farsight Enclaves/ Mu’gulath Bay Boarding Patrol

Hello everyone, I have been hard at work on a new project to give myself a chance to paint something other than purple. The new Boarding Actions missions and the Arks of Omen storyline is honestly been really inspiring for what I would want to do narratively with some of my smaller forces. I know so far I have posted two space marines, but I am in my heart, a Xenos player. Tau was actually my first army, and I think even though I am proud of a lot of these, you can tell looking at these I have improved. 

Still, for fun a little background on my Tau. See the majority of them are decendants of those who fought the imperium for the sept world of Mu’Gulath Bay, or Agrellan as it was known. Mu’Gulath Bay however, was destroyed in frustration by the Imperium as they retreated back across the Damocles Gulf. So a rivalry and hatred of the Imperium was stoked within them, but that did not sway them from the Greater Good. That happened, once Commander Shas’O Dal’Yth Por’Karra or “Commander Clearwater” was placed in charge.

Clearwater is a veteran of two major wars, the Damocles Gulf Crusade, and the horror of the 4th Sphere of Expansion. Within these two events, he was taught many lessons, and one of the greatest, is that humanity cannot be trusted. 

It was this, and seeing the fire in the hearts of his new Cadre, that led him to rebellion, fleeting to join the Farsight Enclaves. The forces of Dal’Yth remain in hot pursuit, ready to bring him to justice for crimes against the Empire.

However, with the reveal of the accursed Arks of Omen appearing all over the universe. Clearwater and his breakaway forces were faced with a number of strange signals, one of which was identified as a T’au beacon. This signal was eerily familiar to Clearwater, who insisted that all forces be diverted to answer this call, as it matched the signature of the ship he led into the 4th Sphere of Expansion.

Which, is the sneak peek into the next project I want to do. See the new Boarding action game looks a lot of fun, but the terrain is like, SUPER expensive. so I am making, in the spirit of Xenos lovers, a non-imperium Space Hulk board. 

See, the walls and floor are based off the game “Fire Warrior” which had an interior spaceship level. 

Its not going to be a perfect match, and I am learning I cannot cut straight edges to save my life, however I think the cramped, broken, demonically fused corridors of a Space Hulk, give the perfect example for why things don’t line up perfectly like on a Tau spaceship. 

The Board took up most of my hobby time since the last post, and I have had that collection of Tau mostly done for a while now, they just needed some highlights on the Crisis Suits, along with the insane amount of Freehanding I decided to do, since I wanted each squad to get its own markings. 

[kylereadscomics]

Wildstorm Comics Reading Order

So at various times over the last year I’ve been binge-reading Wildstorm comics (Jim Lee’s imprint at Image Comics, originally named Homage, and later sold to and continued at DC Comics). While I’ve been reading, I’ve been organizing them into a good, clear reading order that keeps series and stories together in chunks, but also tries to avoid spoiling anything.

This is where I’m at so far, which goes from the beginnings of the universe in 1992 to about when it was sold to (and began publishing as an imprint of) DC Comics in 1999.

1.       Team One – Team One WildCats #1-2, Team One Stormwatch #1-2

2.       WildCats – WildCats v1 #0-4, WildCats Special #1, WildCats Trilogy #1-3, WildCats v1 #5-6, Cyberforce v1 #2, WildCats v1 #7, Cyberforce v1 #3, WildCats v1 #8-9

3.       Deathblow – Dark Angel Saga – Deathblow v1 #0, Darker Image #1 (Deathblow story), Deathblow v1 #1-12

4.       Stormwatch – Stormwatch v1 #1-3, 0, 4-5, Stormwatch Special #1, Wildstorm Rarities #1 (Stormwatch story), Stormwatch v1 #6-8

5.       Union – Union v1 #1-4, 0

6.       The Kindred – Wildstorm Rarities #1 (Kindred story), The Kindred v1 #1-4

7.       Gen13 – Gen13 v1 #1-5, Gen13 #1/2 (AKA Wildstorm Rarities #1 (Gen13 story)), Gen13 v2 #0-1

8.       Deathblow v1 #13-15

9.       WildCats solos – Warblade: Endangered Species #1-4, Wildstorm Rarities #1 (Maul story), Spartan: Warrior Spirit #1-4, Zealot #1-3

10.   WildCats – Gateway – WildCats v1 #10-13, Wildstorm Chamber of Horrors, WildCats v1 #14, WildCats v1 Annual #1, Voodoo/Zealot: Skin Trade, Grifter One Shot

11.   Wetworks v1 #1-7

12.   Team Seven – Team Seven v1 #1-4, Team Seven v2 #1-3, Team Seven v3 #1-4

13.   Spawn & WildCats #1-4

14.   Stormwatch – Images of Tomorrow – Stormwatch v1 #9, 25 (yes read 25 after 9), 10-17

15.   Wildstorm! #1-3

16.   Deathblow & Wolverine #1-2

17.   Backlash #1-7

18.   Union v2 – Wildstorm Rarities #1 (Crusade story), Union v2 #1-3

19.   Wildstorm Rising Prelude – WildCats v1 #15-16, Stormwatch v1 #18-20, Stormwatch Special #2, Stormwatch v1 #21, WildCats v1 #17-19

20.   Wildstorm Rising – Wildstorm Rising #1, WildCats v1 #20, Union v2 #4, Gen13 v2 #2, Grifter v1 #1, Deathblow v1 #16, Wetworks v1 #8, Backlash v1 #8, Stormwatch v1 #22, Wildstorm Rising #2

21.   Grifter v1 #2-10

22.   Grifter & Badrock #1-2 (no conclusion)

23.   Stormwatch v1 #23-27 (yes, read 25 again here)

24.   Union v2 #5-9, Union: Final Vengeance one-shot

25.   Deathblow #17-19

26.   Cybernary – Deathblow v1 #1-4 (Cybernary backups), Cybernary v1 #1-5

27.   Brass v1 #1-3

28.   Gen13 – Lynch #1, Gen13 v2 #3-7, Gen13/The Maxx, Gen13: The Unreal World, Spider-Man/Gen13, Gen13: Ordinary Heroes #1-2, Gen13: Rave, Gen13 Zine

29.   Wetworks v1 #9-15

30.   Stormwatch v1 #28-34

31.   WildCats v1 #21-28

32.   Grifter v2 #1-7

33.   Backlash v1 #9-14

34.   Brothers-in-Arms – Deathblow v1 #20-21, Gen13 v1 #8-9, Deathblow v1 #22-23, Backlash v1 #15-18, Deathblow v1 #24-25

35.   Fire From Heaven – Fire From Heaven #1/2, Sword of Damocles #1, Sigma #1, Deathblow v1 #26, Fire From Heaven #1, Backlash v1 #19, Gen13 v2 #10, Wetworks v1 #16, Stormwatch v1 #35, Sigma #2, WildCats v1 #29, Deathblow v1 #27, Gen13 v2 #11, Backlash v1 #20, Wetworks v1 #17, Stormwatch v1 #36, WildCats v1 #30, Sigma #3, Sword of Damocles #2, Fire From Heaven #2, Deathblow #28-29

36.   WildCats v1 #31-36

37.   Grifter v2 #8-14

38.   WildCats v1 #37-50

39.   Voodoo – Dancing in the Dark #1-4

40.   Savant Garde #1-7, WildCats: Savant Garde Fan Edition #1-3

41.   Gen12 #1-5

42.   Allegra #1-4

43.   Hazard #1-7

44.   Black Ops #1-5

45.   Grifter/Shi #1-2

46.   Grifter and the Mask #1-2

47.   Shattered Image #1-4

48.   WildCats/X-Men: The Golden Age, WildCats/X-Men: The Silver Age, WildCats/X-Men: The Modern Age, WildCats/X-Men: The Dark Age, JLA/WildCats

49.   Wildstorm Spotlight #1-3

50.   Stormwatch – Change or Die – Wildstorm! #4, Stormwatch v1 #37-47, Wildstorm Spotlight #4, Stormwatch v1 #48-50

51.   Gen13 v2 #12, 13A-13C, 14-15, Wildstorm Halloween: Trilogy of Terror #1

52.   Wetworks v1 #18-35

53.   DV8 v1 #1-4, ½, 5-8, DV8: Rave

54.   DV8 vs. Black Ops #1-3

55.   DV8 v1 #9-13

56.   Gen13 Interactive #1-3

57.   Gen13 Bootleg – Gen13/Generation X, Gen13 Bootleg #1-18, Generation X/Gen13, Gen13 Yearbook 1997

58.   Gen13 v2 #16-17, Gen13 3D Special #1, Gen13 v2 #18-25, Gen13 Bootleg Annual #1, Gen13 Bootleg #20

59.   Gen13/Monkeyman & O’Brien #1-2

60.   Backlash v1 #21-24, Backlash & Spider-Man #1-2, Backlash v1 #25-32

61.   Wildcore – Wildcore Preview, Wildcore v1 #1-10

62.   Phantom Guard #0-6

63.   Wetworks v1 #36-43

64.   DV8 – DV8 Annual 1998, DV8 Preview, DV8 v1 #14-23

65.   Gen13 v2 #26-29, Gen13 Bootleg #19, Gen13 v2 #30-35

66.   Slipstream – DV8 v1 #24-25, Gen13 Annual #2, DV8 Annual 1999

67.   Gen13 v2 #36-41

68.   DV8 v1 #0, 26-32

69.   Stormwatch v2 #1-10, WildCats/Aliens #1, Stormwatch v2 #11

[farsight-the-char]

Onager Gauntlet currently not an Enhancement in the Tau index.

I think GW might just give us proper Melee Suits soonish, and say the Earth Caste finally figured a more reliable way of mass producing the damn things.

[cassynite]

B, I, J for Sparrow please?

Aaaah thank you for the ask! Sorry for the super late response 😅

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Answered here!

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Yes absolutely!! Daeran inspires Sparrow to strive toward personal happiness and living unapologetically for herself. She starts the game with only the goal to escape and disappear; she has no vision of her future or feels she's even capable of finding happiness. She just wants to stop being so miserable. Daeran's insistence to only do things he enjoys, to live his life in spite of the tragedy of his past and the insecurity of his future is deeply inspiring to Sparrow. She's sees Daeran's insistence to live and not just survive and works to achieve something like that as well and gain happiness out of her life. It gives her the strength to be more honest with herself and others, to support the people she cares most about (because caring for them is something that makes her happy!) and to work toward the visions she has of helping the public in general by helping to address the societal issues she sees in the world around her. Allowing herself to fight for herself conversely allows her to be more for others as well.

On Daeran's part, I think that it's pretty canon that loving any KC is a transformative experience--having someone fight and succeed to remove the sword of Damocles hanging over his head and showing he always has someone in his corner and that he's never alone? That on its own is life changing. For Sparrow specifically, she approaches their relationship, especially once she realizes she loves him, with single-minded intensity and with genuine emotion; she doesn't play coy with what she sees in him or their relationship and I think that over time lets Daeran feel permissive to do the same. He becomes more genuine and honest with his own emotions and more willing to speak on them rather than hide them behind jokes or insults--at least when they are alone and in private.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Yes, Sparrow can and does get jealous, but it tends to stem from insecurity rather than possessiveness or anger--when Daeran shows interest in other people it plays on secret fears she has of their relationship in the long term, making her wonder if this is the sign that he's finally losing interest. Daeran likes to flirt, and sometimes it doesn't mean anything--and sometimes it's for Sparrow, to get a reaction out of her, and she knows this! But that doesn't stop it from hurting even if it's meant to be playful. Early on in their established relationship Sparrow will often just bury things that bother her rather than bring them up to Daeran and she would definitely do the same here--she'd think specifically here that haranguing him about his usual jokes or light banter when she knows how he feels about her would come across as suffocating, like she's trying to change him or trap him. Of course Daeran is doing it for the attention he gets from it, and having Sparrow withdraw and become hurt is the exact opposite of what he wants. Like most issues with their relationship in the first few years, this becomes alleviated with communication and time as Sparrow's trust grows in the strength of their relationship.

For Daeran I imagine that he actually does get jealous but refuses to really admit it. He rarely has reason to--Sparrow is very obviously committed and has never been interested in the kind of playful banter that comes with flirting--but Sparrow is the Knight Commander of the Fifth Crusade, hero of the Worldwound, seneschal of Drezen and a literal angel. She's got admirers! Daeran would be the first to say she should, and everyone who recognizes how wonderful and beautiful Countess Arendae is, well, he can't fault their taste. He just somehow always finds some other, completely unrelated fault which gives him an excuse to sharpen his tongue on their conversations and send his best barbs their way. And if he ends up standing closer to Sparrow than usual, well, she's not complaining, so he hardly sees why anyone would point it out.

[overfedvenison]

I was looking up Farsight Enclaves lore, and what I didn’t know is like, Commander Brightsword is canonically a war criminal?? I mean it’s 40k, so that’s no actual surprise. But during the Second Sphere of Expansion he was so ruthless in one battle that the imperium refer to the event as the “Koloth Gorge Massacre.“ After that he has every remaining human killed, which was in violation of Tau Laws. As a result of these events, he was called back to the home planet, and eventually assassinated He was then cloned by O’Vesa, the Earth Caste scientist of the Enclaves, to serve Farsight starting during the Damocles Crusade (ie, before the Enclaves formed.) To outsiders, it is assumed each Brightsword is a different person, but each is a clone with the same memories as the original and has sometimes explicitly been chosen for a duty because of how ruthless he can be He now serves as a member of The Eight, the war council that leads the Enclaves. During his third incarnation, he had requested the creation of the Fusion Blades; this was evidently after he was serving as a high-ranking member of the Farsight Enclaves, as the regular Tau empire has never used that technology. ...I feel like people miss that the Farsight Enclaves ARE still a military-state led by a Commander. Occasionally, they do things like clone a war criminal and appoint him to one of the highest positions of the state, then let him dual-wield plasma swords.

[katarvitz]

The Maclnir Commonwealth - History

So, a few years ago I go back into Battletech, and was irked to find that ComStar had had the proverbial bridge dropped on them. Dead? Fine. Dead by very stupid and rushed means? Very irked. So, what was an effort to excuse them being in the ilClan era turned into a very long document. This is just the history, you can find part 2 right here.

Regional Information:

Period: 3087 - Present

Classification: Deep Periphery State

Systems Controlled: 4

National Motto: “Morte solum vincula fidelitatis solvuntur.” (Official)

“The warrior serves the worker.” (Unofficial)

Governmental Information:

Organisation Type: Crusader State

Head of State: Princeps

Commander-in-Chief: High Marshal

Executive Branch: Council Primaris

Legislative Branch: Council Secundus

Military Branch: The Commonwealth Guard

Secret Service: The Stormwatch Institute

Societal Information:

Capital: Telisgrad (city) Khigan (planet)

Official languages: German (dominant), Hungarian, French, English, Irish

Average Life Expectancy: 36.5

History:

Emigration:

The first whispers of what would become the Maclnir Commonwealth were born in the aftermath of Tukayyid. Between the failure of Operation SCORPION and the vast amounts of Clantech in the Inner Sphere, ComStar’s original ambitions lay in ruins. Many privately questioned if the battle had been worth it, and this would only steadily increase as one disaster after another dominated the following decades. 

The loss of Terra. The sundering of ComStar and the rise of the Blakists. The death of the Second Star League. The failure of Victor Steiner Davion’s leadership and Case White. The Jihad. The White-Out. Any loss would have been enough, reducing ComStar as a shadow of its former self. Together they all but broke the organisation. As what remained of the Com Guards fought on in their wars, whispers gradually became discussions. What would happen if they survived the Jihad?

In every plan, every possibility of victory, the answer was always the same: ComStar would be a remnant. Made subservient to another government if not outright disbanded, they would never again be allowed any true power of any form. In the worst of situations, they would be tarred with the same brush as the Word of Blake. Even in the most optimistic of outcomes, if a new Star League emerged triumphant, few held any hope for its long-term success. Too vast to be ruled through any merciful means, the Inner Sphere did not need a wise and fair king on its throne but a hanging sword of Damocles to keep the Successor States in line. Anything short of this would see history’s mistakes repeated. Questions and discussions became a conspiracy to escape the Inner Sphere entirely.

Individuals slowly slipped away, going missing in action or simply fading into obscurity. Some would regroup on the fringes of galactic civilisation, yet most would depart in a moment of sheer fortune. As Delvin Stone’s coalition fought its way to Terra, an ad-hoc remnant group of the Sixth, Seventh, and Twelfth Com Guards armies was tasked with scouting then securing a supposedly lightly defended world. As their DropShips departed from the main battlegroup to scout the planet, they met with a trio of JumpShips attempting to escape the system.

In a series of vicious boarding actions, the Com Guards engaged and then captured the ships before their crews could scuttle them. It was only in the aftermath that they realised the value of their new prize: Enough supplies and materiel to outfit a small army, clearly stripped from whatever base had once been on the planet below. Seeing this as an opportunity to disappear once and for all, the conspirators dominating the group made their move. The few not openly supporting them were silenced and, with two of the groups’ DropShips sacrificed to indicate a pitched battle. With their deaths faked, the group departed from the war.

Only fleeting sightings would follow, as on remote battlefields and backwater worlds, unmarked ships would briefly emerge to scavenge supplies before departing once more. For nearly two years, they would lurk about the fringes of known space, gathering other conspirators, information, and mechs, until eventually disappearing into the Deep Periphery.

Liberation:

After spending some weeks making erratic and random jumps to avoid possible pursuit, the ComStar flotilla focused on trying to find a world to claim. With enough former members of the Explorer Corps among their number, they benefited from a sizable map of the Deep Periphery. Nevertheless, a substantial amount of the information proved to be either out of date or inaccurate. Plans to refuel and potentially gain further support at Columbus were dashed when they found it in ruins, with Blakist fleets having levelled the entire facility. Remaining only for a few days to scavenge what little of worth was left, they soon departed rather than risk discovery. Other governments had been conquered in the Clan Invasion, leaving them with both the Word of Blake and Clan activities to avoid.

With no desire to spend the arduous decades of colonising a world from scratch, the ComStar flotilla’s thoughts instead turned to conquest. This action was spurred on by information gained about the Nilgaard Fiefdom, an insular bandit kingdom that had occupied an area of space rife with navigational hazards. Supposedly the remnants of a colony abandoned during the Star League era, their society had devolved into near barbarism. Mechwarriors and their engineers ruling the worlds as kings, while a vast slave caste lived in squalor to support their masters. Information about the world was limited, but what they gathered appeared ideal to their needs. The Fiefdom offered substantial industrial infrastructure capable of supporting naval assets and even several JumpShips.

The ComStar flotilla spent a full year gaining any information about the planet and seeding several worlds selected for slave tithes with their agents. Their orders were simple: Inspire rebellion and await the signal. Other investigations painted a bleak image of the neo-feudal government. Potentially rich in resources but hampered by a botched terraforming effort, their society had descended into an obscene emulation of ancient Sparta, with warriors granted the only true rights among their kind. Their society had become geared purely toward the support of mechwarriors in all things, relying upon fear, brainwashing, and mutilation to enforce their will. With each new revelation, the flotilla became increasingly disgusted until what was once an act of pragmatism became a genuine desire to liberate the world. 

The first strike finally came in early 3085, as ComStar JumpShips ambushed a Nilgaard vessel visiting a world for its slave tithe. Utilising Star League era codes to initiate a mass shutdown of its systems, they broke the ship before the crew realised they were under attack. The following boarding action succeeded with few casualties but only confirmed their views of the Fiefdom. Through a combination of interrogating captives and navigation log information, came to understand the Fiefdom’s scale. It wasn’t a single world but a network of six planets. This knowledge almost swayed the flotilla into abandoning its assault. Yet each soon realised there was no other choice left to them.

On the 16th of September 3085, ComStar ships emerged above the capital world of the Nilgaard Fiefdom: Khigan. Broadcasting the same shutdown codes as before, the flotilla disabled their navy in a single strike. As DropShips burned their way down through Khigan’s atmosphere, countless enslaved people took up arms in a vast act of rebellion. The flotilla’s agents had done their work to the letter. Months of sabotage came to fruition as mechanics were covertly assassinated, barriers limited the Fifedom’s response, and mechwarriors were murdered in their sleep. Steadily disabling the Fiefdom’s support network and bogging down their mechwarriors in pitch battles, the Com Guards systematically tore apart the planet’s rulers. The Fiefdom had thrived upon hunting easy prey. ComStar’s cold fury exposed them to a way of war they had never imagined possible. Within three hours of planetfall, the capital city of Telisgrad was liberated. Within sixteen hours, the planet was theirs.

The attack was repeated throughout the system with similar results. The Com Guards swiftly decapitated the ruling class without hesitation or mercy. A single message was broadcast to the remaining planets under the Fiefdom’s control, demanding their unconditional surrender. The Com Guards slaughtered all that opposed. Those who surrendered were publicly tried and executed on the worlds they ruled.

Fortification:

What the ComStar flotilla had accomplished had been a triumph by many standards. A relatively minor and unsupported force had claimed territory several times its size, with a navy and industry to support them. Yet this conquest brought with it only greater problems. ComStar lacked the sheer numbers needed to hold the territory, and much of each world’s industrial base was either crude or badly in need of maintenance. What’s more, the slave uprisings had succeeded with the promise of freedom and better standards of living. The Com Guards would have struggled to garrison a single world against the masses they had unchained. With the choice between playing the hero and attempting to find another world suitable to their needs, the flotilla’s leaders opted for the former.

ComStar introduced slow but gradual reforms, several settlements at a time. The barren state of wach planet made these efforts more tolerable, as most communities were gathered in a handful of large factory-metropolises. The nature of the surrounding space offered some security against intrusion. Nevertheless, such efforts were both extremely time consuming and costly. Many required mass urban restructuring, from installing sewer systems to power grids for those long denied basic amenities. The problem was only further exacerbated on worlds that had favoured subterranean settlements over the unforgiving surface. This was, however, helped by the willingness of former slaves to serve as a workforce in such ventures. Rights had been refused even the best treated of their kind. Those born into slavery had been denied even names. The genuine promise of an improved standard of living galvanised most into action, granting ComStar the labour it needed to fulfil its promises.

Small groups of Com Guards were garrisoned on each world as they sought to maintain order, and ComStar took control. Embracing the freed people’s view of the Guards as knightly protectors, more archaic terms supplanted existing ranks.  The choice was made to dub their authority as a “crusader state” rather than a military dictatorship, just as garrisons became Keeps. While intended to appease the populace and disguise their history, this would have a long-term impact upon successive rulers. Forced to recruit from within their new holdings, ComStar improved schooling and tutorship of the populace, making way for those who took the organisation’s guise at face value. Within two generations, what was intended as a mask was accepted as their true nature, even by those that came to command the region.

As the last of the Nilgaard Fiefdom burned away, and the Maclnir Commonwealth rose in its place, its rulers began to look outward. The sizable number of vessels in its navy gave it a natural advantage compared with other minor powers within the territory. These were employed as trading ships, and quickly brokered agreements with several resource-starved worlds. Along with kickstarting their economy, it granted new opportunities to plant spies among rival worlds, gathering intelligence upon their status and weaknesses. The Commonwealth levered this knowledge in their favour, using it to broker any deal from an advantageous position. Those in the nearest systems, primitive societies whose economies had been supported by slave tithes to the Fiefdom, found themselves facing new agreements. Most were made to accept these, while one requested outright annexation when faced with the alternatives.

Save for the occasional extended pirate war and raid against hostile groups, the Commonwealth emerged in an era of relative peace to rebuild and expand. Favouring trade and espionage over military might, its campaigns were rare and short-lived events for its Guards. Instead, combat experience was more commonly found among groups disguised as mercenary battalions or Knights Errant tasked with recovering lost SLDF assets. With these successes, the current administration has moved to loose some control over its assets, and begin the long transformation to a more democratic system of rule.

Yet all is far from well within the Commonwealth’s borders. Word has reached them of the HPG network’s destruction and a renewed series of wars across the Inner Sphere, with some believing that they should take advantage of the chaos. Conflicts between Clan Goliath Scorpion’s Seekers and Knights Errant have become worryingly frequent following the emergence of the Scorpion Empire. Combined with the steady expansion of Clan interests in the Deep Periphery, many strategists predict an eventual war with one group or another is inevitable. Those same voices claim that unless they vastly increase their power base, it is a war they will almost certainly lose.

[sevenish-spheres]

Avernas, Hell’s Shore

Art Source

Finally getting back to the series on Pandorum, we first look at the war-torn layer of Avernas.

Overview

Avernas is the first of Pandorum’s nine layers, and is easily its most war-torn. Avernas has changed rulers more than any other of the Hell’s layers, with its current ruler being the fallen angel Sathariel. 

Avernas appears as a vast wasteland, with jagged mountain ranges and deep crevasses being common, although the majority of the plane is made up of dry reddish deserts punctuated by occasional bogs, tar pits and forests of Zaqqum trees.

Avernas’ planar geography is unusual for several reasons. For one, as it is the top layer of the Hells, it is the only one to possess a clear sky, although it is a sky smothered in thick red clouds and floating chunks of debris. Alongside this, Avernas boasts several moon-like planetoids within its skies, all of which have been conquered by the devils in their endless war against the Asuras, demons and other forces of the Battlefield Stars that spill onto Avernas’ bloodsoaked soil. The other defining feature is the River Styx, which flows in hundreds of channels throughout the plane and constantly regurgitates the souls of those damned to the plane via pact or bad luck in the form of Pretas.

It is the influx of these souls that make Avernas so crucial, as it is through them that the ranks of the devils are replenished. As such, the banks of the Styx are frequently stalked by ‘Stygian Contubernia’, groups of (generally demoted) devils tasked with branding and shackling the newly-emerged Pretas and sending them on their way to the city of Dis.

Unsurprisingly, these columns of easily-slain souls make valuable targets for the enemies of the devils, and therefore the so-called ‘Pale Roads’ they march along are lined with frequent checkpoints and defences.

Story hooks in Avernas

Whilst Sathariel is Avernas’ current ruler, she is a relatively new one. The plane’s previous ruler, Allocer, escaped the coup that ended his regime, and now lurks on one of Avernas’ stolen moons, among the filth-forests of Sarneth. Here, the disgraced archduke plots in the ruins of that moon's ancient civilisations, occasionally sending forays into Avernas itself. Whilst these attempts have been thus far unsuccessful, rumours have begun to spread of another entity aiding Allocer, a rumour supported by the eldritch, vaguely reptilian creatures that serve alongside Allocers infernal rebels, and which are notable for being completely silent as they despatch their prey.

The city of Rakisnael was once the largest of Avernas’ cities, being ruled by a court of Goetics and devils who, whilst as depraved and wasteful as any of Pandorum’s nobility, at least kept the city ordered. However, as of late the city has become a battleground as its largely mortal population rose up, slaying thousands of devils and cementing their rule of the city. However, whilst the nearby Arcris Crusade has kept the local infernal legions away from the city for the time being, the city itself is now home to dozens of smaller rebel groups all enacting their own reigns of terror upon each other. How long this will last is unknown, but considering that a number of vampires have turned their gaze upon the city, it seems likely that these wars may soon reach a bloody conclusion.

The Arcris Crusade is the latest of the many wars that have been fought on Avernas’ soil. The crusade is made up of the worshippers of a variety of gods, alongside many hundreds of mercenary legions and, most curiously, a vast army of coral-encrusted clockwork automatons that seem to emerge from the Styx at random bearing the banners of the Crusade. These attacks have been decimating the Pretas and the Stygian Contubernia that harvest them, and as such have forced the Legator in the regions, Count-Legator Eurysanne to begin hiring mercenaries of their own to defend against the Crusade’s strange allies.

Damocles House is one of the few relatively safe havens within Avernas. Appearing as a partially decrepit mansion contained within a crater-like forest, Damocles House is an ancient dwelling once created by a long-forgotten mage, and which has since been transformed into a inn and rest stop for the various travellers of the Pale Roads by the banished Azata known as Zes Half-fallen. The House is relatively pleasant, offering safe accomodation and food for those within, but the house is constantly home to a feeling of dread, as although the local devils have tolerated the place for now, who knows how long they will continue to do so

In the ever-shifting battlelines of Avernas, it is not uncommon for areas the size of continents to be left completely empty, leaving them desolate battlefields home only to a few scavengers and the warriors left behind. One such area is the vast Contrapasso line, which once held some of the most vicious fighting since Sathariel’s coup, but which now sits utterly empty. It appears as a flat grey wasteland riddled with thousands of winding trenches and abandoned bunkers, alongside occasional stretches of bombed-out no devil’s land and forsaken artillery positions. A few settlements of infernal deserters and scavengers can be found along the Line, alongside a few outposts of mercenaries and even a few planar gates. Whilst the Line itself is fairly desolate, in recent years activity has increased as word has spread of the various infernal weapons buried within and beneath the wastes, such the feared Celestine V, a vast warship crewed entirely by automatons, which supposedly crashed into a great stygian bog at the centre of the Line, and which would serve as a valuable tool to whoever found it.

Sathariel herself dwells in the great fortress-city of Freedom’s Folly, sometimes known simply as the Vestibule. It contains numerous gates to other planes, but most notably is located a short distance away from the great rift which leads to the city of Dis and the layer of Ephrosia that lies below. Freedom’s Folly is a vast and grim place, covered in hundreds of vast gun batteries and spires that give it the appearance of a vast crown of thorns. It sits atop a large, spirally plateau which overlooks the Rift of Dis, alongside the millions of great Pale Roads that converge on it. Freedom’s Folly contains a vast array of foundries, armouries and bunkers which supply the eternal war effort of Avernas, but one of its more notable locations are the Lucifuge Vaults, a set of labyrinthine prisons and vaults which contain many of Sathariel’s greatest treasures and, if rumours are to be believed, several of her predecessors. Alongside this, Sathariel’s inner sanctum is contained within the Vaults, and it is from there that her many battleplans and edicts emerge. Few have ever entered the Vaults, and even fewer have survived. However, the few that have have acquired terrible knowledge and even, it is said, communion with the many dark entities within. As such, many forces, such as the banished Archduke Allocer, would offer a great deal of wealth and power to those who can penetrate the vaults, although as of yet none have attempted a full heist.

Annd that about wraps up Avernas. Have a few other related things to post, such as a focus on a couple of the devils mentioned here. More specifically, the ones contained in the Stygian Contubernia