The Lone Badger posted:

Can't you buy bullets from the libyans?

senrath posted:

Even better, it makes you insane unless you kill another PC or just walk away, but you're only told about the former option. So it's not just going for "hah, you have to do something stupid and drastic!" it's going for "that stupid and drastic thing we convinced you to do was utterly pointless!"

JcDent posted:

They bAlaNcE it by giving you almost no ammo. At best, you get +5 rounds/month at the starting level, then +10 at Corporal (oh, and ONE FREE UPGRADE TO THE TRAILBLAZER), and +20 if you (can) go Grenadier (ALSO A LEVEL 2 UPGRADE FOR TRAILBLAZER, whatever that means).

E: I think Verena is only Rank 2 and she has Resources 2, which gives her the starting funds of 200 CD. Now, I don't remember if ammo is bought round-by-round or in batches, but Trailblazer fodder costs 80 per.

The Lone Badger posted:

6.9 x 42.0mm or whatever custom calibre the italics invented shouldn't be that much harder to make than ak ammo. All you need is exactly the same things you'd need for the ak ammo plus some spent trailblazer brass.

Hipster Occultist posted:

Here's the funny thing. Modding your trailblazer to take 5.56 ammo doesn't decrease its damage or anything, as HF Full Jacket ammo's supposed benefits are only a fluff thing and not represented by any rules, so you might as well do that. Its cheaper and used by the Scourgers, so its really easy to acquire. Hell, if the PCs just finished The Killing Game there's several hundred dead Scourgers you could roll for ammo.

For some reason rules for making your ammo don't exist, which is odd. You think that'd be pretty important in the post-apocalypse. Its fairly easy to do, with what's essentially a portable tool and the parts you could make your own on the go.

JcDent posted:

I just looked at the rules, and I don't think there are rules for crafting stuff that isn't drugs or weapon mods, unless I'm missing something.

JcDent posted:

And for the PC killing solution, how would the PCs know that it's even an option in-world

Hipster Occultist posted:

There's not yeah, but there really should be. Its something you could easily do with some portable tools when the party has camped for the night or something.

JcDent posted:

And speaking of which, the book keeps saying that guns and vehicles are rare, to the point where where Judges have to go about with flintlocks (instead of more appropriate revolves, lever rifles, and shotguns), and then the last adventure module has everyone bristling with guns and at least two vehicles.

FFS, the Scrapper marvel is supposed to be a musket, and one of the reasons why Scourgers are supposed to be scary is their access to assault rifles!

Hipster Occultist posted:

While it won't be as good as a Assault Rifle thanks to lacking the Salvo rule, a Scrapper can essentially mod the musket out of their Marvel. 2 slots to remove Muzzle Loader, 2 to add Smooth Running, 1 to change the barrel to 5.56, and might as well expand the Magazine for 1. Your musket is now a 2-shot hunting rifle that does 11 damage, and will reliably proc an extra attack every shot. You won't be quite as good as the Hellevetic though.

I also don't really get their focus on muskets, individually they're not all that effective. Making a lever-action rifle is not all that hard you guys.

Nessus posted:

These guys are mostly Europeans, right? I would not be surprised if they just didn't have ready access to the deep bench of gun nerd knowledge that you can find just walking down the internet street in America.

They could have asked someone, obviously, but that doesn't seem like how these guys roll.

Hipster Occultist posted:

Yeah, mostly Germans and French guys.

In the last adventure they give a guy with a mini-gun 6000 rounds and tell you that's enough for him to shoot all night. It's actually about 1 minute of continuous fire, give or take a few seconds.

Nessus posted:

These guys are mostly Europeans, right? I would not be surprised if they just didn't have ready access to the deep bench of gun nerd knowledge that you can find just walking down the internet street in America.

They could have asked someone, obviously, but that doesn't seem like how these guys roll.

Hipster Occultist posted:

While it won't be as good as a Assault Rifle thanks to lacking the Salvo rule, a Scrapper can essentially mod the musket out of their Marvel. 2 slots to remove Muzzle Loader, 2 to add Smooth Running, 1 to change the barrel to 5.56, and might as well expand the Magazine for 1. Your musket is now a 2-shot hunting rifle that does 11 damage, and will reliably proc an extra attack every shot. You won't be quite as good as the Hellevetic though.

I also don't really get their focus on muskets, individually they're not all that effective. Making a lever-action rifle is not all that hard you guys.

Zereth posted:

Assuming a night is 12 hours when he does this, that's... about 1 shot every seven seconds.

JcDent posted:

For example, I'm a bloody Euro in Lithuania and look how mad I am about the guns in this.


Well, that's Smooth Running 3T, so it's not reliable... oh, and you still need an action to reload. Beast the gently caress out of simple Muzzle Loader tho.


Not bad for a Dreyse needle gun

JcDent posted:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think AoS lost some time due to being released under the rule of Tom Kirby, Capitalist Caricature Come to Life, so there was some early blockage preventing it from being good.

And it wasn't just reality ball and Sigmarine nonsense, it was also poo poo like "no points for unit costs, just take whatever," "distances are measured from miniature bodies, not bases," and "whacky rules like requiring you to shout 'for the lady' to activate unit abilities."

quote:

Harlequin God Cegorach is directly responsible for Guilliman's Ressurection and the current state of the Galaxy. I don't know why nobody is talking about it.

For those of you who have no idea who Cegorach is:


The Harlequins worship a being known as Cegorach, the Laughing God, also called the First Fool or the Great Harlequin. Cegorach is a trickster god, by turns mocking, sinister, vindictive and enigmatic. His pranks punish gods and mortals alike for overweening pride, and stories such as the Theft of Khaine’s Blade and the Wedding of Screams remain cautionary fables in Aeldari culture to this day.

Alone amongst the Aeldari gods, Cegorach survived the Fall and escaped the fate of the rest of the pantheon. The story goes that, while Slaanesh fought with Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Laughing God escaped into the webway and hid amongst its myriad tunnels. These tales suggest that he remains there still, unassailable, laughing at the Gods of Chaos as he hatches bitter plans for revenge.

There are those who claim that Cegorach walks amongst his children from time to time, wearing the disguise of an anonymous Harlequin Player. Whatever the truth of such tales, the Laughing God is the only authority that the Harlequins recognise as they fight their wars and perform their mythic dances across the void in his name.

Codex: Harlequins (8th edition)

In short, he is one of the three Aeldari Gods who survived the Fall and the leader of Harlequin faction. He is also quite a planner, responsible for many wars and weird incidents in the Galaxy. However, his most successful scheme resulted in the birth of Ynnead, resurection of Roboute Guilliman and salvation of the Imperium (well, at least half of it).

And this is not me speculating, that's a fact.

But before we get to that, we must discuss two things: a special little book in Black Library and Sylandri Veilwalker.

First, the book:

Since the Fall, a crystal tome has rested upon an obstinite plinth at the heart of the Black Library, its covers bound shut by chains of light. As fabled events came to pass, so those chains faded one by one until, shortly before the opening of the Great Rift, the tome fell open at last. Within were revealed writings said to have come from Cegorach’s own hand.

Inspiring and terrifying in equal measure, they revealed a final act that changed utterly the tale of the Fall. Those words presented a slender hope, and began a galactic performance that the Harlequins strive to see fulfilled. Always the strands of fate had warned that Chaos would be victorious during the Rhana Dandra, the fabled great battle at the galaxy’s ending.

Yet the Final Act promised a new path, Cegorach’s ultimate jest that would trick Slaanesh into expending all her energies not to destroy the Aeldari, but to save them. How such a thing could come to pass remains unclear, but the Harlequins are devoted servants of their god, and they will see the Final Act performed no matter the cost.

Codex: Harlequins (8th edition)

I know it may seem random but it will be super important later on.

Now, about Sylandri Veilwalker. She is a Harlequin (actually it is implied that there are multiple Harlequins taking over the role of a "Veilwalker") that Cegorach seems to be sending whenever he wants an important job to be done.


In the midst of Craftworld Iyanden’s most desperate battle for survival, Prince Yriel takes up the cursed Spear of Twilight. He is compelled to seize his destiny in this way by a Shadowseer of the Veiled Path. The enigmatic seer vanishes soon after, Iyanden’s fate assured and the role of the Veilwalker played to its conclusion.

(...)

The galaxy burns, the fires of war lighting a bloody stage. As the Harlequins begin to follow the steps of the Final Act, they are led in their interstellar dance by their Shadowseers, and by the Players of the Twilight. A time of changing fates looms as the storm gathers, and the mantle of the Veilwalker is taken up once again, the better to direct Humanity onto the path that they must follow.

Within the Black Library, the Maze of Whispers and other obscure webway fastnesses, masques gather in readiness. More are seen aboard the craftworlds, amidst the spires of Commorragh and amongst the forests of the Exodite worlds, performing their altered Tale of the Fall and prophesying the coming of the Rhana Dandra.

Dark times approach, it is said, and the servants of the Laughing God are their harbingers, but also an embodiment of hope that they might be endured.

Codex: Harlequins (8th edition)


Veilwalker cocked its head. 'No. Merely the acknowledgement that this story is ending, and a new one is beginning. Such is the way of theatre, oh, King of Feathers. Endings and beginnings, over and over again.' It made a circular gesture. 'Round and round we go, where we stop, nobody knows... save the Laughing God.'

It giggled. 'And he isn't telling.'

'Have you come just to taunt me, or was there some purpose to this visit?'

'Have you ever wondered why the great powers are so desperate to trap you in a story of their making?' The eldar leaned forward, as if sharing a secret. 'Because a story has an ending. Sometimes it is happy, sometimes not, but it is always there.' It snapped its fingers. 'We all have endings. Except you. No ending for you, Manflayer. No cessation. No peace.'

Fabius snorted. 'All things end, even me.' He looked down at Igori. 'My ending is here. With them. When they are at last ready, I shall-'

Veilwalker laughed. It clutched itself and kicked its thin legs, as if his statement were the height of hilarity. 'And when will they be ready? If not now, when?' it shrieked, through its laughter. 'Never. Round and round and round you go, again and again and again.'

'Silence,' Fabius snarled. 'Or I will remove your tongue.'

The laughter ceased. Veilwalker sat up. 'You will do nothing, mon-keigh. Can do nothing.' It spoke flatly, all trace of humour gone. 'I am outside of your story now, as you are outside of mine. I am but a moment of transition, from one story to the next. You can no more harm me than you can understand the trap that holds you.'

Fabius Bile: Clonelord

For all intenses and purposes, you can treat Sylandri Veilwalker as Cegorach's personal messanger. And she, like all Harlequins, follows ony the Laughing God's commands.

With all of that being established, lets talk about how Cegorach played through The Gathering Storm and became responsible for the current state of the setting.

BELISARIUS CAWL

I don't have to tell you how important of a character Belisarius Cawl is. In real life, his importance started when he had discovered Blackstone Pylons under Eriad IV, the planet that Abaddon ruined during one of his Black Crusades. This event started the chain of reactions that resulted in...pretty much 80% of The Gathering Storm.

However, not many people remember what actually happened at Eriad IV.


Cawl ran a hand across the smooth, black shard. If only he had more time! The deeper they delved into Eriad VI, the more complete were the fragments. Discovery could be mere days – hours – away.

‘No.’ Impatience would gain him nothing. Whatever treasures this planet held, they could wait. He could not risk leaving the relic aboard his Ark Mechanicus any longer. ‘I will return.’

Now they would collapse the tunnels, seal the greenskins away from their prize. And on that glorious day of return, the Orks would quail before the Omnissiah’s fury.

Cawl turned to leave, but halted, uncertain. He swept his gaze around the cavern, eye lenses clicking and whirring as they scoured the shadows. He was alone. And yet, instinct told him otherwise. More than instinct. Was that the ghost of laughter?

‘Reveal yourself.’

A shadow shifted. Cawl had the sense of a hooded woman, a featureless mask swirling like smoke. The recalibration came without conscious direction. Implants slid smoothly into war mode. Power flooded the circuits of the Atomiser, the sensation like blood-flow returning to a numbed limb. Binharic data flooded the empty tiers of Cawl’s mind, divine algorithms seeking out the intruder’s weaknesses.

The intruder leaned closer.

‘Do you not remember me, Belisarius?’

Cawl scoured the jumbled bibelots archived in his third consciousness. Fragments of memory, and a name. Veilwalker. A data-burst suddenly lit up his mind. She had come to him in his forge on Mars, where he had laboured so long at his sacred task. She had compelled him to venture forth, to take his precious cargo to its long-intended destination. The time is now, she had whispered, and he had been unable to resist. How strange that, until now, he had forgotten that meeting. The Shadowseer’s mask settled, forming a countenance that Cawl hadn’t seen for millennia. The likeness lingered for a moment, then dissolved into a vortex of dancing light.

‘If you are here to remind me once again of old promises, xenos, then you have come too late. My ships are already preparing to depart as we speak,’ Cawl said.

Veilwalker laughed. ‘

The music of destiny is changing. The dancers must learn new steps, or perish in the fading notes.’ Cawl stared at her blankly.

‘I am here to tell you to keep digging,’ said Sylandri Veilwalker.

Then, in a flicker of light, she was gone.

(...)

[Later, Harlequins took care of the Orks]

Belisarius Cawl hadn’t intended to remain on Eriad VI. Logic dictated he leave. Protocol insisted. Every moment he lingered, the greater the toll inflicted upon his forces by Gangrek’s inheritors. And yet, the Archmagos could not bring himself to depart. The mystery called to him, stirred emotions long-atrophied by millennia of self-augmentation.

He had to know the meaning of Veilwalker’s cryptic advice. Was it tied to the reliquary concealed aboard the Iron Revenant? Could he take the chance that it wasn’t? The Shadowseer had implied that the secrets of Eriad VI would be uncovered now, or not at all. Cawl didn’t doubt that his and Veilwalker’s interests were at best in temporary alignment, but even a fleeting alliance had the potential to alter the Imperium’s course.

(...)

Occasionally, he caught Veilwalker watching him from the shadows.

[Soon after, Belisarius realises that Abaddon played a long game, destroying anti-warp pylons in the previous Black Crusades. Now there is only one planet left - Cadia.]

(...)

Without warning, Veilwalker was there, mask swirling with unreadable emotion.

‘Do you understand?’

Cawl nodded, too horrified by the implications to object to her presence.

‘The pylons. The Immaterium…’

‘The one holds the other to its rhythm.’ Veilwalker’s mask was an angry red. ‘Without these stones, dancers become slaves to a refrain bereft of order. The galaxy dies, reborn in madness.’

‘Can it be prevented?’

‘Cadia is the end and the beginning.’

Cadia. Where the pact was first forged. Coincidence? Cawl no longer believed in such things.

‘This is too important for riddles. Answer me plainly!’

But Veilwalker was gone, leaving him with no answers, but perhaps a place to seek them.

The Gathering Storm I: Fall of Cadia

To sum up:

Belisarius started examining stuff on Eriad IV, but was forced to run away due to Ork activity.

Sylandri Veilwalker appeared, sending forces to get rid of the Orks and forcing Cawl to continue his research. Had she not done it, Belisarius would have left without learning anything and eventually, Abaddon would have won.

Cawl and Veilwalker met milenia ago and forged some sort of pact on Cadia. The memories of this pact were erased from Belisarus' memories.

Veilwalker commanded Cawl to take his "precious cargo" and he could not resist her commands. I don't want to pose every fragment in which this cargo appears so I will tell you here and now that this cargo was The Armour of Fate - a specially-crafted suit of Artificer Armour created specifically to heal Guilliman's wounds.

It is already quite a big influence over the setting. Cegorach is the reason why Belisarius was on Cadia and why he took The Armour of Fate with him. If it wasn't for Cawl, Defenders of Cadia wouldn't be able to protect themselves for long enough to Ynnari to save them and take them to Ultramar.

Speaking of Ynnari - maybe I am overestimating Cegorach's involvment? After all, The Armour of Fate wasn't solely responsible for Guilliman's Ressurection. Ynnead was another part of the puzzle.


‘It is a debt I’m sure won’t be forgotten,’ said the Primarch. ‘Before you depart, tell me this. Cawl may have fashioned the armour that I wear, but it was not he alone who ensured my resurrection, was it?’

Yvraine smiled demurely.

‘His technology would have healed your physical wounds, Roboute, but you and I know that the worst damage had been done to your soul. So no, Primarch; it is by the grace of Ynnead that you stand once more amongst the living. If you wish to remain, however, I would caution you against removing your war-plate. Not that you could easily do so.'

The Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch

But here is the thing - Cegorach was also responsible for Ynnead's birth. It is a bit complicated so I will try to keep it as simple as possible.

RISE OF THE YNNARI


Eldrad has long perceived a nascent presence in the infinity circuits of the craftworlds, a distant heartbeat that pulses slow and steady behind the thrum of lost energies. It is comprised not of one life sign, but hundreds of billions – the sum total of every dead Eldar’s soul across the galaxy. Though individually these echoes are near insignificant, together they form something so strong that – if it were brought to wakefulness – it could prove potent enough to overcome the Eldar curse entirely. This is Ynnead, the slumbering God of the Dead. The prophecies of the fabled seer Kysaduras tell that when every Eldar has passed from mortal existence, Ynnead will rise up and defeat Slaanesh forever more.

It was Eldrad Ulthran who put into motion a plan to bring forth Ynnead, a ploy of such conceited ambition it could buckle the fabric of space and time. Enlisting the aid of the Harlequin Masque of the Midnight Sorrow, he stole away the fossilised crystal statues of long-dead Farseers from their craftworlds and gathered them upon Coheria, a moon covered in sands of psychoactive crystal. With his crystal council acting as a hyperspatial link to each craftworld, Eldrad channelled the spirits of the infinity circuits onto Coheria. This was to produce a flare of psychic activity bright enough to wake even Ynnead, but the intervention of the xenos-hunting Deathwatch shattered Eldrad’s plan at the last. Though Ynnead stirred in his slumber, he did not fully awaken – not yet, at least.

The Gathering Storm II: Fracture of Biel-Tan

Harlequins helped Eldrad with stealing soulstones of long-dead Farseers and gather them on Coheria, where they "birthed" Ynnead. So far seems more like a very important assist, but nothing more.

That is until you remember that the ritual was finished exactly when Yvraine fell on the Arena in Commorragh. And there are two important things concerned with this fact.

First of all, Yvraine got to be a Succubi because she got a patronage from Lady Malys, as evidenced here:


There was one [Yvraine] amongst the Succubi who had risen from the gutter to high favour under the patronage of the aristocratic Lady Malys.

The Gathering Storm II: Fracture of Biel-Tan

Why is it important? Well...


The accuracy with which Lady Malys can predict her enemies’ moves borders on supernatural, leading to the belief amongst many of her detractors that she has a degree of psychic ability. However, the truth is that she simply has a mind like a steel trap. So astoundingly complex is her psyche that she was once taken by Asdrubael Vect as one of his consorts, until the Supreme Overlord eventually cast her out. Outraged, Malys and most of her Kabalite Warriors left Commorragh and struck out into the webway.

There it is said she encountered the god of the Harlequins, Cegorach, who banished her followers and challenged her to a duel of wills. When Malys successfully answered all of the Laughing God’s riddles, Cegorach vanished with an amused chuckle, leaving behind a semi-sentient blade and a pulsating crystal, which was the trickster god’s own heart. Determined to gain enough power to undo Vect, Malys used the blade to cut out her own heart and replaced it with that of Cegorach. The heart has continued to beat within Malys’ chest ever since.

Codex: Drukhari (8th edition)


It was they, for example, who are said to have set the Archon Lady Malys upon the road to her strange encounter in the webway and the arcane bond with Cegorach that resulted.

Codex: Harlequins (8th edition)

Malys has Cegorach's own heart inside her and thanks to that, she's got a strong connection with the Laughing God. It cannot be a coincidence that she was the one who introduced Yvraine on the Arenas of Commorragh.

Second of all, Yvraine was killed on the Arena by the Priestess of Morai-Heg, Aeldari Goddess responsible for prediction. And she did that exactly when Ynnead was born. That is no coincidence.

Especially when you know what Veilwalker did after leaving Belisarius Cawl.


A perfect holographic replica of the Crucibael shimmered in microcosm within the misty viewing hall of Vect’s floating fortress. The tiny doppelganger duellists were no larger than the overlord’s manicured fingers, yet the sensations of their agony and bliss were enhanced tenfold by spiral-etched soul relays that ringed the hall’s misty vaults.

In the midst of the spectacle was Vect himself, a giant amongst pitiful insects. Nearby hovered a creature from a madman’s nightmare, the evil made flesh known as Urien Rakarth. The two figures loomed over the arena as gods, the holograms locked in their blade-dance below empowering them with every lethal tribute.

‘This is...hhn...quite the...hhn...spectacle,’ said Rakarth, his ragged lips taut.

‘She is quite interesting, this Yvraine,’ agreed Vect, ‘and apparently one to watch.’

A rain of diamonds shimmered in the mist in the viewing hall’s corners. They coalesced into a female Harlequin in a mirrored mask.

‘I spoke only the truth,’ said the newcomer. ‘She must fall, the better to rise. The Spectre’s Echo would not lie.’

‘If it is Inriam’s Spectre you speak of, Veilwalker,’ said Vect, ‘he died upon Coheria.’

‘And by doing so, joined not with Cegorach, but the Whispering God.’

‘Ynnead is a myth,’ shrugged Vect. ‘Nothing more. Speak no more to me of your delusions. What fool would plan to defeat their enemy by dying forever themselves?’

Rakarth’s grin became a pursing of flayed lips. He twitched a finger. In the distance, an Acothyst skittered away. Nearby, one of the silent Incubi slid into the darkness.

‘Follow them both,’ murmured Vect.

Six shadows flowed like ink from his feet and slid soundlessly after the Commorrites as they disappeared into the depths of the pyramid.

The Gathering Storm II: Fracture of Biel-Tan

Veilwalker knew who Yvraine was and that she will fall. And also that Ynnead will be born soon.

And that's because Cegorach is directly responsible for all of that.

Also, when Ynnari were properly formed, Harlequins led them to what was left of Defenders of Cadia.


Cawl topped the crest and gazed down into the mustering warhost. Subroutines drew archival data from storage, matching the strange shapes of xenos armour to records salvaged from a million scattered conflicts. A datacluster salvaged from Port Demesnus confirmed the presence of the notorious rune-witch, Eldrad Ulthran, but as for the others, his analysis returned no firm conclusions. It was scarcely surprising.

The Eldar were inconstant, as ever-shifting as sand, changing personality as freely as they changed their masks. What did surprise Cawl was the motley nature of the xenos assemblage. He could access no prior reports of so many disparate Eldar cultures fighting together as one in this manner. Two figures at the centre of the host were a true enigma. One, a female attired in an elaborate gown, appeared to be directing proceedings, moving with calm authority amid the swirling storm of colour. Beside her was a warrior in crimson, his raiment echoing both Craftworld Aspect armour and the crueller plate of the Commorrite pirates.

Cawl found no record of its design, even in the deepest archives.

With a flicker of light, a familiar figure appeared at Cawl’s side, the patterns of her mask dancing with light. Veilwalker.

‘What is this?’ Cawl asked. ‘Where are you taking us?’

‘Into the light of a new dawn.’ The Shadowseer tilted her head, as if confused by the question. ‘Unless you prefer to remain in the darkness?’

With an effort, the Archmagos ignored what he hoped was an attempt at humour.

‘The Despoiler has a warship in orbit. You cannot hold them for long.’

‘We will not have to.’ The patterns of Veilwalker’s mask danced with new light. ‘The ending has passed. It is time for a new beginning. There is a parley to be struck, if you have the courage.’

The Shadowseer cast a graceful hand towards the host. With but the merest hesitation, Cawl followed her into the future.

The Gathering Storm I: Fall of Cadia

GO GUILLIMAN GO

So yes, Cegorach provided The Armour of Fate (which was used to heal Guilliman's body) and Ynnead (who healed Guilliman's soul), creating a mighty light for humanity in this era of darkness.

But he also made sure that the Avenging Son would reach Terra.

It is a well-known fact that Fallen Angel Cypher was the one who saved Guilliman when the Primarch was imprisoned by Red Corsairs on the Blackstone Fortress. However not many people know why Cypher was even there in the first place.


Cypher nodded his gratitude, then raised one booted foot and stamped down on the traitor’s head. Bone smashed and blood sprayed, the corsair’s body twitching then lying still. Holstering his bolt pistol, the Fallen Angel plucked the key from his victim’s open gauntlet, and then straightened up.

He found himself staring into the shifting mask of the Shadowseer, Sylandri Veilwalker. She who had contacted Guilliman as he wandered lost in the Maelstrom. She who had enlisted Cypher’s aid, and instructed Belisarius Cawl to leave his forge on Mars. Veilwalker sketched a mocking bow to Cypher, then pointed her staff towards a distant cell. With a nod, Cypher turned and strode towards it.

(...)

Fortunately, Veilwalker knew another way to escape – the route Cypher and the Harlequins of the Veiled Path had used to reach Guilliman, and the route they would use to lead him on towards Terra.

The Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch

So yeah, Sylandri Veilwalker have lead Cypher to Guillimans cell, helped them fight against Red Corsairs and took them out of the Blackstone Fortress.

And this is, arguably, not even her greatest contribution to the Terran Crusade.


The crusade could not emerge at Terra, Guilliman realised with something like despair, not if it meant allowing Magnus to strike at the cradle of Humanity. Yet Sylandri Veilwalker had never intended for them to take that road. Instead, the Shadowseer revealed a secret that the Eldar had long guarded.

Lying dormant for millennia, hidden behind a veil of wards that even Humanity’s greatest psykers could not pierce, a lonely spar of the webway stretched out upon the border between realspace and the Warp to connect to Luna, Terra’s only natural moon. It was to that illusion-veiled gate that the Crusade must now make haste.

The Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch

So yeah, she was also the one who took Guilliman to Luna. If it wasn't for her, the Terran Crusade would have been a massive failure. I don't think I need to explain how huge that is.

Also, when the Battle of Luna against Magnus was near its end, it was the combined effort of Sylandri and Guilliman that banished hordes of Tzeentch, especially the Deamon Primarch.


The two Sorcerers crumpled, and Veilwalker hurriedly began her incantations. The energies around the gateway pulsed and shuddered, the runes on its sides glowing brighter as a keening vibration shook the dark pit. At that moment, battling demigods appeared upon the crater’s edge. Guilliman and Magnus, both bleeding from the wounds they had dealt one another, still janked by a last handful of the null warriors.

Magnus bisected another of the women with a brutal swing of his glaive, which lashed around to hack a chunk from Guilliman’s breastplate. In return, the Lord of Ultramar drove Magnus back with hammer blows from the Emperor’s blade, then slammed his shoulder into his brother’s chest and sent the Crimson King crashing down the steep slope. Guilliman leapt after him, not giving Magnus a chance to recover. The Primarch’s onslaught was punishing, the wounded Guilliman visibly pouring everything he had into this last storm of blows.

Veilwalker melted away into the shadows as the warring brothers neared the webway gate, still muttering her incantations and weaving her staf back and forth. Magnus conjured a deadly sphere of Warp energies and hurled it at his brother with all his might. Guilliman’s iron halo absorbed the worst of the blast, but still he was sent staggering back. With his back to the gate, the Primarch of the Thousand Sons conjured a wave of telekinetic fury and used it to jing a mass of Space Marine corpses – loyalist and traitor – at the last few nulls.

They vanished from Sylandri’s sight, their contra-empyric drag blinking out as they were buried beneath a macabre heap of the dead. The Shadowseer started forward, fearing for the fate of the Final Act. Then, with a roar of hate and rage, Guilliman struck.

The Lord of Ultramar lunged at his brother. The burning blade drove in, under the Daemon Primarch’s guard, and sank deep into his chest. Golden james leapt, and Magnus howled in agony as they chewed hungrily at his jesh. He unleashed his powers in an uncontrolled sorcerous blast, its shock wave racing out across the crater and throwing Sylandri from her feet. The burst of power hurled Guilliman onto his back, blade in hand, and sent Magnus staggering free, back through the pulsating webway gate. Sylandri had one chance, a single moment in which to alter fate.

With a inal word, she shattered the runestone that glowed hot in her palm, and severed the webway gate forever. Power surged, Magnus roared his fury, and then was cut of from Luna, his warriors and his brother, banished to the depths of the Labyrinth Dimension.

The Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch

And only after all of that, Roboute Guilliman could finally reach the Holy Terra.

OKAY BUT WHY

To sum it up, Cegorach:

Forged a pact between Sylandri and Cawl.

Made sure Cawl understands Abaddon's plan and takes Armour of Fate with him.

Formed the Ynnari, with Daughter of Ynnead leading them.

Send Ynnari for Belisarius Cawl and made sure that they will be taken to Ultramar.

Combining Armour of Fate and Ynnead's power he pretty much guaranteed that the best Primarch for the job will be resurected.

When Guilliman got captured, he send Cypher to resue him.

Allowed Guilliman to use Webway to reach Luna.

Made sure that Sylandri will be at Luna to banish Magnus.

It cannot be overestimated - Cegorach is the reason why setting still exists. If it wasn't for him, Abbadon's 10k years plan would end with an undeniable success.

The question is - why bother?

When it comes to Harlequins in The Gathering Storm, the common theme with them is hope for the better future. A hope that fate can be overcome.

Because humanity is fated to die. The Galaxy is fated to be swallowed by Gods of Chaos. Aeldari are fated to be consumed by Slaanesh and giving birth to Ynnead as the last bit of spite. Everyone outside of Chaos is fated to loose horribly.

But Cegorach found the way.

In post-Great Rift stories it is often mentioned that Abaddon broke the destiny. That nothing is set in stone no more. All the predictions and things that were fated to happen are no longer certain.

And Cegorach capitalised on that. Knowning that the fate is about to be broken to pieces, he placed all the pawns in the right places. Harlequins, Asuryani, Drukhari and even humans - all of them were in a perfect place to be absolutely EndTimed by Chaos. At least until Sylandri Veilwalker began her dance.

And how fitting it is, that Cegorach used Chaos' greatest champion to give Galaxy an opportunity to survive. He got the last laugh. And Abaddon will probably never know who really outplayed him.

TL; dr


It was they who sent one of their number – under the assumed name of Sylandri Veilwalker – to manoeuvre Prince Yriel into taking up the Spear of Twilight. A Shadowseer wearing the same name guided Belisarius Cawl to his fateful discoveries in the Eriad System, and smoothed the passage of the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman back to Terra during his crusade. Yet that same seer also saw to it that Guilliman was forced to rely upon the aid of the sinister wanderer known only as Cypher, and sealed Magnus the Red in the webway before his confrontation with the Primarch reached a fatal conclusion.

Codex: Harlequins (8th edition)


Veilwalker cocked its head. 'No. Merely the acknowledgement that this story is ending, and a new one is beginning. Such is the way of theatre, oh, King of Feathers. Endings and beginnings, over and over again.' It made a circular gesture. 'Round and round we go, where we stop, nobody knows... save the Laughing God.'

Fabius Bile: Clonelord

Usually I don't ask for this sort of thing, but if you've read this post then please - give it a vote and comment something, anything. Many people clearly put their passion into telling this story and it breaks my heart seeing that nobody really talks about it.

Also it has all sorts of implications that won't be explored if people won't talk about it. And that would be a shame.

Comstar posted:

My question is, when did Kirby get kicked, compared to Codex: Harlequins (8th edition) came out? Because it seems like the WERE going to Squat 40K and bring out a new universe, when...something...changed and the new marines didn't result in the end times and there actually is some hope in the galaxy now.

JCDent posted:

Yeah, I was gonna say, that's a weird-rear end name.

Comstar posted:

Do you think GW has a plan for 40K once 30K is completed in the next year or three?

JcDent posted:

I object to the mere notion of GW having "plans" or 30K ever reaching a conclusion that's in any way satisfactory (the most likely outcome is a bolter shell to the back of the head, just like it was with the first iteration of Specialist Games).

SkyeAuroline posted:

Oh, there was a plan for 30k. Just one wrinkle, it was in Bligh's head and nowhere else.

Libertad! posted:

And here I thought it was meant to be an edgy executioner.

GimpInBlack posted:

Next Time: KUNG FU CHARACTERS!

That Old Tree posted:

Late to the party, but:

Three-Star Fist, a Scholar who predicts his blows will hit like three meteors and who is also an amazing cook (:it is a Michelin Guide joke:)

quote:

Even though almost everyone had an interfacer in 2073, there are only a few working ones today. They are basically irreparable; you cannot even open them without damaging them. Their value for the Cluster is enormous.

kommy5 posted:

About Blue Rose sorcery, I am a little leery about all the domination and editing an NPC antagonist may inflict on the players. What do the rules say about all this magic being used to take characters away from their players?

Night10194 posted:

The Healer is patiently helping a person work through their issues while a Sorcerer just stares at someone and mutters 'You will be who I want you to be' and tries to rewrite them as a person.

Just Dan Again posted:

The Cannibal Critics are another Gallery resident. They travel in groups and ask inane questions about art- if you answer their questions, they'll all be stunned for a round while they discuss your answer among themselves. They seem to be some kind of criticism of critics, but given that they don't really do anything but read random phrases and attack PCs it's another joke that falls flat.

Caustic Soda posted:

Does the book say anything about rewriting a person with consent? I'm thinking stuff like a fantasy Alcoholics Anonymous specifically asking for having the urge to drink cut out (kinda like the scene in Planescape: Torment, if the guy in question gave informed consent), that kind of thing.

Night10194 posted:

(see that Pundit rear end in a top hat writing about how he 'plays Blue Rose as subversive grimdark')

LupusAter posted:

Cythereal posted:

The older I get, the more childish this kind of thing feels to me. Some people seem so angry if your preferred game of Let's Pretend includes 'let's pretend the world is a fundamentally good place where good people can do good things.'

LupusAter posted:

FMguru posted:

It's Unoriginal Nerd Idea #1: take a popular nerd thing and make it dark and grim and edgy. Oooh, it's so much more sophisticated and adult now!

(Unoriginal Nerd Idea #2 is "What if the bad guys are actually the good guys, and vice versa? Oooh did I just blow your mind?!?")