Chapter 102:

Chapter 102: Integrating into new societies helps both them and you.




What does it mean to See? Decades ago a boy asked me this question and I answered him that it means to use one's eyes to perceive things around you. That was the correct definition but it would normally lead people to the wrong conclusion.

To See is to use your own eyes as a filter for various psychic senses and thus allow yourself to perceive things in an easy and most importantly useful way, for not all things that you perceive are useful and eyes are terrifyingly good at filtering useful things from useless ones.

Take for example the thing priests call Narrative Momentum. It is not something that is normally seen, it is something felt through the ripples one leaves in the Warp, in the way the individual affects others and how important they are in the minds of others.

To See anything, including Narrative Momentum one must first establish the frame of reference, which is given by our Gods who act as fixed points of Narrative and Meaning to create boundaries and limits. Then a North Star to serve as a reference and origin point must be found and each priest picks a single God and I picked Asuryan while Laciena picked Kurnous and my triplet siblings have picked Isha, Khaine and Lileath.

Asuryan determines rulership and influence, Kurnous the place one chooses in life and how they relate to others, Isha emotional bonds, Khaine is Might, and Lileath Inspiration and by choosing one of them one determines what genre of stories one sees the Narrative Momentum of.

Once those have been selected one must next choose the filters, which are determined by their values and what their minds, bodies and souls value, which determines the secondary characteristics and how they are expressed.

Once the raw sensory output from the Warp passes through all of these checks and filters, one calls that which remains Narrative Momentum and needless to say absolutely nobody sees it the exact same way.

Different species have different gods, different frames of reference, different bodies, souls and minds and so it is impossible to have them see the same things in the same way. Even individuals of the same species that hold the same gods as true, might have a few gods more they know of that influences things, and even assuming that is not the case they will not be of the same mind on their aspects and how they are expressed and then there's the values they hold influencing things.

No, to See is a deeply individual experience, and while you can train others into it, they cannot see the same things you do. Even my cute little trinkets like the Sword of Light and the Dream Crystal I've made for my bodyguard don't do that, even as they come incredibly close, as there will always be some form of personal interpretation of what one Sees no matter how filtered the data they receive is. They just make the variation far, far smaller. Small enough one could pretend it's a point of refference.

There are naturally other sense one could use as I was told some could smell Narrative Momentum, and some that use organs that Eldar do not naturally possess, or that do not exist at all and were created by some madman as a thought experiment, but Sight is the most common way to view Narrative Momentum short of merely experiencing it.

And what I see is glorious.

The sleeping soldier rests still, as the Diamond he turned into his own bed grew so large in the millions of years he slept in it that if I didn't know better I could say belonged to him, even if it did not. It belonged to the station who could only gather it thanks to him being merged with it, but the man does not consider it his own body and thus all that it is not himself benefits from his existence in exchange for providing a hidden napping spot where he can get the chance to Murder in his sleep occasionally.

A worthy trade if there ever was any in my opinion.

The other ships continue their business as usual as the grand dust storms they create make for an interesting dance, but it is not them I care for as of this moment, no that honor rests for the clan of Brisea Amada.

"What do you see Laciena?" I asked her.

She and Mara were looking over the fleet that grew ever closer to us by the heartbeat as we matched trajectory with theirs.

"I'll tell you what I see, lots of targets that aren't too happy to see us." Mara declared with a laugh.

It was true, the clan was instructed by their Matriarch to treat me as a guest, but some had their guns suspiciously always pointing in my general direction while others had their passive sensor arrays always pointing in my direction and I doubt very much that the two groups aren't sharing data.

"All of us can see that Mara, it does not really need to be said." I replied with amusement.

My guns were not tracking targets despite what my ship-instincts demanded of me. I was a guest here and it would not do to be rude. Some clan members being cautious around a newcomer and positioning themselves to listen in or be prepared for trouble is expected and as long as no weapon's lock happens then all these things are minor irritants.

For ships and ship-eldar a weapon's lock is equivalent to the unsheathing of blades, and the only way I can interpret that is as a request for a duel or hostility.

Something happened, a change in the way the Warp moves happened as we spoke and things shifted, ships started using their sensors in active mode everywhere as they tried to search for the effects of what the Eldar felt.

An explosion happened on the other side of the system, but it's light won't reach us despite most Eldar being aware of it. It tastes green and cheerfully violent… it tasted like Orks.

Orks just happened in system from the Warp in all their merry violence. They taste vile/tasty and they want to play the most violent games and sing merrily as they do it.

"What's happening?" My Navigator asked and pulled me out of their song.

Laciena continued to take in the fleet unperturbed as I considered if I should be killing the orks or not, it wouldn't take long and I wanted to play. There weren't that many of them, just some thirty ships.

I could take them.

"Orks decided to come looking for some fun, they are not our problem for now at least." I declared as I stopped bothering with active sensors.

They wouldn't help and the fleet was small, only some dozens Kroozers and a few Ram Ships. Enough to be noticeable and require a serious response on behalf of those in-system, but not enough to be more than an annoyance. They were also on the the other end of the system and thus were categorically not our problem

Already some ships from the prince's fleet went to deal with them judging from the ork's cheers. Their number was already going down which was good as it meant I didn't need to bother as it seems the prince decided to blow off some steam and go hunting to relax and I wished him luck.

I turned my attention towards Laciena who was preparing to speak.

"I see a great Flock of songbirds, some as large as a pebble others the size of houses as they fly around their great Matriarch whom they treat as their Mountain protector who is also a bird. What do you See Bessar?"

I considered her words as the ship-eldar came back into visual distance for the eldar eye.

"A giant mountain sized comet dances through the void as a thousand storms are left behind it. The storms splinter and reunite as the Mountain passes but all of them follow it, for they are born from it and they will die with it."

The clan only existed because of their Matriarch, all that they have achieved is because of her, all the way that they have left the mark of Existence is because of her and it is by her actions and her will that the clan exists and is important.

I don't know each of the little grains do yet, or the giant storms that are the ships which held their thousands of children waiting for the chance at adulthood and how they relate to one another. That is what my Younger Sister enjoys seeing.

"And what does that mean?" Mara asked of us.

"Which part?" I asked back.

"There being a comet and a mountain and a bird." She clarified.

"The clan exists because it's Matriarch does and it acts because she does." I explained.

That's what my perspective tells me, that she is the only thing of actual influence inside of that clan and all others serve as merely extensions of her will. This means that to attack one is to attack her as well, for as far as Existence is concerned the only thing with Agency or Impact in the clan is herself.

"They rely on her to function, she is their initiative and their priorities are hers and all their songs start and rely on hers to some degree." Laciena continued.

This was perfectly normal in most clans whose founder still lived. It is when the hands of leadership change hands that things get complicated. Eldar clans are formed through trickery where one individual arranges the marriage between individuals without them knowing and thus proving themselves as capable of guiding them and taking them through turbulent times. A clan leader is not necessarily Mighty, albeit they often times are or become as such, what they are is capable of handling issues while also making sure that the familial ties they look over endure and become stronger with each hurdle they've overcome, but this is easier when the founder is around.

When the torch passes to the next individual what happens most of the time as that they stop being a clan and become a gathering of families acting towards a specific goal or a tribe where mini-clans are formed once again if the old clan can't be reforged from the ashes. It is very rare for a clan to continue to remain as such after it's founder passed away.

Where both us saw normality, my Navigator sensed weakness, as single points of failure went against all she had learned in the time her culture has been a culture, for Anaen in her mind is who they are, and if there is any one thing that could lead to Anaen being put in danger then that something must be addressed and fixed as it is a thing to be fixed. She does not understand that Anaen and Brisea Amada occupy the same place in their cultures even if one is Divine and the other Mortal and trying to explain it to her would be the work of years and I quite frankly can't be bothered to deal with the Ignorance of Craftworlders for now.

They can only think right when their lives are in imminent danger, for in any other circumstances their minds refuse to function in a way that makes sense to anyone but themselves and if Cegorach and Khaine wish to bother with them then they are free to do so. I don't want to anymore, as Anaen has cured me of that desire.

The only intellectuals, as the Empire uses the term at least, the craftworlders have are their unpious and thrill seekers who go there as they seek to learn to do and be more. Asurmen's paths did not only prey on the Unpious by forcing them into a societal role even as they eschewed that, they actually made sure the Ignorant Idiots don't lose their intellectuals. There's more to learning than memorizing things and learning new things to memorize, you need to learn new ways to think and expand your thinking without losing your perspective or moral center and it seems that the only way craftworlders can attain such a state of mind is when their lives are in danger.

My Navigator had the soul of an intellectual in a culture where that Mindset can only exist when one's life in in imminent danger. This is because The Craftworlder cultures are distinctly what the Empire would call anti-intellectual despite them having many learned individuals, as their learned individuals do not possess the mindset that the role requires.

"Try and hide your disapproval my navigator, we need to ingratiate ourselves to them. My cordial conversation and Laciena mingling with her clan members allowed us to make our case in a friendly way and be received as guests, as opposed to foreign elements imposing ourselves into their daily lives. The way they organize themselves is up to them, if you want to criticize something criticize the way they look and its atrociousness."

"What's so ugly about them?" My sister asked.

She is the one with an eye for fashion, in a sense. Fashion is a signifier of who and what you are and an atrocious fashion sense means you can't match what you are with how you look which is of great interest to her.

"Look upon their designs, tell me what do you see?" I asked both of them.

They proceeded to do so as I took my position to the left flank of the Matriarch, a rank of familial closeness? Am I hearing this right or is the last shreds of my sanity slipping? What in the name of all that is holy is she doing?

Both myself and the rest of her clan are wondering the same thing as I take my assigned position and prepare to enter the tunnels.

"There's a lot of designs." Mara observed.

"There's no unified theme." Laciena answered.

"Not what I was going for, but Laciena's line of thought is closer to what I wish the two of you to learn, are you willing to try again or would you rather me answer it?" I replied absentmindedly.

Trying to make sense of how the ship-eldar's culture operates from their song takes priority for now.

Based on the song and what conversation I can understand there are four groups. The first are the Scouts which are currently leaving for the Webway to find an appropriate location to nest in? My sister's bird analogy is getting through in an unusual way.

The second group are the Swords which are preparing themselves to support any scouting group that gets into trouble and will leave shortly after them.

The third are the tenders, those that look after the clan's infrastructure, the bone-wombs, shipyards and the normal child sized infrastructure and that are not going anywhere until the location is safe.

The fourth are the Guardians which defend them almost exclusively and it is where I was placed alongside the Matriarch.

'The madwoman is telling me to protect her most vulnerable.' I thought in awe at sheer madness as the realization made me immediately start to conform.

I was now to her left and watching over those who cannot defend themselves as I awaited for a threat to present itself so it can die or for the signal to leave. The Matriarch's attention was on me for several heartbeats before turning back to her responsibilities as she saw that her ritual of integrating me into her clan to keep them safe worked as intended.

There's worse positions to be caught in in this type of rituals and if she told me to stay with the tenders I would have been quite insulted. I am a guest yes and thus am under her protection until I leave or am no longer welcome, but to tell a warrior of the Armada to stay in safety under the protection of civilians is downright insulting. Telling me to instead take position to defend those that cannot defend themselves properly at her side is a position of honor and trust.

The exact opposite position that any priest wishes to be in, despite there being the best position we could be placed in, but also one perfectly made for the Armada and their mentality.

"No idea." Mara admitted with a shrug.

"Same." My sister did the same shortly after.

I did not bother with disappointment, the two women's minds were not built for this sort of thinking or had little to no experience with spacefaring societies.

"All ships follow a specific tradition of building, a way of seeing the world and one's part of it. More than half of the ships present follow pirate and corsair design philosophies because the way they make them is the easiest way to get wraithbone to grow into a ship." I explained.

The simple design for wraithbone on the corsair and pirate ships which emulate birds of prey is chosen for a reason. The design emulates loyalty, ruggedness in the sense of being easy to repair as well as a lesser version of Craftworlder Alpha strike mentality and stealth. It makes up for the lesser alpha strike with better sustained damage and versatility but it does not change the fundamental part that Hawk emulating ships are the easiest possible design to make, for they are a sign of poverty, of being easily replaceable and only seeing the bare minimum one needs to provide a given service when the fools wearing those visages are anything but disposable to their Matriarch.

Pirates and Corsairs use these designs because they can't build anything better in large enough numbers to be useful, not because they wouldn't use something better if they could make use of them.

"They are not molding themselves as what they are." Laciena realized.

"Indeed, function follows form as far as Eldar ship designs are concerned. Craftworlder designs are built for stealth, Alpha strikes and skirmishes while Pirate designs are built for all of that to a lesser extent, but they are also built to be as fast and easy to make and replace. From what you're seeing, does this look like a clan with any part of it being considered disposable?" I asked and invited her to look deeply into what I am seeing.

I categorized each group, each individual ship and their role in it, estimated duties, age social position and more for her to look upon.

The tenders have someone to look after them, the scouts have someone to look after them, even those who are meant to look after others have someone to look after them as the Guardians serve as a reserve for the Swords as well, and the largest ship of the fleet is always willing to throw itself at whatever dares threaten her children.

These fools dare pretend they're expendable and replaceable when they are deeply and openly loved and it's the second ugliest thing I've seen in my entire existence, and unlike the Valley of Silent Screams I can't burn and drown it with impunity until the people forget it's existence.

"So what is the plan?" My sister asked.

I could feel my navigator turn curious. There's been a dearth of danger in the past few months as I could not give her anything truly dangerous to herself while I am present as anything I can't save her from with ease are things that would kill her before she can react.

I turned the attention of the little wisps towards the Tenders and the many ships, be they living eldar or the half-living wraithbone hulls, that we were tasked with protecting.

"Our first priority until we reach whatever destination they want to go to is protecting those ships, once we reach our destination, you and the rest of the crew are to mingle among the locals and get the lay of the land, look for strange patterns, violent tendencies, nonsensical things and rumors and report them to me. There's something wrong around here and I need to learn what and find if I can either fix the issue or spring a possible trap and from the clues I've been able to point so far I am hoping that it's a trap as it would be easier to deal with." I explained.

"And once we're done with them?" Laciena asked again.

I knew where she was going with this.

"I'll see if an opportunity for your final lesson arises so that I may leave, and don't look so shocked my Navigator. I was outed as a soldier of the Armada, I need to take their tunnels from now on and while I can get away with not doing so while escorting civilians which have asked for my protection, once we finish here I'll have to take the military tunnels and the things there are not something you can survive even with me around." I admitted.

My younger sister's education and apprenticeship to me is all but done, all she needs to learn is her final lesson and she'll be a junior priestess in full and I can't wait for that day, but that day is not today.

"I swore myself to you." Mara declared softly.

"You have sworn yourself as my navigator, you will continue to fulfill that purpose in my sister's service as you are a part of her crew in my absence and unless you're leaving this ship with my wives and getting a new one, you will continue serving that role to my body." I answered.

She did not like that answer, but she was not angry, just… tired. The little curious creature craved to learn more and she has learned more in the two years she's served my sister and I than she thought she would.

"Look on the bright side, without me around, the danger hiding from me will return and you'll be able to enjoy it once again." I continued and tried to cheer her up.

That earned me a smile, but the tiredness did not leave her for she had experienced the closest thing her culture allows to an intellectual mindset as the Empire understands it and she'll miss me for I was the one that gave it to her.

"I suppose I'll have to be happy with that." She said with a weak chuckle

"Unfortunately." I admitted.

All that was left now was to wait for the scouts to return with our destination and then my crew will begin their mission. I'll probably also need to start teaching children to check on how involved Cegorach is in their education, but teaching them how to make medicine and to read and write should give me the knowledge I seek.