Chapter 81:

Chapter 81: One must always put on a good show.


The situation I was in was far from normal.

Behind me stood my youngest son who had been turned into an abomination by unborn divines and in front of me stood two priestesses that arguably served the same divine yet both claimed they were not.

Cegorach has taken many masks in the past and he has gone by many names and identities until he had settled on the Mad Mask of the Jester and called himself Cegorach, but his oldest mask, what one would call his original purpose was Hoeth, God of Wisdom, the written word, diplomacy and knowledge.

He changes purposes the way one changes clothes depending on what our people need and now the God of masks and his priesthood claim they can give my son a better life than I can and before I entrust him to them I need to make sure he will be well.

"I hope you enjoy the food, my oldest son does pride himself in his cooking ability." I started genially.

The two women have eaten part of the food, but of the aunt and niece, only the aunt seemed to appreciate it. My son did pride himself in his ability and in this instance he has pushed his culinary abilities to its limits.

Even now he makes a second serving in case it is necessary to ensure the ritual will hold.

"It was quite good, wouldn't you say so niece?"

"Yes aunt it was quite good."

The aunt was trying to get her niece to talk more than the bare minimum as we all stood at the table. The two women shared a couch while I stood on a very soft chair. Both were made by my aunt and were somehow more comfortable than my bed. The furniture in the room was made by her after she became a Master carpenter and bed maker for my son to enjoy and my heart broke that he will not get to enjoy them.

"Would you prefer that we move on to the main topic then?"

I did not need to peer into the Empyrean to know that the shadow-seer is annoyed. It was probably for the best that our discussion be swift.

"You should really learn to be more personable niece. You and your fellows are a part of society after all, there's no need to constantly be running in the shadows, you can live like the rest of us."

The older woman sighed at the words of her younger aunt.

"I do not know how you made this ritual to force me to be here out in the open, but I kindly beg you to ask your questions my host." The woman said, ignoring her aunt.

"May I get seconds please?" The aunt asked.

There was no knife to twist, no psychic ability thrown and the shadow-seer was not in any way shape or form wounded but yet it felt as if the aunt had taken a knife to her niece's stomach and stabbed it in to make her to behave.

I rose from my chair and sang to my wife to ask her to deliver us seconds as the family drama unfolded and the two handled whatever it was they needed to discuss. My son was still sleeping peacefully in his crib.

I took the food from my wife's hands before kissing her and moving back to the table while she closed the door. The two women were having a silent conversation that stopped once I sat down.

"I would like to know some detail as to my son's role in the priesthood, and what is going on between the two of you if it is not too much of a personal question." I asked.

Bessar Agail's instruction were thorough as to how this 'ritual' is to go and why it works in the first place. I was to ask about my son's future in the priesthood and not make any demands of knowledge beyond that, but personal questions were acceptable provided I was willing to answer theirs in turn.

Priests of the Pantheon act as both Eldar and warp-born when dealing with Eldar. They are constrained by the rules of society, the symbolism behind each action, the domains of their patrons as well as the physical reality and not a single one of them enjoys it, but they must obey all of that and more if they wish to maintain their position as priests. In this ritual I am doing very little, as it is them that are maintaining it and keeping it running.

They could break it at any time if they so choose, they would merely lose all of the protections their position gave them.

The niece looked pained as she had to speak.

"Your Son will play a new role in our priesthood, that of a Solitaire, a being of two gods, of two uncertain loyalties and a jest on reality and the Unborn Divine. Cegorach wishes to play into the role of the Son of his previous incarnation in full to turn the Unborn Abomination no longer an Eldar, and for that purpose those like your Son are required to play the role of priest for both Gods at the same time and in their final moments choose to side against the Abomination."

Each of her words were pained, as if the very act of conferring information was one more stab into her soul.

I looked at the aunt and awaited for her to finish eating the blue crustacean.

"She is correct, also our issue is not a deeply personal one, just one we really wish wasn't necessary to even have in the first place." She said softly.

The older woman almost jumped out of her skin at her words.

"Is that it? That's why you made this farce of a ritual? To make us more sociable?" She screeched

Her aunt was more amused at her hysterics than worried that a powerful seer was angry.

"Yes, your priesthood is under the impression that teaching children important lessons, dressing in black and speaking funnily is something to be ashamed of and so we try to make sure you fools know that you are a loved part of Eldar society and should act like it."

The woman with black robes and a red hood, looked at the woman in black robes and colorful armor in exasperation.

"We are not hiding ourselves because we are ashamed, we hide ourselves as standard operational procedure because most of the time we have to go into dangerous worlds filled with monsters or worse, cult held worlds! We need to be stealthy and quick on our feet!"

That made sense and explained some things based on what I knew and in their place I would have probably done the same. Cult held worlds were dangerous places and in my experience a stealthy approach was usually the best if you could get away with it.

"You do not need to do so here or among places you are welcomed in as friends, especially when you come to recruit young children into your ranks." The aunt replied sternly as if she were a mother scolding a child for not eating their food.

I disagreed but this had the smell of an old argument between family, like the one between my grandfather and youngest aunt about her finding a man to marry. The niece even acted like my aunt where I could feel her giving up on the argument and tuning out her words despite her aunt wishing her well. I decided that it would be wise to not get involved, I've had more than enough interactions with priests for a lifetime, I do not want to interact more than I had to with them, even if I knew it would happen again in the future.

"I would kindly ask you my host to not spread this ritual or perform it again. If any were to find they can trap the servants of Cegorach with such ease we would be in grave danger as we would be stuck in their clutches as they spring deadly traps on us." She pleaded.

I was tempted, severely tempted to say yes. It was an out from needing to interact with priests in the future. Before I could assent the aunt spoke.

"The seers have been told that Diseth Aisse and his bloodline were given access to this ritual and that it will remain in his bloodline to be given from parent to heir. They will ensure it doesn't spread. You fools need to interact with your charges in a friendly manner, and needing to have a friendly conversation when you wish to go recruiting on a friendly craftworld won't kill you." The younger woman said to the older one then turned to me.

"Our kind and fair host, please continue using this ritual as doing so will also serve your craftworld and descendants as it will give you a closer relationship with the servant of Cegorach and make sure that at least some of your descendants will be able to serve their home without going into danger."

The two women looked at me pleadingly and I decided to do the best thing I could do right now.

"We are not here to talk about rituals, we are here to talk about my son's future. I will take this to the Seers and my fellow Masters on what to do in regards to this ritual." I replied sternly.

Putting it up the chain of command is always the best option in my opinion, as it means I no longer have to think about to benefits and demerits of a given course of action. Being a Master of Fire should have meant that I can no longer do so, but all who think so are fools, for there are many that hold the same rank as me and my fellow peers outrank me when they outnumber me.

I am not able or willing to deal with this nonsense so the best course of action is to throw it at somebody else. It worked throughout my entire life and will continue to work long after I am dead.

Both women flinched at my words for some reason but I decided to ignore it.

"Please do not share it to others at the very least." The older woman pleaded.

I didn't need to think much on that, the senior madman already made the decision for me in his instructions.

"The only ones with access to this ritual and possess any knowledge of how it is done will be my descendants or nobody." I answered and she breathed a sigh of relief.

The knowledge of this ritual was a gift for me and my descendants, I was told quite explicitly to not share it to anyone else and even among my descendants to never share it unless I knew for certain each of those I share it with will never leave the craftworld.

She breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the half-full plate of seafood and picked some of the small boneless fish and took one into her mouth.

Now with the talk about rituals behind us I need to find out how will my son be treated.

"You told me my son will serve two gods, what does that mean?" I asked after a brief pause.

I took took some food from the plate, for it was tasty and I did not have the opportunity to partake from it as much as I wished due to my duties.. My son was quite the able chef and if he continues being one and doesn't go be a fighter pilot like his sister then all will be well.

"It means what he will make of it. He will need to pretend to balance the interests of two gods while remaining loyal to our people. How that translates depends entirely on him and what tasks he wishes to pursue once he becomes an adult. I can't tell you more than that as I do not know more than that." She answered.

I did not like that answer but knew she was truthful at least.

"How will he handle his thirst for souls?" I asked the most pressing issue.

The reason my son was not able to stay here was due to his dietary needs. I needed to know how he will be kept fed and if perhaps I could not replicate it without eldar souls.

"Criminals and the lowest type of scum. Bessar Agail has made it possible to mass produce Soul Stones, so all we need is one of them to contain a proper soul and your son would be fed for years with each meal."

"My son is drinking from a bottle Bessar Agail said would last him a month at most, why such a large difference between the two?" I asked.

A month was not years.

"I don't know." She said and turned to her aunt.

I too looked at the woman awaiting for an answer.

"The soul was part of one of my brother's experiments to create something similar to the creature you've taken to calling Macteppe Ticrauss, which is a failed attempt at recreating a certain type of ancient human weapon called an Anathema. I do not know much about it, but I do know that the soul you received was modified and that might be the reason for the reduced potency.

I can't say what he did to it, only that it was meant as part of a weapon to be used against the Unborn Divine. I kindly ask you to not ask me more on this topic as I do not wish to be involved in that project as it is far too disturbing for my tastes" She answered softly.

Her words flowed like silk and felt like ice on our souls and both of us shuddered at her words.

I do not wish to know more if the Priesthood of Apocalypse would consider such a thing disturbing. The last few decades have been hell, despite making us stronger and they call such a thing a boon on us. If that is a boon then I choose to ignorant of what they would consider disturbing and it seems that the other priestess agreed.

I was also quite disturbed at the fact that the humans had or used to have access to such a weapon but decided to not think about it for now. I turned back to the shadow-seer.

"How will he be raised, and will he be allowed to visit or us him?"

The woman looked conflicted and it didn't take me long to realize why. She did not expect the question to come or for me to ask whether or not he could visit.

"He will be raised in an orphanage specially made for those like him and will be raised with love, of this I can assure you. As for visitations, I am afraid you won't be able to come, and he will only be able to come rarely if he ever has a mission near Anaen."

"Why?" Was my question.

Why couldn't I visit, why couldn't he? Why could I not hold my son and tell him I love him as he grows up?

"The Black Library does not allow many outsiders and those few that are allowed must pass through a great series of tests each time they wish to enter, assuming you can even reach it or find it. As for why he can't come? Your home will be in great danger each time he and others like him are present, for each of them represent a focus point for the New Divine. It is why I do not wish to waste time and want to take him as fast as possible into the Black Library where he will be safe from her sight."

I looked at the younger woman and she nodded, there was no more information she could share that would help my son. That was the nature of our bargain, I would help her with finding a navigator for her ship and she would help me with this meeting to make sure my son will be well taken care of.

I will not bother with asking for directions there as I doubt she can give me any.

"Very well, I will allow my son to become one of these Solitaires, but I do want you to look after him if you can. This is not a demand, so please do not take it as such, I only want for my boy to be well."

She sighed at my words and put on her ghostly helmet.

"I will."

She rose from her seat and headed towards my son. I rose up behind her and looked as she picked my son gently from his bed. He was still holding his favored snake plushy that I made for him.

My son woke up as she did so and started to laugh as her blank visor turned into a thousand different visages.

"Aren't you a motley little abomination? Don't worry young boy, for I will make sure you will never forget how much you are loved." She said and quickly after both her and my son and his plushy disappeared.

I turned back towards the other priestess, the one which was no longer bound by ritual and to whom I now owed a debt, and went back to my seat.

"I am glad to see that we have solved that issue Diseth Aisse and I am truly sorry that you can no longer raise your son, but I can assure you that he will be cared for. We can leave the discussion about the Navigator for tomorrow, after my brother has finished his ritual with the singers, if you would like. I think it would be for the best to allow you and your family to come to terms with what has just happened." She offered kindly.

I considered her words but decided against it. My family has already done so before this meeting started, all this meeting accomplished was going through the paces.

"I thank you for the kind offer, but we have already had our closure, I will take you to the navigator, she is a cousin of mine and has found life on Anaen to be too stifling and I've managed to convince her to hear you out. If she says no, then I know of another man that wishes for the same, but know that he is less skilled as he is younger." I said.

I would have normally felt for throwing my cousin at the priests, but the woman kept on wanting to explore the galaxy and experience danger and our clan could no longer constrain her and so I've decided to give her what she has been trying to get for a century. She will have all of the danger and excitement her heart desire and more in the service of the priesthood.

She considered my words and her red eyes met mine.

"Please lead the way, I will plead my case to your cousin." She said as she rose.

I nodded at her words and rose and she followed behind me. I told my family that the meeting has ended and that I will return shortly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Teaching the two singers to hear our song took little time and both agreed to my plan for tomorrow, as all I needed to do was teach them to hear it and they could do as I wished of them. It was 'morning' on Anaen now and our little ritual was planned for tomorrow evening.

This would have normally left me with little to do but meditate and try to keep myself awake, but fortunately my Younger Sister managed to find us a navigator, but the navigator had demands of us and as it is my ship she is to be on she demanded to speak to me as she thought that only I can fulfill them.

I sincerely hoped she was married and just wanted to bring her children and family on the ship. I do not need more nonsense thrown on my lap and letting her and Laciena with the ship as I danced into the webway when the time was right would have solved a lot of issues. Knowing my luck though, it's going to end in some marriage and I'll need to make sure it's not mine.

Moving on from such heavy thoughts I started to consider my Wraithship and the bit of nonsense it represents. I was heading towards it after all as the navigator wished to inspect it herself and it would be awkward if she did so and I wasn't present.

Wraithships are the most automated ships in the craftworlder fleet, they are 'cruisers' for whatever that classification was worth when talking of craftworlder design and the only interesting design part of it was its Wraithbone core which allows Craftworld Eldar to mimic the Song of Our People and its benefits, if to a lesser degree.

What it does is much more than that if the craftworlders weren't handicapping their technology, but for them even that sliver of its true potential was enough to grant any such ships an incredible advantage compared to others like it as it allowed its crew to understand the ship and its needs as if it were their body.

A whisper pulled me out of my introspection as I walked through the red hallways. My younger sister seems to have reached the ship before me.

I am getting too tired to think straight or move at anything but a lethargic pace. It has been months since I last slept and while I can handle a full year without sleep now with little issue now, healing has been taxing on my soul and body as combining my healing with tools that operate on principles foreign to my soul is not exactly easy. I handle healing by murdering pathogens, not by nurturing the body and doing both at the same time is very taxing.

I was hoping for the craftworlders sending me an assistant healer as they tried to learn exactly what I was doing, but it appears my wives' status spooked them too much too approach unprompted so they'll have to settle with me filling up the shelves of my old healing ward with my Medicinal Blades as well as some instructions on how to use them.

"Laciena, sorry for being late as it was quite the distance from our quarters to the port." I said warmly.

My sister was in her uniform now thankfully and near her was a woman with blue hair and green eyes.

"It's alright Bessar, we only reached a minute ago and I know you are one step removed from falling asleep from tiredness." She replied.

I could feel that she meant it, but I did not like being tardy. Unfortunately my current situation made me tardy which I hoped would not impact our talks too much.

Nothing good ever comes from tardiness and all priests of Hoeth know this.

I turned towards the blue haired woman and I squinted at her, her facial features were not the hawkish one of most of the craftworld despite being a native, they resembled those of my birth world in how plain they were by Eldar standards, for the woman looked as if made out of marble. She also wore the bright blue armor of Anaen's explorers but I did not recognize the insignia on her chest denoting her rank. It was a cat's eye with a yellow retina and a black slit pupil which I have not seen before on Anaen's forces

It was not that of a novice, recruit or master, but it was too intricate to denote a low rank and I've seen that Anaen uses the same insignia regardless of the type of specialization one is in.

"I am Bessar Agail miss and I am to be the owner of the ship you are to act as a Navigator for." I introduced myself to her.

She did not like me, this I could hear from her song which was promising for it meant she was less likely to wish to stick around with me once and leave me be. Am I getting paranoid about the gods throwing wives at me?

Most people might think so but they did not have six of them thrown at them and two of them were thrown at them by a dead one. The last time I wasn't paying attention it ended with me getting four pregnant concubines in an act of divine intervention so obvious and hard to hide it told me all I needed to know about my situation.

The gods were chasing me and I cannot afford to stay for long.

"I am Geinna Mara, and you are late. I do not appreciate tardiness, especially not in future comrades." She bit straight into my heart.

Figuratively speaking that is.

'The gods found another woman I liked to throw at me.' I thought as I tried to hide my fear.

I do not appreciate overt signs from the Divines as despite what most fools in the Empire would think, they are never a good sign.

"My apologies for it as I have no good excuse. Please follow me inside the ship so we can talk with some privacy."

The woman huffed at it but did as I asked and my younger sister joined at my side as the divinely sent navigator put herself behind us.

'Laciena.' I sang to her.

She realized what I did now and I could feel her embarrassment.

'She is Diseth Aisse's cousin, I thought she was safe.' She sang back.

She is not as attuned to detecting divine interference as I hoped of her, or this wouldn't have happened but it is fine as I can work with it.

We entered the Wraithship now and the ship was unpowered which was easy to fix. The psychic energy roared at my command and the ship came back to life.

'It is fine sister, now that we know she is part of a Divine plot we can work around it. Divine plots are at their most dangerous when you don't expect them. When you can see them coming, then you can repay the intended mischief with interest.' I assured her.

That calmed her down and as soon I find out how to do that it might calm me too.

It took as little to reach the core of the ship as the ship slowly awakened around us and the white wraithbone glowed softly with psychic light. The ship was fuzzy to my senses, not quite alive and not quite a construct but something that straddled the line between being an inert object and a living one and soon under my ministration the ship will be fully alive. It reminded me of my of my Blades of Valor, the early iterations of them before Asurmen the Second taught them to sing and the fools could no longer hide from my eyes the fact that they can think for themselves.

"What is it that you need me for?" The divine pawn asked as her patience ran out.

She was confident in her abilities to try and kill us and she expected a confrontation, but she won't get what her Khaine blessed soul begs for.

I turned to her as we were in the center of the large room, just beneath the Wraithbone core that the ship was built around.

"I am a priest Geinna Mara, and due to that I am under certain restrictions due to my own position and oaths. As part of those restrictions is the proscription on handling the sensing of time, more specifically the future and the past which is unfortunately something that when dealing with ships going at speeds approaching or exceeding the speed of light is a common enough occurrence that I require someone to handle it for me as my younger sister is not trained in such things and to train her would take us too much time and this is where you come in." I explained.

She had some reservations, no reservation is not the right word, fears would be more appropriate. She did not know much about me I now realized, which meant that the Masters and Seers of Anaen have been keeping the details of my presence here a secret or the woman just doesn't bother with listening to rumors or participates in social activities.

Or perhaps she was just not on Anaen while I was here? That was also a possibility.

"Where are the rest of the crew then? A wraithship needs one hundred crew members at the very least." She asked nervously.

Oh, the divine trap was sensing a trap for herself, how cute. She noticed I didn't care for her touching her blade and kept trying to find a reason for it.

"Unneeded, I can handle the rest of the tasks one would need a crew for by myself." I informed her with a smirk.

I could feel her being incredulous at my claim as her hand left her sword. She no longer feared an ambush.

"How, don't tell me you can clone yourself and be in 1000 places at once? Now that would something."

That would be an idea, unfortunately I have no clue how to do that. That sort of ability requires me being able to split my focus to a rather unhealthy degree which I would rather not do or bother with.

"Nothing so crass I am afraid, do you require a demonstration?" I asked her.

I was already priming the core for what I had planned and hopefully the craftworlders won't be too spooked by it.

"I think you should finish with your ritual and your rest Bessar before you fall over doing some nonsense such as the very tiring task of doing the work of a hundred eldar." My Younger Sister intervened.

Both of us turned towards her.

'Bessar, you are one stiff breeze from falling down, I do not want to know what you falling asleep while piloting a ship will mean when I am on it, please rest before you go flying.' She sang to me.

I nodded at her words and the core of the ship no longer roared with energy and instead dimmed to the bare minimum of energy to ensure activity.

"I will do as my Younger Sister asks of me, so if you do want a demonstration you will have to wait a few days."

The woman took my words in and her suspicion returned.

"Are you not going to ask anything of my skills or background?" She asked as her suspicions reached an ever higher peak.

I tilted my head to the right in confusion and I looked at my sister who looked back at me with the same confusion in her eyes

'We are not in a position to be picky sister, you did tell her that yes?' I asked Laciena Fiora.

'I did, but craftworlders are weird. They keep expecting secrets where there are none and ignore them when they do find them.' She answered.

I turned back to my future navigator and did my best to express my honesty to assuage her suspicion.

"No, your cousin, Diseth Aisse, guaranteed for your ability and your past is irrelevant to me. All that I really want to know is what you wish in exchange for your services."

She considered my words and smiled viciously as she spoke.

"Danger and excitement are all the pay I need."

I laughed heartily at her words. If danger is what she wants, then I can and will provide plenty.

"That I can give you Geinna Mara and I can safely say I am among the greatest providers of danger in this galaxy and I am a generous master in how I pay my retinue." I responded with amusement.

The woman knelt and I could feel her spirit soar out of her body as the truth of my statement hit her.

"Then I swear my blade to you holy one."

My sister felt sorry for the woman but I didn't, for people like her do not need or want pity, no they only crave the battlefield and I will find her plenty of battlefields to feel the joy she craves.





AN:

- Macteippe Ticrauss→ Mac Teipthe na Tine agus na Crá =The Failed Son of Fire and Torment

-Geinna Mara → Géire na Mara = Sharpest in the Sea.


No, he is not Motley from the books.