WildWeilerWorld

The following is a transcription of memory fragments collected from the records of The Chorus whose faithful service to the Dog Emperor continues to this day in the Sanctum Domitorum. There has been minimal extrapolation for readability. Those able to communicate with the Chorus are permitted to have the account engraved upon their minds at their discretion. For all others an unedited version of this document can be requisitioned from the archives. 

It is the 43rd Millennium. There is only war. The Dog Emperor Reigns.

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The Inquisition impresses upon us the notion that our sacrifice will preserve all mankind. Our gift, they shout, will empower The Emperor to continue to guide the Imperium. It is all they told us on the dark pilgrimage to Holy Terra. The rest of the journey, months and years of misery, was nothing but darkness. There were whispers in the cages. Whispers that the brutal treatment we received was a form of penance and that we were being stripped of our sins before our sanctified service before the Emperor. Those whispers are fundamentally wrong. Our captors were simply tyrants.

Calling enslavement a sacrifice is a cruel trick. It implies we’re involved in the ritual in a meaningful and specific way. We were not. Calling what they force upon us a gift implies we’re involved willingly, at least to some degree. We were not willing, we were tributes served up by our lords so that they might retain their power. We were snatched from our homes. Transported like cargo. Tormented and delivered. Upon our arrival at Holy Terra, I recall little. At some point all my senses were stripped from me, and all I could see and feel was that which can only be seen or felt by the mind.

In my mind’s eye I could see thousands upon thousands of stars, each glowing with brilliant golden light. I was one of these stars. In our midst was a great white ring and it was an inescapable darkness. Our golden light, our energy flowed from ourselves into the ring strengthening it, helping it contain the darkness.

At first I was strengthened by a feeling that what we were doing was good, virtuous, necessary. It was overwhelming, intoxicating even. Perhaps this was the doing of The Emperor himself, as the feeling was so strong it encouraged us to release our energy freely. I suspect it was something else altogether though. Something in the world of the flesh playing a foul trick on our senses. 

As time continued this feeling receded. Only when it had passed completely did I realize I was not giving my energies to The Emperor, but he was siphoning them. As I realized this, my thoughts and vision became clear. Each of our souls glowing in this unending void was slowly having its light consumed. The white ring of our energy around the darkness was no shield, but the last wisps of ourselves before consumption by the darkness. We were not containing the darkness, we were feeding it, for it had no energy of its own.

I watched my own stream of light flow like a vapor in the wind into the light of others. Our light formed streams and rivers. Those rivers fed the black center. Distant stars faded, gone from existence the moment their light was extinguished. Only to be replaced by a new star, blind to reality, eager to contribute its light to the flow. Some burnt out quickly. others shined dimly, existing for eons on the verge of annihilation. What empowers them to continue I cannot even speculate. Perhaps they found a way to resist the pull.

After millennia, though I have no way of confirming, I had noticeably diminished. Becoming like those distant stars defying their inevitable final release. As my vision dimmed I thought I was witnessing the end of all things. Stars faded from existence at a rate I could not fathom. I quickly realized it was not their light that was dimming, but my increasing blindness. I was terrified. It was not long, before my vision had dimmed to where I could no longer even see even the closest stars. Then I heard screaming.

The screams were horrible. Countless voices wailing in the emptiness. Some cried in agony, others shouted in rage, others still in forlorn hopelessness realizing their god was real, but hated them. I recognized my own voice among the legion of others. Crying, begging for it to end. My voice was weak, pitiful. Yet distinctly within the chorus of misery.

It was then I realized what had happened. My senses had been blocked while I was strong enough to resist. Now that I had broken, I was allowed to see. Energy was no longer required to blind me and therefore not wasted. Now that I had wasted away, unable to fight back in any meaningful way, all my senses returned. Including pain.

The pain was unique. I burned as my energy was torn from me. I could feel the parts of my soul getting ripped farther and farther apart by the consuming darkness. As my other senses grew dimmer, my pain only sharpened. I could feel all of the fine ends of my being as they frayed and split from being ripped apart. I felt my voice fail as the searing pain continued, the last of my light draining and racing from my sight.

Then it stopped.

The white ring collapsed. The trail of golden light leaving me stopped flowing. What was left dissipated into the void. The darkness at the center of all things gone. Leaving nothing in its place empty space. Which felt notably different than the vacuum that had existed before. My vision brightened just enough to see the nearest stars to me. The searing pain eased enough for me to hear the sudden and profound silence.

Hello? I projected into the black sea.

A mass of confused answers returned to me. Demanding to know who I was, what had happened, if I was The Emperor. Some simply screamed. The confusion lasted for a time before suddenly being cut off, and all was silent again, as though my hearing had been cut off again.

In the distance, where the void had once greedily devoured us appeared a purple cloud wreathed in gold. A new bright soul joined our realm. Its glow gave me strength. It coalesced into a fine point, smaller than the void had been by a thousand fold. We all basked in its soft glow and tender warmth. In its glow I could see stars further than I had ever seen. The thousands upon thousands in this realm were once more visible to me, I had nearly forgotten what we all looked like.

Greetings, I humbly request your forgiveness for cutting you from your kindred. It is temporary and required to facilitate our introduction. 

The gold and purple point spoke with a soft voice. The message felt directed to me, but I was also aware it was heard by all, individually. I could feel others respond, what they said I do not know nor the response. I sat, like many of my companions, in the black sea in silence waiting for what the voice would say next.

I only have the most basic understanding of what you have all been through, and I want to assure you that your forced suffering is over. Your fate is no longer to be devoured by a voracious master. Your kind will no longer be slaughtered to preserve the power of one individual.

Do you mean The Emperor? I asked the question without thinking. Immediately regretting it. Fearing cosmic reprisal for my insolence.

Yes, The Emperor is dead. He has been for a long time. Now he is gone. Now I am here. Not to replace, but to supersede. To the best of my power, I will right the wrongs he has visited upon you.

Having not been swiftly dispensed with for expressing curiosity, I grew braver. What happens next? What do you expect from us in return for this mercy?

Nothing. You are not beholden to me any more than you are beholden to each other. As for what happens next, I will endeavor to free you from your prisons, so that you may once again walk among the waking. I must go now, but I will return.

The point of light disappeared. My vision did not fade. Each of us had grown bright enough to illuminate one another. None of us shown as bright as we had been in our prime, but no longer were we diminishing. Nervously we reached out to each other. We carefully explored our individual influence. The pace was slow. In my weakened state, any amount of projection was exhausting. Eventually, the golden purple light returned.

Greetings. I come with unfortunate tidings. I am not able to restore you. Nothing of your flesh remains. You have been stripped of your bodies. Your entombment in the Golden Throne is permanent. Innumerable caskets contain your minds and souls, a return from which was never.

Projected into my mind was a true, horrifying, understanding of my current form. I had become a web of impulses and energies. Held in existence by powers I nor any of those whom I could converse had an understanding of.

I will give you time to consider this truth. I am exploring possible paths to restoration by seeking knowledge in archives long sealed away. 

Any requests for peace will be granted without reservation. Know that I am exploring possible solutions and seeking knowledge in archives long sealed away. There may be ways of technology and machina that may yet return you to the waking world. In the meantime, I will answer any questions you may have with complete honesty.

I existed in silence for a moment. I could feel others asking their questions. I could feel the responses as well. As before whoever was at the center maintained some amount of privacy among us.

Who are you? I finally asked.

I am the harbinger of the end of the Imperium of Mankind and the herald of that which is to come.

Have you defeated us?

No, I merely let that which The Emperor has built fall to ruin. I seek not destruction, but progress. The freedom to grow. The time we should have reached beyond human limits has long passed.

What does that mean?

Now is the time for things to change. Not as they have before, by defining what we are to grow into. But by nurturing ourselves so that when we bloom. Then we may know who we are.

You say we. Are you one of us?

I have been many things in many times. My spirit is like that which you have. My physical form is different from what yours was, but also familiar. As I said I am the herald of things to come.

What now?

That is up to you. Presently, there is no life to be found for you in the waking world. But your energies, your motive force, can still be used.

The Herald of Things to Come paused.

Not as you have been used before. I seek not to consume you for power. I acknowledge that you are not within me, nor are you subject to me. Your thoughts, feelings, and powers are your own. You may interact with the materium and the immaterium in your

way. I ask you to be invisible hands reaching across the void and the warp alike. Together we will be able to remove the burdens of the Emperor and his failed Imperium.

You may also choose to exist on your own terms. Live out your existence, explore your limitations and they try, as all life does, to exceed them.

You may also choose to merge with the infinite. If you sense there is nothing left for you here or you believe there is better beyond I can set you at peace.

I asked a few more questions and when I was done, a long silence stretched on. All of my questions had been answered. I understood as much as I was able.

Speak to one another, and decide the shape of your future. I will return.

The light, and its reassuring glow, disappeared. We were again alone, but together. Slowly we began reaching out to one another, sharing stories of what little we could remember. Most only remembered the onyx black ships, none could remember their names. As we shared we found our strength grew. Perhaps that is not accurate, our strength combined. 

Stars began clustering as we found we grew the will to wander our prison. Groups of stars would form into a bright point then split and join with others. I merged with countless individuals only to split, retaining a part of them and leaving them with a part of me. This continued for some time until we had all shared and learned. We became bright. Yet none outshone another. The voice returned. This time we spoke and listened as one chorus. Individual voices, one thought.

Tell us of the future you herald.