Malign Portents

[HorticulusTGA]

46 minutes ago, Rogue Explorator said:

New story up, this one is about Kharadron:

https://malignportents.com/story/wyrmstar/

  Reveal hidden contents

So, a good old zombie apokalypse. I can not say I like having plague zombies in Death. Even though a good effort was made to differentiate this zombie plague from Nurgles gifts, I had hoped GW would keep Death entirely clear of "Chaos territory" in AoS. I feel that sort of constrain would force Death to be developed more into directions Chaos does not offer, making the Undead of AoS more unique. On the other hand, it is the first such case in MP, all together GW has done a pretty good job keeping Death unique from Chaos in AoS.

The Kharadron really show of their dark side here. Not unexpected, the BT is pretty clear that they can be ruthless profiteers, but nicely done none the less.

Edit: Almost forgot: It is interesting that none of the Kharadron turn in this story. With the Wyrmstars light explicitly the cause of the zombiefication, we can eleminate their survival gear as reason for their protection. In one of the recent "ask Grombrindal" the White Dwarf boasts duradin can not turn Undead. Looks like that is no empty boast, though I would not think it is full immunity to Undeath, just a very high resistance.

 

Nice spot on the Kharadron during the Time of Tribulations !

Trying to make money in such circumstances, ah, Duardin !

[Captain Marius]

These are getting better and better, hats off to GW for keeping these vignettes going!

[Carnelian]

That's a really good one

[MacDuff]

Things are getting darker by the week. I better start painting LOTS of good guys!

[Aelfric]

On 03/05/2018 at 9:55 PM, Rogue Explorator said:

There is a reason I wrote "reforged" and not reforged. Clearly the aelven gods are doing something different from Sigmar. Both are, however, repurposing and shaping Souls in ways Souls are propably not supposed to be (imo, of course).

 

As for the pathetic males of Moriathis Scathborn, there is more to it. To quote"For Morathi, those spirits too weak or damaged  to accept full reconstitution were destined to become leathanam - an aelven word for half-soul" "Only the weakest and most broken of souls retrieved from Slaanesh by Morathi are used to create male aelves" (BT:DoK, pages 9 and 26). Morathi does not want powerful men in her ranks, even cursing those born naturally to her temples to siphon them, and thus has a useful "bin" to throw useless souls into. But it seems at least to me, that a more powerful, long lived "proper" aelf could never have been created from these Souls. All "new aelf" project would have gotten some of these "duds" and have to content with them somehow.

And wether the utterly monstrous Melusai and Khinerai are really fine is a matter of perspective. They fulfil their purpose for Morathi, but how much they where supposed to be as they are is very questionable (of course, Morathi is the kind to claim they are all according to plan, even had they turned out much worse). Certainly, they can not be what Tyrion and Malerion have in mind for the future of aelves and thus they can not cut the corners that Morathi has cut, nor pour in as much shadow and blood magic.

 

So, I think I can maintain confidence in my stance that there are inherent issues with just taking a soul and repurposing it, as both Sigmar and the aelven gods are doing in their own way. Tyrion and Malerion will propably have their own workaround for these issues on their projects, it will be interesting to see how well they work.

The conundrum that interests me is whether or not a soul is the receptacle for an individual consciousness.  All creatures are born with souls ( some it seems not healthy ones ), yet when a creature dies does that consciousness remain with the soul or fade away, leaving an empty vessel.  The soul in "Lost Souls" remembered Teclis, which suggests that at least some souls retain memories of their physical existence.  But, if so, are those like the Namarti affected by the soul's previous owner.  The only named characters in the Death faction are either vampiric in nature or, in the lore, Ghouls, neither of which are truly dead.  The Stormcast are souls that seem to retain their consciousness, but is that a feature of their reforging process as, if I'm reading it right, they were not dead when first selected to be Stormcast.  It will be interesting to see if there are any named characters in a new Nighthaunt battletome.  The nature of what a soul is is somewhat vague in the lore at the moment.

[Rogue Explorator]

7 hours ago, Aelfric said:

The conundrum that interests me is whether or not a soul is the receptacle for an individual consciousness.  All creatures are born with souls ( some it seems not healthy ones ), yet when a creature dies does that consciousness remain with the soul or fade away, leaving an empty vessel.  The soul in "Lost Souls" remembered Teclis, which suggests that at least some souls retain memories of their physical existence.  But, if so, are those like the Namarti affected by the soul's previous owner.  The only named characters in the Death faction are either vampiric in nature or, in the lore, Ghouls, neither of which are truly dead.  The Stormcast are souls that seem to retain their consciousness, but is that a feature of their reforging process as, if I'm reading it right, they were not dead when first selected to be Stormcast.  It will be interesting to see if there are any named characters in a new Nighthaunt battletome.  The nature of what a soul is is somewhat vague in the lore at the moment.

Well, the Namarti only use somebody elses souls to sustain themselves, so whatever relation they might have with the consciousness of that soul is different from the one Undead, Stormcast or true first generation remade aelves might have to the one they where made from.

 

Stormcast clearly keep (most) of their consciousness.

 

For the Undead it seems to depend on power level more than anything else.

Corpsewalkers seem to have no consciousness whatsoever. Regular deathrattle skeletons have just enough to go through the motions of their previous lives without true awareness. There does not seem much personality left in Spirit Hosts.

We sort of have a named Nighthaunt in Keldrek (Malign Portents) and the Silver Maiden (Realmgate Wars). Keldrek does not get described much , but the general description of the Knights of Shroud makes clear that they remember their mortal life (though the recollection might be cloudy and tortoured), in fact I would say remembering and regretting their choice is elemental to them (look at the miniature, it is all about weight and burden). The Silver Maiden shows that Banshees also seem to have a good idea about their past, though their personality might have taken a sharp turn to worse (being a tortoured spirit does the job, I would say). Wight Kings rule their Deathrattle kind in the absense of more powerful personalities of Death and I would expect them to have a memory and consciousness much like the Tomb Kings had.

There are some outliers to the above pattern. FEC are the odd ones out to Death all over, but on the other hand, while not even truly Undeath, they seem to have it particularly bad with their erased past and lack of true self awareness, their particular mad dementia even holding the most powerful in its grip (the delusions of the actual Ghoul Kings might have absolutely nothing to do with their mortal life). On the opposite end the Wights that inhabit Shadespire are hardly very powerful, but are conscious of themselves and their past (though also utterly mad) due to the special nature of their curse.

 

As for the reclaimed aelven Souls, we know they can possibly remember bits (the Malerion short story, first generation Idoneth at least seem to have had a rough idea). However, with the entire "eons in the belly of a mad god of decadence" thing, the aelven gods do not want their new people to remember. Certainly the Scathborn seem to have no real idea of a former life save maybe an instinctive hate for Slaanesh. And I think the Idoneth went wrong in part because they where not severed enough from the past experience (the entire "darkness in them" business).

[Aelfric]

17 hours ago, Rogue Explorator said:

Well, the Namarti only use somebody elses souls to sustain themselves, so whatever relation they might have with the consciousness of that soul is different from the one Undead, Stormcast or true first generation remade aelves might have to the one they where made from.

 

Stormcast clearly keep (most) of their consciousness.

 

For the Undead it seems to depend on power level more than anything else.

Corpsewalkers seem to have no consciousness whatsoever. Regular deathrattle skeletons have just enough to go through the motions of their previous lives without true awareness. There does not seem much personality left in Spirit Hosts.

We sort of have a named Nighthaunt in Keldrek (Malign Portents) and the Silver Maiden (Realmgate Wars). Keldrek does not get described much , but the general description of the Knights of Shroud makes clear that they remember their mortal life (though the recollection might be cloudy and tortoured), in fact I would say remembering and regretting their choice is elemental to them (look at the miniature, it is all about weight and burden). The Silver Maiden shows that Banshees also seem to have a good idea about their past, though their personality might have taken a sharp turn to worse (being a tortoured spirit does the job, I would say). Wight Kings rule their Deathrattle kind in the absense of more powerful personalities of Death and I would expect them to have a memory and consciousness much like the Tomb Kings had.

There are some outliers to the above pattern. FEC are the odd ones out to Death all over, but on the other hand, while not even truly Undeath, they seem to have it particularly bad with their erased past and lack of true self awareness, their particular mad dementia even holding the most powerful in its grip (the delusions of the actual Ghoul Kings might have absolutely nothing to do with their mortal life). On the opposite end the Wights that inhabit Shadespire are hardly very powerful, but are conscious of themselves and their past (though also utterly mad) due to the special nature of their curse.

 

As for the reclaimed aelven Souls, we know they can possibly remember bits (the Malerion short story, first generation Idoneth at least seem to have had a rough idea). However, with the entire "eons in the belly of a mad god of decadence" thing, the aelven gods do not want their new people to remember. Certainly the Scathborn seem to have no real idea of a former life save maybe an instinctive hate for Slaanesh. And I think the Idoneth went wrong in part because they where not severed enough from the past experience (the entire "darkness in them" business).

Thanks, this makes things a bit clearer.  So it appears that an individual's consciousness does reside in the soul and after death can continue to remain to a greater or lesser degree depending on the manner of death and the will of the individual.  The usurpation of a soul by another, then, is more than simply a denial of a soul to Nagash.  At it's worst, it leads to the complete and irreversable extinguishing of an individual consciousness.  Although Nagash has disrupted things somewhat, the normal process upon death has been to enter the after-life that you believe to await you, which at least meant sme sort of continued existence.  Now, it appears that even this can be denied and true oblivion of the individual has become a stark reality throughout the realms.

[Gorks Pokin' Finger]

Latest story is up.  Nice to see Silver Tower was featured. The Gaunt Summoners are making moves

https://malignportents.com/story/day-of-the-summoner/

[HorticulusTGA]

Soooo... https://malignportents.com/story/day-of-the-summoner/  Once again, awesome story. 

Without spoiling, I can say I'm pretty happy it reconnects the current story with the end of the RGW : All-Gates (and Disciples of Tzeentch). 

Spoiler

 

The Nine are once again about the betray the Everchosen. 

It gives us a good idea, IMO, of who is behind the Changeling's actions in the MP campaign book part about the 4 Harbingers armies trying (and failing) to reach Nagashizzar.

They also speaks openly of the new surge of magic in all the Mortal Realms, and "the coming war of souls". 

 

 

[Carnelian]

Another great story! So much free content!

[MacDuff]

I think this is the smartest thing GW has ever done. While I enjoy the BL novels and scene-setting in hardbound books, each seems like a one-course meal because of the restricted theme. The MP short stories are another thing entirely - an endless buffet of unique appetizers. Here they've found the perfect fusion of limited attention spans, Internet episodic publishing, narrative evolution, characterization of nameless plastic persons (some, anyway), and creative inspiration. I'm getting bites of every faction, the whiff of wonderful treats to come, and a compulsion to come back and consume every new tasty morsel they serve up. They should never stop doing this because they've discovered a unique and powerful tool of franchise building.

[Carnelian]

Well said!

[Enoby]

On 5/8/2018 at 9:06 PM, MacDuff said:

I think this is the smartest thing GW has ever done. While I enjoy the BL novels and scene-setting in hardbound books, each seems like a one-course meal because of the restricted theme. The MP short stories are another thing entirely - an endless buffet of unique appetizers. Here they've found the perfect fusion of limited attention spans, Internet episodic publishing, narrative evolution, characterization of nameless plastic persons (some, anyway), and creative inspiration. I'm getting bites of every faction, the whiff of wonderful treats to come, and a compulsion to come back and consume every new tasty morsel they serve up. They should never stop doing this because they've discovered a unique and powerful tool of franchise building.

I totally agree. It's also great that they're trying to get every faction involved so no matter what you play you'll feel a part of the narrative. It feels like getting a present everytime a story comes out - the surprise is one of the best things about them. 

 

I do hope that they follow these stories up somewhere along the line; it'd be disappointing to have all of these awesome glimpses into plans, dangers, and quests only to have them no go anywhere. 

[Gecktron]

28 minutes ago, xking said:

The new story https://malignportents.com/story/iron-and-oak/

This story was one of the best. godlike.

I enjoyed this very much. I like how they explored the conflict between the Sylvaneth and the Greywater Fastness that was hinted at during the first Season of War campaign. 
Also, every story that shows us more of the Cog-Forts is a good story in my books  

[MacDuff]

I tell you, Cog-Forts are coming, and they're gonna be HUGE. Expect small personal walkers, too.

[flamingwalnut]

1 hour ago, MacDuff said:

I tell you, Cog-Forts are coming, and they're gonna be HUGE. Expect small personal walkers, too.

I soooo very hope. The smaller walkers mentioned in the story remind me of the chicken walkers from the 40k Adeptus Mechanicus line. Boy, a kit like that done up all steampunk and fantasy wise would be PHENOMINAL.

[Sete]

As long as someone haves a greatsword I'm fine with it.

[MacDuff]

I have a feeling that Free Peoples are going to get a make-over. Greatswords might become Great Chainswords (steam driven of course).

[shinros]

So there is an interesting tidbit in a new article. 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/12/your-intro-to-the-mortal-realms-may-12gw-homepage-post-4/

Indeed, as the aelves draw souls from Slaanesh and Sigmar continues to swell the ranks of his Stormcast Eternals with new recruits, the balance of life and death is becoming unstuck – with potentially catastrophic results for all….

Maybe Nagash's annoyance over the soul theft has some merits. 

[shinros]

10 minutes ago, xking said:

Not really, as Nagash plans to turn everything into undead. He does not care about the balance of life and death.

He wants everything under his will. Yes never denied that. Living and dead. He does not want to make everything undead. If thats the case he would kill all his living followers. Even the new alliance summary mentions nothing of making everyone undead.

But souls are meant to be in shyish not being used by alelves or sigmar. Death is nagash's provindence if he did not care why does he have aspects that ushers people in the underworld peacefully as per spear of shadows? 

Narrative wise gw won't put that information in the article for no reason and ommit nagash. Lets not forget we have a stormcast sucking up sos from a dead blood reaver.

[shinros]

9 hours ago, xking said:

 I did not say nagash does not care about death. I said nagash does not care about the balance of life and death.

You did read the legions of nagash battletome?  It says he plans eventually annihilate all life.   Go look at the nagash parts of the battletome.

I will get back to this disscusion I am at work so I don't have my books on hand. 

Edit:nevermind we won't see eye to eye.

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Didn't Nagash kill all the other gods of death in the Mortal Realms like he did in the World-That-Was?

[Kirjava13]

I think he has, bare minimum, been busy killing and usurping them. Whether he's done them all in, I can't remember if it's said, but Shyish is almost incomprehensibly large, and new gods of death are always being born as new cultures believe them into being. At the very least, Nagash's position as sole god of death is not a natural one, so frankly any bitterness he has at being denied "his right" is just throwing his toys out of his pram.

[shinros]

28 minutes ago, Kirjava13 said:

I think he has, bare minimum, been busy killing and usurping them. Whether he's done them all in, I can't remember if it's said, but Shyish is almost incomprehensibly large, and new gods of death are always being born as new cultures believe them into being. At the very least, Nagash's position as sole god of death is not a natural one, so frankly any bitterness he has at being denied "his right" is just throwing his toys out of his pram.

No he has pretty much ate all of them. He is pretty much the uncontested ruler of shyish. Now the underworlds are a different question. They pop up due to a cultures belief and then nagash takes them over.

Narrative wise GW won't point out that the making of stormcast and the aelven gods extracting souls is messing something up for no reason.

Do also remeber that strangly enough umdead are sort of natural. They will pop ip in shyish with or without nagash's intervention according to nick. Undead were living together with the living in the age of myth and animated skeletons even built some of the cities.

The dead are meant to go to the underworlds next ro Nagash's realm dominatig schemes that is his other job.

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Nagash is pretty much the defacto dictator of the underworlds and Shyish. It was very clear that it wasn't supposed to be like that, but Nagash being they way he is will use that power for personal gain.