Harmony at Mind

Standing at the Gates

        The Black Library, it is a tomb of forbidden knowledge. It casts a pervading shadow in the Realm of Chaos. The only living beings ever to have seen the inside are the Eldar Harlequins. Even then, they only have so much knowledge of the Library’s cache of knowledge. The architecture of the facility is much like that of an Eldar Craftworld. On its exterior surface crawls the horrors of the Warp, greater and lesser daemons litter it’s walls trying to claw their way in, but it is in vain. Within, a silent complex constituted of vast chambers containing hundreds of thousands of bookshelves, scrolls, artifacts, all untouched since the fall of the Eldar.

        To get into the Black Library, one must be either a Harlequin or blow through the Eldritch gates guarded by the Wraithlords and various immaterial guardians. On one of the landing ports extruding from the facility stood a cabal of thirty-one sorcerers. Blue was their color and on their right shoulders was marked with the ouroboros. All of them with over ten-thousand years of experience in the Warp craft. They were the Thousand Sons. At the head of the cabal known within the legion as the Prodigal Sons was Ahzek Ahriman, former Chief Librarian of the Emperor’s fifteenth legion.

        Ahriman hadn’t much in his life anymore, his childhood, taken from him over ten-millenia ago. His honor, erased with that of his Primarch Magnus the Red, and he was exiled from his legion. Living one bitter day just to see the next for ten thousand years. This had made him a godly warrior and a great conspirator of Tzeentch. A ghost of his former self, he is about to achieve his dream: salvation.

        Today the daemons fought with the Wraithguard, occupying them, buying time for an infiltration at minimal cost of lives.The cabal stood before the gates, knowing what had to be done.

        “Combine our forces and we can take this gate down, You two make a shield to protect us.” said Ahriman.

        All the sorcerers stood as a circle, except ten who maintained a shield for when the gates detonated. Their armored hands reached out channeling Warp energy through them. A bright ball of blue light glew within the black ‘kine shield so that nobody on the outside could witness them, if there were any, they were alone. After a minute the energy ball grew to the size of a fully armored Astartes.

        “Now!” shouted Ahriman, and the ball flew forth striking the door. Arcane metals fragmented and fell of the landing pad into the Warp currents below. The group proceeded on in silence. Alas, they made it to nirvana. They scanned the room, nothing but a few auspex ghosts.

        The search began for tomes of wisdom and cogitator for the library so that the integrated defenses could be used against the Eldar guards. A great variety of books were found, an astounding one covered the various uses and techniques for making and plotting warp rifts, it was called the Aperium Necromundae. Another surprised the cabal, it was a tome written on various dimensions other than the Warp, worlds conceived in the wake of man in spite humanity’s oppressive and violent nature. It dated back to before the Fall.

        The Sorcerer Acheron strolled along the shelves labeled Black Voids. He was to gather as many texts and bring them to the central control room with the other members of the cabal. Something caught his eye: a golden book titled The Divine Beyond. He picked it up and read, the fires in his blackened heart grew brighter as he scanned each word.

        “Ahriman! Ahriman! I have found it!” he shouted as he ran with it to the control center.

        “What, boy? Another scroll? We have many. Just let me see it.” responded the miserable sorcerer.

        Acheron handed the tome over to Ahriman who inspected with great uncertainty, the years were not kind to his eyes, he has seen things that would make YOU die if YOU saw them.

“Ahh, superb young student, one thing I see as interesting is a rubric that could take us to a world opposite of ours, a land of salvation and great wisdoms.” said Ahriman.

        The cabal finally activated the defense systems, the Wraithguard vanished in plumes of fire and another foe enroached upon the facility.

Space Wolves 13th Company

Under The Wolf KIng

        The Wolf King stood on a drifting mass near the Black Library, fortunately it had appeared here so that he could smite the Sons of Prospero after what had happened on Fenris, he had heard. Behind him stood a thousand Wolves ready for combat. He summoned them here after killing a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch, using its eye as a beacon. Finally he could avenge the previous Grand Master.

“Brothers,” he began, “today we will take the head of Ahzek Ahriman.” The name itself burned his lips. He continued, “Remember the killing of our brothersr, we’ll avenge him. You’ve learned about that sorcerer on Fenris, haven’t you all? Well? Answer me!”

They shouted back in unison, “Aye lord!”

“Then go! Show them the Emperor’s wrath! Go my brothers!” yelled Russ.

The whole company ran forward, jumping onto the landing pad, the entrance was already cleared. They didn’t need vehicles for this mission, but they brought them along instead, Emperor knew what the Prodigal sons could do. Armored support went in first. Since they were in the Warp, Land Speeders and Jetbikes were used, all annointed and modified for this mission. Once in they were in a kilometer long hallway filled with relics of yore and they were met by a barrage of gauss fire from emplaced turrets, they began to fight.

“Lord Ahriman, the Space Wolves have breached the walls, they are led by Leman Russ, we must leave!” exclaimed the sorcerer Calisto.

“All right you fucks! Come here and help me with this portal, it’ll be a few minutes. Calisto Acheron, rest of Phoenix squad, defend this point, and take as many books as you can!” commanded Ahriman.

They did as he swore and well, a chest was brought up and placed before Ahriman for all the books. After a few minutes the 13th broke through the turrets and the ‘kine shields were all that protected the Cabal and the portal finally opened, it glew like the sun!

“Let’s go dammit! Grab the chest, I can only keep this for a few minutes!” said the former Chief Librarian. The cabal jumped through the portal blind firing a few bolts and lightning chains at the Grey Knights as the Rapotrae psykers retreated into the portal.

The portal then closed.

They were on a new world. Teeming with life in contrast to the gritty bedlam of the 41st millenium. The cabal landed in a strange place, the creatures that lived here were...horses? Yes, they were, many multi-colored horses ranging from the mythological pegasi of ancient Terran mythology, to a simple naked horse, having colors like teal, to colors more exotic like magenta. Apparently, the equines were human-like capable of building complex structures like the castle they stood within.

Now they faced a white horse and a nova blue one, they wore crowns, must mean they were rulers. Ah! This was a throne room, yes! Finally.

The white one spoke, “What in the sun’s name are you?!”

“Well, I am Ahzek Ahriman, sorcerer of the Thousand Sons.” A grin formed beneath his helmet.

…