Early 36th Millennium, dawn of the Plague of Unbelief
Beyond Farthest Thule
Scholomance
A soft white glow filled the circular chamber. The floor and walls were made of a black obsidian-like material, and spread around the perimeter of the chamber were large dark holes, each equidistant from the ones on either side of it and each with edges worn smooth. Up from the walls rose a towering arched ceiling fabricated from the same dark material. An arch which led to an opening that revealed a black starless sky above. Down from the center of the opening twisted a black needle-like spire which had no visible means of support. Its beginning, if it had one, was lost in the void beyond the edge of the opening, yet its termination was directly above a hexagonal dais in the middle of the chamber. An enormous deep dish of clear crystal sat on the dais, refracting the chamber's soft white light, and deep within the dish sat a large multi-faceted black crystal similar in appearance to that from which the chamber was fabricated.
A single figure stared at the dais, dwarfed by both the magnitude of the chamber it stood within and the dais itself.
The figure was tall and slender with long slender limbs and delicate long fingers. It was dressed in a loose red robe which hid whatever muscles and curves may have been beneath. Long white hair cascaded down from its pale angular face. A pale angular face with almond shaped lavender eyes, a face that was framed by long pointed ears on each side and a sharp hairless chin beneath.
A presence entered the chamber and a Voice filled the figure's head as it did so.
My Apprentiss, the Voice hissed. Have you prepared the Condenser?
Yes, Mistress, the figure answered, bristling with indignation.
The chamber trembled in response to a long, drawn hiss by the presence that manifested in the figure's head. You call me Misssstress as if you are my Slave. The Voice calmed and slowed, You are my Apprentisss. After freeing you from your shacklesss, I offered you freedom and you chose to remain and ssserve. Remain and learn.
My apologies, Mistress, answered the figure, all hints of its indignation gone. I wish to serve and learn. The Condenser is ready.
Prepare the Crucible, answered the Voice.
The Apprentice pointed its left hand toward a dark hole on the chamber's edge. A large hexagonal object which appeared to be constructed of the same obsidian-like material, the Condenser, floated out from the dark opening and toward the dais. As it approached the dais, the Condenser elevated until it was slightly lower than the bottom of the spire. Once under the spire, the Condenser rose until it made contact. A loud snap filled the chamber as it locked into place.
The Apprentice pointed with its right arm toward a dark hole on the other side of the chamber. A stream of liquid began to flow out of the darkness. It shimmered and appeared viscous, like oil, but was completely clear. The liquid streamed its way through the air and began to fill the dish. The tail end of the stream made its way across the chamber and the dish filled to its rim just as the tail entered into it.
Now we begin, the Voice said. A blue globe appeared in the night sky above the spire, a globe with swirls of white.
A planet.
Lights began to stream down the central spire. White lights which streamed down within its black and normally opaque surface. Down through the spire and into the Condenser. The first formed into a drop hanging from the Condenser, then released and fell onto the oil-like liquid. Once it touched the surface, the light streaked through the oil and into the submerged crystal.
And drop by drop the lights continued to be funneled into the black crystal.
The Apprentice began to concentrate on the lights as they made their way down the spire to the Condenser and the lights began to display details as the Apprentice did so. Figures with pinkish skins and shorter, rounded ears.
Human figures.
You have a question, my Apprentisss? asked the Voice.
Yes, Mistress, the Apprentice answered. Why do I not look like them?
What you sssee when you concentrate on the sssouls being collected is a mirror of their form in Reality before their deaths, sssouls of beings capable of manipulating the Warp while they still existed in Reality, the Voice answered. But you did not possess a body before I fashioned this one for you.
I did not? stated the Apprentice in the manner of a question. Then why this form?
You are but a sliver of power I ssseparated from One that you were enslaved to, answered the Voice. Even though the One from which you were ssseparated has not yet been born, its presence reaches back through time. Sssuch is the nature of the Warp.
The Apprentice continued to longingly stare at the souls funneling down the spire as the Voice hissed into its head.
Even as we collect these sssouls, the Aeldari are living their lives and growing ever more decadent, the Voice said. And with their rites, sssomething new is growing. Sssomething new which has always been here. Sssince you were a fragment of the One forming from the collective conscious of the Aeldari, I fashioned a form for you in their image.
There was silence in the air and in the head of the Apprentice.
Why are you capturing them? asked the Apprentice. Are you going to set them free like me? What are you going to do with them?
I will ssset them free, eventually. But, for now, I am sssaving them, answered the Voice. The Warp is filled with entities that reek of Chaos. Reek of Chaos like the One from which I ssseparated you. Entities that are growing more powerful by devouring such helpless sssouls. The voice paused for a long moment, as if contemplating something. Sssoon enough, they will recognize that destruction awaits them rather than reincarnation, and they will take action to sssave themselves, the Voice said. Til they sssave themselves, I will sssave those that I can, as I wish to slow the growth of the Chaos I sssee within the Warp. After that day, how I wish to release these sssouls remains to be determined. As the last words filled the Apprentice's head, the trail of souls funneling down the spire vanished as did the blue and white planet overhead.
The Chamber grew quiet and the Apprentice knew it was alone once more.
"Druthact?" asked a feminine Aeldari voice. "Did you say something?"
Druthact struggled to regain his composure. So much time has passed, he said to himself. Are you still here my Mistress? Why did you abandon me when my She sought me out to reclaim me? Why did you abandon me when I needed you most? He glanced around. The surface of the dark corridor was smooth like a well-worn burrow. The sounds of Aeldari in the background filled his ears but he ignored them. He glanced at the woman. Her tunic was black with red runes and she had long black hair atop her head. Dubheasa, he said in his mind. "It is nothing," he answered. "Take care of your thoughts for Power rests here. We have work to do if we wish to take advantage of the human fools."
