The following is an account of my interaction with the Eldar Farseer Eldrad Ulthran, after his arrival to the world of Slawkenberg. I, as the nearest Order Xenos Inquisitor, was ordered to make for the planet with all due haste and then take his testimony as to why those of his Craftworld, along with a few others, had come to the planet while waving a flag of truce.
It had been disconcerting, seeing not one but several Eldar Craftworlds along with their accompanying fleets (but not all of them I would later learn, as many had already set out on other missions concerning the Eldars' sudden strange movements) orbiting an Imperial held world. More disconcerting was the fact that they weren't firing upon the Imperial Naval fleet keeping a close watch on them; many of the Xenos ships seemed to have their weapons either pointed away from the planet or Imperial vessels, or even have them shut off altogether. I'll admit to some small amount of awe, seeing a collection of such massive vessels. Conferring with the Imperial Admiral in charge of the hastily assembled fleet, I learned that the Eldar had been on their best behavior, obeying every given order and remaining within their assigned positions in orbit. Emperor's sake, they'd apparently even surrendered high ranking hostages to the Imperial ships, so that the Eldar fleet dare not fire upon them! It was completely unlike the Eldar, and it made me inherently suspicious of a trap.
Asking for Farseer Eldrad Ulthran, as I had been informed that he had been the one calling for this truce, I learned that he and some other Eldar had been allowed down to the planet, albeit kept in a small tent city guarded closely by Imperial forces. I gathered my retinue, making sure to take my Sanctioned Psyker Rakel with her perspective on the Eldar as a fellow Psyker would be useful. I was both happy and disturbed by how calm and cheerful she had been ever since we'd entered the Slawkenberg system, and had already talked to her about the reasons for this attitude. Her answers gave me an inkling of what the Eldar might be after here, but their actions still confused me even if I had some idea of their motives. If Slawkenberg was so suddenly valuable, why hadn't they come to conquer it? It made no sense, none of this did, which is why I was so wary of a trap considering the Eldars' reputation.
The area the Eldar had been relocated to, made of standard Imperial Guard issue tents, was neat and orderly. The PDF and Guard on duty were alert and watchful, but not too tense. Speaking with the Commander in charge, I learned that just as was the case in orbit the Eldar here had been obedient, polite, and even helpful. He stated that some of the guards had even struck up friendly conversations with their uninvited guests! As I made my way to the tent where I was told Eldrad was located, I noticed that every Eldar I saw had an enormous smile on their faces and seemed unburdened, even with armed guards of a 'lesser' species giving them orders. It was bizarre, and I was glad to finally be inside the tent where the Xeno I'd come to speak with was patiently waiting.
"Thank you for being willing to listen." The Eldar said to me respectfully, sitting across from me at the table he'd politely asked me to sit at. He'd even asked if I wished for refreshments before we began our talks! I'd refused, bluntly if somewhat politely, eager to get to the heart of this matter. He had announced, as was previously stated, that he was the one who would speak for the Eldar who had arrived as a whole since he was the one who had called for this course of action. His face was stoic and focused, but like those outside he seemed unburdened even though he'd willingly handed himself into the hands of an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos. "I know very well that our people have been at war, and you do not trust us."
"That is an understatement." I replied, narrowing my eyes. He was quite good at speaking Gothic, which I took a brief moment to compliment him on. I'd be damned if an Eldar was more polite and respectful than I. Slightly unnerved by this uncharacteristic behavior on the Eldars' part and not wanting to unravel any riddles, I decided to get right to the point. "You have come with a force capable of taking a fortress world. You are obviously here for something. Is it the Calmness in the Warp?"
The Farseer, who I understood to be quite aged even for one of his kind, looked at me curiously. "Are you one of your kind who can tap into the Sea of Souls?" I shook my head in response to his question, and felt compelled to explain.
"No. The Psyker in my retinue told me of this recent development." In actuality, she had been hysterically laughing at how she could let her guard down. Getting her to leave would be a nigh-impossible task, to be sure. Partly because I genuinely didn't want to take away something that made her so happy and care-free; I prided myself on caring for and taking care of my people as best as I could.
Eldrad placed a hand on his chin, pondering for a moment on how to answer. "The calmness is one thing… But it is merely a side-effect of the fact that a Bargain was struck. This entire system is now cut off from the influence of the Ruinous Powers."
That… If true, this was enormous. An entire system where the Dark Gods of Chaos couldn't reach? The value of such could not possibly be overstated. I desperately needed more information."Bargain?" I asked leadingly. Eldrad nodded eagerly, a small smile gracing his lips.
"The Slavhreenur." He said reverently, as one of the faithful might speak of a Living Saint. "One of your kind made a pact with She Who Thirsts here, and removed this system from the influence of the Powers, using the soul my People's Folly desired the most as a bargaining chip. How he obtained the Darkstone is beyond me, but he had it." The Xeno paused. "But that wasn't all."
His smile was countered by my neutral look as I fought back a murderous glare at this information. "What else was there? Why did this Salvation aid the Alien?" I was hoping for a name, so as to find the traitor.
"Firstly, I am impressed that you know what that word means," The Eldar replied with what seemed to be a sincere and heartfelt compliment. "And for the other? She Who Thirsts added to the Bargain that, were my people to bend the knee and announce our allegiance to your Imperium for all time, those who swore allegiance to you would be spared from the Thirst."
…What?
That…. Was not what I was expecting, and it rather took the wind out of my sails. The Eldar, some of the proudest and most haughty of all Xenos races ever encountered, wished to pledge allegiance to the Imperium, to those they called 'mon-keigh'? Needing a moment to wrap my head around this impossibility presented before myself, I asked another question, desperate for context.
"I am unfamiliar with this… Thirst."
The Eldar inhaled, and then exhaled slowly. "I shall try to explain, to the best of my ability, what has been offered to my people in a term you can comprehend. We are a species that has our souls at stake. Unless we have a higher power guarding our souls, like the Harlequins or the Exodites, wear spirit stones like those of us on the Craftworlds do, or feed off of the suffering of others like my cursed brethren in Commeraugh…" The Eldar gained a truly furious look at the thought of the Dark Eldar, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Without any of these, our souls are constantly in peril. Little by little, they are drained into our Empire's Folly, and when we die, that soul is condemned to the belly of the Doom of The Eldar. Imagine, if you will, that the souls of humanity were damned in such a way. Every waking moment, you feel a pull. A pull that weakens you. Robs you of any ability to enjoy life. Every hour of every day is filled with a yearning that you will not only never be able to fulfill, but trying to do so only delays the inevitable. And the only way to prevent your soul from torment forever is to seal it away after your death. But then… You get an offer. Swallow your pride, and join with another race. The yearning will stop. The pain will cease."
He gazed at me with extreme pressure and intensity, his every word full of purpose. "There are no words in your language that can describe how much that chance for freedom has been a dream for my people ever since She Who Thirsts was born. The entire culture of those you call Eldar- not the ones you call Exodites, or Dark Eldar, or Harlequins, but those of us on Craftworlds- have, ever since the founding of your Imperium, been working on fulfilling that dream though the forging of a new god of the dead. We do not know how many more souls it would require to summon him. We do not know if there are enough souls to summon…"
Eldrad paused suddenly in mid-sentence, then jerked upright in his seat, staring at nothing. I was familiar enough with the signs to know what this was; a vision. My Psyker had those, occasionally. All I could do was wait, so wait I did even as more questions burned within me. Finally, the Eldar snapped out of his trance, eyes wide and full of wonder.
"He is Ynnead." He whispered, seemingly to himself but loud enough that I heard it. "How could I have not seen it?"
"I beg your pardon?" I asked, confused by this new word and the obvious meaning it had to him.
"Your Emperor… He is Ynnead!" Eldrad seemed to hyperventilate. "I knew that our kinds' fates were intertwined since what you called The War of The Beast, and I knew that we could be allies against Chaos ever since I tried to prevent the outbreak of the Great Rebellion by the Primarch Horus…"
"What?!" I exclaimed, shocked at the mention of the Arch-Traitor that had wounded the God-Emperor Himself and led to His confinement upon the Golden Throne. And if what this Xeno said was true, then he had tried to stop the civil war that had torn the Imperium apart and ended its golden age?!
Eldrad paused, seemingly realizing what he had said and why this would shock me. He breathed in deeply to calm himself, then patiently explained. "I attempted to warn your Emperor about His Son's betrayal. Unfortunately, the Primarch I warned was already corrupted by She Who Thirsts." The Farseer, who was even more ancient than I'd previously realized, replied.
Well, that definitely increased the possibility of accepting him into the Imperium to more than a flat zero if he had truly sought to aid the God-Emperor in the distant past. Still, I needed more answers. "What do you mean, 'He is Ynnead'? What is Ynnead?"
"Ynnead is the name for the to-be-born god of the dead." Eldrad explained.
"Are… are you accusing The God-Emperor of being a Xenos god?" I asked, trying to hold off my rage at this preposterous and heretical statement. It took all of my training and self-control to keep my mannerisms neutral and not just shoot the damned Xeno with the digital weapon concealed within the ornate ring on my finger. Eldrad shook his head, either unaware or uncaring of the danger he was in, and I severely doubted that it was the former.
"No… He will be the god of both of our races!" He was staring into space, eyes shining with unshed tears of joy. "An eternal alliance! Our people, standing shoulder to shoulder! I can see it!" Oh, it was another vision. "A tragedy blunted! A demigod returned! From the Darkness, comes the Dawn!" I cleared my throat, breaking him out of it again.
"You understand that I must consult the Emperor's Tarot to confirm your words." I explained bluntly, outright stating that even though I was still listening I didn't trust a thing he'd said.
The Eldar nodded firmly, face stoic and extremely respectful. "I understand. I will wait." With that, I stood, and walked off out of the tent and back to the Imperial guard post. Before I could start cursing at his heresy, I called out for my Psyker. She came readily, the rapturous smile still on her face and ready to serve. I swore then that if this was a trick, if the Eldar were trying to steal this planet of peace from the Imperium, that I would exterminate them all.
Getting myself back under control, taking a minute to just breathe, I gave Rakel my instructions. "Get my Tarot Deck. I require a drawing to consult on this matter."
She nodded, voice clearer and more focused than I'd ever heard it before, even on her good days. "Yes, Miss Vail."
I was about to let her go, then hesitantly asked another question. "Can you read it alone?" In response her smile grew even wider and more joyful.
"In this Place of Calm? Absolutely." With that, the deck was brought, and shuffled. The ritual began.
Twenty minutes later, I returned to the tent. Eldrad was sitting there, not looking like he had moved a single muscle. I stared at him for a moment, then pronounced my judgment with all the weight of my authority as an Inquisitor of His Divine Majesty's Most Holy Inquisition behind it.
"Through the Imperial Tarot, the God-Emperor's Will has been determined. Welcome to the Imperium of Man, Eldrad Ulthran. Your kind are welcome here, provided you do your duties to the Imperium."
The Tarot was absolute. Five times I had checked, just to be certain that there were no mistakes made in the reading. And all five readings carried the exact same message; the Eldar must join the Imperium. Any attempt to stop them was against the direct will of the God-Emperor. I filed this report, and sent it up the chain of command; so much as Inquisitors had one at least.
I also heard that over fifteen thousand Tarot readings were performed concerning this topic across the Segmentum alone, and that every single one exactly matched my own down to the smallest detail. And with that, the Imperium had gained an unexpected ally. It would not be long before these new citizens of the Emperor's domains proved their worth.