thecodexabides | Caldera Inbox

Elion doesn't fear much but he doesn't want his cat dad upset so he skirts around fire and things that look breakable (like some things in the camp.) But he brought his favorite toy, a spring Gadriel had made by wrapping wire around one finger. Because he is a good guest and wants to share. It's not a perfect spring, a little lumpy and uneven but that just makes it bounce better when he swats it. He's eager to show Satchel, so he'll flap over to her and drop it in front of her.

Gadriel let him go to find the Archmagos, who is easy to spot, at least. Not as easy as nine feet of idiot, but still. "You have concerns about recent events." Hi, how are you, let's talk paranoia.

Satchel is so excited to have a friend to play with that even a new toy cannot compete. They'll have a grand time together.

Barcus is far less likely to leap onto Gadriel's back and chew on his ears than the cats are, but he is also very pleased to see him. Still, it's very like the Sergeant to get right to business, and that's fine. Barcus turns the ingot in the forge gently, then sets his tongs aside and leans his hip against his anvil. "Not just recent events. Remember how we talked about the Veilwalkers, as well? I don't know. I was chalking all the entropy and strangeness up to the influence of the Moon and the Unknown god up until now, but on reflection, I'm not sure that's right."

"There are usually multiple forces at work at any given time. Sometimes they're connected, but sometimes they're not. I'm wondering if there's a presence at work in Caldera that's not even of this dimension, and that's why they wanted us here. Because we're not of this dimension, either."

You can't be an Ultramarine and not focus on business first. Primarch Guilliman would be appalled.

He keeps an eye on Elion, who is intent on showing Satchel how to play with the spring, for a moment, before he speaks. Get comfy, Barcus because it's a loredump.

"The Warp, in my world, began as the Sea of Souls, a benign place where souls of all dead things returned to energy. It became corrupted with the arrival of Chaos Gods. Chaos wants to expand its territory, unwilling to stop until everything has given way to entropy. The Imperium stands in opposition to it: order against disorder.

Daemons push through the Warp. People hear voices, or see things, or areas of a planet become...strange where the laws of the understood world do not work. I have long suspected that is the case here.

But it is not just one presence--each Chaos God and each daemon fights with their own agenda."

Barcus listens, and more than anything else it reminds him of stories about the Nine Hells. Devils and demons are two different things where he's from, evil order versus evil chaos. Both are terrible, but devils at least can be reasoned with, or bargained with.

In light of that, it seems suddenly more understandable that Gadriel should feel so certain about the risk of the Warp being present in Caldera. It's not as if demons were likely to stop expanding at one universe, if there was nothing to stop them. The same must be true of Gadriel's chaos gods.

"Do they fight against one another, as well?" He asks, curious despite being a little unnerved.

"Of course. Each thinks they have the better claim. They fight over how many cultists they have, and how intense their worship is. They fight over the souls in the warp. And they fight each other, though not directly, through proxies.

The only difference is the Chaos gods themselves cannot manifest in the material world. They must bind one of their daemon princes or daemons to a living host." Which is even more horrifying than it sounds but it's too early to have Barcus needing smelling salts.

"Some--heretics--speculate that the reason the Imperium has made the inroads it has is that Chaos is busy fighting itself." So we do not subscribe to that opinion. But it's there.

"In my universe there are the Nine Hells," he says slowly, thinking it over. "And the Abyss. And there's been a war being fought between them since before the material plane even finished forming. The devils of the Hells fight the demons of the Abyss, and the fact that they're all still fighting one another seems to be the only thing that distracts them from engulfing the rest of our universe. Or trying, at least. We'd all certainly fight if it came to a full invasion, but..."

He hopes it never comes to that.

"I've heard of possessions like that, but only in rumors. Whether it ever actually occurs or whether it's just a scary story, I'm not sure. I do know that devils will buy mortal souls whenever they can. Seen that happen."

"Our daemons need the materium, need us, to stay alive. They need our suffering or our excess or our blood to stay in power. So they fight us, to get them." So, that's fun. Nothing like being wanted. "Most humans cannot endure even proximity to the warp--it drives them mad. They have to be. Uh."

Right, he's talking to Barcus who is tender hearted. "T-taken care of?"

"Possessions happen. Many baselines know nothing of the warp or such things, for their own protection." It's just nicer to pretend it all doesn't exist. "Many people do not want to realize how little control they might actually have in the world." WOW this is such an uplifting conversation that even Gadriel's getting depressed.

"But why do you think of these now? And how can I help with this sword?" Moving makes things less terrible.

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prose is always better I don't remember why I didn't switch

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