Soulshakle

Lore bits:

-Long before the ancestors of the Drukhari rose to the height of their power millions of years ago, many races navigated the tides of the Warp and risked its dangers. The Drukhari and the rest of the Aeldari understand the Warp more than most races in the galaxy, yet their advanced technology cannot protect them when the Warp rages.

-The Warp is a danger even to those who don't use it to travel. Vessels can find themselves thrown into the Warp when Warp rifts rip open suddenly in Real Space. These Warp rifts can swallow space stations and sometimes entire planets. The Drukhari, who are aversive to the Warp more than most species, can fall prey to this.

-In the tongue of the Aeldari Space Hulks are referred to as "Klais'am haihsa'ol" or "abominations birthed from the pits of terror, nightmare, and misery". The notions invoked by this name bring nothing but relish for the Drukhari, for their Dark City is also a place of horror and torment. The Space Hulks are nothing but playgrounds for the Drukhari to indulge their sadistic desires.

-The superior technology of the Drukhari means that they have little interest in the tech of the other races aboard the Space Hulks. However, hulks might have treasures and relics from the ancient Aeldari Empire. These relics of their race's golden age are highly sought after by the Drukhari to be used in their political schemes or to be gleefully corrupted.

-Besides the thrill of capturing the diverse forms of monsters and denizens of the Space Hulks to feed the endless thirst of their arenas, the environmental dangers present a stimulating challenge for the Drukhari, an opportunity to display and flex the superior agility of their race. Any of their number that falls to the environmental dangers of hulks is cruelly scorned by his peers.

-There is one danger aboard the Space Hulks that the Drukhari truly fear. Whether due to inexplicable reasons or technological ones like a Warp engine activating, Space Hulks can suddenly re-enter the Warp. The hunters then become the hunted. Trapped aboard the Space Hulk, the Drukhari become prey to daemonkind who promise a gruesome fate that only an Aeldari can truly appreciate.

-The history of the Space Hulk referred to by the Imperium as the Gallowdark is incomprehensibly long and complex. It surfaced into reality in many forms and bore countless names across the millennia. To the Pre-DAoT human voyagers of the Long March, it was the Shivversplint. To the Necrons of the Af'arkhant dynasty who recorded its passage, it was "The spear cast from Death's Heart". To the mythical Thengl race, it was the Thousand Maws. Armies of scholars would fail to string a complete accounting of the story of the Gallowdark. It's an ancient place of horror whose history stretches back to a time before the Aeldari left their homeworld.

-As a consequence of the Aeldari's Fall, the souls of the Drukhari are gradually drained into the Warp where they are devoured by Slaanesh. They evade this fate by committing acts of torture and cruelty as long as possible. The pain and horror of others revitalize the souls of the Drukhari, granting them a twisted form of immortality. The Drukhari who cannot feed on the suffering of others, for whatever reason, find themselves withering into shadows of their former selves and then they in turn become prey for their kin. Benefit and advancement at the expense of others are part of existence in the Dark City, after all.

-The Drukhari find enjoyment in the torment of others. They savor the tearing of another creature's tortured flesh as a person might enjoy an exquisite meal. They do not spread misery and pain only because they are compelled to. They do it because they relish it as well.

-Kabals are the primary military force of the Dark City and form the highest hierarchy. The smallest Kabals number in the hundreds. The largest Kabals have millions in their ranks. They control large swathes of the Dark City and run weapon shops, arenas, toxin distilleries, and docks. Thanks to their endless raids and acts of piracy they wield influence on a galactic scale.

-The vast majority of the Drukhari yearn for absolute power. However, due to the cutthroat competitive nature of the Dark City, it's nigh-impossible for individuals to reach it. So most Drukhari seek to join up with the Kabals. Though the competition to join is fierce and the initiation rites are bloodily brutal, the Kabals offer safety in numbers and a clear ladder of hierarchy to climb. An attack on a single member of Kabal is an attack on the entire Kabal itself. So Kabals have to think twice and carefully before attacking each other. Is their position strong enough to survive the potential fallout? This creates a degree of order among the Kabals. However, it does not mean that the blood won't flow. It just means that blood will flow through subtler methods. The Kabal system incentivizes murder through stealth and scheming.

-The accuracy with which Lady Malys predicts her foes' moves borders on the supernatural. A fact that made her critics dare to imply that she possess a measure of psychic power. It's a slander that's too dangerous to openly utter. Psychic powers are forbidden in the Dark City for fear of attracting the eyes of Daemonkind and inviting them in. Most believe that this ability comes from her superior intellect. A sharp devious mind that allows her to be always elsewhere, politically and/or physically, when her enemies' blades fall.

-The strength and athleticism of her Aeldari body were sharpened by Malys to match her vast intellect. Any who had witnessed her dispatched Mobs of Orks with her fan and exotic blade knows with certainty that she is as deadly in her deeds as she is with her words.

-Only Lady Malys could control such a den of backstabbing scheming snakes as the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue. Under her guidance, her Kabal members have honed their traits into a sublime art form, and she would have it no other way. These traits are the natural methods with which progress is made in the Dark City. Such is the sharpness of wit and intellect of her Kabalites that they can cripple and wound their rivals and enemies with words alone. They are constantly wrongfooting their enemies and setting up their allies to take the full brunt of any counterattack while they slide their blades into the exposed underbellies of their foes. Many Archons were torn apart by their own Kabalites due to the campaigns of lies and misinformation of the Poisoned Tongue. No one trusts the words of this Kabal but considering that nobody in the Dark City trusts another that's not much of a hindrance.

-During Vect's vengeful slaughters that rocked the Dark City, Lady Malys and her Kabal were nowhere to be seen within the Dark City. Few among the more arrogant survivors claimed that she finally met her match. Many others thought she was involved in Vect's scheme. The truth of the matter was that Malys saw through Vect's lures and evaded them unlike many of her peer Archons who met bloody ends by Vect's hired blades. She relocated her Kabals into hidden spars of the Webway and she used the power vacuum created by the deaths of her rivals to maintain her influence on the Dark City from afar.

-Among the operations she is running in the hidden Webway spars is a specialized substances manufactory said to be aided by a Grand Masque of the Harlequins.

-It's rumored that Lady Malys is compiling a dossier of the haemonculi and their powerful clients, those who can afford to pay the twisted fleshcrafters to bring them back from death via a sliver of flesh. If that's true then Malys is aiming to have power over the existence of several powerful individuals

-The Imperium is a tyrannical and ruthless empire whose foundations are the total submission and obedience of its subjects. Entire generations of its citizens are worked to death, whole populations of trillions suffer unimaginable grind and hardship in the bowels of the monolithic industrial complexes of the Imperium, all to feed the endless wars of the Imperium. Corruption, disease, poverty, and brutality are the lot of humanity under the Imperium. The Arbites are the enforcers of this oppressive and tyrannical system. Their duty is not to protect the weak and the innocent. They are tasked with ruthlessly enforcing the repressive laws of the Imperium to ensure that the horrific machine that is the Imperium grinds on. The alternative is to allow anarchy to reign and invite the extinction of mankind.

-The Arbites do not concern themselves with low-level crimes. They care not for murder, enslavement, and slew of other crimes. Even planetary coups are monitored closely but are allowed as long as the rebels pledge to fulfill their duties to the Imperium. It's seen as a method to purge weak leaders from the worlds of the Imperium.

-It's common for the worlds of the Imperium to have their own law systems resulting in a diversity of law systems in the Imperium. It's up to the governments of these worlds to enforce their laws in whatever methods they deem fit. The Arbites' duty is to ensure that the Imperial tithe is met in full and in a timely manner and to prosecute crimes that affect the running of the Imperial system. They will crush industrial riots that endanger planetary production. They break up illegal trading cartels that threaten the Impeial economy or, worse, trade with Xenos. They will prosecute any laxity in submitting men and women for the Imperial Guard or the rounding up of mutants and psykers.

-Nobody is above the reach of the Arbites. Not the planetary governors should they fail to meet the tithe. Not Rogue traders. Not the adepts of Adeptus Terra. Not even the High Lords of Terra. The Arbites pay these high-ranking great attention sniffing them out for any signs of corruption.

-Some law enforcement actions by the Arbites are conducted randomly to ensure that the Imperial populations are fearful of breaking the laws.

-A great number of Arbites precincts use Oracluar devices to foresee crimes before they are committed. The general term for these devices is "The Emperor's Gaze". No two devices are the same. Some devices are bio-mechanical constructs wired to convicted seers and oracles. Other devices are massive scales that weigh the guts of specially bred canids. In one strange example, a precinct gains its judicial insight by releasing a swarm of holy oil dosed rats into a maze the size of a city suburb filled with traps and baits and then trailing the rats' messy ends and routes.

-The Arbites consider themselves superior to other law-enforcing organizations in the Imperium, for they believe that the set of laws they enforce predates the Imperium. It's believed that the Lex Imperialis was collated by Malcador the most trusted servant of the Emperor. And it's believed that many of the Lex's ancient laws and decrees are the words of the God-Emperor himself. So the Arbites enforce the Lex's decrees with the zealousness of crusaders.

-The Arbites have a presence on most Imperial worlds. Only Forgeworlds, Marine chapter home worlds, and Cardinal worlds of the Imperial Church can refuse the presence of the Arbites.

-Arbites fortresses act as the symbols of Imperial authority on the Imperium's worlds. They are fortified bastions from which the Imperium imposes its will. So during uprisings or invasions, Arbites tend to be the first places targeted either out of fear or strategic necessity. In this way, the Arbites act as the first line of defense against the corruption of an Imperial world.

-Arbites are exempt from the restriction of owning and operating Warp-capable craft that it imposed on planetary governors. This gives them the freedom to enforce justice on any planet, ship, or station in the Imperium. Some of Arbite's precincts have enough manpower to wage wars on their own.

Many Arbites recruits come from the Schola Progenium. It's often that youths who dominate their peers through strength or will are selected for the Arbites.

*Note: In other words, the Arbites like to recruit bullies!



The story:

Drukhari intro :

The vessels of the Poisoned Tongue Kabal were among the first to reach the Gallowdark. They were forewarned about the Space Hulks' arrival by a captive oracle locked within their dungeons. A few among the kabalites knew of their true pursuit behind trailing the Space Hulk.



In stealth, the Drukhari watched several vessels from other races swarm over the Space Hulk all with their own objectives and agendas. It was during this watch, that the Drukhari leader, Dracon Naezir of the Umbralific Venom, witnessed the arrival of the Kroot Warpsphere Rak Varoyaw and its skirmish with an Imperial war group. Naezir was under no illusion regarding the potency of Imperial firepower so he ordered the other Drukhari ship masters to activate their mimic engines to project the energy signatures of the Kroot ships. The bait worked luring most Imperial warships to chase the disguised Drukhari ships away from the Space Hulk. The only Imperial ships left were a pair of escorts tasked with extracting the Navy Breachers aboard the Space Hulk. Naezir cared not for the fate of the Drukhari being chased. If they were destroyed it meant more spoils and playthings for him and his men. If they are victorious then it means that the captured human crews of the Imperial war group would entertain the kabalites during their triumphant return to the Dark City. A win-win no matter what happens. Putting that aside, that was not Naezir's true objective. The objective was already on its way toward the Space Hulk. Crippled and vulnerable just as Lady Malys had planned.



Arbites intro:

The ship Dyad of Zaffre was a vast prison ship under the command of Captain Ramosett. She was given license by the Nemesys sector's lord to use her impress companies to round up the homeless, the poor, and petty criminals of the sector's worlds while the permanent Arbites garrison would arrest and transport the worlds' more serious criminals. After 6 years, the ship's prison holds were filled with tens of thousands. Eventually, its living cargo was to be brought to the Arbites garrison world of Castrum Hargh where the majority of the prisoners would be given one final chance to serve the Emperor in the penal legions.



During the ship's stop at the world of Vergnachev, it would be boarded by an exaction squad of Arbites led by Proctor Exactant Daimon Kolkord. He carried with him the highest level sector clearance and in his custody was an alpha level prisoner. Ramosett had no choice but to accept Kolkord and his prisoner aboard his ship without question.



Kolkord's prisoner was a dangerous psyker so he was sealed inside a psy-containment chamber. However, the ships shuddering during the Warp voyage alarmed Kolkord. To ensure that the ship had no weakness that his prisoner could exploit, Kolkord and his men investigated every aspect of the ship, from its schematics, crew, and prisoner population. His men combed through hundreds of the ship's sections until they discovered something. A secret cache of weapons, hidden within the bowels of the ship. It seems Captain Ramosett was running a side gig as an illegal arms smuggler.



The Arbites ship garrison joined Kolkord's squad as they stormed the ship's bridge. The Arbites killed eight of Ramosett's bridge officers and arrested her. The rest of the bridge crew were chained to their posts. Kolkord promised them the mercy of joining the penal legions when they reached Castrum Hargh if they maintained their crew duties until then. Not wanting to join their captain in the cells, the bridge crew submitted.



The story begins:

Had Kolkord dug deeper he might have discovered a slight shiftings of the ship's course. Unknown to Kolkord and even the navigator herself, the ship's navigator's sight was twisted. Throughout the journey, the navigator initiated small alternations under the belief that she was evading Warpstorms and keeping the ship on course. No one aboard had any idea that the ship was drafting far off course until it was too late.



The navigator suddenly sent out an alarm and demanded an emergency translation in response to a Warpstorm inexplicably manifesting in the ship's path. The jolt of sudden real-space translation shortened many of the ship's systems, and the lingering Warp energy blinded the ship's sensors. The ship was hurling blind toward the Gallowdark.



While the bridge captains scrambled to grasp what was going on, Kolkord listened to the flood of reports reaching the bridge and pieced evidence together to understand the situation. They were under attack. From pools of darkness, the mandrakes emerged from their otherwordly realm. These mercenaries of Lady Malys sliced their way through the terrified crew and activated polyhedral artifacts, opening Webway portals from which a large number of Maly's Kabalite marched to join the slaughter. The Drukhari used haywire charges to cripple the surviving systems of the ship. This caused the tens of thousands of prison cells aboard to open. The prisoners rampaged across the ship spreading mayhem and destruction. Worse, some of the prisoners found Ramosett's weapon cache and they turned it on the Arbites, Xenos, and even each other. As the battle raged aboard the Dyad of Zaffre, its crew was helpless to stop its collision course with the Gallowdark.



Cutaway to Lady Malys:

Lady Malys mused on her plans. Archsybarite Kaerhyl was tasked with bringing her the human prisoner unspoiled. Unknown to the Imperials, The prisoner was the forgotten child of a human commander that he sired in his youth. They share the same blood which means he could be used to open the extermintus weapon vault on the world of Kesdimas. The world her rival Archon Uretthisk will be raiding soon. She plans to make it seem that humans foresaw Urethisk's attack and countered it. The perceived fiery death at the hands of the humans would shame her rival greatly and lower her status.



Another task for Kaerhyl was to retrieve the Crystal Gnomon of l'ath, a relic from the old Aeldari Empire. The pre-fall Aeldari ship containing the relic was on the same Space Hulk. She paid dearly to rip this information from the Hrud. The relic would be a worthy gift to Urethisk to assure her of her support for her upcoming raid. The relic will get destroyed alongside Urethisk on Kesdimas but Malys has other treasures.

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Lady Malys' private chambers were protected by many guardians. Most were obvious like the Trueborn and the Incubi. Some were hidden. Their blades could only be avoided by thought, scents, or words gifted by Malys to a selected few. Other guardians were positioned to test her visitors to weed out the unworthy of her audience such as the Urghul packs.



Lady Malys set aside her mental calculations as her latest visitor archsybarite Veskine, having overcome the Urghuls, entered her chambers. She gave him a soul-trap and tasked him with capturing Vypos Nyqist, the skyplinter assassin of Archsybarite Kaerhyl's squad. Nyqist has been talking to the haemonculi. She wants to know what information they exchanged.



In truth, Lady Malys was setting Veskine up. She knows that he has a habit of running his mouth during torture sessions. She had prepared Nyqist to endure it and memorize everything Veskine would say.



Lady Malys gifted another object to Veskine. A crystal vial. It was to be used if Nyqist proved to be too resistant to torture. She explained that the substance of the vial would trap Nyqist in his flesh and simulate him with agony befitting of his betrayal. He will suffer lifetimes before he is brought to her to suffer his true punishment.



What Lady Malys did not share with Veskine is that the contents of the vial were intended for him. Nyqist was equipped with a remote detonator for the vial. She hoped that Veskine would survive so she could witness his torment.

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The Dyad of Zaffre crashed into the Space Hulk, killing many Drukhari Kabalites and thousands of prisoners and Arbites inside. Kaerhyl and his kill team, the Coils of Deceit had prepared for this. They avoided the impact and began their hunt.



Lady Malys human agent had ensured that the prisoner was placed deep in the Dyad of Zaffre ensuring his safety when the ship collided with the Space Hulk. Indeed, the prisoner survived and was now loose aboard the Space Hulk. The prisoner had used his psychic powers to enslave a warband to defend him. The Drukhari and Arbites were on his trail.

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Update on the Karskin sitution:



In their attempts to find a way off the Gallowdark, Karskin tuned their vox equipment to pick up the signals aboard the Space Hulk hoping to find any signs of surviving ship systems. The fainted signals they picked up were mixed with the whispers of the malicious spirits that haunted the Hulk. Some of their whispered bypassed the vox equipment and entered directly into the minds of the Karskin.



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Story update from WD issue 486:



During their search for the prisoner, the Kolkord's Arbites team detected a vox transmission. It was authentically Imperial but it was very old and carried Imperial ident. A moment later the Arbites encountered a squad of Karskin leading to a standoff.



The guardsman leader identified herself as Sergeant Pavlo of the 11th company of the 15th Kasrkin regiment of Cadia. After some assurances, Kolkord and Pavlo came face to face while their men lowered their weapons.



Kolkord noted that the guardsmen's eye colors confirmed that that hail from the destroyed Cadia. However, they were haggard and carried improvised weapons causing Kolkord to comment to Pavlo that they didn't look like any guardsmen he had ever seen before. Pavlo snapped back by asking him how many fronts had he served on.



Kolkord normally would have punished such disrespect but given the current circumstances, he suppressed his anger. These troopers were likely deserters and he would be brought to justice in time. For now, he must prioritize the capture of the prisoner.



Kolkord attempted to commission the Cadians to aid him in hunting down the prisoner but was turned down Pavlo told him not to speak to her of duty. She and her men have their own mission. They must get out of this hulk. Too many good men died aboard this hellhole of a maze.



She asked Kolkord if they had a ship and said if they won't take them to it then they will find it themselves.



Just as the standoff was about to get bloody between the two human groups, Xenos attacked.



Arbites and Kasrkin fought against the Drukhari. Pavlo led a counterattack, crossing her power sword with the curved sword of a Drukhari horror. The Arbites noted though the Cadians did not realize the error of their ways in disrespecting the Emperor's lawmen at least they were showing their humanity in fighting against the Xenos filth.



The battle became a total anarchy when the Kroot stormed in. The Drukhari continued to fight for a moment and then passed over the humans. The Arbites thought they were fleeing but realisation struck. The Drukhari weren't fleeing. They had overtaken them. They were after the Arbites prisoner!



The combined fire of the Kasrkin and Arbites disengaged the Kroot long enough for the survivors of both human groups to escape. The Arbites, their duty to the Lex, resumed their hunt with more urgency for they had rivals now. The Cadians were on their own.

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Story update from WD issue 489:

Kaerhyl and Veskine's teams cornered the prisoner. The Arbites, close behind, also entered the battle.



Nyqist watched as the human prisoner grinned, his mouth stretching too wide for a human, as he immolated one of the Drukhari with green fire. It was a tainted psyker. It explained why the prisoner survived this long aboard the corrupted Space Hulk. Prey like that was too dangerous for the Drukhari to hunt.



The Drukhari threw a torment grenade at the prisoner. The eldritch gases emitting from the grenade caused the prisoner to shriek in horror and convulse. The Drukhari took the chance to inject him with soul-dampening toxins. The prisoner was paralyzed allowing the Drukhari to secure him.



The battle was ending, the two Drukhari teams were making short work of the Arbites. Kaerhyl ordered his team to depart with the target and leave the mobbing up of the humans to Veskine. Nyqist knew that he had to isolate himself in order to be captured by Veskine. He told Kaerhyl that he was going to fall behind a bit to finish off his human prey.



Nyqist stalked toward a wounded Arbites and found that Veskine was already there waiting for him. In a quick struggle, Nyqist was in paralyzed agony.



Veskine began to torture Nyqist for information. Bones were broken, and nerves were simulated to the point of shredding. Nyqist consciousness neared fracturing. The torment made Nyqist weep. With sobbing breaths, Nyqist gave Veskine that script that Lady Malys taught him.



While this was happening, Nyqist studied Veskine. His movements as he cut him, the scents on his body, his threats. This is what Lady Malys meant when she told him that Veskine prattles in his torturing. This information gleaned from Veskine's unconscious actions was meaningless to Nyqist but to Lady Malys it revealed everything.



After memorizing what he needed, Nyqist knew it was time to detonate the vial that Lady Malys gave Veskine. The vial that was now around Veskine's neck. The vial detonator was implanted in Nyqist's hand.



Veskine ceased his torturing of Nyqist and showed him the soul-trap. He explained that soul-traps don't just imprison souls. They torment their captives with an infinity of agony. This would be Nyqist's fate.



Nyqist grinned. Even though his fingers were broken he managed to tap the sequence of activation on his palm. But nothing happened. He did it again but again nothing happened. The pattern was correct he was sure of it.



The amused Veskine activated the soul-trap ripping Nyqist's soul out of his body. Nyqist screamed in horror and betrayal as his soul was sucked into the void of soul-trap's dimension.



Only three Arbites escaped the slaughter. Kolkord was poisoned. His face had turned black and his tongue was swollen. Pus flowed from his wounds instead of blood. The two surviving Arbites dragged Kolkord's failing body with them. Despite his state, Kolkord's mind was still furiously fixated on duty. He kept ordering his men to continue the pursuit.



The Arbites were in a despairing situation when vox transmission reached them. It seemed that their distress transmission that was sent earlier was heeded. Arbites reinforcements were inbound. By the order of Lord Marshal Venk, all Arbites survivors aboard the hulk were ordered to move to the impact site to link up with the reinforcements and begin a mass recapturing operation.



Doing that would mean abandoning the primary target prisoner to the Xenos but it meant that the Arbites would be able to recapture many of the other prisoners that escaped into the Space Hulk. It was better than nothing.

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The Ending:

Kaerhyl had succeded. He retrieved the target human and the Old Empire relic for Lady Malys. The relic was given to Archon Urethisk. A show of false support for her upcoming raid on the human world of Kesdimas. As for the human, he was given to haemonculi. He was cut apart and cut apart again until he was turned into a handheld object. Despite his state, the human lived. His psychic powers were nullified.

Lady Malys' agents used the human to deactivate the gene-locks on the Imperial extermintus weapon vault on Kesdimas. They rigged the stockpiles of Vortex missiles to explode when the planet was invaded.

When Urethisk raided Kesdimas, the missiles detonated. The resulting Warp explosion obliterated Archon's warriors, ships, and the Archon herself. The Archon would be resurrected by the haemonculi and recover. However, her reputation would not be recovering any time soon. The disgrace of the raid's failure as well as the image of being outwitted by the humans would see her star fall in the Dark City to Lady Malys' advantage.

A rare smile appeared on Malys' face as she examined the soul-trap containing Nyqist's soul. She spoke to Nyqist. She told him that she did not forget his loyalty. She knew that Veskine was Urethisk's spy. The insights Nyqist gave her allowed her to know the channels they used to trade information.

Lady Malys had changed her plan about the vial. She ensured that it failed to detonate to trick Veskine into believing he was still in her favor. Veskine now was waiting for his reward from Lady Malys unaware that she intended to punish him severely for his betrayal. A drawn-out torment that she would enjoy from start to finish.

Malys bid loyal Nyqist to hold on to hope. She may yet free him....