The Gate Opens: Yvraine’s possession by the macabre god Ynnead shakes the very fabric of the Dark City. Psychic energy bleeds uncontrollably from her, leading to a hyperspatial quake. Millions die in the first shock wave alone, and as the ripples continue, Khaine’s Gate – which had held fast for millennia – is torn violently open. For months daemonic entities surge through the breach, ravenously devouring Drukhari souls as they press forward. Despite desperate attempts by Commorragh’s nobles to stem the tide of Daemons, Asdrubael Vect is mysteriously absent. Only when the warriors and slave armies of the Dark City are stretched to breaking point against the invasion does the Supreme Overlord finally play his hand. Vect calls upon the Incubi, citing pacts and debts of old, and the bodyguards of every Archon present in Commorragh are recalled from their duty in order to fight the Daemons. In battle after harrowing battle, the Incubi – along with myriad other warriors – corral the Daemons into the sub-realm containing the gaping hole that was Khaine’s Gate. This sub-realm is then severed from the rest of Commorragh, plunged into a nether-abyss which comes to be known as the Chasm of Woe. But the Daemons keep coming, rising from the massive abscess created within Commorragh. More of the Dark City’s sub-dimensions are plunged into the Chasm, and armies of warriors and slaves with them, in an attempt to keep the Chaos entities from reaching the heart of Commorragh once more.
The Feast Awaiting: The Chaos incursion that savaged the Dark City is also felt throughout the galaxy as the Great Rift yawns open. A bow-wave ripples throughout realspace and the webway, shattering countless portals and gates that lead to and from Commorragh. Whole sections of the labyrinth dimension become dislocated, and through the fractures in the interstitial plane more Daemons come pouring inward. Meanwhile, the Imperium of Man is bisected by the warp-maw and one half – the Imperium Nihilus – is plunged into shadow, their ability to travel and communicate between systems all but lost. Each world stands isolated in the darkness as the servants of the Chaos Gods begin their campaigns of slaughter. The watchers in Commorragh see these worlds that are ripe for plunder, but must first contend with the cataclysms in the webway and the Dark City. Those raids that are launched in the Imperium Nihilus, while brutal, are but a fraction of the Drukhari’s terrifying potential.
The Obsidian Circlet: A dark, glassy substance is found during raids on worlds held by both Necrons and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Within the Covens of the undercity it is soon discovered that this material can be used to repel daemonic entities. After more raids are launched against Necron and Adeptus Mechanicus planets, the plundered blackstone is arrayed around the ever-deepening Chasm of Woe. The captives from these raids are also sent into the Chasm, where their anguished deaths feed the souls of the Drukhari.
The Assassination of Vect: With every Incubi bodyguard within Commorragh deployed to stem the tide of Daemons, long-stifled rivalries between the Dark City’s elites erupt into bloodshed. Assassinations become commonplace, and the threat of civil war looms ever closer. Yet right when the denizens of Commorragh seem set to tear themselves and their city to shreds, the impossible happens. Asdrubael Vect himself is murdered, cut down by Mandrakes in service to an unknown master. Furthermore, every receptacle that contains a fragment of the Supreme Overlord’s essence is destroyed simultaneously, ensuring that he cannot be regrown by the Haemonculi. The internecine conflicts that have ravaged the Dark City are quickly replaced by an uneasy stillness as every Commorrite assesses their alliances. If Vect can be killed, then who amongst the Drukhari can be assured of their own survival?
The Great Wake: Harlequins of the Veiled Path prepare a wake for Vect to be held in the Nhexus, the arena of the Wych Cult of the Cursed Blade. Many begin to suspect that it was the Cursed Blade who orchestrated the Supreme Overlord’s demise – others suspect the hand of Lady Malys, for she and her Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue have withdrawn from Commorragh into the fractured spars of the webway. Nonetheless, the Great Wake is attended in great numbers, both by those loyal to Vect and by those who come to gloat before beginning the war to divide up his territories. At the crescendo of the proceedings, the arena is saturated with potent airborne hallucinogens, and the Harlequins unleash their full fury on the Archons in attendance. Joining the fray on the side of the Veiled Path are the Wyches of the Cursed Blade, as well as the Prophets of Flesh and warriors from Vect’s own Kabal. The blood of Archons flows in great rivers, and amidst the screams of agony and terror, Asdrubael Vect rises from the centre of the arena, his body perfect in form and his eyes filled with wrath. When the slaughter has finished, those Archons who remained faithful to Vect are resurrected by the Prophets of Flesh, as are some of his enemies – though they are remade as twisted monstrosities whose only purpose is to serve the Supreme Overlord by their suffering. Having culled the upper echelons of Commorragh, Vect’s position is rendered nigh-unassailable, and he declares himself a living Dark Muse. ‘Some of you thought me dead. Some of you even willed it, and you gathered here in the Nhexus to offer feigned respect. But now you see plainly that my will cannot be undone, my favour cannot be regained and my wrath cannot be tempered. Whether you are loyal or a traitor, you will be slaughtered, for it is only right that my ascension be celebrated with sacrifice. And if I deign to have you resurrected, know that you will serve me by your deeds or by your suffering.’.
The Dark Muses: though the Drukhari typically do not worship anyone apart from themselves, they do pay homage to to those they respect. Vaunted warriors or dark artists may become revered amongst their own kind; not to honor their skill, but purely in order to learn more of their power. In this way truly mighty Drukhari from ages past have become almost folkloric figures. Many epitomise a particular form of vice, who's clandestine worship led to the weakening of the ancient Aeldari gods and, indirectly, the Fall. They are known collectively as the Dark Muses, and they are figures of terrible power. Favored by assassins and murderers is Shaimesh, Lord of Poisons, the treacherous brother of Saim-Hann the Cosmic Serpent. The courtesan elite if the Cult of Lhamaea pay homage to Lhilitu, Consort of the Void, whereas powerful Archons are more likely to follow the tenets of Vileth, a figure synonymous with immense arrogance. On the eve of battle many traditionalist Wych Cults invoke the Red Cone Hekatii, or make sacrifices to Qa'leh, Mistress of Blades. Though many suspected Asdrubael Vect would join the ranks of the Dark Muses upon his death, none foresaw that he would take the title for himself in such a spectacularly sadistic faction.
The Venomous Word of Malys: Led by the intellectual titan Lady Aurelia Malys, the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue enjoys a position at the forefront of Commorrite society. There number includes many Trueborn - the closest to nobility in the Drukhari society that Vect's mercilessly enforced Kabalite system ail allow. The whispersmiths have it that the Lady has her own mysterious patron, for those bold or foolish enough to eavesdrop on her personal chambers have reported two distinct voices when only one life-sign registers within. Few such spies survive long, for Lady Malys has her little ways, and she is invariably several steps ahead of the competition. The accuracy with which Lady Malys can predict her enemies’ moves borders on supernatural, leading to the belief amongst many of her detractors that she has a degree of psychic ability. However, the truth is that she simply has a mind like a steel trap. So astoundingly complex is her psyche that she was once taken by Asdrubael Vect as one of his consorts, until the Supreme Overlord eventually cast her out. Outraged, Malys and most of her Kabalite Warriors left Commorragh and struck out into the webway. There it is said she encountered the god of the Harlequins, Cegorach, who banished her followers and challenged her to a duel of wills. When Malys successfully answered all of the Laughing God’s riddles, Cegorach vanished with an amused chuckle, leaving behind a semi-sentient blade and a pulsating crystal, which was the trickster god’s own heart. Determined to gain enough power to undo Vect, Malys used the blade to cut out her own heart and replaced it with that of Cegorach. The heart has continued to beat within Malys’ chest ever since. Lady Malys returned to Commorragh, where she reinstated herself as Overlord of the abal of the Poisoned Tongue. Since then she has deftly led the Kabal through the Dark City's most deadly intrigues, including the treacheries that have occurred in recent years. Following Vect's murder, many suspected the hand of Malys was involved. Rather than wait around for the reprisal that the Black Heart had inevitably planned, she took the vast bulk of the Poisoned Tongue and ventured into the webway, there to await the coming storm. Malys' foresight was once again vindicated when those Archons who attended the Great Wake in Commorragh were butchered one and all, and Vect himself arose, alive and triumphant. For now, the Poisoned Tongue are content to watch the Dark City from afar.
The Price of Beauty: An enormous raid on hive world Vorgan in the Imperium Nihilus returns to Comorragh with hundreds of thousands of captives. Whilst poring over the still-living specimens Haemonculi of the Hex identify the slave population as being host to a Genestealer Cult. Hybrids are singled out and pumped full of growth accelerators, causing dormant mutations to blossom in their flesh. Once word spreads a trend arises whereby the alien growths are harvested and grafted onto the bodies of high-paying Drukhari elites. The Vorgani, as these beautified individuals come to be known, form tight-knit cliques within High Commorragh in which they revel in their augmentations. Furthermore, they develop a collective obsession with Lethidia - the Tyranid-infested planet that had been drawn into the webway and still orbits the Dark City.
Tortured Throne: Following the apparent abduction of several Custodian Guard, Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos pursue the Coven of the Twisted Spiral to a wandering moon deep in the interstellar void. Hopes of catching their quarry soon vanish, but on the moon’s barren surface the Inquisitors find what appears to be a simulacrum of the Golden Throne, covered in blood and viscera. Just as they are sending word of their discovery, the Twisted Spiral appear and butcher the Imperial agents.
United by Hatred: A great number of the Asuryani of the craftworlds, along with many Harlequins and denizens of the Dark City, unite behind Yvraine as she seeks to destroy She Who Thirsts. It is the first time in millennia that such close military bonds have existed within the fractured Aeldari race. Yet not all share the vision of the Emissary of Ynnead. Within his palatial spire in High Commorragh, the Supreme Overlord and Living Muse Asdrubael Vect makes plans to end the Reborn prophet…Commorragh doesn't seem like it will endure that much longer.
Everyone wants and needs blackstone these days.
Vect was murdered, but then resurrected, wiping out many of his enemies at the same time, JUST AS PLANNED, proving he still hasn't lost his step, or his flair for the dramatic. But he's also not a fan of Yvraine and Ynnead, so he could fuck up any future plans to destroy Slaanesh.
Malys seems poised to do some serious shit soon, with the heart and favor of the Laughing God now. Her and Yvraine seem like they'd make for good allies, seeing that Ynnead and Cegorach have the same end goal, but they need to permanently get Vect off the board if they want to unite the Eldar factions and destroy She Who Thirsts.
Dark Eldar, you play around with the Tyranids at your peril. Its all fun and games until a Hive Fleet shows up on your doorstep.
They're kidnapping Adeptus Custodes, and have built their own Golden Throne, it seems. I wonder if this is consequence to this:
"986999.M41 DESPERATE MEASURES The Tech-Priests at work in the Emperor’s Palace uncover irrevocable failures in the mechanisms of the Golden Throne. A dozen contingency expeditions are immediately launched, including a Xanthite war procession sent through the Exhubris Portal. The Xanthites fight through Harlequin Troupes and Daemon hordes alike before reaching their intended destination. In the grave-cold oubliettes beneath Commorragh, a dark bargain is struck..."
