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annwfynListen my child and I will tell you a tale. Come closer, up by the fire where it is warm, for this is a tale that will chill your bones. It is a tale of the old times, the dark times, the bad times. It is a tale of the longest night, when the demon Li Halan of old rose up against their Decados conquerors, and the rivers of Malignatius ran red with blood beneath the ice. It is a tale of the times when the sun did not rise, save through a the crimson smoke from the battlefields and children lived and died without ever seeing the light.
But it is also a tale of the time that the sun rose again.
My tale begins in the dark days, in the consolidation after the Emperor Wars. The liberator of Malignatius, Valentina Decados, held the lowlands of the planet, but the last of the crimson Li Halan held the mountains where they had dwelled since they rejected Cardano’s conversion and fled. There, in their ice castles, across a hellscape land of frost and fear, they plotted to retake their ancient lands.
For three whole years they had fought. First, they fought back the Kossack troops - gene engineered monstrosities who stood as tall as tree trunks – for they were only men and could not withstand the ice and the cold and fell before the force of the blizzards in the mountains. Next they fought back the Vorox shock troops, for although the Vorox wear a thick fur and their poison claws are not blunted by the wind and the chill, they still needed to eat and drink, and they fell when the Li Halan poisoned the water that runs down from the mountains. Many villages also died in those months, and in the years after, they were known as the rivers of tears and used only to send the dead to their final rest, floating in tiny funeral ships. After that, the Li Halan fought back the Screaming Dervishes, commanded by Valentina Decados’ Hazat lover, for although they were psykers and Changed and needed not food, nor drink, nor rest, they could not withstand the demonic hordes that the old Li Halan unleashed through twisted rites and horrible sacrifice.
In vain, Valentina sent emissaries to the old Li Halan with commands from their Prince, from their kin, from the Emperor himself. But always came back the same answer.
“This is our land. It always has been our land. We hold the key and we shall not yield,”
No pleas on behalf of their people, on behalf of their flocks or on behalf of the planet itself would change their minds. The dark remained and now Valentina was growing desperate for even the hardy beasts and crops of Malignatius were growing weak and would not survive another season of endless winter.
Then one night came a man.
None knew him, although he wore the Mantis crest. He came from the mountains, after the last church bell had rung. He smelled of Vorox, and woodsmoke, and his hands were black with the filth of toil. He claimed that his name was Drekolya Decados and he had been left on Malignatius many years ago, alone in the wild, after his father’s ship had crashed in the wastes. He certainly bore the marks of one who had lived in this desolate place for many years, and he carried the signet ring and sword of a noble Decados and so Valentina welcomed him into her command shelter at the foot of the mountains and asked him “what do you want?”
“That is not the question you should have asked,” Drekolya Decados said. “But I will give you an answer.
“I want you to owe me one great boon,”
Valentina frowned and nearly struck him down, for her temper was famously terrible and she was mispleased at being trapped on this frozen hellhole anyway.
“And why should I do that?” she asked.
“That is also not the question you should have asked,” Drekolya Decados said. “But I will give you an answer. Because you will owe your life and the conquest of this planet to me,”
Valentina scowled, for she felt as if she was being mocked. “That is impossible. How will you deliver those things to me?”
And Drekolya Decados smiled for he had been waiting for that question.
“Because I will have delivered the key that will take you through the mountains and enable you to finally eliminate the old Li Halan,”
Beside her, Valentina’s constant companion, the Jakovian Markov, whispered to not trust this strange man who came from nowhere, but for the first time Valentina did not listen. Had Markov delivered the crimson Li Halan into her grasp?
“How will you do this?” she demanded of Drekolya Decados but he simply shook his head and smiled. “I have already answered three questions. Now you must answer three of mine.
“Do you agree to my terms?
“Will you promise to do exactly what I say until the sun rises?
“And will you tell me which thing you love the most?”
Valentina scowled.
“Yes,” she said. “I will. And I will. But if Malignatius is not in my grip by then, I will rip you apart, limb by limb, and I will feed you to the Vorox. And I have one son who I have given to the Van Gelder to raise, and who will be a Duke on this planet one day. I love him the most, and if you harm him, I will string you up by the tendons in your legs and pluck you apart, an inch at a time,”
Drekolya Decados did not seem thrown by this, but smiled again and nodded and then he went away.
For a while Valentina thought he had gone for good, but he returned a few hours later, smelling even more strongly of blood and asked for a strand of her son’s hair, three good dogs, and four of her best men. She gave those to him, not without concern, and he bowed and vanished into the mountains.
Twelve hours later, the first of the dogs came running back into camp, howling as if in terrible dread, and could not be consoled, even by the kennel master who had to slit its throat.
Twelve hours after that, the second of the dogs came running back into camp, frothing blood and collapsed dead.
Twelve hours after that, the first of the men that Valentina had sent out with Drekolya staggered back into camp, unhinged and speaking incoherently of monsters in the dark, of a maiden bound in the snow who did not want to be alone and a promise unwisely made, before he collapsed and died as well.
None knew what this meant, but up above them in the hills, the crimson clouds seemed thicker and more terrible then ever. Everyone was afraid and Valentina felt sick with the knowledge that she had sent this strange man forth.
Then everything changed.
Twelve hours later, two of the men Valentina had sent out came running back into camp, with the surviving hound at their side. They held in their hands a tablet made of stone, with strange glyphs and marking on it, and a single key, cunningly wrought, that looked as if it had been made of ice and they spoke of a secret path beneath the mountains that would lead the Decados to victory. Now light headed with hope, Valentina summoned her best remaining men – Jakovian trained, Dervish touched – and they set off into the dark. For eighteen hours there was silence, and then, far above them, they heard the roar of cannon and the screams of the dying. One hour after that, the very last man that Valentina had sent with Drekolya walked out of the mountains, and said “it is done,” and slammed a clenched fist against his chest.
There was great rejoicing when the Decados took the mountain. The three survivors of that raid with Drekolya were given great riches, and one of them married the daughter of the last of the crimson Li Halan so that he could rule the mountain in her name (which he does until this day). Drekolya himself was offered many riches, but he only smiled and said “I have what I want,” which was fine by Valentina for she had no desire to part with anything she held.
A month later, just as the dawn began to rise over Malignatius for the first time in years, Emperor Alexius came to Malignatius to take Valentina’s Oath of Fealty in person, and to offer her the chance to present him with her chosen candidate for Malignatius’ first Questing Knight. Valentina was delighted, if undecided as to whether her beloved son was too young, or whether there were any of her knights she found to be particularly bold and charming. But on the morning she was due to make her choice, a man appeared from the north. He smelled of Vorox and woodsmoke and carried with him the signet ring of his father, or so he claimed.
“Hello,” said Drekolya Decados. “I have come to claim my boon.
“I wish to be a Questing Knight,”
Valentina stared at him.
“You?” she said in scorn. “A wild man from the mountains? At the right hand of the Throne. No. Why should you be a Questing Knight?”
“That is one question,” Kolya said. “Because you owe me a Great Boon,”
For the first time in her life, Valentina felt a shiver of fear, although she did not know why.
“Why do you want it?” she asked. “You are a barbarian, a mountain man,”
“That is your second question,” Drekolya said. “Because when I was child, freezing to death on the mountains, I had a vision of Maya the Scorned Woman and she told me that this would be how I could seek out the people responsible for sabotaging my father’s flitter and causing his death and my abandonment.”
Valentina was now very afraid because she realized that she had forgotten to ask one important question before.
“Who is your father?” she asked and Drekolya’s smile was very bright.
“He was your older brother,” he said. “The man who’s death granted you heir-rights to Malignatius. Now, my dear Aunt, you owe me a Boon. I will be a Questing Knight and leave you with all that this planet can hold and I shall set out and avenge my father’s doom.”
Of course, Valentina granted Drekolya the boon and he set out and became one of the most cunning of the Questing Knights. He avenged his father, and solved the riddle of the cursed dragon on Kish. He found the chest containing the lost robes of Amalthea and opened the hidden door on Stigmata that unleashed the light that drove back the Symbiot and brought about the first great victory of the Stigmata garrison, before marrying the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Hyram Decados and retiring to live happily ever after as a Duke on Holy Terra itself.
As for Valentina? She still holds Malignatius, but her beloved son vanished after the dirigible he was travelling in crashed in the very mountains than Drekolya had lived in. His body was never found, but he was never seen again.
But it is also a tale of the time that the sun rose again.
My tale begins in the dark days, in the consolidation after the Emperor Wars. The liberator of Malignatius, Valentina Decados, held the lowlands of the planet, but the last of the crimson Li Halan held the mountains where they had dwelled since they rejected Cardano’s conversion and fled. There, in their ice castles, across a hellscape land of frost and fear, they plotted to retake their ancient lands.
For three whole years they had fought. First, they fought back the Kossack troops - gene engineered monstrosities who stood as tall as tree trunks – for they were only men and could not withstand the ice and the cold and fell before the force of the blizzards in the mountains. Next they fought back the Vorox shock troops, for although the Vorox wear a thick fur and their poison claws are not blunted by the wind and the chill, they still needed to eat and drink, and they fell when the Li Halan poisoned the water that runs down from the mountains. Many villages also died in those months, and in the years after, they were known as the rivers of tears and used only to send the dead to their final rest, floating in tiny funeral ships. After that, the Li Halan fought back the Screaming Dervishes, commanded by Valentina Decados’ Hazat lover, for although they were psykers and Changed and needed not food, nor drink, nor rest, they could not withstand the demonic hordes that the old Li Halan unleashed through twisted rites and horrible sacrifice.
In vain, Valentina sent emissaries to the old Li Halan with commands from their Prince, from their kin, from the Emperor himself. But always came back the same answer.
“This is our land. It always has been our land. We hold the key and we shall not yield,”
No pleas on behalf of their people, on behalf of their flocks or on behalf of the planet itself would change their minds. The dark remained and now Valentina was growing desperate for even the hardy beasts and crops of Malignatius were growing weak and would not survive another season of endless winter.
Then one night came a man.
None knew him, although he wore the Mantis crest. He came from the mountains, after the last church bell had rung. He smelled of Vorox, and woodsmoke, and his hands were black with the filth of toil. He claimed that his name was Drekolya Decados and he had been left on Malignatius many years ago, alone in the wild, after his father’s ship had crashed in the wastes. He certainly bore the marks of one who had lived in this desolate place for many years, and he carried the signet ring and sword of a noble Decados and so Valentina welcomed him into her command shelter at the foot of the mountains and asked him “what do you want?”
“That is not the question you should have asked,” Drekolya Decados said. “But I will give you an answer.
“I want you to owe me one great boon,”
Valentina frowned and nearly struck him down, for her temper was famously terrible and she was mispleased at being trapped on this frozen hellhole anyway.
“And why should I do that?” she asked.
“That is also not the question you should have asked,” Drekolya Decados said. “But I will give you an answer. Because you will owe your life and the conquest of this planet to me,”
Valentina scowled, for she felt as if she was being mocked. “That is impossible. How will you deliver those things to me?”
And Drekolya Decados smiled for he had been waiting for that question.
“Because I will have delivered the key that will take you through the mountains and enable you to finally eliminate the old Li Halan,”
Beside her, Valentina’s constant companion, the Jakovian Markov, whispered to not trust this strange man who came from nowhere, but for the first time Valentina did not listen. Had Markov delivered the crimson Li Halan into her grasp?
“How will you do this?” she demanded of Drekolya Decados but he simply shook his head and smiled. “I have already answered three questions. Now you must answer three of mine.
“Do you agree to my terms?
“Will you promise to do exactly what I say until the sun rises?
“And will you tell me which thing you love the most?”
Valentina scowled.
“Yes,” she said. “I will. And I will. But if Malignatius is not in my grip by then, I will rip you apart, limb by limb, and I will feed you to the Vorox. And I have one son who I have given to the Van Gelder to raise, and who will be a Duke on this planet one day. I love him the most, and if you harm him, I will string you up by the tendons in your legs and pluck you apart, an inch at a time,”
Drekolya Decados did not seem thrown by this, but smiled again and nodded and then he went away.
For a while Valentina thought he had gone for good, but he returned a few hours later, smelling even more strongly of blood and asked for a strand of her son’s hair, three good dogs, and four of her best men. She gave those to him, not without concern, and he bowed and vanished into the mountains.
Twelve hours later, the first of the dogs came running back into camp, howling as if in terrible dread, and could not be consoled, even by the kennel master who had to slit its throat.
Twelve hours after that, the second of the dogs came running back into camp, frothing blood and collapsed dead.
Twelve hours after that, the first of the men that Valentina had sent out with Drekolya staggered back into camp, unhinged and speaking incoherently of monsters in the dark, of a maiden bound in the snow who did not want to be alone and a promise unwisely made, before he collapsed and died as well.
None knew what this meant, but up above them in the hills, the crimson clouds seemed thicker and more terrible then ever. Everyone was afraid and Valentina felt sick with the knowledge that she had sent this strange man forth.
Then everything changed.
Twelve hours later, two of the men Valentina had sent out came running back into camp, with the surviving hound at their side. They held in their hands a tablet made of stone, with strange glyphs and marking on it, and a single key, cunningly wrought, that looked as if it had been made of ice and they spoke of a secret path beneath the mountains that would lead the Decados to victory. Now light headed with hope, Valentina summoned her best remaining men – Jakovian trained, Dervish touched – and they set off into the dark. For eighteen hours there was silence, and then, far above them, they heard the roar of cannon and the screams of the dying. One hour after that, the very last man that Valentina had sent with Drekolya walked out of the mountains, and said “it is done,” and slammed a clenched fist against his chest.
There was great rejoicing when the Decados took the mountain. The three survivors of that raid with Drekolya were given great riches, and one of them married the daughter of the last of the crimson Li Halan so that he could rule the mountain in her name (which he does until this day). Drekolya himself was offered many riches, but he only smiled and said “I have what I want,” which was fine by Valentina for she had no desire to part with anything she held.
A month later, just as the dawn began to rise over Malignatius for the first time in years, Emperor Alexius came to Malignatius to take Valentina’s Oath of Fealty in person, and to offer her the chance to present him with her chosen candidate for Malignatius’ first Questing Knight. Valentina was delighted, if undecided as to whether her beloved son was too young, or whether there were any of her knights she found to be particularly bold and charming. But on the morning she was due to make her choice, a man appeared from the north. He smelled of Vorox and woodsmoke and carried with him the signet ring of his father, or so he claimed.
“Hello,” said Drekolya Decados. “I have come to claim my boon.
“I wish to be a Questing Knight,”
Valentina stared at him.
“You?” she said in scorn. “A wild man from the mountains? At the right hand of the Throne. No. Why should you be a Questing Knight?”
“That is one question,” Kolya said. “Because you owe me a Great Boon,”
For the first time in her life, Valentina felt a shiver of fear, although she did not know why.
“Why do you want it?” she asked. “You are a barbarian, a mountain man,”
“That is your second question,” Drekolya said. “Because when I was child, freezing to death on the mountains, I had a vision of Maya the Scorned Woman and she told me that this would be how I could seek out the people responsible for sabotaging my father’s flitter and causing his death and my abandonment.”
Valentina was now very afraid because she realized that she had forgotten to ask one important question before.
“Who is your father?” she asked and Drekolya’s smile was very bright.
“He was your older brother,” he said. “The man who’s death granted you heir-rights to Malignatius. Now, my dear Aunt, you owe me a Boon. I will be a Questing Knight and leave you with all that this planet can hold and I shall set out and avenge my father’s doom.”
Of course, Valentina granted Drekolya the boon and he set out and became one of the most cunning of the Questing Knights. He avenged his father, and solved the riddle of the cursed dragon on Kish. He found the chest containing the lost robes of Amalthea and opened the hidden door on Stigmata that unleashed the light that drove back the Symbiot and brought about the first great victory of the Stigmata garrison, before marrying the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Hyram Decados and retiring to live happily ever after as a Duke on Holy Terra itself.
As for Valentina? She still holds Malignatius, but her beloved son vanished after the dirigible he was travelling in crashed in the very mountains than Drekolya had lived in. His body was never found, but he was never seen again.
