Index Daemonica: Aletheia - The Binder of Truths

[Brother Argent]

<<INCOMING TRANSMISSION>>

 

<<SIGNAL ORIGIN: INQUISITOR ANJANETTE IBRIC//ORDO MALLEUS>>

 

<<CONFIDENTIAL//RESTRICTED ACCESS>>

 

<<BEGIN TRANSMISSION>>

 

 

Salutation Chapter Master,

 

I have included in this transmission the information you requested but I must again repeat my concern on your desire for this information.  The same request from any other in my organisation would bring about at best censure, at worse excommunication. Know that whilst I owe your Chapter much at the slightest hint of Heresy I will bring your Chapter to heel.  I will, for now, trust your judgment on this matter but never forget that a moment laxity forms a lifetime of heresy.

 

In Trust,

 

Anjanette Ibric

Ordo Malleus

 

<<BEGIN ATTATCHMENT>>

 

REF: ALETHEIA 

 

(AKA:Binder of Truths/The Perfect Truth/Veritas/Ma’at)

 

 

For a power, or “God” as her followers would have you believe, dedicated to the pursuit of truth much of the history and truths regarding Aletheia are hidden in secrets and half truths.  Perhaps it is seen as a test for those truly dedicated to the pursuit of truth that to find her they must see through all the smoke and mirrors that hide her from the casual citizen of the Imperium.  References to this daemonic entity range as far back as ancient Terra, long before the rise of the Emperor and the Unification Wars. Known as Aletheia or Vertitas in the area known as Europa, Ma’at in Gyptus or even Forseti in the area of Nordyc.  Although worship of her was stamped out early in the rise of the Emperor it is believed her worship continued on many other worlds outside of the immediate reach of Terra.

 

Although a entity in her own right it is believed at some time between her worships destruction on Holy Terra and later encounters with her during the Great Crusade that she became sworn to the growing power of the greater Chaos deity known as Slaanesh, the power of excess and obsession.  Whether this was due to her shrinking area of influence as more and more worlds were brought into the “Imperial Truth”, a philosophy that encourages a good narrow minded approach or if her followers natural almost overwhelming dedication to find the truth behind any secrets naturally led her followers to follow the power of obsession.

 

Aletheia’s presence in the real world would come to an end when, by chance, it is believed She and the God Emperor himself faced off both on the material plain as well as in the Immaterium during the Great Crusade.  Unable to destroy her entirely, her being still a fairly powerful warp entity, instead he bound her inside one of his ships and cast the ship far into the Warp, beyond the reach of mortal and immortal alike.  And so Aletheia was all but forgotten as she lay adrift deep in the Warp.

 

 

If it was the Emperor’s hope that Aletheia would never again return to the mortal world he would have been sorely disappointed.  In M41 in the area of space know as the Omas Drift the vessel containing the essence of Aletheia, known as the Talon, would be vomited forth from the Warp.  So long bereft of worship and contact with mortals Aletheia was greatly weakened, although she was strong enough to send out a faint call to those nearby.  It would be a Captain of the Space Marines, Captain Raziel of the Lion Warriors Chapter whom would be the first to find the vessel.  A Chapter known to collect and salvage items of dubious origin Raziel took command of the vessel to help save his forces from the Ork forces that arrived shortly thereafter.  Despite the efforts of the Lion Warriors Chaplain to influence Raziel away the taint of the Warp he could sense in the ship Raziel was touched by the faintest whisper of Aletheia.  And in that barest flicker of a moment Aletheia knew the time for her return had come.  The exact events regarding the fall of Raziel and his subsequent taking command of the vessel and fleeing into the Warp are covered in great detail elsewhere so I wont rehash them here.  Needless to say that with approximately three hundred Space Marines, many highly decorated veterans, sworn to her service the return of Aletheia had begun.

 

 

As an entity herself Aletheia has not often been seen outside of her prison since the time of her encounter with the Emperor, at least not to those outside of her sworn service.  Bound almost completely to the vessel, now known as the Talon of Aletheia, as her influence grows and with the Emperor now bound to the Golden Throne the chains on her binding are growing weaker.  When she does appear to her followers it is often as a human maiden, either cloaked in a pure white gown of entirely naked.  Those daemons sworn to her service have been twisted and corrupted by her servitude to Slaanesh, once appearing as pure maidens as well they now have started to shift and warp into fiends more resembling the Daemonette servants of her master.

 

 

Some of the more notable members of her followers and servants are listed as follows:

 

Raziel Nuriah, 

The White Talon, Chosen of Aletheia, Truth’s Consort

 

Raziel was a former Captain of the Space Marine Chapter, the Lion Warriors, First Company.  Raziel was touched by the taint of Aletheia when he and his marines boarded the vessel, the Talon of Aletheia, and has ever since acted as her Chosen Champion.  Raziel leads his band of renegades and traitors in her service from deep within the Athollo Anomaly.  There are many whom whisper over the sanity of Raziel, whether he has lost his grip on reality and truth due to his closeness to a “God”.  The truth is, as ever, far more worrying.  For as Aletheia’s bindings weaken she has been able to project herself further into the world.  One way of doing this is she has taken partial residence in the fallen Captain.  Raziel is known to swing from moments of melancholy and driven ambition as he is in control, to bursts of obsessive drive and zeal as Aletheia asserts her influence.

 

 

Hienrich Commard

The Black General

 

Like many people of the now dominant Imperium Hienrich was raised to follow the Imperial Truth; to never question the Ecclisiarchy, to never question those put above.  Taught the truism that an open mind is like fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded. Despite this going against his naturally curious mind it was philosophy he stuck to.  Raised to the rank of Regimental Commander in his regiment he was highly regarded for his no questions asked attitude when given order from higher up the chain of command.  An attitude that would one day see him and his his entire regiment deployed as cannon fodder against the forces of Chaos.  Nothing more then something to force the traitor forces to slow down allowing the planets government to escape.  And it was in this moment that Aletheia reached out and opened his eyes to the ‘Truth”.  When the traitor forces arrived at his position Hienrich simply turned his forces and fell in beside them.  The planets government never escaped that day and Hienrich’s pact was sworn in blood.  Since then he has commanded the mortal followers of Aletheia and is one her most devout mortal followers.

 

 

Sharingarilithar

The Keeper of Truths, The Watcher

 

Sharingarilithar is a powerful Keeper of Secrets sent by Slaanesh to watch over Aletheia and to ensure her allegiance.  Appearing in a form typical of her kind she has long haunted the minds of those with hidden secrets, lavishing in the fear and paranoia that she can create in her new role as watcher of the Binder of Truths

 

Laurithani

The Unmasked, Prophet of Truths

 

Chief of the daemon servants of Aletheia The Unmasked is often at the forefront of those forces sent for Aletheia’s causes.  Originally formed purely from the essence of truth even The Unmasked has began to become tainted towards She Who Thirsts.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTE

 

Recent investigations into the actions of both the White Talons Renegades as well as other followers of Aletheia have revealed they often for search for something they know only as “The Perfect Truth”.  Fragments of this “Truth” seem to mostly take the form of random snippets and fragments of various texts, knowledge, secretes or even songs.  There seems to be no single unifying factor between these fragments and as such no pattern can be established and thus effectively countered.  Once they have determined the location of one of these fragments of the “Truth” are found nothing stands between Aletheia’s forces and their objective.  Followers often decorate their armour or banners with transcripts of these fragments.  What ever the purpose behind this lore gathering is unknown, or if there is even a purpose beyond the obsessive madness of Chaos, but what few clues I have found seem to hint that should the Perfect Truth ever be complete then Aletheia will finally be restored to her former power and be finally free of Slaanesh’s rule.  Whatever the truth of the matter if is not in the Imperium’s interest to let it continue.

 

<<END TRANSMISSION>>

[Brother Dallo]

Awesome. This sounds like a really interesting concept. I'm eager to know more.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

[Brother Argent]

Eager to know more, heh? Want to know the truth?  It seems Aletheia's influence has grown strong.....

[Teetengee]

Interesting, but as a fluff note, the Imperial Truth was replaced with the Imperial Creed relatively soon after the heresy.

[Doctor Perils]

hum, i like the concept of the possessed ship (a bit like daemon weapons or possessed tanks... but bigger).

 

However, I think you might need to explain how a daemonic entity stays in the material plane for so long before the coming of the emperor, because normally they aren't supposed to stay long.

You should also find a reason for the emperor not to attack her even during antiquity, because he's supposed to have been protecting humanity since 3000 BC or so.

[Brother Argent]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

@teetengee: yeah creed was what i meant. When i get back from holidays i will fix it.

 

@lord thorn: hmmm... couple of good points. Didn't realize the big e had been around quite that long. Something to think on. Any ideas?

[Doctor Perils]

Sorry, I don't really know how to present aspects of Ancient History like this, which is why I usually stay clear of it. If you're really stuck for ideas, just say that it's a mystery: having elements of mystery in Liber articles isn't a bad thing as long as it's not abused, but actually stating it means that you've thought about this aspect, and it's not just "ignoring important canon-friendly elements", meaning that fluff maniacs won't be able to complain if they read the article.