Quotes from an Age of Darkness.

[Quantum]

Hi all,
 
For a while now I've been putting in my signature line small quotes; miniature stories that give a glimpse of the 40k setting, or at least my interpretation of it. Though I love writing 40k fluff, real life commitments prevent me from writing anything more than these snippets.
 
Nevertheless, their number starts to accumulate, so I decided to make a topic to gather them all; both to get some more feedback and also to make sure they aren't lost when I have another computer crash. 
 
Anyway, here they are. More will be added when I get inspiration. Enjoy.
 
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"Master of the Empyrean, you say? What did you do to earn that moniker? Did you study the blessed Lore of Weyl-Geller? Master the Mechanics of Warp Vortices? Investigate the Hexametic formulae of Immaterium-Materium translations? Or are you like the rest of your kind; casting chicken bones and poking in gory entrails while your mutant mind sniffs the flatus of Daemons?"
                  - Magos Aetherna Dyrac to an Exalted Sorcerer.  

 

 

"Was the STC truly a gift to humanity? It gave the fire of the Deus Mechanicus to those unworthy of wielding it. The STC solved every challenge to humanity with a simple push of a rune. Technology became the plaything of those who did not understand or appreciate the genius of their fore-bearers. And so that brilliance dimmed, replaced by that most subtle of curses: complacency."
                   - Amos Faden, noted Heretek
 

 

"No, I won't 'soup up' your Thunderbolt, flyboy!  I'll patch the holes, replace the fuel injector, bypass the control circuits and tend to its wounded Machine Spirit until it is ready and eager for your next sortie. It's perfect as is, and changing its holy design is not just the epitome of hubris, it is likely to get you killed! Look at your fighter, ingrate: it is riddled with holes and still it got your unworthy flesh back to base. A less spiritually balanced machine would have disappeared in a giant fireball." 
                     - Enginseer Gry'el 'Grille-Face' Faecette to Navy pilot Akerson, before his 'ace-in-a-day'. 
 

 

"The Nova Terra Interregnum has been remembered unfairly by those few who remember it at all. True, many malcontents, provocateurs and petty lordlings flocked to its banner when it seceded. But its attempts to contain the aggressive expansion of the Ecclesiarchy were born from an honest desire to uphold those values at the hart of the Great Crusade. It is ironic that the last gasp of the Emperor's true vision was finally throttled at the hands of those who fought in His divine name, on the planet that once reminded our Lord of 'Urf, long ago...'"
                        - Archivist & Historian Vedek Parsen, pilloried, emasculated, hung, drawn, crucified, quartered, burnt and disintegrated for heresy extremus. Probably in that order.
 
 
BzZZzt! ...Hak, hak, hak!
                         - Skitarius Jon-6-Delta telling a joke to an unaugmented ally of the Astra Militarium. 

 

 
"...Though every basic Ork (see ref. 'Boy') has an animalistic cunning on par with most apex level predators, generally even alpha-level specimens (see ref. 'Warboss') have sub-sapient intelligence at best. When confronted with simple calculus problems Orks typically respond with both confusion and aggression (see ref. specimen 89230-Kappa. ADDENDUM: Tech-Adept Haagen is expected to make a 87% recovery, with most of his limbs eligible for reattachment. Removal of the abacus from the biological parts of his digestive system has been deemed impractical)." 
                         - Magos Biologis Dekker Paalsen

 

 

"It feeds. Always it feeds. Mindless, agonized, insane. Squirming. I can feel it test the walls of our once great stronghold, reduced to a mere prison to hold the abomination within. With me as its guard... Me, first amongst the Silent King's vassals! But I must hold true to my vows; so I do what I can to placate it, bringing sweeter meat to its table. But it is insatiable; it wants more more. Demands more. Am I still the warden of its prison, or have I become the prisoner of its labyrinth?"

                         - Unnamed Necon Overlord to a captured Tech-Adept Corteswain.

 

 

"My Lady Inquisitor, as per your request I've investigated available Aeldari text regarding these so-called 'Talismans of Vaul', and I found something that might be... disconcerting...

As you know, Aeldari language is notoriously complex, with words varying in meaning depending on the context, point in the Aedari calendar, place in mythological cycles, or even the speaker's posture. As such, I conclude that 'Talisman' is a highly flawed Gothic translation of a word that is better described as 'that which offers protection', which could refer to talismans, casting runes, spirit stones, shields, armor... and swords.

The 'Swords of Vaul' play a key part in Aeldari mythology, source of conflict between the their Gods and those mythical monsters called the 'Y'ngir'. If my translation is correct, I must point out the possibility that there are 93 more so-called 'Blackstone Fortresses' at large in the Galaxy."

                        -  Cardolan Hermes, Chief scribe of the Great Library on Terra.

[Quantum]

"With good reason the most feared punishment among the Progenia is the Judgement Throne, as its needle-probes are both invasive and excruciatingly painful. Yet punishment is not its main goal; its true purpose is to realign neurological pathways and removing pre-existing bias. Fresh traumas fade away to distant memories, and then half remembered dreams, while simultaneously a cadet's capacity of absorbing sanctioned Imperial scripture improves notably amongst even the most recalcitrant and dull-witted.

The Thrones' origins are uncertain, older even than the Scholas themselves, and Magi have both compared them to bastardized versions of Space Marine neurological indoctrination or the Ritual of Becoming among Imperial Knights. Whatever the truth, even the Progenia acknowledge that those who have faced the Judgement Throne will be unfazed by whatever other horrors a dark Galaxy throws at them."

                       - Patrik Ironfist, Chief Drill Abbot.

 

   

"Orks don't panic. Ever. When they've got their blood pumping they'll ignore crossfires, killzones, minefields, flanking attacks, creeping barrages, flamestrikes and a dozen other tactics that would completely demoralize any sensible warrior. But do not let that dissuade you from employing them; Orks are easily distracted and nothing stops a greenskin horde in its tracks more effectively than several thousand boyz suddenly realizing they can call dibs in their fallen comrades' stuff."

                      - Master sergeant Ortan, 38th Armageddon Steel Legion

 

 

"Despite the factionalism displayed by that ancient race, their adoption of the moniker 'Aeldari' has been all-encompassing, so much so that it has even replaced the Imperium's previous designation 'Eldar' both in official scripture and in common parlance. Yet few humans understand the significance of this change, largely due to xenos' complex language that is infused with layered and enigmatic meaning nonsensical to the Emperor's Faithful. Nevertheless, when regarded through the xenos' obsessions with their pantheon, mythology and fate, this significance becomes much clearer. 

'Aeldari' is an ancient term, employed by the xenos to describe their race and civilization long before humanity even travelled the stars. The most narrow translation of this word can be summarized as 'Children', though it is better approximated as 'Children of Isha',  'Children of the Stars', 'Scions of the Gods' and 'Students at the feet of the Masters'. Factual history of the early Aeldari is basically non-existent, completely subsumed by their mythology, in particular their role in the War in Heaven, but many stories tell of mortal heroes that fought against doom and ill-fate put upon the Aeldari by gods and monsters.

At some point in their history, presumably around the time the Necon Dynasties retreated into hibernation, their civilization became dominant. Unchallenged by any other force in the Galaxy, they had finally become masters of their own fate. They adopted the name 'Eldar', which can be translated as 'Inheritors' (of the Galaxy), 'Chosen' (by the gods), 'Fated' (for greatness) and 'Bearers of the Mantle' (of Power/Rule).

This dominance came to a spectacular end with the Fall, and in typical fashion where their words have opposite meaning depending on context, the 'Eldar' were now the 'Inheritors of Doom', the 'Cursed' (by sin/their own hand) and 'Burdened' (with unavoidable fate). As a race, the Eldar had effectively resigned itself to a dark end.

However, the opening of the Great Rift caused somewhat of a reinvigoration of the xeno race; members of their species began to claim that the Aeldari Gods were returning. And for good or ill, their fates are once again linked, as it was in the Aeldari Empire of old. Although not the masters of fate of the pre-Fall Eldar empire, neither were the Aeldari destined to some unavoidable doom. Their future is now, finally, hidden."

                            - Sister Belinda, Order or the Quill, Ordo Dialogus, clearance level Obsidian-5    

     

 

"Guardsmen and Stormtroopers don't mix. Believe me, I've tried. One time, when my position was about to be overrun, those Glory Boys dropped in, right on top of the enemy. Ripped the hart right out of the assault. Saved my skin too. So when those troopers relieved my position, I offered them my last pack of lhos and a cup of moonshine in gratitude. And you know what? Those stuck-up toy soldiers looked at me with utter disdain! Haughtily quoting Saint What's-his-Name about the 'evils of narcotics', how it dulls the senses and prevents the faithful from doing the Emperor's work and whatnot. Well, I'll have you know I had already been doing the Emperor's work for four hours, twelve ammo crates and three overheated barrels before those Glory Boys even bothered to show up! Now don't get me wrong, when the going gets tough I'm more than happy to see them drop in and save the day, but afterwards I'm equally happy to see them frag off!"

                              - Guardsman Merker, Artemis 82nd

 

 

"Remember, there are older things than Chaos to haunt the darkest corners of the void."

                             - Ordo Xenos Inquisitor to his Malleus colleague.

[Quantum]

"I've witnessed many miracles of the Deus Mechanicus; voidships, God-machines, ordinatus devices, a plasma reactor the size of a planetoid. But nothing is as wondrous as seeing a ancient rockcrete colonist's hab still holding strong millennia after an eight-mile hive has been built on top of it."

                 - Mosar Varn, tech-requisitionist

 

 

"Daemons are the stuff of nightmares. What do you think inspired those nightmares?"

                - Ordo Xenos Inquisitor 

 

 

"It pains me to inform you of the loss of Commissar Brenner, who was killed in action leading a heroic charge against the enemy. His body could not be recovered. I sincerely hope this does not degrade the Ordo Prefectus' trust in my regiment despite the unrelated string of mishaps that has plagued it. We still mourn Commissar Holder, who was shot by the enemy while holding a rousing speech in front of the troops. And Commissar MacVal, who stepped on a landmine while inspecting the front lines. Commissars Vedder and Klein, who were killed when a stray artillery shell hit the Prefectus field office. Commissar Velroy, who was dragged off by Mega-Arachnid that had somehow breached the perimeter. Lord Commissar's DeLasser's, who encountered a gnasher-serpent while on the latrine.  Cadet-commissars Nico & Dermy who mistook a live hand grenade for a ball while playing catch. And  finally Commissar Werchter, who, while performing rites of maintenance on his bolt pistol, accidentally shot himself in the face six times."

                - Colonel Bran Garner, Catachan 56th "Black Venom Gadflies" 

[Brother Lunkhead]

Nice work Brother Quantum Imaginative and inspiring

[Quantum]

Nice work Brother Quantum Imaginative and inspiring

 

Thanks. Good to hear it is inspiring. I always said that official GW writing needed a 'less is more' approach. I'm glad there seems to be merit to this theory

 

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"The use of atomics has long since fallen out of favour in the Imperium; plasma warheads have a higher yield with less residual contamination, sustained orbital bombardment can achieve similar levels of destruction while more effective at eroding enemy morale, and not even substantial atomic deployment can match the devastation caused by a single vortex warhead or virus bomb.

Yet, despite their strategic obsolescence, atomics are still treated with the awe and respect they are due. It is said the first warheads were launched by their inventors against their fellow man, and long before mankind took to the stars it lived under the threat of mutual destruction by these weapons. However, when mankind first sailed the void, it took nuclear weapons with them to fight off and exterminate xeno threats that would challenge its manifest destiny. Atomics were the bane and salvation of humanity in equal measure."

                   - Archibald Jung, Tech-Historicus

 

 

"The Orks have a saying: there is no such thing as enough firepower. They are right, but my baby comes pretty fragging close!"

                 - Davit Wesner, Leman Russ Punisher tank commander, Armageddon 257th "Iron Storm"

 

 

"Omnissiah's cogs, my nose itches."

                - Skitarius Vanguard Petr-12-Omicron, after having his helmet screwed into place for a 3 month deployment.

 

 

"Confirmed, Captain, I have control. Time on target, sixty seconds. Initiating attack run. Target in scopes... locked. Cogitator active, calculating trajectory... completed. I see some small drift in target... Adjusting for wind sheer. Captain? defensive flak has opened fire! Thirty seconds to target. Frag it, we're hit... Affermative, we're still good. Continuing run.  Fifteen seconds. Opening bay doors. Six, five. Come on, bastard. Smile! Two, one... Bombs away!"

               - Norden Tallius, Marauder bombardier, 56th bomber wing 'Black Aquila'  

 

 

"Commissar? Sir? Has the latest edition of the Regimental Standard been released yet?"

                  - Guardsman Yenner, Catachan 56th, on his way to the latrine.

[Quantum]

"Them Sororitas ain't right in the head."

           - Tech-Adept Norren, making small talk while detaching his brain for some routine maintenance, involving sanctified oils and singing hymns.

 

 

"The cruiser is the undisputed backbone of the battlefleets of the Imperial Navy. Though perhaps not as glamorous as the daredevil frigate squadrons, or as dignified as the awe-inspiring battleships, navy doctrine revolves first and foremost around deployment of this venerable class. Their massive firepower, incredible armor protection, respectable manoeuvrability are great boons in their own right; they can easily destroy any smaller ships and, when deployed in squadrons, can from part of the battle line and challenge even the greatest battleships. And yet, their greatest strength is their incredible endurance, which allows them to remain on patrol for months, or even years, dispensing the Emperor's justice to pirates, xeno raiders, rebellious planetary overlords, heretical empires and a million other threats with little or no support of its parent fleet. Its cavernous holds can even transport an admirable amount of ground troops for planetary invasions that its broadsides can support with orbital strikes, and it it theorised that the regimental structure of the Astra Militarum was based on the size of the fighting formations of the Imperial Army of old that a single cruiser could transport and supply for prolonged engagements.

The history of the cruiser is lost to time, but vessels of similar mass and role were employed by the Emperor's armadas during the great crusade, but also many rebellious human domains that resisted unification, and even xeno empires. So the first recorded cruiser clashes stem from this age. As the crusade fleets divided itself over the galaxy, situations where solitary Imperial cruisers faced opponents of equal mass and power began to occur more regularly, and early shipwrights began developing the all-round cruiser into the more powerful, but also more specialized, heavy cruiser. Up-gunned, and designed to fight other cruisers, this class sacrificed much of the cruiser's renowned endurance and reliability, relying on technological advances that were hard, or even impossible, to maintain in the aftermath of the Heresy and the general stagnation that followed.

Even then, the master shipwrights acknowledged that the upgunned heavy cruiser, albeit formidable during fleet actions, was unsuited to the role of penetrating deep into uncharted space to extend the Emperor's domain, and began on redesigning the cruiser concept from the ground up. The result was in many ways the pinnacle of the cruiser design; combining the firepower of a dedicated gunboat with the endurance, manoeuvrability and flexibility of the classical cruiser. These Grand Cruisers were noticeable bigger, more advanced and more powerful that regular cruisers, and were affectionately called 'pocket battleships'. These ships eagerly plunged into the abyss carrying the Imperium's torch; a single ship, unsupported but manned by a bold and independent-minded crew, was able to bring His armies to uncharted stars, outfighting almost all possible threats and evading those rare few that could not be destroyed. This glorious time ended far too soon with the Heresy, and like the Heavy Cruiser the complex design fell out of favor with the reorganized Navy.

Nevertheless, the concept of a more powerful 'line-of-battle cruiser' never lost its lustre to Imperial Navy strategos, and eventually the heavy cruiser concept was reinvented, albeit with tried and true, triple-blessed Mechanicus technologies. At the expense of removing part of the design's supply vaults and fuel stores, a cruiser was easily equipped with additional banks of macrocannons or turrets of massive but reliable laser cannons called lances, with only moderate redesign of the hull and reactor-drive layout necessary. The resulting Battlecruisers were more than a match for the ancient Heavy Cruisers that preceded them, the latter's more advanced and sleeker design offset by the former's reliability and blunt resilience. The Battlecruiser's reduced operational range was judged to be a reasonable price for such power, particularly since contemporary Navy doctrine assumed a Battlecruiser would not moor from port until a specific target was reconnoitred by other vessels and assigned to the Battlecruiser for immediate destruction.

Although cruisers never quite lost their role for deep space reconnaissance, many imperial planners still considered patrol duties as a waste for such formidable vessels, preferring to keep them on defensive postings at critical locations and leaving reconnaissance to escort type vessels. Indeed, currently most navy patrols consist of raiders, destroyers and particularly frigates. However, space is both vast and dangerous, and the limited range and power of a frigate means it can not range out far from its home base, nor fight off some of the more powerful adversaries it might encounter far from the Imperial sphere of influence. A compromise was found in the light cruiser; a ship class smaller and more efficient than a regular cruiser, with speed and manoeuvrability close to that of a frigate while keeping (or even extending) the formers massive supply and fuel vaults that allow it to operate it deep into enemy territory. Its reduced fighting strength makes it unsuited in a straight-up brawl with a cruiser-size opponent, but its solid hull design and powerful engines theoretically allow it to survive several broadsides before evading the enemy in a full-burn stern chase to escape into the warp. Even in fleet engagements light cruisers have found their niche; staying away from the line of battle, waiting until a damaged or fleeing ship is isolated from the main enemy force to move in and attack it from its blind side."

           - Historica Aeronautica Imperialis, Volume XIV

[Indefragable]

Excellent.

 

 

The one about an abacus being lodged somewhere by an Ork is just too perfect. As is the Catachan report on Commissars.

[Llagos_Tyrant]

So many of these are incredible. I didn't understand the post at first and thought these were quotes from BL books I haven't read, so it was a great surprise to see that they're original. Looking forward to more!

[Quantum]

Glad you guys like it. I will add more when inspiration hits me.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Impressive.

[Quantum]

"No, no, you got it all wrong. I'm the most important person on board! The capt... pilot is just there to fly me to the target. I line up the attack run and drop the bombs. One full payload is a lot of dead heretics, you know what I'm saying? Even better when I drop incendiaries. Turns them all crispy. So... er... want a drink?"

       - Norden Tallius, Marauder Bombardier, trying to impress a girl.

 

 

"...*static*... repulsed them, but their artillery is getting a bead on us... *static* ... repeat: drop zone is hot... *static*... digging in. We need reinforcents to widen the perimit... *static* ...mperor guard our souls; we'll guard the line."

      - Tempestor Prime Abellan, 2nd Omicron Dragons "Helldivers", Operation Starfall, first wave. 

 

 

"A Space Marine, Battle Sister and Ratling walk into a tavern..."

          - First line of innumerable guardsman jokes.

 

 

"...So I walked up to the Ventrillan kid. The rookie clearly had never seen a trench in his life. Green as nutri-paste. I asked him: 'well son, did you come here to die?' He gave me an awkward salute, and answered: 'No sar. I came 'ere yester-die.'"

          - Captain Varren, Cadian 27th, on the intricacies of inter-regimental communication. 

 

 

"To complete the booby-trap, tie a cord to the pin and attach a label with these greenskin glyphs written on them. What the glyphs mean? Something like 'do not pull, you weedy runt.'"

           - Sergeant First Class Corbel, Valhallan 345th "Snowfoxes"

[Bjorn Firewalker]

"To complete the booby-trap, tie a cord to the pin and attach a label with these greenskin glyphs written on them. What the glyphs mean? Something like 'don't pull, weedy runt.'"

- Sergeant First Class Corbel, Valhallan 345th "Snowfoxes"

This quote is full of WIN.

[Quantum]

"Most rookie pilots have their heads filled with dreams of honor and glory, thinking they own the skies. Full of bravado because they can take off and land without turning into a pile of scrap, imagining themselves aces before having even encountered the enemy. Then they are jumped by a swarm of vicious Hell Blades or whooping Orks coming out of the sun and either mature very quickly or not at all.

Worse, occasionally a fool spots an easy target and breaks formation to engage alone, eager to claim his first kill. This usually ends with bogeys on his tail turning him into flaming debris before he even realizes his mistake. More importantly, the idiot has endangered his comrades and got his precious fighter wrecked.

So when I teach a class of rookie pilots I ask them two questions: what is our greatest weapon, and what is our greatest enemy? Invariably, they'll answer 'the lascannon!' or "autocannons!', and 'heretics!' or 'xenos!'. Then I try to impress on them our greatest weapon is each other; teamwork. Wingman covering his Leader. Sections in a Flight supporting one-another. Our greatest enemy is ourselves; lack of discipline. Glory seeking. Wandering off alone. Yes, there are famous aces who fought glorious aerial duels, but only because their wing-mates had their six and kept them alive.

They need to forget their personal kill-tally. They must fly together. Fight together. Kill together. And get back to base, together."

          - Colonel Reiser, 367 Fighter Wing "Skyfire", 42 confirmed kills.

 

 

"Do not dogfight with a Hell Blade; they are faster and turn tighter than your Thunderbolt. Instead, memorize this: dive down out from high in sky, shoot with a marksman's eye, at full power make a pass, and if he ain't dead then haul your arse!"

        - Colonel Reiser, 367 Fighter Wing "Skyfire", 42 confirmed kills, reciting non-canonical litany of aerial combat.

 

 

"Perhaps someone is compensating for something."

         - Drak Fa'Kosh, ash nomad, commenting on Hive Cities

[Quantum]

"The contents of this 'Black Library' either denies holy scripture, making it heretical, or it conforms it which makes it redundant. Burn it down."

           - Archibald Nostromo, puritanical member of the Inquisition

 

 

"An honorable loss is still defeat. A dishonorable win is still victory."

          - Warmaster MacCallen, notorious pragmatist

 

 

"If you have a fair fight, you or your opponent has made a tactical error."

         - Warmaster MacCallen, notorious pragmatist

 

 

"In the Imperial Guard we have a  policy of 'don't ask, don't tell': you don't ask where I got this amasec, and I don't tell."

         - 'Huckster' Homs, Ratling trooper

 

 

"If you somehow managed to get a Warlord in a supine position, it is possible to get back up again. It is not easy; it's like standing up with a 15 kilo backpack while having your hands tied, but it can be done. Just don't forget to tell everyone to stay clear." 

        - Princeps Almaeder, Frigus Irae, Fire Wasps

[Quantum]

"My order has a saying: if you stare into the abyss deep enough, you will find the abyss staring back at you. This is true; even more than they realise. The trick is to make it blink first."

           - Emannuel Gorden, radical inquisitor, Ordo Malleus

 

 

"Indisciminate bombing may seem harsh, but on Viglilus we are fighting Orks, cultists, rebels, red Aeldari, black Aeldari, Genestealers, heretics, traitors and the Arch Fiend himself. We are bound to hit something hostile!"

            - Colonel Kasser, 32th Vigilant Artillery regiment. 

 

 

"Command is ordering your men into the jaws of death. Leadership is allowing them to follow you there."

            - Colonel Bran Garner, Catachan 56th.

 

 

"Abaddon talks tough, but how strong is his will really? I mean, the man cannot even decide between letting his hair grow out or going bald."

             - Amikan Girach, founding member of the Sons of the Eye

 

 

"...with an assault on their left flank to breach their lines. If unsuccesful, we go to plan B: move our armored units to secure objective Alpha. ...If that doesn't work? Then switch to plan C: go do something fragging useful while I think of a plan D!"

            - General Vasser, Crusade HQ, Western Theatre. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

"Abaddon talks tough, but how strong is his will really? I mean, the man cannot even decide between letting his hair grow out or going BALD."

Emphasis mine.

Other than that, it's a GREAT line.

[Hrvat]

This topic is pure gold. 

[Quantum]

"Abaddon talks tough, but how strong is his will really? I mean, the man cannot even decide between letting his hair grow out or going BALD."

Emphasis mine.

 

Other than that, it's a GREAT line.

 

You know, I'm reading Vigilus Ablaze right now, and 'blad' seems to be a perfect description of Abaddon 

 

Seriously though, thanks for the positive feedback. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

 

 

"Abaddon talks tough, but how strong is his will really? I mean, the man cannot even decide between letting his hair grow out or going BALD."

Emphasis mine.

 

Other than that, it's a GREAT line.

You know, I'm reading Vigilus Ablaze right now, and 'blad' seems to be a perfect description of Abaddon

I've yet to read Vigilus Ablaze. Is it short for "blade", as in "The Despoiler cut his way through the Ultramarines Honour Guards like a heated blade through margarine"? Or short for "bladder", as in "The guardsman felt his bladder leak at the thought of facing the Despoiler in the coming battle" (Abaddon is a BOSS) or "The explosions tossed the Despoiler about, like an inflated pig's bladder in a child's hands" (Abaddon is a [female dog])?

Seriously though, thanks for the positive feedback.

It's the least I can do for a skilled writer.

[Quantum]

 

 

"Abaddon talks tough, but how strong is his will really? I mean, the man cannot even decide between letting his hair grow out or going BALD."

Emphasis mine.

 

Other than that, it's a GREAT line.

You know, I'm reading Vigilus Ablaze right now, and 'blad' seems to be a perfect description of Abaddon

I've yet to read Vigilus Ablaze. Is it short for "blade", as in "The Despoiler cut his way through the Ultramarines Honour Guards like a heated blade through margarine"? Or short for "bladder", as in "The guardsman felt his bladder leak at the thought of facing the Despoiler in the coming battle" (Abaddon is a BOSS) or "The explosions tossed the Despoiler about, like an inflated pig's bladder in a child's hands" (Abaddon is a [female dog])?

 

It is not really a word; it is the sound that monstrous villains make when they become a caricature of themselves.

 

It was made famous by vampires: "I vant to drink your BLAH-d!"

 

To my regret, that his how GW treats Abaddon (from https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/03/15/tales-from-vigilus-15-the-threshold-of-damnation/):

 

Abaddon sighed, and looked away in disgust. ‘I am disappointed in Guilliman’s lack of foresight,’ he said. ‘The head of that pompous fool Calgar upon my bridge will have to do. Blah!’

 

‘This world will burn, that much is certain, and become that which it hates the most. Blah!’

 

‘Yes,’ said Abaddon, nodding sagely. ‘Vigilus has already fallen. BLAH!’

[Quantum]

"I'm pretty sure we don't have bionics for that extremity."

       - Tech-Priest to 'Tiny' Timm.

 

 

"People tend to assume that sisters of the Adepta Sororitas are celibate. Probably because attempts to court sisters are met with anything from mild amusement, to disdan or even outright hostility (among sisters a time-honored, though notorious, reply to any sign of affection is 'Ewwww!'). 

Yet this is certainly not the case; in fact, girls who join the Ordo Famulous are extensively instructed in the arts of seduction and passion, to help them in their role as tutors, advisors and chamberlains in the often dangerous and decadent courts of the Imperium's great and powerful.

The Adepta Sororitas as a whole still follows many of the tenets of the original Daughters of the Emperor, and as dutiful daughters they serve their spititual father in word and deed, but if so desired are allowed to serve His Immortal Majesty by granting him a new generation of strong, wise and loyal followers instead.

This is highly regulated, of course. Most notably, sister who want to start a family are expected to leave their order; one cannot give one's hart fully to her father and child at the same time. Moreover, her suitor must be approved by ther superiors in the order. The Sisterhood strives to achieve the physical perfection intrinsic to the human form, so much that its even its power armor tries to emulate it (of course, the exact details of what is considered perfect differes between the various orders and Imperial planets; the Sororitas stationed in the barren and resource-poor Alicant sector are considered quite pudgy by their peers). Dilution of this physical and spiritual perfection by coupling with lesser men is considered a grave sin. As such, a suitor must be of good standing, breeding and piety to even be considered as a suitable husband to a Sororita. However, a sister's feelings and honors are taken into consideration, and a gallant that has gone above and beyond in his service to the Emperor can be considered worthy despite other faillings. Most tales of lowly guardsmen winning the love and hand of a battle sister by performing some great deed are mere fiction, but not all of them. In any case, the order will provide the bride-to-be with a dowry suitable to her accomplishements and new station in life. The renowned sister Amelia, when marrying the son and heir of sector lord Haagen, was provided with an amount that would have bankrupted entire planets.

Nevertheless, most sisters are fiercely dedicated to their order and reserve their love for their spiritual father. Still, that leaves that more base urges of the flesh which, depending on the order and Canoness in charge, can be considered anything from a dangerous distraction or spiritual test of purity, to a necessary physical relief or even a celebration of the blessed human physique in those rare moments a sister is not attending her myriad duties. However, being with child without permission is a grave offence, and will lead to expulsion from the order if not given up. Worse still are those foolish girls who forsake their duties and elope with some paramour; these are tracked down and will stand trail for desertion of their post and Emperor. Their final fate is rarely an easy one and a warning to novices that, one way or another, the sisterhood takes care of its own."

                - Lady Benadia of House Gammulon, formerly of the Order of the Gladius Sanctus