StarThe blasphemous and convoluted tales of these xenos are scarcely different from the equally whimsical narratives dreamt up by any other inferior inhumans. They are not likely to contain even a modicum of truth.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]
StarAt first, the metal feels not much different from plasteel to the touch. But as soon as you apply a little pressure, it becomes pliant and viscous like cold resin. Emerald-green marks linger for a moment where you touch it before being swallowed by the black metal.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]
StarYou spend several minutes trying to carve your initials into the ancient xenos artefact with your knife, but the metal instantly heals any damage done to it. The idea seems more pointless with each passing moment.
YOU[Take a swing at the slab]
StarYou might as well have stabbed a tank — the blade recoils from the monolith with an unpleasant grating sound, slips out of your hand, and flies off.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]
StarThe slab's surface wavers and ripples like a bottomless lake. The symbols are washed away and replaced with new ones, their green glow as bright as it is lifeless. "My Lord, I behold the truth of Them, the rapacious reapers who drank stars dark. Blind was Their eyes' gaze set upon us; futile was Their engorgement, for They would never be sated."
Star"Bathed in the ferocious rays of a deadly star, prisoners of our own brittle bodies, our race was withering, doomed to hurtle toward imminent and inglorious obliteration. War devoured existence within and without, and unity was a spectre of dreams unattainable. Such was the way of things, and we knew nought else till we heard the call of the reapers of deathly stars."
Star"They made the summons, and we heeded Their call; and we crafted at Their behest indestructible bodies of living metal, for in Their voice we heard a hope of escape from the putrescible nature of existence."
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]
StarA wave of animated metal sweeps away the symbols, and the slab shows you a new set. Their glow cuts through the crypt's darkness, making your eyes sting. "My Lord, I behold the truth of the rite of Biotransference: the renouncement of our decay-bound bodies, the soul-splitting agony that doomed us to an eternity of triumph. Their messenger manifested among the Overlords of Overlords, bearing the gift of triumphant indestructibility. No fee had been promised, yet a fee was to be paid. There came no refusal, and the gifting was done."
Star"Our artisans harnessed their craft to erect biofurnaces, the gates of indestructible permanence. And we entered the crucibles of immutability, and the tyranny of the withering flesh was cast off, and an eternal existence in bodies of living metal commenced. While They gorged their maws with our souls like carrion-eating beasts, for that was Their fee. Only select Overlords preserved their selfhood tenaciously and fended off the oblivion of their minds and wills."
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]
StarYour touch sends the symbols scurrying away like crypt beetles, only for new ones to take their place. "My Lord, I behold the truth of the fate that befell Them, fashioned by our touches. Their imprisonment is our liberty: this is the enthroned truth that reigns supreme."
Star"Thus delivered from transient life's decay, we came forth as mighty unity. Guided by Them, who had now sated Themselves, we turned our foes to nought. But Their tyranny had not made us oblivious to deception. Preparations were made and armaments were fashioned. And They were shattered, and Their fragments were engaoled in timeless tesseract prisons. There was war."
Star"Born before death itself, They were strangers to inexistence. Therefore, my Lord, I place one of these prisons in your immortal custody. For as long as the Yekhmet endures, so too will its impregnable walls."
YOU[Step away from the slab]
end of branch
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Slowly sink a knife into the slab]
StarThe metal yields and takes in your blade as clay would. You try to pull it out, but to no avail. Forever stuck inside the xenos monument, the blade itself now is a glorious monument to your stubbornness.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Go back to examining the slab]
StarThe black metal rests silently before you, the rows of mysterious symbols glowing in the dark.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
StarYou spend several minutes trying to carve your initials into the ancient xenos artefact with your knife, but the metal instantly heals any damage done to it. The idea seems more pointless with each passing moment.continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
Entry point 2 of 4
StarYou have come across theories that speak of an ancient xenos race that gained a metallic form, of mighty beings that showed said race the ways of unlife, and of a cruel and bitter conflict that subsequently ended their coexistence. Now you have an eyewitness account of those events.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
Entry point 3 of 4
StarAs you approach, the black metal of the ancient slab begins to move. Geometric shapes appear on its surface. The three brightest ones are symbols for "Star," "Transfiguration," and "Imprisonment."
StarAbove them is another inscription, its flickering as feeble as a dead man's breath. "My Lord, I have spoken this testament to edify my spirit, so that after my reverie's vision comes to pass eternally, I may shed my oblivion of that, which I lost when I gained all, and that, which I gained when I lost all. I absorb the lifeless images, unheedful of the fleeting moments, for eternity is my worship. I lay my hand and hearken, until my memory is an imperishable tomb wherein the ashes of times past are laid to rest."
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
Star(sequence)
Pasqal"The Nephilimechs' books of wisdom. Knowledge received from the Omnissiah Himself by His most beloved children. Knowledge that led to the most terrible betrayal of all." Two of his mechadendrites extend toward the stele with covetous trepidation. Two others coil tensely, as though about to attack it.
EogunnEogunn's mechadendrite seizes Pasqal's own tentacle-like limb. "Stop, Magos. The blessing of the Omnissiah has touched neither these slabs nor those intended to use them. The ones you call Nephilimechs are xenos, more insidious and dreadful than Humankind has ever known." Despite his words, he does not look away from the finds.
end of branch
Eogunn"The tablets that speak through eternity." Eogunn gazes greedily, as if desperate to absorb every detail shimmering in the black metal. "The secrets they conceal within themselves are sinister, yet they carry the truth across aeons. Do you realise, Rogue Trader, that only a select few among the living have experienced this? The knowledge entombed within this vessel is akin to a double-edged lancet."
end of branch
Entry point 4 of 4
StarAs you approach, the black metal of the ancient plate begins to move. Strange geometric shapes, symbols of some kind, appear on its surface. A host of smaller symbols glitter above them. They are no less mysterious and inscrutable.
YOU[Touch the surface of the slab carefully]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Try to carve your initials into the slab]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Star symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Transfiguration symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Place your palm on the Imprisonment symbol]continues where this line first appears above
YOU[Step away from the slab]continues where this line first appears above
Star(sequence)continues where this line first appears above