Inquisition of the Damned

MALKANTH'S BLASPHEMOUS DESIRE "The bloodline is severed. "The remaining heirs would argue otherwise. "Their blood ties and bone-bond to the Last King of the Osmium Court mark them as candidates for Ascension, but such is not granted freely. All evolution is…

AKRAZUL'S IMPOTENT RAGE "There are none. "Their strength is a shade of that required by the sword logic's demand for blood and pain. "They, as all, must be made to suffer for their worth to be evident, but they fear such ends. "I am no Inquisitor, by right…

AZAVATH'S EAGER EMBRACE "You, of us all, have suffered and survived, brother. "To many, your severing is a mark of shame. "To many, you should have fallen to dust before returning to the depths in defeat. "My ire, as echoed by my Song, would challenge these…

MALKANTH'S DEADLY PROMISE "Then it is set. "The logic will never find purchase among the unworthy. "And be not unclear, though we revile those we seek to challenge, we are truly their kin. "If not by marrow's tie nor blooded divinity… "Then by our own…

AS BELOW… In the circle in the pit at the bottom of damnation's well, a gathering of brutalists vies for a seat upon an eternal throne. A thousand warriors of dust and ruin clamor for the ritual beginning to another slaughter. AS ABOVE… Would-be puppet…

AS BELOW… Since the Great Osmium King's end, countless champions have been scattered to the winds in search of the sword logic's promised rewards. Immeasurable pain. Immeasurable suffering. Such that, this deep—far below the broken lunar surface where no…

AS BELOW… Zulmak knows they will come for him. Zulmak is ready. The weight of his blade feels light in his grip—an extension of his will. His cleaver cuts with little effort, slicing freely through the fragile bone of some fool with grand designs beyond…

Across the Pit, three siblings watch from the shadows. Malkanth smiles. Hashladûn and her siblings have taken their leave, their disgust evident. They too have found cause to doubt the logic. The politics of the self-appointed puppet masters will distract…

The congregation has departed. Zulmak, impaled by a lesser blade, has failed. The congregation is foolhardy. Zulmak spins. Lodged in his flesh, the blade snaps, its wielder now weaponless but for an edgeless grip. Zulmak crushes the assailant with a…

AKRAZUL'S LAMENT "I am lesser of being and mind, sister. "Your unmaking shall see me whole. "My stolen limb, lost to the Light-born in defense of our Taken King's futile reign, has made me a pariah. "The dishonor of my failings has cast upon us an unwavering…

Akrazul rests motionless on the altar. Such wicked craft as the Inquisition of Self is a science beyond his understanding—stolen by his sister from forbidden lessons in ancient, prohibited texts. Few have earned the knowledge required to navigate the…

SING, O SISTER… OF DEATH AND ITS MANY GIFTS From the first, there has been war. Wars of the self. Wars of conquest. Wars of desperation. Wars of greed. From war, death. From death, an end. From endings, beginnings. One such is now sung in the key of…

IN THESE NOTES, BEAUTIFUL OBLIVION The war had raged for centuries. One of many. Just another. As irrelevant as the next. The stories of the Choir and their Deathsong were thought to be nothing more than folklore—wholly untrue at best, vastly exaggerated at…

All have gathered. The Pit is set for another slaughter. Zulmak, the Unwavering has stood now for a third time. Soon there will be none left to challenge him. Soon, even the mighty who remain will defer to his sword, his power. The congregation in their…

AS ABOVE… The Butcher Queen of the slaughter pits rises to the first balcony, chest heaving and eyes thin with focus, baptized in a clinging muck of bone-dust clotted thick with gore. The congregation is unsure what to make of the display. Fear grips the…

WHISPERS OF DISSENT "Listen close, o Sister of the Song, o Singer of Despair, o Bringer of Death! "Your Song is not yet sung. "Your purpose, yet seized. "Are you violence? Or are you Death? "Two of a kind—mothers of fear—yet not one and the same. "One is…

CONSEQUENCE OF SIN "You love your sisters, but only one offers love in return. Yet, you would allow poor, sweet Azavath to give all of herself for you—to extinguish her essence that you might take her place. But her essence is not the whole of it. What of…

NO GODS, ONLY DEVILS Malkanth feels herself slide free from her body. The exorcism is sudden and effortless. Then come the whispers… "I stoked your brother's fire—riled him that he might strike. "I needed only the wound to tear you free. "The piercing of…

THY SONG SHALL BECOME DEATH "Breathe through new lungs, and consider… "Your sister birthed her own end, which was sired by her wicked ambitions—to subvert the logic and to raze the remainder of the House of Crota, the line of Oryx, that the Swarm might find…

TO FORGE AN ANVIL AS ABOVE… The chaos rises from the Pit. The self-made puppet masters clamor and flinch as Akrazul, cloaked in Azavath's bone, limb, flesh, and grace, ascends to greet them. The Daughters move to escape before the gathered clergy can block…