MANDRAKES Drukhari Demon Eldar

he was awed i didn't notice it for ages not really but now i'm starting to think that i am the only one the only person who sees him for what he is whatever he is wherever he comes from he isn't like the rest of us at first i thought he was shy you get so many of them out here orderlies unimportant generally ignored and abused the only time we really exist is when something has gone wrong when someone has to take the blame so you get plenty of them the shy ones beaten down tired out head down slouching through their existence with the only hope being a miracle the miracle of something anything changing but it never does i used to have such dreams as well once upon a time not now like my physique and my appetite for marine fiction it has dwindled over the years it's the soul-crushing boredom of it all but nor would anyone wish for excitement in the imperium that can only mean one thing an invasion and that never ends well not for us not for them we rarely lose but it's bad when we do high stakes as always so the job we do here simple relay station that it is is still intensely important the imperium is huge the coordination of its many resources are an art as much as a process or procedure the wheels turn slowly the majority of the time but when slicked with the correct lubricants the right buttons are in danger of being pressed that it's actually awe-inspiring to witness what we can do how much we can gather in such a short period of time we had been monitoring abundance tertius for a good few rotations now most have had only one rotation but this was my second it seemed that there were not quite enough engineers of my lowly station to afford me a break so here i stayed on the small and rather cramped monitoring satellite station but our arrays were forever pointed outwards not down at the planet for there was to be a battle a campaign a such size and scope that it was barely conceivable so many elements of the imperium's finest were arriving in the system many would take days to get to the main population centers and stations around those worlds from the jump point but arrived they did and this listening station was recording all that went on for certain but also trying to angle its arrays so as to discern movement or activity in the darkness of space between this system and its neighbors fleets of ships had already arrived and began the process of being reassigned to battle groups forming in the segments of the system the navy was represented in all of its glory the many ships now preparing to fight for every last inch of space from escorts and frigates all the way up to cruisers battleships and grand cruisers the fleet was well equipped and well led for the coming combat but there were more forces than just a in the skies above the planets of the system multiple battle barges and astartes manned ships had translated into the system and were massing in different areas forming the backbone of many a flotilla but generally separate to the mainline squadrons monitors were maneuvered into place missile platforms were dotted around and minefields began to be dropped in areas around celestial bodies lines and lines of cargo ships dropping them out sequentially forming huge nets and lattices that would hopefully snare any assailing fleet elements and punish them the sensors in our main command room were always cogitating always recording whatever was about to happen in this the abundant system was going to be huge so it was seen as a high profile placement while also being the most mind-rotting and repetitive tasks possible honestly so often i have thought that this station could be managed by servators and none would notice any discernible drop in the quality of the reporting but here we all are all dozen of us i was already tired when this new rotation had arrived had already done all of my order finding and internal struggles with the previous rotation i did not wish to go through it all again so simply bowed out so to put it i just went with the flow all these bright-eyed menials had been lied to had been shined up and told that they were doing fundamental work for the war effort the shine would last about a month the arda the rigger but after that point it would soon devolve to lowest minimum effort reporting an analysis due to simple fatigue there was so much information being collected but it almost was bled of its meaning when you see numbers on a screen again and again eventually the numbers are their own entity and no longer matter in what they are meant to represent what they are meant to describe so all of the mindless patriotism in the world will not protect you from the realization that it would not matter who collected the information who did your tasks as long as they were done it's hard not to become jaded when you realize how utterly pointless your activity is as well for if the buildup led to a victory all that would be remembered was the name of the captains the ships involved the planet saved or smashed and if the fleet last then the entire sector will be overrun and this station along with all of the meticulously collected data would be either someone's dinner their placing or their enemy the base and all on it would be destroyed as soon as this reality struck you well all of the potentially reflected glory fell away it was then that the only thing that really distracted people from the mind smashing tedium and repetition of their existence was the oldest pastime in the world gossip so everyone would start watching each other would start cataloging potential slides inventing rivalries imagining cliques forming cliques as a response then acting on it all everyone would dramatize their existence to evade the simple truth of its utter pointlessness not this time i would stand above i was definitely going home after this rotation well away from anyone who would be serving here i did not wish to make friends in other units that would then be a constant strain if the conflict here did then end with mass casualty reports being sent out daily getting up early and making your way to information outlets and looking for other names other outfits on top of your own it could be draining plus i simply could not be asked if i'm honest but you can't help yourself it's the boredom it's the coast quarters you're all shutting together it's the lack of diversity of tasks being able to do it all in your sleep you end up watching everyone if you aren't talking you are listening if you aren't the one doing then you are watching and so as i was not talking i soon noticed it him how odd he was as i said at first i thought he was just shy beaten down or spineless many grey people exist out here no real personality to speak of but he had none zero that was what was so odd he literally did not exist he was a mime a mimic a cuckoo in the nest i was sure of it he never gave his opinion first ever he was backed up whomever was most likely to win but he always made sure he did not hold the accolade of being the last to comment either he was never the first to laugh if he laughed at all come to think of it i can't remember ever hearing him laugh but the main point i'm making as if he always always looked to others reactions first like he was perpetually acting at fitting in he stood after others moved as they did shrugged often and was odd in other ways i would often catch him just looking at everyone in the mess but he was about to burst into tears just for a second his face fell into a picture of utter anguish as if we were seeing a vision from a nightmare looking through a window into hell in those moments i could say without a nanosecond of hesitation without one eye ultra of reserve that he hated being here hated being amongst us i can't say why i have such a strong conviction but i cannot shake the feeling the certainty at first i felt he might be a mutant or a heretic but he was as bland as could be no mutation could be seen a heretic alas if he was in some fanatical cult then all of the numbers would not have helped them unless they were playing on a sector-wide level which was clearly impossible anyone interested in the build-up here could gain much more condensed information elsewhere than men started more munitorum so a spy seemed so unlikely yet he made my skin crawl after a while he would then later seem to swap shifts or alter patterns so that he was often on shift with me i thought that when this idea came to me that i was simply delusional due to the drudge it's what i passed it off as it when it kept on happening because if you were clever and new knew that i suspected something if this was some form of charm offensive well he was not equipped for the task in hand i can tell you all conversation we had was stilted economical blunt and pertaining to work only any attempt to make comment about anything else anyone else or any situation was met with a glazed expression and the shrug he had perfected it said i don't understand and i'm not interested in having it explained so perfectly but for everyone else he had this slight bowel of the head it's like raising of the eyebrows at least an attempt of an apology of sorts i guess but with me it was done that little bit more curdly more dismissively with more finality as he would close his eyes as he turned away and only reopened them again when he was looking directly at his screen again the most overt do not speak to me move i had ever witnessed in my life the first time it happened i was shocked i then learnt to ignore it later i still believed him shy so let it fly but now now it drives me to distraction i now wait for it to happen for his incredibly plain and very forgettable face to take on that pinched expression and turned away as if i am some form of nasal and visual insult that he can no longer stomach but it only seems to be me i've talked to others the few i knew would not then see it as an invitation to be chatty in future no i have noticed anything about him at all to them tolman is entirely unobtrusive and devoid of remarkable feature they barely know he exists i've waited now i've watched i think i know something you see tolman has allowed roberts and ronaldo to appear late to their shift for weeks now and he often turns to me and lets me leave early the close down of one shift is indeed a one-person job not two really so he's been doing this for me also i have to admit that any chance to leave his presence early i usually take eagerly but it's all adding up now he spends a little too much time on his own with all that data so the next night comes the two of us on shift he on one side of the room me on the other he's tapping away at this screen as i am but when i turn off my headset i can hear that he is typing just a little bit too fast his fingers moving that little bit too nimbly it's odd like everything about him but he seems to fidget more tonight seems to be more distracted than usual if distracted it's the right word he seems almost well quietly excited about something is the only way i can put it i have completed my runs of data analysis i've locked everything down it is then that he breaks our little pattern surprising me more than i thought possible it was so quiet i was not used to it so when he spoke it might as well have been a bellow i have to visit the ablutions i will close down tonight as usual i will be back when you have left see you tomorrow night he then stands and walks towards the door and through it not even a buy you'll leave art so odd in fact it's odd enough for me to think something is going on tonight something he definitely wants to be alone in this room to do so it is very worthwhile to check i think what if he was a spy what if i a lowly menial found a spy now that that would be a miracle enough of one to change my life a miracle so as i am alone i creep to the side room and walk inside a janitorial cupboard with the cleaning products are kept i squat down in the dark and wait the door only slightly ajar as i found it i can see his station in the center of the room if he is doing something i should be able to see it from here and then he returns the door sweeps open and he comes in he then locks the door and closes the viewport something is definitely going on i can feel the excitement drain all of the heat from me i begin to almost shiver in anticipation then i realize it is not actually me it is getting cold in here my breath now creating plumes of fog and the tiny slither of light that comes from the main room the door ajar he's moving from his desk to the center of the room it is dark he has killed most of the other lights it is only one beam that he now stands in a dramatic like a ballet about to begin and then tolman bows low with the grace i did not think possible it is then that i notice it the thing that is in front of him i have to put my hand to my mouth i bite down on the flesh between my thumb and first finger in an attempt to stop from gasping from losing control from trying to slam the door and hurl my body against it to keep the thing out for it is not a who it is a what it is a thing long lank blonde white hair angular face and features with its skin its skin is pitch black only barely made out by the swirling pools of light to move on its surface like wards or icons of power that fade and revolve on its skin part of it but not its eyes are dark lamp and slits windows into a dark realm of torture and sin it is a demon of some form a thing of nightmare its ears pointed like an elder it is lies enough to be one yet it is not it is death this is the reason that there is such cold here the reason my teeth now wish to chatter in my skull as it just gets worse instead of hitting a plateau it just seems to get colder as i watch tulman rises from his bow the thing having just walked out of the shadows in front of him he stands erect and more regally than i have ever seen his movements have new silk and quality that hypnotizes and besotts all at the same time he is not what he claims to be i was right but what is he he now passes over a data crystal of some form but certainly not of imperial design the other creature the dark thing extends a limb with a hand whose fingers end in daggerlong claws as it retracts his hands with the crystal it merely points with its other hand at his at one of his fingers tolman now seems to be staggered like he's being struck he takes a pace back and closes his eyes and raises his head to the ceiling and just whispers at last i have earned this at immortality tolman then puts his hand onto a paddle and takes out a knife he then cuts off the end of one of his fingers wraps it in a piece of cloth and passes it to nowhere in dark entity in front of him a voice is chilling as the air now breezes from the dark but not only from where the being stands but from all of the angles all at the shadows and corners all at once i nearly jump out of my skin as it seems to be generated right behind me also i barely contain myself as it speaks and my fee my payment tama now looks at it hard for a few seconds then raises a hand and languidly extends a finger the finger is pointing directly at me his head finally follows as he and he twists it so he looks in my direction as well i can see him and it is clear that he can see me his eyes are smiling his lips twisted in the most cruel and bristling grin i have ever seen insane and yet very sane all at the same time he is not human at all i fall backwards trying to avoid the point of his finger but only strike cleaning equipment and make the clatter in the cupboard that makes any refutation of my presence utterly redundant i stopped dead still i wait for the footsteps to come i can only seal tulman now his dark ally is not in sight but that is when it happens it is when it strikes i feel my back unzip as the blade scores from my tailbone all the way up up to my shoulder blades it was so smooth it barely hurt but the cut makes me fall backwards all of my tendons slashed as i just flop i am caught by the entity of pure shadow engulfed in its arms i see the huge blade it used to unzip me like a fish i feel it's called clammy hands on me it's touch sapping all the warmth from any area they touch the strike came from behind me in the dark it did not move it simply appeared behind me as if it were the shadow made manifest it's called hate given form i cannot resist as it then grins and just drags me backwards out of the light then beyond the dark corners of the room it drags me into a dark that is not merely an absence of light introduces me to a cold that is not just a lack of heat it drags me into its realm to consume me welcome gentle listener i am voldemort and i wish to introduce you to the forces factions and denizens of the grim darkness of the far future of the warhammer 40k universe and there can be few denizens of the dark so terrifying so mysterious so deadly as these foul creatures for today we are to introduce the mandrakes as usual for the very basics let us lean on existing wisdom to quote mandrakes within the shrouded corners of the labyrinth dimensions like all manner of nightmarish entities and subconscious terrors given form yet nowhere in the web way is more shrouded in dreads than elendrach where darkness itself has gained a sort of horrifying sentience for it is the home of the creatures known as mandrakes a vile breed that is secretly feared even by other drugari a mandrake can pull itself into reality straight through another being's shadow emerging with a hiss to sink its ice-cold claws and teeth into warm flesh their inky skin rise was forbidden runes and their faces shift and flow one moment sealing over into an expressionless mask the next parting like a reopened wound filled with needle teeth mandrakes exist both in reality and a cursed other world and to fight them is to fight living shadow for they are not fully corporeal as the tangibility ebbs shots pass harmlessly through them though the same is not true of the mandrake's own attacks which always land with visceral physicality they're able to manifest anywhere that shadows gather in the groom and as such are a malevolent bane on night worlds and in war zones that are veiled in darkness the planet mordian home of the iron guard regiments of the astra militarum has endured multiple mandrake attacks the fiendish creatures appearing to butcher high-ranking officers before receding from reality once more the true origins of the mandrakes are shrouded some claim the matrix descended from elderly who engaged in heinous union with unholy entities when their empire was at its most decadent others maintained that the mysterious stalkers are the successors of a forbidden cult that found its way to escape the fall passing into shadow and emerging as something altogether more alien younger drukari called the mandrakes creepers whispering that they slink from one shadow to another to crawl their way out of reflections to emerge in the real world they believe the mandrakes are unlike given life and in many ways they are right all these wild theories do not seem so far-fetched when one considers the mandrake's appearance their flesh is cold dark and seems to absorb rather than reflect light their features shift like oil and their lank hair is as pale as splintered bone surrounding them is an aura of darkness and cold that sucks the strength of those nearby often the first sign of a mandrake attacked will a thin rim of ice hanging in the air the twisting shapes set into flesh are sigils of destruction that pulse brightly whenever the mandrake feeds upon the pain of it of its prey mandrakes are capable of channeling these stolen energies shaping blasts of cold fire that roar out from their claws to freeze their victims in place when they fall upon their prey they do so with not only talon and fang but also with blood-encrusted glimmer steel blades that are reminiscent of the surgical tools of the himalay like all denizens of komora the mandrakes thrive on the malevolent infliction of pain and because of their unsurpassed stealth many a dukari arkhan has sought their services when mustering his forces for a real space raid the mandrakes usually ask for slaves as payment but sometimes they will ask for something far more esoteric such as a heartbeat a true name or a voice few cabinet lords know the real price that they are paying yet such requests are rarely denied for mandrake's go to war clad in the patchwork skins of those who have jilted or betrayed them they are infamous for their ability to track down their quarry and when a cold claw closes upon an ankle or wrist in the dark the icy bite of the mandrake is never far behind even as dubail vekt was not safe from the reach of elindrach mandrakes penetrated every ward and sub-dimensional barrier guarding the supreme overlord's inner sanctum emerging with blades in hand to butcher the most powerful archon ever to have lived when victor appeared once more and declared himself their living dark muse he enacted swift a merciless retribution against every cormorate who had shown even a hint of disloyalty yet his wrath was not visited upon the mandrakes perhaps perhaps it is because they were knowing players in his grand maneuver or perhaps it is because they strike fear even into vek's black heart there is very good reason why so many of the galaxies cultures and societies are afraid of the dark inquisitor baster end quote so here we see one of the foulest beings to lurk in the dark for every folk tale and horror one can imagine is all too real in this dark dystopia and it is in the mandrake that we see the true cost of hubris of arrogance the bane that brought the mighty elder iraq's to its knees making the masters of the galaxy its vagabonds for the mandrake is clearly some form of creature based on or in an eldar and in that joyless place the dark city of komora where no one can ever be trusted and only the crew will survive and the culling thrive even in that dark dwelling place the mandrakes are feared and it is now inevitable that their swords will be unceased in real space all too frequently in the near future for there were hints in the psychic awakening subtle but there foreshadowing that we can use to reveal the purpose of the players in that ancient race i will do a full entry on this alone the eldar and how they have changed from the activities and events of the psychic awakening but the most important and most concerning issue i hope i portrayed in the opening story as drupal is the terrible monarch of the dark city the leader of the elijah cines the dukari the true kin the dark eldar and he now has plans it has been said that he has now converted altered changed some of his men and women turning them into the semblance of mon k the word the eldar called the humans and it is concerning as it means that azerbaijan might actually believe his own propaganda he calls himself a living muse basically a god personified but his realm his dark city cormora is dying the quakes from the portal of cain at the very base of the city has ripped asunder recently and seems ever more likely to do so again could the unstable city of cormara finally be about to tumble into the warp itself and if anyone were to know this anyone be realistic and careless enough to see this in purely pragmatic terms it would be as dubai vect the most cunning of an entire race of schemers so his realm is dying and he has started to generate spies cladding the semblance of the humans could astral vector be preparing for a full translation into real space could he be also witnessing the use of nikon dolmen gate and see that his doom is writ on the wall for there will be no hiding in the web way is it finally approaching the time when the eligineus the true kin burst from the web way in strength and begin carving out their own place amongst the embattled stars of the milky way galaxy and if that is to occur then nobody will be safe nobody irrespective of rank faction power or purpose none will be safe from the swords of the mandrakes nor the caress of those other assassins that hail from the dark city for me they are a twisted image of what all eldar will become should corrupting powers ever win and take control of reality knowing that they will no longer be held in check and used almost exclusively inside the city of komara knowing that they may be lurking in every corridor of power of every single faction waiting ready to strike this makes the grim darkness of the future just that little bit more sinister i have been baltimore to your faithful servant i hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to the assassins of kamura the demonic tukari of the dark city the mandrakes if so then please do consider hitting the subscribe button if you do then also hit the notifications bell as i would not want you to miss out now no matter what you do today do try to make some time for fun tulum

Channel: Baldermort's Guide to Warhammer

Views: 63,944

Keywords: Baldermort, Baldemort, Drukhari, Dark Eldar, Dark Eldar Demons, Drukhari Demons, Drukhari Assassins, Dark Eldar Assassins, Warhammer 40K Lore Dark Eldar Mandrakes, Mandakes, Eldar Shadow Demons, Dark Eldar Nightshades, warhammer 40K for beginners Mandrakes, Dark Eldar Mandrakes Lore

Id: Bu4wMN1Krv4

Length: 31min 43sec (1903 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 14 2020