So Penitent (and Pariah) are filled with references to myths and legends. Orpheus, Queen Mab, Yellow King, Grails, Pandemonium, Maze Undue/Maison Dieu, etc. etc.
Which is why i think Abnett purposefully left us a puzzle to solve in regards to the King Door. While Beta and the rest of the gang seem more than willing to accept and theorize based on this name. But it is not really what is written on the Stone Arch entrance to the City of Dust.
> Whatever had been inscribed originally was gone. What remained, worn by ages yet still discernibly in the fine style of classical Enmabic, read: KIN G DO OR
Now there is probably little to no chance that this will show up again, or even be decipherable. But i can't help but feel that Abnett wouldn't have given us the option of looking at the spaces in between the words unless we might be able to extract some clue from it?
I haven't been able to get very far with KIN or G, but at least DO OR has the possibility of really being DOLOR which is an archaic term for suffering, and also appears in arthurian legend as the Dolorous Stroke that wounded the Fisher King who is the guardian of the Holy Grail. Or it might be connected to psychic pain traps in the Maze Undue, or the pain that the Cloned astartes seems to undergo.
Just thought it could be a fun exercise to pool together whenever i don't have to look at my dissertation.
Minor Context: I was invested in the works of H.P. Lovecraft long before I got into Warhammer 40K.
I know the setting already draws on the tropes of Lovecraftian Horror, especially when it comes to the unknowable-ness of daemons and the Warp, and to an extent the Tyranids. You even get occasional Easter eggs, like the name-dropping of the Book of Eibon in 'Malleus'.
But Dan Abnett's 'Pariah' and 'Penitent' felt different to me. They felt it felt like an pastiche in the style of early 20th century writers rather than simply borrowing their tropes.
Off the top of my head what I noticed was:
- The consistent French references.
- Many of Robert W. Chambers' 'King In Yellow' stories are set in France (I believe Chambers studied in Paris).
- The Maze Undue (or Maison Dieu) where Beta was raised is referenced multiple times to have been a theater in the past, a reference to the fact that the namesake of the character, "The King In Yellow", was originally a play.
- Plays, performances, and masks feature throughout stories associated with the King In Yellow and the same is true in 'Pariah' and 'Penitent'.
- Bequin's narration style:
- Bequin's story is told from a First-Person perspective, the same as Eisenhorn and portions of Ravenor's stories. But Bequin's story is a bit more... affected in its use of language*.* As someone used to the grandiloquent writing of Lovecraft, this felt very familiar.
- Theme of Urban Decay
- The city of Queen Mab is consistently described in ways akin to descriptions of the fictional towns of Arkham or Innsmouth: old, past their prime, and falling apart.
- Underground world with degenerate inhabitants.
- In 'Penitent' when they are in the Ossuary being harassed by the degenerate tribe of crypt keepers and later discover a vast cavernous realm, it immediately brought to mind stories about underground worlds and their inhabitants such as 'The Lurking Fear', 'The Rats in the Walls', and 'The Mound'.
- The one who's already glimpsed the truth but no one believes them.
- The mathematician and astronomer Freddy Dance glimpsed the King In Yellow's realm and suffered for it.
- Going mad from learning the truth.
- When she reaches the City of Dust and receives several distressing revelations, both regarding the city and herself, Bequin almost goes mad.
- "I think I went mad then." - 'Dagon'.
Side Note: I felt so bad for Renner Lightburn; man's just trying to live his cursed life and gets dragged so far out
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Currently assembling a Novitiate KT, and one ability from the Novitiate Penitent is bugging me :
>Absolution Through Destruction (1AP): Perform a Fight action with this operative, then perform another Fight action.
This ability is fairly simple and similar to others abilities, like these ones :
>Burning Advance (1AP): Perform a free Dash action with this operative, then perform a free Shoot action with it.
>
>Dakka Dash (1AP): Perform a free Shoot action and free Dash action with this operative in any order.
The difference is : there is no "free" word in Absolution Through Destruction.
So I'm curious : if I spend one AP to use absolution through destruction, do I have to pay another AP to use the 2nd fight action ? Or this 2nd fight action is free ?
If I have to pay the 2nd fight action, that means I have to give one AP to the Penitent, from the Novitiate Dialogus :
>Stirring Rhetoric (1AP): Select one friendly NOVITIATE operative within of and Visible to this operative. Add 1 to its APL.
Or from the Novitiate Exactor :
>Whip into Frenzy (1AP): Select one friendly NOVITIATE operative (excluding a NOVITIATE SUPERIOR operative) within of and Visible to this operative. Add 1 to that operative’s APL. In addition, if that operative is a NOVITIATE PENITENT operative, until the end of that operative’s next activation, add 2 to its Movement characteristic.
If I'm reading it wrong, and the 2nd fight action is free, it means the Penitent will always double fight, which is a pretty strong ability, imho.
What do you think ?
Like the title said, how did he do all those fancy schmancy Prayers and Fervorous Blood. Is it by
a) Mea Culpa
b) The Miracle
c) Vow from the Silent Sorrow Brotherhood.
This was a strange question, but it'll determent my D&D Class.
Danke.
If the Penitent One had familiars, what kind would you like to see?
5 base.
+1 for eternal penitent.
+1 for one Caestus.
+1 for another Caestus.
= 8 ?.
I know folks have strong and mixed opinions by the revelation in Penitent that the King in Yellow is >!Constantin Valdor !< . I've seen a lot of folks suggest it's a bait and switch, which I've never bought into. However, after reading Valdor I am increasingly convinced the identity of the King makes perfect sense.
>From Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, chapter 14:
This emotion was nothing so base as a desire to protect reputation or standing, but a locked tight mania for the security of the Emperor and the Imperium. An obsession that never relaxed its grip on his soul. Every waking moment was punctuated by the semi-conscious tremors of imperfection and dissatisfaction. Of not doing well enough, of needing to improve. Of needing to ratchet up the levels of extremity just a little higher.
We see that Custodes have a near-compulsive need to forever escalate their readiness, their capability. There is no end-state in which they are satisfied with their readiness or the state of the Emperor's safety. What might ends might this drive a Custodian to?
>He and his brothers were designed to never rest until this one essential goal was complete. Though they surpassed every other warrior on Terra by margins so huge it was almost incalculable, they alone could derive no satisfaction from their superiority. There were no victories, only opportunities for further study. There were no conclusions, only avenues for more strenuous application. They were swords that would be forever honed, becoming sharper with each application until they aspired to cleave the very heavens themselves.
I've posted before about my theories that the formation of the Great Rift has something to do with the King in Yellow and his City of Dust hidden away in its extimate space bubble near the Eye of Terror. I suspect we might learn more about this in Pandaemonium for a couple reasons. Splitting the galaxy in two with an impassable warp storm is about as literal as you can get with cleaving the heavens.
Additionally, (and I am admittedly reaching a fair bit here) the recently released 40k title Battlesector, which focuses on efforts to reclaim Baal Secundus from the Tyranids after the Devastation, opens with a cutscene explaining the present state of things. The bit about the Great Rift is prefaced with one word: "Pandaemonium."
Throughout Valdor, we're shown a number of instances in which the Captain-General appears to be uneasy with decisions made by the Emperor or
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I'm working on assembly for my army as I'm a little burned out on painting basic Sisters, and I just finished painting my Vahl. I initially picked up two sets of Penitent Engines and have put one box together.
I hate them. They're impossible to keep upright during assembly because the legs are designed abysmally; they're going to be a nightmare to paint, because they're Sororitas models and they have equal parts details and bling in really hard to reach areas; and overall I just don't think they fit well with the rest of the army. They're the only non-Order units I'd be fielding.
I'm struggling to find a way to justify keeping them in the list, though. I am starting to think that rather than have the PEs it might be better to have some Paragon Warsuits kitted out for flamers instead. The biggest advantage that the PEs have is that they can charge like nobody's business, but they are also big targets with very little in the way of defense against shooty lists. The other side is that the Warsuits can benefit from Order abilities or Imagifier auras, while the PEs can't.
I'm coming from a Tau player background so I'm used to fielding models slightly tougher than used tissues but at the same time I know that the Sisters have better melee options, especially with Sacresants. I'm also a recovering Imperial Guard treadhead and I'm trying to resist getting a couple more Immolators or Rhinos to bolster survivability.
Any feedback on my thought process would be greatly appreciated. Short version: should I bother assembling the other box of Penitent Engines, and if not, what should replace it for melee effectiveness?
