The cult of the forbidden path

History of the Cult

Millennia ago, before the fall, many of the greatest Eldar psykers foresaw the doom upon their people. One alone detected the presence of Slaanesh growing in the warp, his name is lost to history but it is known that instead of being paralysed with terror, he fell to his knees in worship of this foul entity. He stalked his own kind through the streets of his world, sacrificing as many of his degenerate kin as he could, accelerating the great entity’s birth. When that moment came however, he had just enough time to grasp the depth of his mistake as his soul, along with the majority of the Eldar race’s, was ripped from his body. In that single moment he saw the fate of his entire species and was horrified at what his followers would become. The withered cry of dismay that passed through his desiccated lips was drowned out by the birth scream his newborn god.

Yet all was not lost, for in the days leading up to the Fall, he had gathered a small following of like minded Eldar, including his twin daughters Liu'vash and Eilistraee. At his family’ estate, deep within the Webway, the Cult of the Forbidden Path was founded in the utmost secrecy. However, rather than bowing down in worship of The Great Enemy like their father who they cam to view as a weakling, they instead made war upon her. Mounting raids deep into the turbulent storm that was once the heart of the Eldar Empire, they made great sport of hunting down and capturing the daemons of Slaanesh.

Trapped within arcane soul traps, they brought the lesser daemons back to Commorragh to torture and experiment upon. In dark rituals they discovered how to drain the vile creature’s essence into themselves, merging its soul with their own. As time went on it was also discovered that sharing their soul with the daemons essence completely removed She Who Thirst’s hold on their souls, with the more powerful the daemon the longer the effect. Also, when a possessed Eldar died, fail safes would force the Daemon’s essence to return to its soul trap, carrying with it the soul of the Eldar. In this way, each Eldar that underwent the ritual of binding, as it became known, became immortal. In the most successful hunt to this day, Liu'vash and Eilistraee tracked down the 6 greatest Keeper of Secrets of the age. They drained their essences over a 66 day ritual, becoming the first Arkhierei of the Cult.

The Cult recruited from those unrepentant Eldar within Webway, though were always careful to hide their presence from the noble houses lurking at its heart in Commorragh. With the rise of Vect and the birth of the ‘Eladrith Ynneas’, all the satellite realms were brought to heal or crushed. Sensing opportunity, the cult feigned submission to the new overlord under the pretence of the Heirs of the Forgotten Ways, or Ousseaghlymn. They established a gateway from their estate into the ruins of one of the former noble’s estate in the region that would one day became Low Commorragh. As the warriors of the Kabal of the Black Heart were always needed elsewhere garrisoning the Great gates and launching attacks on those realms that refused Vect’s rule, this gate was seen as a low priority and swiftly forgotten. As the ancient house played little part in the politics of High Commorragh, eventually the ancient house was forgotten altogether.

The Forsaken Torment

In M34 by Imperial standards, the cult only narrowly averted discovery. Most of the Eldar that fail the Ritual of Binding suffer the fate all Eldar fear most: an eternity of torment as their souls are consumed by She Who Thirsts. One of these unfortunates failed to die however and though soulless, brought word of the cult’s existence back to Shrine of Khaine Ascendant, an Incubi Temple dedicated to the Eldar God of war.

The Shrines hierarch immediately summoned his best warriors, launching a scouting mission while he mobilised the rest of the Shrine’s forces. Upon passing through the portal in Low Commorragh, the scouting force found the Webway surrounding the estate to have been completely changed by the cult. As they stalked through the alien landscape, they passed by herds enslaved Seekers roaming through verdant crystal forests and witnessed the twisted warriors train and practiced their dark arts.

Having confirmed the worst fears of the Hierarch, they set off back to the portal to await reinforcements. Little did the Incubi know that all the while they were spying, the landscape subtly changed behind them and soon they were hopelessly lost deep in hostile territory. It was then that the true defences of the Estate awoke. As one, the seekers halted their frolicking and charged, lashing out with the tongues and feet. By the time the Incubi were captured and brought before the Arkhierei, they were insensate, driven to the very heights of pleasure and despair.

Forced to undertake the ritual, the Possessed Incubi returned to the Shrine, reporting that the cult was false and the soulless one had merely been a victim of the Haemonculi. In secret the Klaivex activated a webway portal in the heart of the Shrine, through which the cult infiltrated, capturing the rest of the Cadre after an intense close quarter melee under the brooding statue of Khaine. Reborn as the Forsaken Torment, the Shrines first act was to desecrate the statues idolising the bloody handed god. No longer mercenaries to the Kabals, now the entire cadre exists only to serve the will of the Forbidden Path.

Using ancient technologies belonging to the shrine, the portal in Low Commorragh is now a trap, leading into the heart of one of the black suns. The only way in and out of the satellite realm is through the Incubi Shrine and portable webway portals used to come and go unseen by the Kabals.

As well as the base of the Forbidden Path’s operations within Commorragh, the Shrine of the Forsaken Torment is ideally placed for recruitment. All Incubi shrines are thronged by aspirants, at the Shrine of the Forsaken Torment, those that pass the trials are instead given over to the cult.

I like it, but it should be moved to the Kabal-thread.

oops, if a mod could do that that would be great! Thanks for the Move!!

I have also updated the 1st post, made it a little more streamlined as I am dividing it into sections, so first up is the early history, I am working on fluff for the Forsaken Torment, a subsumed Incubi Cadre, recent going ons, detailing the jouney from Neophyte to anointed as well as 2 Inquistorial reports.

So in other words, more to come!

PS. any commernts, critisms (even if just spelling errors or grammar!) and anything else would be appreciated, I began this from the last book & am updating it for fifth, hope everything fits and the idea is plausable!

Added 18/05: The Forsaken Torment

Warrior Neophytes
Once potential new initiates are given over to the cult, the Neophytes are drugged by the Forsaken Torment and will awaken to find themselves at the foot of the Cult’s old gateway. They are instructed by the Ousseaghlymn that the first rite right of passage is to survive within the Desolation of Low Commorragh surrounding the Cult’s gate. Alone, with only a splinter rifle and his wits to survive, most neophytes are picked off with a few minutes by the horrors that prowl this haunted region. The cunning or fortunate ones that live long enough inevitably join one of the many warbands of his fellow Neophytes proving themselves worthy of the Cults notice. If a band survives long enough they may one day be selected to take part in a realspace raid, where those that catch the eye of the anointed may be offered a place amongst their ranks. As well as fighting to survive the horrors which hunt them, competition is fierce amongst these warbands with skirmishes breaking out between rivals on a daily basis.

Ousseaghlymn
The Ousseaghlymn are the original retainers of the estate from before the fall that never undertook the ritual of binding. Unfalteringly loyal, they serve the anointed as retainers, catering for their every desire. Since the rise of Overlord Vect, they have become the poplic presence of the cult within Commorragh. As well as garrisoning the training grounds surrounding the gateway and selecting the most promising of the Neophytes for advancement, they perform reconnaissance throughout Commorragh, gaining insight upon the kabals and keep the cult informed of the Eladrith Ynneas’ movements.
The Ousseaghlymn are extremely valuable to the cult and they refuse to throw their lives away in battle, as such, they have taken upon themselves to become expert marksmen in Darklight weaponry. Some squads of Ousseaghlymn serve the cult as Scourges. Soaring over the training grounds they pick off the weakest members as well as taking great delight in hunting down those foolish enough to attempt escape.

Beastmasters
The cult has its own specialised corps of beastmasters that attend to the herds of seekers and other daemonic beasts of the cult. They use the innate talents of the seekers to locate daemonic incursions within the galaxy and are often seen leading hunts to capture more of Slaanesh’s children to fulfil the cult’s diabolical needs.
They also oversee the cult’s daemon engines, these arcane machines are kept fed by unleashing them within the neophyte training grounds. The Fiends within these engines take great delight in stalking these disparate groups down. Although equipped with deadly weaponry in their tails, many prefer to ambush their prey in close combat, bloodily ripping them apart to feast on their fouls.

Anointed
Once a Neophyte is deemed worthy of joining the ranks of the Anointed, he or she is taken to the chamber of entrapment. Empty of all adornments, except for the glowing soulstone resting upon a plinth in the centre and arcane runes of binding daubed in blood on the walls. Before being left alone initiate is given a soul trap, a knife they are simply told to trap the daemon within. With that, the door is sealed and the soulstone shattered, releasing the Daemonette within. The battle for dominance is an extremely brutal as the Daemonette, enraged by its confinement, desires only revenge. Only one in ten initiates survive this dual, with those who fail merely empowering the daemon for its next challenger. If successful, the initiate is taken to another chamber. Here he undergoes the ritual of binding the merging of his soul with that of the Daemonette he just captured. Even this ritual is fraught with peril as only the strongest of wills can prevent the daemon from consuming their soul.