Editing Spores of Madness (section)

=== The Belle Dame ===

When the Spores of Madness sacked the stellar wind-swept planet of Robartes and its great subterranean cities, they discovered a lone tower standing in the inhospitable desert of the surface. Standing more than a kilometer in height, the thin, gleaming spire appeared in no records. The Spores of Madness found only a solitary woman chained in the room at the top of the spire, unguarded. Appearing heavily pregnant, the Spores of Madness took the seven chains binding her as a good omen and brought her back to their ship unmolested.

Ostensibly an anemic, listless human woman of indeterminate age with a full term pregnancy, the Belle Dame's humanity is undermined by not only her great height, standing taller than all but a handful of Space Marines, but also her absolute refusal to eat. Most curious is the fact that her abdomen, swollen with child, is nearly transparent, with ribs and organs visible. Her womb appears as a swirling mass of contrasting liquids, with many of the Spores believing that the future can be divined from interpreting the patterns formed by the currents and eddies. A few of the Spores claim to have seen the child she is carrying, but, when pressed, the details given are vague. However, all who have seen the child describe it as giving them an unsettling sense of familiarity.

Most of the Marines see her as legitimate, or at the very least equal to the augury of the Sorcerers. The cultists, who rarely interact with her, have far more mixed reactions, ranging from outright worship as a kind of holy figure to believing she's a deceiver, come to lead them astray from the path of Papa Nurgle. The cultists do not express these distasteful opinions to the Captain.

Because of the Cyrwyn Incident, Captain Boil Beard has lost more and more faith in his sorcerers, and has become more and more obsessive and superstitious over fortune telling and divination, meaning he has developed an infatuation with the Belle Dame. He has taken two of his most trusted [[Plague Marines]] and designated them as her "Pale Guard." They guard her night and day without rest.

Captain Boil Beard keeps her close, in her own private chamber on the ''Pieces of Eight''. Whenever she is seen on the vessel, she is usually accompanied by Boil Beard and her Pale Guard.