Editing Quest:The Long Night:Sparks at Midnight (section)

==Back to Avernus==

With the losses of the war, it seems feasible now to reform both the Trust Army and the Trust Navy, as well as work on some new ship designs. With the Avernus Navy, however, you come up with a more radical decision. You are simply going to turn it over to the Trust, leaving for yourself only the Orbital Defences and Monitors.

Aria, meanwhile, while researching ways to break down Warp effects, has discovered something interesting. The [[Winds of Magic]]. While you did know already about the Skink Priests using them, this shows humans might be able to as well. And the Skinks are willing to teach you. It seems that ever since the Slann died, Areatha was the only person to learn High Magic.

The Eldar come to Avernus with the last Avatar of Khaine. In a desperate move, they use the accumulated faith of the surviving Siren church to revive it back into a full god. It works, although of course the reborn Khaine is not nearly as powerful as before. On a less bloodthirsty note, Isha managed to restore her husband, [[Kurnous]]. Soon afterwards, she arrives at Avernus in order to revive the Slann.

It is estimated she will need eighty years to a century. At least fifty years will pass before Chaos notices. Gives you some time to bunker up.

Psykers have been on a rise lately. Over a hundred Betas every year, and Alphas creeping up to a dozen. Enough to strain the Hunters. Now, you learn the reason. The world has bred a trainable Alpha Plus. A boy named Stephen Irwin, who currently spends as much time as possible close to Saint Lin's tomb.

Remember Ridcully divining how to build some ancient gear? This time, he finally managed (after a dozen attempts) to divine how to fix one very ancient piece. A broken [[Blackstone Fortress]] the Eldar have. Should be a big help against the Destroyer and other C'tan. And speaking of C'tan, he also manages to thwart a major effort by them. An attempt to use a pawn in order to breach Abaddon's containment on the Void Dragon, allowing it to omnicide the galaxy.

Who this (sadly dead now) pawn was, you might ask? Turns out it was [[Omegon]]. Yet another poor Primarch dead...

Tuska is doing well against Vect. So well, in fact, that in a few years, the regular Eldar start worrying. Thankfully, with Ridcully's aid, they manage to arrange all the mess into a nice little showdown. Tuska's WAAAAGH! manages to cripple Vect's empire, but then the Eldar assassins manage to kill the Greenskin, and the horde is shattered once again.

On Avernus, you are sparing no expenses on preparing. The militia are getting Power Armour, the ones on Avernus do, at least (the moons have three times the population by now, but you can't afford equipping them). Combat augments are being upgraded. Already your elite forces would have been enough to take out all of the Old Imperium's Astartes. Layers of fortresses are being built around your Hives. The Hives themselves are being fitted with Psychic Cannons. In the upcoming incursion, you can only hope no significant force will be headed your way.

Twenty years after Isha's arrival, Ridcully states you have fifty years. That means ten to thirty years of incursion until the first Slann wakes up. On the bright side, The Silent King had finally exterminated the last Tyranid ship along with Bile onboard. You are also notified about an upcoming Ceremony of Remembrance, a once-a-millennium event where the Avernites recollect the history of the galaxy. You should probably visit it. First, however, you should go to some other, more peaceful places; the workload lately has been enough to make you faint.

Ridcully manages to divine a couple more things. First, a long-time suspicion of yours is confirmed. The polity manipulated by [[the Deceiver]] is the Tau. Second, he divines the Men of Iron rebellion. Turns out Be'lakor was the one responsible. The motives are unknown. He also manages to help Stephen pass. Barely; for all of the World's efforts, the power of an Alpha Plus is still straining human ability to control.

Speaking of Be'lakor, the guy has recently grown tired of all the squabbling and pointlessness of the Chaos Gods. He decided to leave their service – as much as it is possible for a Daemon Prince, at least. The resignation was handed to them in a manner befitting a fifty-seven-million years old manipulative bastard.

During a duel meant to empower Ahriman by arranging for [[Kairos Fateweaver|Kairos]] to defeat [[Skarbrand]], he interfered. Kairos was slain. Skarbrand was badly wounded, but Be'lakor cured him of both the wounds and the madness Khorne gave him after the assassination attempt.

At the cost of his Daemonhood.

The now mortal Skarbrand was sent away, and Be'lakor, while still retaining the Blessings of all Chaos Gods, cannot be commanded by them unless all five agree on the order. A rare occurrence, but the upcoming incursion might just be critical enough for that to happen.