Geshtinanna
History of Geshtinanna and Revival
What is Geshtinanna?
Geshtinanna is a Daemon-Princess of [Chaos Undivided]. With the blessings of all four of the [Ruinous Powers], her strength is almost unrivaled in the material realm. Geshtinanna, Lady of Desolace, Recorder of Hell, the Faceless Horror, Princess of Destruction, Bringer of Oblivion, Faceless Princess of Chaos. Her titles are many, to say the least. Geshtinanna has taken unto her a human (or once human) herald, a man named Israel. Those who wish to harm the daemon princess by attacking her herald beware: none have face such terrible wrath at Geshtinanna's hands as those who inflict harm upon Israel. In ancient days past the reckoning of the Imperium of Man, there was a tower. Constructed by mankind, this obelisk unified them in the heart of a place then known as "Babylonia." But the tower, and therefore those under its thrall, secretly served a dark master, an entity from beyond the veil of the material realm.
Geshtinanna was the entity's name, her origins shrouded in mystery. This thing made of mankind her slaves, twisting them, reshaping their minds and bodies like malleable clay until they resembled something that pleased her. It was only after many years of Geshtinanna's tyranny that one came to her realm that would not bow. This man, who we now know to have been the Emperor incarnate, cast the daemon down and liberated her thralls. So great and terrible was His fury that He rent asunder the veil between reality and the Immaterium, cast the daemon into the void and sealed it fast. But Geshtinanna would not be so easily overthrown and forgotten. As she spiraled screaming into the Warp, she bestowed upon humanity a "parting gift," shattering the bonds of brotherhood and unity they had built by splitting mankind's one tongue into many. Her laughter at the confusion and dismay this sowed can still be heard echoing faintly throughout the Immaterium. Long was she sealed away, the universe safe from her depredations, until one man, one fool, set her free:
Revival
A sanctioned Imperial pysker named Bob. Yes, Bob.
After foolishly ingesting the psychotropics given to him by a Slaaneshi cultist, he fucked a goat. Two times, in both holes. Then he killed it, ate it raw and anointed his junk with its blood, thus falling under the sway of the Ruinous Powers (it is suspected that Slaanesh, Prince of Decadence, had a large role in this).
As punishment, his Inquisitor (Roland Kadsirin) decided to use the acolyte as a vessel through which to summon and bind a daemon of the Warp to his service. The Inquisitor couldn't hold back the power of the daemon, however, and it ravaged poor Bob. Bob's flesh began to be malleable, constantly shifting, limbs and horrible screaming faces pushing to the surface before being reabsorbed. Two great horns burst from the skin on his forehead, curling menacingly like those of a ram. Long, avian quills erupted from Bob's nightmare form, covering him in a sleek black coat of oily feathers. Whatever was left of Bob then mercifully perished, the daemon leaving no room for him in his own body. The corpse, sensing the absence of its erstwhile master, began to molt and rot horribly, and at an alarming rate. Perhaps even more terrifying, despite all the rending changes wrought upon Bob, his face was simply... Removed. Where mouth, nose, eyes and ears once were, his skull was clothed in a smooth layer of unbroken flesh.
While Bob's transformation continued, things began to... Happen. Things which bend and threaten to break ones sanity. First, the blood that now coated the floor began to drip upward and pool on the ceiling, as if gravity itself abhorred this place of daemonic birth. Liquefied metal and rust begin to ooze from the walls before mixing with the blood pools on the ceiling. Spiderwebs of frost began to spread outwards from where Bob was standing--nay, floating now, as the temperature in the immediate vicinity of the daemonhost plummeted. Finally, at the edges of perception, a person could hear something moving. Whenever one would try to focus on it, listen to it, it would stop, as if listening back. The thing that was once Bob approached the steadfast Inquisitor Kadsirin. Not to be intimidated, he turned a steady gaze on his erstwhile servant.
What an awful mistake.
The thing laughed as it boiled the Inquisitor's eyes in their sockets, lifting him from the ground and suspending him in midair by sheer force of will. Unable to scream, the Inquisitor merely chokes and gurgles on the surge of blood now pouring from his mouth. Now barely an inch from his face, and despite the featureless mask that was its face, the thing was unmistakeably smiling. Then it spoke; not with a traditional voice, for it has no mouth. No, the daemon instead violates the sacred boundaries of one's mind, raping the mental defenses and seizing control of one's own inner voice, its words echoing violently in a person's head. "Hello, little thing. Such a precious little thing. I am Geshtinanna." The thing taps its talon on the Inquisitor's nose, almost playfully. The effects, however, are far from it. Beginning at the point of contact, the Inquisitor's flesh violently peeled off from his body, exposing the blood, muscles and bones below. His mouth opened in a noiseless scream. And it was thus that Geshtinanna returned to the material realm.
The Creation of Israel
"What are you?!" Cried the Guardsman. Seconds later he was erased from existence, another hapless victim of the Faceless Queen. At that same moment another soldier's eyes boiled. Another clawed his own throat out. A fourth shot himself in the head before he could expire in a more violent fashion.
In moments, the entire squad had either been ripped to shreds or, consumed by madness, had killed themselves. All but one. One very, very unlucky man that had been smart enough to screw his eyes shut tighter than he ever had before. The daemon-host drifted slowly towards him until it was looming over the man like inescapable Death. But this man would not be granted merciful oblivion like those he once stood side by side with had. The daemon Geshtinanna whispered to him, breaking into his mind like a battering ram.
"Open your eyes, pretty little thing."
The Guardsman, his defiance admirable if futile, shook his head. He could not even comprehend opening his eyes. He knew he would be reduced to nothing the moment he did. He spoke back in his mind, either out of continued defiance or in the vain hope of forestalling his inevitable demise.
"Tell me... Wh--what are you called?"
The daemon played with the thought in her head for a moment, then replied. "Uttering my true name would destroy you, little thing." The abomination, initially only planning to toy with this thing before she consumed it, had become suddenly interested in the tenacious little spark that flickered in her Warp sight. "What is yours?" She asked. The man didn't know how to answer. This was a sick game, and he knew it. But the rules, if there were any, were hidden from him. In the end, he answered the daemon swiftly for fear of what it might do if he refused.
"Tammuz. My name is Tammuz Israel."
"I hate that word: Israel." Snarled the abomination. Reeling under the wave of anger that washed out from it like a typhoon, the guardsman collapsed, curling up on the ground and whimpering.
"Why do you lament, Tammuz?" Inquired the daemon, speaking in his own voice, driving him to the brink of gibbering madness.
"You're going to kill me," he stammered in between sobs, "You'll kill me like you did everyone else."
If the thing had possessed lips, it would have smiled then. "Oh no, little Tammuz. I have much, much grander plans for you."
Geshtinanna slowly moved her finger with delight towards the cowering man. Tammuz only shivered, helplessly trapped between death and something worse. Then Geshtinanna spoke to him again.
"I'll make a deal with you, little Tammuz. Are you listening?" Too horrified to answer, the man simply nodded. Once more, that impression of a smile. "I can either kill you now, or I can make you mine. Would you like to be mine, Tammuz?" He didn't know what to say, or what the hell she meant by 'hers.' At length, he replied in a way that he would regret for the rest of his wretched existence.
"Make me yours. I just--I just want to live." At his reply, the thing began to cackle insanely, and Geshtinanna touched the poor soul's forehead, beginning the process.
At first there was nothing. Tammuz heard only his own heartbeat, racing like a warhorse's. After a long moment, he was lifted from the ground and suspended two meters above the ground, unable to move. Erupting around him from seemingly nowhere were purple, turquoise, and black flames. The flames burned him awfully, but his flesh remained unblemished by the will of the daemon. The blistering pain he felt all over his body was nothing to what came next. In the tongues of nine hundred ninety-nine thousand languages, countless souls cried for death's release in his mind. The voices drove him mad, then sane, then mad again. Now, though this tale is known to few, fewer still understand why what happened next happened at all.
Tammuz didn't break. Unlike all the others, he held onto life. His will shouldn't have, couldn't have been strong enough. But defiant of all reason, it was, and that is why Geshtinanna did what she did next. Leaning in close, she spoke to him as his mind settled with what had just happened. "Now this... This is interesting, little Tammuz." The man took a moment to respond, still wracked with the pain of the mind warping.
"What--what are you going to do with me?" As he spoke, Geshtinanna changed into something the man could look upon without losing his sanity: a simple form of a human female, though her face remained as blank and featureless as before. "You may open your eyes now, little Tammuz. No harm will come to you. I have plans for which I require your assistance. There are some little insects on a filthy dustball of a planet that need to be reminded of something."
And with that, Tammuz Israel, former Guardsman and faithful servant of the Emperor, opened his eyes to gaze upon his new life and form. And so it was that Israel the Unyielding, Herald of Geshtinanna, the Faceless Princess of Destruction, came into being. From then on, the terrible destruction wrought by the daemon princess was preceded by the hooded and cloaked Israel, posing as a doomsayer and clairvoyant. Though he has been captured several times since then (most notably by the Inquisition and even the Alpha Legion, allegedly), each time Geshtinanna has found him, and come for him. And when she does, her terrible vengeance leaves none to tell the tale.
Woe unto those who attempt to waylay the Herald of Geshtinanna.
The Litany of Geshtinanna
Geshtinanna! Faceless One! Queen of Madness! Grandeur of Change and Mistress of Ruin! Who can gaze upon thy majesty and live? No one! No one!
Geshtinanna! Your voiceless cries blanket all in madness! A thousand thousand throats wail your black rites! Geshtinanna! Bless us through the spent flesh of the deluded and the damned! Flesh and steel warp and tear at your command! Nothing can withstand thy will!
Geshtinanna! The Faceless Princess of Chaos, Winged Madness! Change is your creed, delirium your herald! All hail thee! Let all bear witness to thy passing!
Geshtinanna! Geshtinanna! Geshtinanna!"
The above is repeated until Geshtinanna appears to silence all those who chant this forsaken litany. She really hates it for a unknown reason.
Kadsirin Returns
Pain. Pain is all that I know. It is my mother, my father, my brother and sister. My best friend, my worst enemy, my lover.
It has ever been thus. Though occasionally the ghostly after images of something, some different time dance at the edges of my perception, I cannot take hold of them. My god, the Emperor of Mankind, has forsaken me, for in my arrogance, I dared question His omniscience... Dared supplant it with my own meager collection of knowledge. Such a price mankind will pay for that. Such a terrible price.
At times in the darkness, I stumble upon a shred of my sanity. Always feeble, always fleeting, I latch onto it like an animal being washed downstream, desperate to survive the unending torrent. It is in these moments that I remember a name. A name born of some other place... A dark place.
Geshtinanna.
Then the laughter comes, and my respite from madness is at an end. I hate the laughter. It is the only thing I feel anymore. Hatred for that hideous cackling and the abomination from which it sallies. Hatred for myself, for it was my hand that brought about Its birth. She is always watching, you understand. Watching, waiting, laughing, prodding at my broken form.
I hate Her. She has left me in the dark now... Something else has taken hold of Her attentions. Perhaps a planet to devour, a genocide to commit... I do not know. I know only that I welcome such rare mercies. In the black void, I am numb. Drained of emotion, ambition, desire... Even my hatred for Her ebbs and slows as I take every advantage of this moment to steady myself. In all the eternities that I have suffered here, never has an opportunity such as this presented itself. I am alone. She is not here to torture and mock, to blaspheme against the holy Emperor. As I consider this, anger wells up in me once more. Different than the hate I am so familiar with, this feels... Righteous. Furthermore, it is not directed at Her, no... I realize that I am angry with myself. No, not even that... The heat is not coming from within. This anger presses down on my mind from elsewhere. It exhorts me to right the wrongs I have unleashed upon this universe.
"Get up," it says, "Get up and fight, Roland."
"I cannot!" I wail back at the void. "She has broken my body and my mind. I am as nothing before Her." And then, such searing pain, white hot like the bellies of ten thousand burning suns, consumes me. It is not Her. This pain is different... It sharpens my mind and blows away the coiling mists of madness like a furious gale.
"GET. UP."
The words tear through me like a bolt round exploding in my skull. Hot, painful awareness washes over me; agony and the stench of iron. For the first time in eons, I open eyes that I no longer have.
I am alive.
Inquisitorial Reports on Geshtinanna
File One: The Interrogation of Cain Augustii
Inquisitorial records from the archives of [REDACTED]
The subject is one Captain Augustii of the commercial freighter [REDACTED]. Interview conducted by senior Inquisitor [REDACTED].
[REDACTED] - Tell me, captain... How did you survive the events aboard your ship? The [REDACTED], was it?
Augustii - We... We were just on a routine supply run when--Emperor protect me--when I saw it.
[REDACTED] - "It"?
Augustii - Aye... It. She. It was like She was in my head. My helmsman also claimed to have seen it. That was when things started to go bad. We picked up an emergency vox transmission from the planet below. It was... Disturbing, to say the least.
[REDACTED] - Yes, we have prior knowledge of this phenomenon... Please, continue.
Augustii - I ordered the helmsman to lay in a course away from the planet immediately. By a fluke, I guess, we managed to slip by the Imperial Naval ships stationed in orbit. I wish we didn't slip by at all. It would have been better.
[REDACTED] - Yes, it would have. You have paid for your cowardice, as all cowards do.
++Heaving sobs, presumably from the subject++ Augustii - By the Throne. It didn't take long before, I guess one of the weaker crewman's mind broke. We never knew, couldn't have known, before we entered the Warp. Blessed Throne, all we wanted was to get away.
++More sobs, unintelligible exchange between Inquisitor [REDACTED] and the subject rallies him.++
Augustii - The heretic started screaming that all was lost and the Emperor was--was...
++Another pause.++
Augustii - He said that our God-Emperor was dead. I executed him immediately, but not quickly enough. He had already sabotaged the Geller field generator. They were everywhere. I gathered what men I still had, and we managed to hold them off long enough for the cogboy to fix the generator. They were saying something, over and over again, repeating it like a chant... A name. "Geshtinanna." When we re-entered realspace, we were right back at [REDACTED] and were picked up by the Imperial Navy.
[REDACTED] - Thank you. Do not fear. The Emperor's Holy Inquisition has found you to be free of the taint of Chaos.
Augustii - Y--you have? I mean... Thank you, my lord! Thank the Emperor! Thank the Inqui--
++A door opening is heard.++
Augustii - What?! I don't understand! You said--
[REDACTED] - I said you were free from the taint of Chaos. You are merely a coward, and for that will be provided the mercy of a quick death.
++A gunshot is heard, bolt pistol, Godwyn pattern.++
END OF FILE
File 2:Interrogation, Unidentified PDF Soldier
Inquisitorial records from the archives of [REDACTED]. Subject is a surviving member of the 81st PDF Infantry Regiment of [REDACTED], which was sent in to contain what was initially believed to be a routine disturbance in the underhive. The subject's mind has been broken, and radically shifts between complete and utter horror at what he has done, and absolute, remorseless worship of the thing known as [REDACTED]. Interrogation conducted by senior Inquisitor [REDACTED] on [REDACTED].
[REDACTED] - I assume you know why you are here?
++Muffled sounds, possibly whimpering.++
[SUBJECT] - Ye--yes...I've seen something that should not be seen, should not exist... SILENCE!
[REDACTED] - Go on...
++More whimpering, the shuffle of chained feet.++
[SUBJECT] - Well... My regiment was holding a cordon around Hive Spire Tertius of [REDACTED]. There were reports of--GLORIOUS, UNLIMITED POWER.
++Here a voice (presumably the subject) yelps in pain, groaning as pain stimuli is implemented to maintain its focus.++
[SUBJECT] - No, no God-Emperor, please! Make it stop! I'm sorry--NO I AM NOT, BOW BEFORE THE LADY!
[REDACTED] - Your "Lady" is not here. If you presume that I will be cowed by a mere warpshadow of... "It," you are gravely mistaken.
[SUBJECT] - NYAAAGGGH! THE LADY WILL--Aaaahhhhh...
++Silence, heavy breathing.++
[SUBJECT] - I...I think I can hold it off...Emperor's Light! What has happened to me?! Emperor preserve and protect me!
[REDACTED] - Sadly, the time has passed for such pleas. No. You will not be saved, not be granted the mercy of death. You will live on. For study.
++Uncontrolled sobbing, footsteps. The slamming of a heavy door.++
END OF FILE
File 3:Interrogation, Unidentified Male
//ACCESSING SYSTEM CACHE
//SYSTEM CACHE ACCESSED. QUERY?
//5578-1232-GAMMA
//…
//FILE NOT FOUND
//**********
//AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED. WELCOME, INQUISITOR. QUERY?
//5578-1232-GAMMA
//FILE FOUND, WARNING: INCOMPLETE
//LOADING…
//…
//…
++TRANSCRIPT OF INQUISITORIAL INTERROGATION++
++IDENTIFICATION CODE: 5578-1232-GAMMA++
++WARNING: VERMILLION CLEARANCE REQUIRED++
++SUBJECT: UNIDENTIFIED MALE++
++INTERROGATION CONDUCTED BY LORD INQUISITOR [REDACTED] AT THE INQUISITORIAL HOLDINGS ON [REDACTED]++
[INTERROGATOR] “Alright, ‘inquisitor.’ Let’s try this again.”
++The sound of a metal chair scraping against the floor is heard, presumably the interrogator drawing up to the cell’s table++
[SUBJECT] “I’ve told you everything there is to tell. You are now standing directly in the path of an agent of the Holy Ordos and knowingly obstructi--”
[INTERROGATOR] “Don’t you get tired of this? I do. I get tired of listening to you pretend you’re someone you’re not, someone you cannot possibly be. I get tired of you telling me that I stand in the way of justice, when in reality, whatever delusions you have of being some kind of instrument of the Emperor’s will are merely the demented ravings of a broken madman.” ++A moment of silence, broken by an audible sigh. The sigh sounds wet, as if rattling its way out of a ruined throat.++
[SUBJECT] “Madman? Oh yes. Yes, I am mad. One cannot hear the things I have, lay eyes on the nightmares of unreality as I have, and retain their sanity. But I am sound in this: if you do not release me, if I am not able to complete my task, everything, EVERYTHING is lost.”
[INTERROGATOR] “Your overestimation of your own importance is staggering. The Imperium of Man can and has stood fast against the most nightmarish things imaginable for tens of thousands of years without you. Even if you are who you say you are.”
[SUBJECT] “Roland Kadsirin, Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereti—NNGAAHHHHH.”
++Audio distorts momentarily, presumably because of a power surge caused by the use of pain stimuli.++
[INTERROGATOR] “Yes, yes, we know! And I’ll even admit that the way you strode in here without so much as tripping an alarm was rather impressive. But you should have chosen your cover more wisely. The Inquisitor Roland Kadsirin is dead. Has been for years.”
++Hoarse, rasping laughter.++
[SUBJECT] “Dead? No. Were it so easy for me. My task is unfinished, and the Imperium hangs by a thread while we trade witticisms in a four by four cell. Tell me, interrogator: how will the Emperor look upon you when you see Him again, knowing that you obstinately stood in the way of his will incarnate?” ++Another sigh. The shuffling of papers. A chair scrapes backward.++
[INTERROGATOR] “I think we’ve come as far as we’re going to today. Take him back to the holding cell. We begin fresh tomorrow.” [SUBJECT] (inaudible, track sharpened and enhanced, interpretation only) “I will not be here tomorrow. And neither will you.”
END OF FILE