Illisk

“Lies, all of it... especially those portions as ring true in the heart when first heard. This is the liar’s craft displayed, and so undone. That is my judgment upon these so-called Thulean secrets.”
–Astigos of Far Prol, Seneschal to Morthus Winterscale
The Disciples of Thule possess records that speak of a
strange machine world deep in the Koronus Expanse:
hidden cogitation arrays are packed beneath every part of its
crust in huge vaults descending to the very limits of geo-auspex
probes. The surface is swept by tumultuous storms
and rendered barren by ancient strip mining. Huge towers
vent geothermic heat through vast shafts into the turbulent
atmosphere, the heat driving frenzied storm belts of churning
clouds. Ten citadels project from the crust, each massive as
a hive, echoing and empty but for the whispering dust of
xenos dead. Corridors tens of kilometers long are crowded
with niches in which dried xenos corpses remain, their
desiccated flesh still punctured by filaments that link into the
vast machines.
==A Machine World==
“This world, this massive thinking machine, shows us that the Omnissiah’s gifts transcend even us. If this is not proof that the Omnissiah exists, I do not know what is.”
–Magos Dakar, Disciples of Thule (declared Traitorus Excommunicate, 701.M41)
Illisk is a world orbiting a dying ember within the
Accursed Demesne. It’s a place known only to the
Disciples of Thule and a handful of trusted Rogue Traders.
According to most explorers and void-born operating within
the Koronus Expanse, this world is worthless—all of its
mineral wealth played out by ancient strip mining. Its resident
xenos culture died off long ago, the entire ecosystem destroyed
by their desperate final efforts. However, despite the apparent
worthlessness of this world, Illisk harbors a terrifying secret,
and a great discovery. A select few members from the Disciples
of Thule, and by extension the Adeptus Mechanicus, continue
to study and research the planet in an effort to unveil the secrets
of its creation; perhaps even bringing them one step closer to
the Omnissiah. Yet, the technology evidenced on Illisk was
banned long ago by the edicts of the holy God-Emperor of
Mankind. The Thuleans risk much in their quest, but they see
it as a small price to pay for apotheosis.
Within the outer edges of the Accursed Demesne,
close to the Rifts of Hecaton, the planet Illisk orbits a dying
ember of a fuel-starved sun, one of four small planets and
a sparse asteroid belt. The planets neighboring Illisk are
unremarkable; two worthless balls of mud and rock and a
dwindling gas giant. The Disciples of Thule agree that if
it weren’t for Illisk itself, there would be no reason to visit
this system, as its useful resources were exhausted ages ago.
Illisk is a wind scoured and barren wasteland whose only
native life appears to be stunted bushes of hardy scrub and
lichen sparsely scattered within the rocks and crags. Its entire
surface is blasted by powerful shatterstorms that can strip the
flesh from the bones of an unprotected human in a matter of
moments—and the most powerful of these storms can even
rip through steel and ceramite.
No mountains exist anywhere on Illisk; the now extinct
xenos strip-mined the entire surface for minerals and
wealth. Even now, in the 41st Millennium, the evidence of
this massive undertaking is still present. Dotted across the
surface of this world are massive geothermal vents that reach
deep below the mantle, venting their heat and vapors high
into the atmosphere, exacerbating the planet’s unstable
weather patterns. These vents are tied into a vast network of
geothermal power reactors used to keep the planet’s systems
operating. However, there is a steep price to be paid, as the
atmosphere barely supports any life. Shredded and raggedly-torn
pieces of Thulean and Imperial equipment lie scattered
about as a testament to the tenacity of the Disciples of Thule
to establish their presence on the surface. Since very few
outside the Thuleans actually know about Illisk, not many
scavengers have come to pick over the debris and detritus.
Aside from the massive open mining pits and hills, ten lonely
citadels built of a curiously unknown black metal jut out from
the sands and rock. Their echoing halls resound with the noise
of the howling winds, the hum of the planet’s ancient systems,
and the sigh of atmospheric processors. The arrangement and
placement of the citadels seems to have been of some importance
to the ancient xenos, although what the purpose is has yet to
be divined by the explorators of the Disciples of Thule. Eight
citadels are situated equidistant from one another along the
planet’s equator. The other two have been placed at the poles of
the planet. No one outside the Disciples of Thule knows why
these massive hives were placed at these locations. Additionally,
the citadels are the only structures that exist on the surface of the
world that have withstood the raging fury of the shatterstorms.
The thin atmosphere of Illisk makes it very dangerous to
work on the surface without some sort of breathing apparatus.
However, the citadels (despite being open-walled cities)
are sealed against the elements and maintain a breathable
atmosphere inside. How this is accomplished is one of the
many mysteries the Disciples of Thule are trying to solve.
==The Thuleans of Illisk==
The Disciples of Thule discovered Illisk after following up
on log entries regarding contact between xenos worlds and
the Imperium, found within the famous Dolorium Vaults
in 745.M41. After collating the data from hundreds of
servitor-manned probes, they located what they thought was
the location of a possible lost Explorator colony: the planet
Illisk. Months of searching and research led the team to the
conclusion that Illisk may have been visited by the Adeptus
Mechanicus millennia ago, but for whatever reason they chose
to not establish any settlements here. It was while probing
the polar citadels that the Thuleans made one of the largest
discoveries within the Koronus Expanse.
Magos Egan Vaughn, a devout disciple of Magos Solus Kanceme, and his team were exploring the ruins of the
Arctic citadel in an attempt to discover what power
sources were being used to keep the citadels’
systems operational, when they discovered
a shaft leading down deep beneath
the planetary surface. Taking a lift that ran the length of
the shaft, they descended into a cavernous chamber with
dimensions exceeding the limits of their hand-held auspex
scanners. So immense was this chamber that it had its
very own ecosystem, complete with weather and unique
life forms. While this was noteworthy, it certainly wasn’t
remarkable. As the team pressed on they soon discovered
other rooms packed with cogitator arrays and logic-engines.
Soon, they uncovered more chambers filled with an array
of computation devices and monitors. In fact, beneath the
planet’s surface rested billions upon billions of computation
and calculating systems of xenos design.
==Specific Locations on Illisk==
While the citadels are the only structures capable of surviving
on the surface of Illisk, there are several locations that are
of interest to Rogue Traders and their crews. Since the
Disciples of Thule do not control the entire world, it should
be relatively easy for a band of explorers to find their way to
the surface.
==The Crypts==
As work progressed into understanding the scope and
function of this machine world, members of other teams
began finding numerous areas that could only be described as
alien crypts. Walls hundreds of meters high were pocked with
niches; each containing a single mummified corpse of what
remained of the planet’s xenos population. More astonishing
still, each niche was surrounded by monitoring systems
and displays resembling the sensoria-beds used in Imperial
medicae facilities. Each and every one of the petrified bodies
were inundated with tubes and cables attached to various
points, piercing the flesh. To this day, the Disciples of Thule
have no understanding of what purpose these niches—and
the systems they are connected to—serve.
Magos Vaughn is rumored to be considering connecting
some test subjects to the systems once the team assigned to
them figures out how to commune with the xenos machine
spirits within. Once that happens, he will monitor progress
and determine what exactly these systems are used for. There
is some trepidation about this methodology, as some believe
that whoever is directly connected to the machine spirits of
these devices will become possessed by them—taking on the
personalities of the xenos who were connected to it.
==Picket Ships==
Once the significance of Illisk was discovered, the Thuleans
wasted no time in bringing in ships to protect this world from
scavengers and exploitation by those with interests contrary
to their own. With the exception of the handful of
Rogue Traders who have entered in a compact to
assist the Disciples of Thule with their project,
no one else has set foot upon Illisk.
Although the Thuleans maintain an exploration outpost
on the world and have done so for years, there is still scant
evidence of human habitation. Every so often an Explorator
ship visits the system, but it seldom remains in orbit long.
So far, the system’s relative obscurity and secrecy have kept
it out of the way of Rogue Traders pushing their way into
the interior of the Expanse, but on more than one occasion
that peace has been disturbed by the arrival of pirates, raiders,
or the frightening Rak’Gol. None of these incursions has managed to disrupt investigations, but the Thuleans are
cautious all the same.
==The Black Citadels==
Illisk has ten massive hive-like citadels arranged across its
surface. While all composed of the same material and all
have the same general layout, each one is as unique as any
human hive within the Imperium. The walls and corridors
inside each citadel are covered in mysterious hierograms that
resemble the traceries of circuits, along with basic symbols
such as circles and triangles.
Along with the ever-present howling of the storms
outside, inside the walls of the citadels is a tinnitus hum at
the very edge of human hearing. Many of the Thulean adepts
with audio augmentics are constantly adjusting them to filter
this noise out, without much success. The source of this noise
is unknown, and Astropaths in the employ of the Thuleans
report feeling edgy and irritable while they are within these
walls. Hundreds of thousands of chambers within each citadel
house banks of cogitators and consoles, whose purpose can
only be guessed at. Additionally, there do not appear to be
any defenses protecting the outer bastions of the citadels, at
least none that the human adepts can find. Thus, several of
the massive complexes are being refitted with Mechanicus
technology and defenses in the event of unwanted attention.
==The Chamber of Gholems==
According to loose-lipped crewmen who claimed to have
worked with the Thuleans operating on Illisk, there is a large
chamber shrouded in shadow and lined with some sort of fog.
The entrance to this chamber is guarded by the largest mono-tasked
battle servitors the Mechanicus can provide, and no less
than twenty elite Skitarii warriors who all stand before a pair
of stone doors sealed with an arcane lock.
The stories purport that the chamber is sealed under
penalty of death by flensing should any enter without the
express permission of Magos Vaughn, and that within the
chamber stand row upon row of mysterious xenos gholems,
constructs of metal given the form of the alien. No one claims
to know much more about the nature of these automatons,
only that rumor persists that messages and sealed shipments
were sent back to the Lathe Worlds of the Calixis Sector once
this chamber and its contents were discovered.
==The King of the Dead==
As the data collectors and explorators of the Disciples
of Thule have slowly made their way through the various
black citadels and constructs that populate Illisk, there is one
chamber that they have found no other of its type. Within
the north polar citadel, situated at the uppermost spire, is
a chamber decorated in rich tapestries. Arranged in niches
around the perimeter of the chamber are various banks of
cogitators and data-looms of indeterminate purpose; their
lights constantly flickering on and off with a will of their
own. Towards the back of this hall resting within a throne
made of a clear quartz-like crystal, imbedded with all manner
of circuitry, is a mummified xenos corpse. Unlike the other
desiccated bodies that have been found previously, this one
is dressed in the finery of a king or ruler. Like all the others
encountered, he too is pierced with wires and tubes leading
to plugs attached to the throne upon which he sits. Flanking
the throne are what appear to be two robotic guardians, or
gholems, fashioned to resemble the native xenos, and armed
with vicious-looking melee weapons. They have stood over
their leader for aeons, forever guarding a corpse who will
forever rule over a dead civilization.
==Working for the Disciples of Thule==
While secretive and insular, the Thuleans are not above entering
into compacts with the various Rogue Traders operating in the
Koronus Expanse. However, they are very selective in who they
choose and keep the number of captains who know about their
operations on Illisk to a minimum to avoid exposure.
Those Captains lucky enough to find work with the Disciples
of Thule can expect to transport goods and cargo to and from
Illisk, ferry disciples into and out of the Koronus Expanse, and
other jobs of a clandestine nature. The Disciples of Thule are
very careful about who they select to enter into a compact with,
and typically choose ships with crews who have a large number
of worshippers of the Omnissiah. This not only ensures that
there will be little difficulty in communication between the two
parties, but also makes sure that their interests are protected.
There is one tale, told in hushed whispers, of the Rogue
Trader Allandra Abaddos, who attempted to betray the
Disciples of Thule to the Holy Inquisition. The luckless captain
was ambushed by Explorator vessels at the entrance to the Maw, her ship crippled, boarded, and subsequently destroyed
before anyone could come to her aid. The Inquisition lodged
protests with the Lathes, and some more militant Inquisitors
are said to have begun bloody investigations into the
Disciples. As for Abaddos, the more apocryphal tales
say she still serves those she betrayed as a servitor
on Illisk.
==Adventuring on Illik==
A world of lost and forbidden technology, Illisk is rich
for exploration. The Game Master is encouraged to
develop their vision of what this machine world is like.
There are hundreds if not thousands of lost chambers
and caches beneath the shifting desert sands waiting to
be discovered. Below are several Endeavors that GMs
can use to springboard the Explorers into the action:
Scavenging Thulean Equipment (Lesser): Scattered across the wastes are numerous corroding
and decaying areas where the Disciples of Thule
abandoned their equipment for one reason or
another. Who knows what secrets and technology
lie buried in the shifting sands; or what defenses
have been put in place to guard them?
Exploring Illisk (Greater): It goes without
saying that Illisk is a world ripe for exploration.
The Disciples of Thule don’t claim the entire world
(nor could they). The details of what the Explorers
may find are deliberately left open for the Game
Master to develop. However, some suggestions
include chambers full of ancient and proscribed
archeotech, lost underground cities protected by
ancient xenos guardians, and cyclopean tombs
filled with unknown horrors.
Picket Duty (Lesser): The Disciples of Thule have
experienced an increase in attacks and raider activity
by xenos (especially the Rak’Gol) near the planet Illisk.
They are looking for ships that can help defend their
interests in exchange for wealth and/or technology.
If the Explorers assist, they may face everything from
ork raiders to Rak’Gol Marauders and even Eldar
Reavers. However, they may also discover the covert
forces of the Ordo Xenos who may have an interest in
what the Thuleans have found.
Category:Planets
Category:Koronus Expanse
Category:Accursed Demesne
Category:Dead Worlds
Category:Adeptus Mechanicus