Weapons of Avernus

The Weapons are powerful creatures or species that are generally inactive and only show their power when Avernus is being threatened, or they are attacked. They are generally incredibly powerful but are still animals, and act under the direction of Avernus or its Great Ones.

## Researched Weapons

### Island Turtles

Island Turtles are massive turtles found within the Azure Islands, each large enough to be mistaken for a large island. This species of weapons seems to be mostly inactive, only occasionally hunting down a Kraken or some other similar sized prey before returning to its rest. When roused by the Daemonic Incursions however Island Turtles demonstrated as as yet unknown power to launch massive warp based energy attacks at over the horizon targets, acting as ordinatus scale psychic artillery.

**Preliminary Examination**: This year Magos Biologis Saren examine the island sized turtle found among the Azure Islands. From what he can tell it is currently hibernating and most likely hunts krakan when active. It's shell is made from a substance as hard as adamantium and has a diameter of approximately sixteen kilometres. Magos Biologis Saren could not discover much more about it in the time he had and tells you that any research into it will be time consuming due to its sheer size more then anything else.
**Detailed Survey** : For the last four years, including the demonic incursion, Archmagos Biologis Saren has been working on studying the Island Turtle. Thanks to its activity in the demonic incursion he was able to determine many of its previously unknown abilities as well as gather more information about its known abilities. As far as known issues go he was able to determine that the shells are so incredibly strong due to a combination of exotic structure and some form of long term biomancy and that it reduces the amount it needs to eat by drawing energy from the Warp. The new ability that it displayed is the ability to launch massive blasts of psychic energy at over the horizon distances, though their exact effect is unknown.
**In-depth Examination**: Four years ago Archmagos Biologis Saren finished his project on the Island Turtle of the Azure Islands. While he was unable to determine anything new about its psychic powers, he suggests that it may be an interesting project for the Unseen University. He has been far more successful in his efforts to examine the exotic structure of its shell however and tells you that he now knows its exact layout and composition. He believes that with a bit more study he will be able to make other super-hard organics like the shell and given time may even be able to use the same principles to harden armour plating.

**Telepathica Research (Island Turtle)**: After the defeat of Waaagh Garkill Headmaster Ridcully turned his attention to studying the Island Turtle of the Azure Islands. While despite his best efforts he was not able to gather any information about the Psychic Blast that it is capable of using he was able to make more progress on the long-term biomancy and the ability to draw energy from the Warp rather then eat. He tells you that the long term biomancy seems to be about some form of repeated conceptual reinforcement used to strengthen existing properties of the shell. Whether it is possible for a human to mimic this power or not is unknown but Headmaster Ridcully believes that there is much to be leant from it even if it is impossible to mimic. The ability to draw energy from the Warp rather then eat on the other hand is rather simple and totally impossible to copy, given how it relies on having several organs that the human body does not have to function.
**Research: Island Turtle Hardening: Part One**: Four years ago Headmaster Ridcully finished his initial examination of whether it is possible to reverse engineer the Island Turtle's Hardening power. He tells you that as yet it is impossible but that he has made an interesting discovery in the process of his research. This is that the Island Turtle reinforcement seems to operate by creating a resonance between a concept in the Warp and an object in reality, in this case toughness and the Island Turtles shell. This seems to be similar to the resonance that he found in the examination of Songweaving except inverted. Given this similarity he hopes that with more research into resonance he will be able to figure out how to reverse engineer this power.

### Sun beetles

**Preliminary Examination (Sun Beetle):** Archmagos Biologis Saren spent another year examining the Sun Beetle, one of the few creates yet found on Avernus that is a threat to orbiting Spacecraft. Due to the Sun Beetles nature he was not able to capture any and was forced to watch them in their natural habitat but despite that he made several discoveries. The first is that the Sun Beetles only explode in a burst of energy on death and instead use their power to project an energy beam when they are alive. His second discovery was that the energy beam consists of an equal mix of electromagnetic radiation and an unknown form of energy.
**Detailed Survey (Sun Beetle):** Four years ago Magos Biologis Maximal finished his examination of the Sun Beetle with mixed success. He was able to determine several important facts about the strange energy that they use but was unable to fully identify it, though there are some similarities to the Dark Energy that some Dark Eldar weapons use. What ha has discovered is that the energy interacts in some mutually reinforcing manner with the some wavelengths of electromagnetic energy, that is seems to allow the EM energy not get dissipated by going though an atmosphere, or any other gas.
**In-Depth Examination (Sun Beetle):** Four years ago Magos Biologis Maximal finished his investigation into Sun Beetles with moderate success. While he has not been able to reproduce the strange energy that they use to reinforce their shots he has found that it seems to artificially shrink the wavelength of any laser that it covers, allowing them to pass tough atmosphere without losing energy. When it hits a solid object the energy is discharged, damaging the object and allowing the laser to hit it.

#### The Sun Swarm

Shortly after Imbac lifted the ban on allowing wildlife off world a vast swarm of new sun beetles lifted off from the Duat region and migrated to the innermost survivable orbit of the Avernus system's sun, dimming it noticeably.

Individual beetles of the sun swarm now possess firepower similar to that of of a Phased Plasma Array.

Unfortunately, the beetles' relatively slow movement in the void render them effectively a static defense, one that is extremely fragile to naval scale aoe weapons such as nova canons.

To combat this avernite void beasts will regularly visit the swarm, taking on beetles to act as turrets that can prove a deadly surprise to foes not expecting them.

### Fortress Trees

Fortress Trees are massive fortress-like trees which suck out warp energy as well as producing massive amounts of food for their inhabitants. They are resistant to both psychic powers and fire, and is a highly useful material to create weapons and armor out of. They have numerous inhabitants, and among them are the Wisps and Tree Trolls, which are present on all Fortress Trees.

Fortress Trees are found everywhere on Avernus, but are concentrated near the pole.

**Complete Examination (Fortress Trees)** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent six years studying the Fortress Trees, one of the Weapons of Avernus. These living fortresses are tied into the geomantic web, and in turn tie those that live on them into the web. This makes their inhabitants tireless, gives them access to a reservoir of pure Warp energy, and allows them to endure incredible damage, but limits their movement to the vicinity of a Fortress Tree. The power flowing through the Fortress Trees also constantly reinforces its wood, making it ever stronger and more effective at whatever it is being used for. This effect will get imprinted into the wood over time, becoming ever stronger and allowing it to linger even after the wood has been separated from the vicinity of the Fortress Tree. Staves made from the heartwood of a Fortress Tree can also be used by psykers attuned to the tree to direct the power of a Fortress Tree, allowing them to channel far more power than they could normal safely handle, even via an Arcane Fulcrum.

## Not Researched Weapons

### Deep Ones

Deep Ones are massive creatures that live in the depths of Avernus' oceans. They are incredibly powerful Psykers, estimated at Alpha Plus, and provide heavy psychic support for the forces of Avernus. Humanities first experience with a deep one was the result of it mind controlling thirty million citizens and taking them though portals to eat.

### Cloud Physalis

Massive living hangers as large as escorts, they seem to spend most of their time loitering undetectably in the upper atmosphere. in combat they release swarms of a variety of bio drones, with the main body attempting to remain out of combat. the creature and its swarm bear a strong resemblance to Tyranid organisms, and it is suspected that they are an extremely recent creation.

### **The Builders**

A “Weapon” of the World, Builders are the Servants of Providence, the Great One of Shaping and are possibly the single largest Weapon on the entire Planet, despite almost never being seen by the Peoples. In fact they are so illusive that legends of them are rare.
This is primarily because Builders reside within the Planet’s mantle, as their abilities do not require them to reach the surface to achieve their goals, yet each represents a significant investment of time and resources, forcing the World to be careful with their deployment, in spite of their impressive power.
With the incursion, all Builders are currently active, with some even emerging onto the surface for better fine control of constructing defences, their eldest working under Providence directly to build the grandest defences at the front and back lines. So far the smallest Builder that has emerged was eight kilometres in height, stated to be a youth by their standards, the largest towering well over twelve kilometres.
When inactive, they seem to compress themselves into large spheres so they are not so conspicuous, yet now is not the time for that.
The Builder’s role seems to be exactly what their title implies, they assist the World in constructing what it requires, and have a suit of tools to do so. They are all extremely potent psykers, apparently one of the World’s first true successes in large scale psychic projection (although compared to what the World can do now after studying the Tyranids this is comparatively meagre), whose abilities in material manipulation are enhanced by this even further. Acting without restraint they are said to be able to reshape an entire region of Avernus in a matter of minutes, although they typically work at a much slower pace.
In addition to this, they can increase the precision of their labour, through their own work force. Golems of various materials can be created by them, with the number they can sustain seemingly determined by their age and skill. Each Golem is miniscule compared to a Builder, the tallest are around 1.7 metres, and are generally minor psykers with specialisations in manipulating certain materials. Rock Golems shape stone, Ice Golems ice, Wood Golems wood and so on. During times of peace Builders will undertake a laborious process of animating these Golems, building each individually so that they do not take power away from the Builder. However, in an emergency a Builder can split off part of its own mass and power to create a Golem, something which is much faster, but permanently harms the Builder.
Golems have occasionally been spotted working on the surface of Avernus to reshape the landscape, although their exact nature or purpose was unclear. During their projects Golems are sufficiently independent that they can act on their own, cooperating to put their suite of specialised skills to work and finish whatever task their Builder has in mind. However, they can also act as relays for their Builder, allowing them much finer precision in their overarching projects.
This allows for the Builders to have an immense degree of speed and scale, as one Builder is individually enough to finish most projects rapidly, but as even the smallest has a work force at least in the millions of Golems, watching one at work becomes far more impressive, particularly when it is known that they are highly skilled craftsmen with a deep understanding of material and immaterial science, owing their eons of existence.
As one might expect however, Builders are not classified as Weapons without good reason. They are every bit as strong as their insane height suggests and while slow, that same size also keeps most enemies from being able to exploit their sluggish nature. Furthermore, they have proven to be nearly impervious to harm, due to their nature requiring them to be able to resist even the most extreme natural circumstances, hence their residence in the mantle. Combined with their reshaping abilities and the fact that Golems can also serve as a very effective army, a Builder is a force to be reckoned with, particularly on their home ground.
They are not, however, dedicated fighters and will prefer to flee from a battle. Their sheer endurance means that they will not go down quickly, but if isolated their speed will drag them down, while the combat focused Honoured of Chaos will invariably triumph.

Nevertheless they have emerged, alongside their rivals, the Devouring Wyrms the Sirens informed us of generations ago, and with their aid in constructing defences complete, some will remain behind to reinforce or repair fortifications that require it, while others shall venture underground once more to aid the Planet and Providence in amplifying its shaping capabilities, to turn itself into the true Mouth of Hell.

### Devouring Worm

The counterparts to the Builders, for where they create the Wyrms destroy. Most Weapons have some area they are known to excel in, the Sun Beetles are amongst the most numerous, the Deep Ones have the most psychic power, while the distinction of the Wyrms is that they possess the greatest capacity for ruination.

In fact, this is why they are so mysterious, for despite there being legends about them, they have not seen use upon the World in a long time. This is because the World releases them only when a region is deemed completely beyond saving, resulting in its isolation and total obliteration. This can either come from the World’s own errors, and so it needs to wipe it clean from existence, or due to the necessity of dealing with an enemy of great power.

The Wyrms are stated to be a potential adult form of the Magma Wyrms, although only one in several billion Magma Wyrms can become a Devouring Wyrm. Most go through their regular life span growing larger with time, with the largest being Bunyip level threats. This does make the Devouring Wyrm the only Weapon we know of with a pre-weapon metamorphosis state, but how this transformation occurs is a mystery to seemingly everyone.

This is because the Wyrms should not exist. According to the Ancient One, by everything it knows they should have either been destroyed, or locked away in the Abyss. Some loophole is at play to let the World keep using them, but it does explain their infrequent use beyond their specialised purpose and the difficulty of properly reining them in.

By the best knowledge of those on the World, the Wyrms are somehow tied to the concepts of Decomposition, Nothingness and Void, any one of which should be sufficient to make them impossible. Instead it grants them seemingly unrivaled destructive prowess, allowing them to theoretically battle an Exalted despite the disparity in power and raw strength.

Their arrival in a region is heralded by an increase to the ambient temperature as dimensional barriers fall into place sealing it off from the outside universe. Then everything starts to crumble and break down. This is not decay in the sense of Nurgle who embodies rotting, corroding putrefaction, but instead it is the simple collapse of all things into their most basic elements devolving into a colourless indistinctive sludge. This collapse is not limited to material things, as the stories which allow masses of warp energy to retain cohesion fade in this environment, turning it back into raw immaterial energy retaining no hint of the manufactured, primal or even primordial. As this process is ongoing, the Wyrms arrive and begin to feed.

Like ravenous gluttons they trawl through the small part of existence that has been made open to them and consume every morsel within it, fueling themselves with the composite actuality, until nothing remains save for an entirely empty void, and themselves searching for their next meal.

During this process, they are essentially invincible.

While the exact nature of their powers are hard to glean, what little is known indicates that any beings powerful enough to survive their aura for a time (typically Exalted or Incomplete Great Ones) have immense difficulty fighting them.

It is suspected this is because their aura is a constant, destroying their very make up in a manner that cannot be fought, as any effort brought to bear will be destroyed itself. And the closer the Wyrms get, the more powerful their aura becomes, rendering them near impervious to attack and granting a deadly offense of their own just from proximity. What they do themselves to directly engage a foe is unknown, but it can be assumed to be just as dangerous.

What is known, is that on the few occasions an Exalted has attacked with enough strength to burst through their defences and injure them, the Wyrm's wounds healed almost instantly, simply consuming the pooled actuality to restore itself.

Whatever their precise capabilities, there are no doubts amongst the Avernites that the Wyrms are by far the World’s most destructive weapons and certainly some of its most powerful. They have never failed to obliterate a target set by the Planet, even being called in to end targets deemed fundamentally unkillable and uncontainable due to the World’s experiments, as their nature seems to bypass the usual laws that would render this impossible.

An example situation where we might see them unleashed in the Incursion, according to the Ancient One, is to eliminate a cluster of Exalted, for while many of the Wyrms would “die\*”, we can be confident that the Exalted and everything else would be gone, although as always with Exalted, banishment is more probable than death.

\*As much as beings such as them can die.

The issue then comes in containing them, for their power seems to come with a desire to consume that is unquenchable, hence why the World uses them only to handle its most egregious mistakes or fight the direst battles. The chance that they may escape is far too great.

As an example, a member of the Great Clock’s Guardians explained that once, the Wyrms had finished destroying a region, but seemed unsatisfied and so attempted to devour their way back through the timeline to continue their path of destruction, something that was only narrowly averted, with every other Guardian having its own examples of the Wyrms attempting to escape and continue their nihilistic mission.

Most of the time, Wyrms are kept contained within the naturally occurring sub-realm termed “The Infinite Void.” In this cessation of space they appear to be comfortable, content within the effective nothingness, resting until they are called upon again. Rarely will one leave and enter the mantle for unknown reasons, possibly to identify potential Magma Wyrms to transform into more of themselves.

The mystery of what the Wyrms are is a long one. with the Ancient One mentioning a theory from a wise Lizardman Oracle that perhaps the World had somehow connected them to the inevitable heat death of the universe. A force of destruction that brings all to one and cannot be denied. Or perhaps the World tapped into a far more devastating force to bring them about.

Whatever the case is, they are seemingly more than worthy of their title as the World’s super weapons, one that we hope will not need to be deployed.

### Probability Butterflies

Probability Butterflies are servants of the Wheel of Fortune, detecting important events and possessing exceptional powers of fateweaving to manipulate them with. They are difficult to spot or aim at, and can summon calamitous events when under threat.

### Spy Moths

Spy Moths are incredibly perceptive creatures that are incredibly hard to detect or perceive and which disintegrate themselves upon being damaged or being detected.

### Crystal Archons

Crystal Archons are incredibly tough and psychically resistant warriors who in combat project extremely debilitating auras as well as possessing the capability to reflect most attacks and injuries inflicted on them back on their attacker, psychic powers included.

### Time-Lost Defenders

Nothing of this species is known but the name.

### Stone Horns

Incomplete Weapon, possessing immense strength and geomancy. Connected to the Geomantic Web, deployed during the Great Incursion.

### Black Hole Rabbits

Rabbits connected to a linked "White Hole Rabbit" that absorb and purify warp power from a large area.

### Spellweavers

Exceedingly skilled, but fragile casters able to use some of Avernus's most complicated techniques effectively.

### Nightmare Reavers

Monsters that live within the subconcious, drawing enemies into living nightmares that they control.

### Guiding Arms

Weapons formed of a strange crystal that help the user in greatly exceeding their abilities as a fighter.

### Pearlescent Crabs

Seemingly invulnerable, extremely fast and strong crabs with a potent hydromantic attack.

### Undying Ghouls

Monsters made by Avernus during one of its depressions, remade to be less horrific. Strong and fast, but most importantly of all able to survive seemingly any injury and rapidly regenerate.

### Abyss Keepers

These ever shifting wardens are some of the oldest of the weapons of Avernus, made to act as wardens of the Abyss before the Radiance. They prepare complex spells and somehow store them within their body, with the form and current powerss of an Abyss Keeper being dependent on the spells that it has stored.