In the Grim Darkness of the 41st Millennium, there is only Lore.
I originally wrote this story for my father in November of 2022 as a one-off thing to help expand his horizons into the Warhammer 40k universe. He had just been inducted by, and fallen in love with, Dan Abnett’s extended Eisenhorn series, so I wanted to try to aim for something a bit similar while also pushing outward a bit into more esoteric stuff that the Inquisition may deal with. I wanted to include and focus on various sects and facets of the Imperium and its enemies. But most importantly, I wanted a story that was not too outlandish, as many are in the 40k-verse. The protagonists and foes of this tale are—mostly—human, and that is very intentional. This may be a let down to many longtime fans of 40k, as the Imperium of Mankind is well over-represented in the Black Library and many readers are longing for a good work of Xenos material. Unfortunately, I decided that, for my father, mankind would be the most relatable, either as a villainous heretic or as a dogmatic worshipper of the Throne.
This tale takes place in the Ixaniad Sector, a part of the Segmentum Obscurus on the northwestern edge of the 40k galaxy. Ixaniad is, lorewise, a real place in 40k—however, not much has been recorded as happening there. This, I figured, was great for me! It was prime real estate to do whatever I wanted in the Sector without needing to worry about the goings-on of the wider universe and how my tale might affect it. I can reference histories and current events throughout the galaxy (there are a few Eisenhorn/Ravenor references; do you think you spotted them all?) but the galaxy need not reflect the events of this tale. And that, also, speaks to the grimdarkness of it all—for as bombastic and extreme as things may get in this story, none of it matters or will ever have any impact on the rest of the universe. That is the case with most 40k stories, if you have not indulged too much before this—rarely do events occur that actually shift the tide of the universe at large.
One thing that has bothered me about sharing this with what may be a wider and more-knowledgeable audience has been the inevitability of powerscalers getting their hands on my work and finding fault with it. There are a couple ‘matchups’ in here for which the results I have not quite convinced myself on the plausibility of. But I take solace in the fact that, ultimately, 40k is a universe for “your guys.” That has always been the motto of 40k sales and model collectors; it is a place for “your guys” to shine and prove themselves exceptional, or for “your guys” to die deaths that may barely matter even to you. The victor of any battle in 40k lore is always decided not by its combatants, but by its architectural author.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Penance is the first volume I intend for this tale; I am debating writing seven or eight volumes in total. The debate is whether to write the eighth, as I have not convinced myself I want to, but seven should at least be on the horizon. The second volume, the immediate sequel to Penance, is soon to follow. It is mostly done and just needs some looking-over/beta reading before being shared publicly. I look forward to you getting your hands (or, rather, eyes) on it.
The Penance printed for my father's hands is unfortunately substantially different from the one that wound up here. My father's copy features an appendix, of sorts, of annotated pictures describing places and objects and items of the 40k-verse mentioned in the story. This appendix describes the Tempestus Scions and Sisters Repentia and the Phaenonites, things which veterans of the -verse are probably tangentially familiar with at best, and newcomers would have no hopes of understanding at first glance. It's easy to gleam "Phaenonites bad!" from this story, but it is harder to answer "OK, but why?" There is a why, in the history of the 40k-verse, and I offered explanation as such for my father. But as I do not own the rights to some of the images used in that printout, accredited though they were, I did not feel compelled to share them online in a work of my own. This appendix, therefore, is omitted here. Perhaps, in the future, I will accompany new chapters with author's notes describing such finer details as they come, and I may go back to existing chapters to do the same. We shall see.
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I will admit I have not been fully convinced of Royal Road as the right platform for this story. I do feel a bit alone in my craft here, a bit niche, writing a novelistic OC fanfic for a fandom that is only just barely beginning to become more mainstream. (Thank you Henry Cavill.) This, amidst a sea of LitRPGs and reader-driven works. Bit of a spoiler: you won’t see a poll for the plot of this story. It is all entirely decided and set in stone, from now until what may take years to write and publish.
The reason I share this information with you is not to boast, but to ask you to let me know if you’ve come this far and crave more. You, as a loyal Royal Road reader, I write this Afterword for you. I wrote this story for my father, yes, but I have shared it for the purposes of entertaining you. And if I have managed to entertain you, I would appreciate you telling me so. If I am not entertaining here on Royal Road, if my fears that this niche is not for this site are true, I may look to do so elsewhere. That, then, is the one poll that matters for this story’s publication. If there are readers, reviews, and comments, this story will continue to see updates here on Royal Road. If there are not, the story will be written all the same, but it may not be found here in its entirety.
So, in short, let me know what you think. I do adore a good critique, positive or negative.
All the best, and with the second volume, Absolution, soon to follow,
Ceno