Farewell hope, and, with hope, farewell fear. Farewell remorse! All good to me is lost. I post random shit as and when I think of it. I am above your judgement, even as I am unworthy of your forgiveness.
We're going to be doing this more often, you know.
John Blanche died this week, as reported by fellow former Games Workshop alum Trish Carden, passing away at the age of 78. Intensely private in his personal life - his birthday is observed in "late October" - details of his passing are understandably scarce. Although he retired a few years ago owing to poor health, I hope that his ultimate end was a peaceful one untroubled by sickness or infirmity.
I had the unique pleasure of meeting Blanche in a professional capacity, once, and he was precisely the sort of gregarious weirdo that one might assume from his work. Though our acquaintance was brief, it was one of the highlights of my association with Games Workshop.
In many ways, Blanche is synonymous with Warhammer - throughout much of Games Workshop's golden age in the 1990s, it was Blanche's art which formed people's first impressions of the setting and served as the initial hook to draw them into the grim darkness of the far future. It's certainly what hooked me.
His influence on the 40k aesthetic cannot be understated and is still felt, today, in ways both subtle and gross. In celebration of Blanche's life, take a moment to appreciate some of my favorite pieces of his.
hello, I recently chanced upon the Unspeakable King and while doing some project related research on my own time I found out about your fanfic. I am interested in your interpretation of this mythical figure, and hope for an update on the Unspeakable King and the Silent Queen 🙏
So it has been... five and a half years since I last edited the WIP file of The Unspeakable King and the Silent Queen. Realistically, no, I'm not going to finish it.
With that in mind, spoilers be damned, see below a synopsis of each of the parts I had sketched out.
Part One: The Hollow Girl
"Fatal Night brought forth Strife steel-hearted, then hateful Strife bore Oblivion."
After showing Jenetia's birth (see here), this part follows Jenetia and her mother, Eris, being hunted by the Unspeakable King's Blind Judges. They catch up to Eris, who is killed while Jenetia is in hiding. Jenetia is found by Constantin Valdor (see here) and taken to the Emperor (see here).
Part Two: The Crimson Masque
"Even a God-King can bleed."
Jenetia is getting ready for a masquerade ball where she will make her first public appearance as the Emperor's daughter (see here). At the masque, the Emperor's Custodians are frozen in place and Blind Judges attack the Emperor. While He holds off the pariahs, Jenetia hunts down the Crimson Walker who is holding the Custodians in stasis.
Part Three: Nomenclature
"That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear."
At the behest of the Emperor, who fears the Unspeakable King is powerful enough to counter even His psychic might, Constantin arranges for Jenetia to meet a nameless man who asks for her help to kill the Unspeakable King. Together, they break into the cells of what used to be the Tower of London and free some rebellious Hollow Ones to aid them.
Part Four: Sisterhood
"Perseverance and Silence are the highest virtues."
This is the least sketched out section. Jenetia and the Hollow Ones she has freed launch guerilla raids to undermine the power of the Unspeakable King, their growing bond forming the foundation of what would eventually become the Silent Sisterhood.
Part Five: Regicide
"Our end, when it comes, will be writ by our own bloody hand."
Jenetia and her sisters infiltrate the Unspeakable King's throne room, where it is confirmed that he is her father. An assassination attempt by the nameless man using an Animus Speculum fails, and the Unspeakable King proves able to unleash a similar blast without technological aid, which fells the nameless man but has no effect on Jenetia. Jenetia kills the Unspeakable King with her mother's misericodia, No Man's Hand. The surviving Hollow Ones kneel as Celia pronounces "The King is dead, long live the Queen."
Epilogue: The Once and Future King
The nameless man meets with the Grand Master of Assassins, who addresses him as Sire Culexus, to deliver the remains of the Unspeakable King. The Grand Master announces that Project: Black Pariah can now begin.
Similar in design to the more common voidsheen and voidscale cloaks, this unique artefact is composed of a metallic mesh that absorbs light, energy, and kinetic force. Shrouded in its folds, Jenetia Krole stalks the battlefield obscured from the sight of her foes and protected from their wrath, seeking the perfect moment to strike down those marked by the Emperor for death.
- Liber Imperium (image Jenetia Krole by Daniel Cabellero for The Horus Heresy: Legions)
Interesting how the game so often diverges from the novels, where her inherent Super Null Powers make her nearly invisible just naturally. (Saturnine). I like the cloak canon better TBH. And I’m so glad the Sisters have rules again and can now be their own faction rather than just allies! Looks like I have more figures to buy!
I was iffy about it at first but on balance I quite like the idea of her being so abhorrent to anyone with a soul that their eyes (the window to the soul) just refuse to acknowledge her presence without a conscious effort. I imagine she shows up just fine on cameras and in mirrors, like a reverse vampire.
I think of the Onyx Cloak as a separate thing rather than explaining the same phenomenon - it makes her count as 6" further away for ranged attacks, the same as spectra cloaks, whereas to live up to her description in Saturnine they'd need to make all shots against her Snap Shots (which would interestingly match the Culexus Etherium).
Given all the Space Marine units without models were taken out of the Libers and put in downloads, hopefully the addition of a bunch of new units means FW will actually make an effort with the Silent Sisterhood and release some models soon.
In your old Age of Darkness RPG, you had a Custodian Battle Trauma called the Curse of Valdor: Legion of One but did not have it down anywhere else. Did you ever get around to it?
I never wrote anything for it, no. It would've worked like the Space Marine flaws of the Primarchs with progressive effects at 30, 60, 90, and 100 Mental Corruption, the theme being that the Custodian would become progressively more insular and paranoid.
Age of Darkness: Dark Heresy 2nd Edition in the Horus Heresy
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