Fadren observed the Striking Scorpion's brief exchange of looks with the Banshee from behind his skull mask with a small smirk, it was some mild entertainment on top of the arrival of the Wraiths. He and his warriors stood as they always did in a shadowed corner of the room, weapons lowered but their feet braced none the less. He yearned for them to devise a plan and get on with the fight, if the Chaos Sorcerer had breached the protective layers of cavern than the rest of the Mon'keigh wouldn't be too far behind he figured. He only briefly studied the Autarch, simply looking at him sent the spirits within his armor into a frenzy of thoughts and judgements that fought for his attention and threatened to overtake him, he wouldn't have none of it. They all had a part to play here and each person in this council would be of great use in some way or another. Ilidarian was of particular interest, more so concern, to Fadren. His mannerisms and the way he presented himself spoke of time invested elsewhere, his attention drawn from the gathering. Whatever it was must of been important and he felt a tinge of dread tap his spine before he managed to avert his eyes. Best not dwell on it for the moment.
-Prior to the gathering of the warhost- ''The Autarch calls us.'' Arkash turned where he sat, looking back at the Warp Spider who had brought him the news. He stood from his meditation and approached Hwaith, youngest of the aspect warriors in his charge, who had delivered him this message. ''Assemble the others, young one.'' ''Yes, Exarch,'' Hwaith replied. Arkash closed his eyes for a moment. Beneath the black of his helmet a wry smile cut across his face. The wait was over, the time for battle had come once more. -Briefing room, present time- ''Ah, Exarch Arkash.'' Arkash stood unmoved, his arms folded as the Warlock greeted him. ''Yulieth,'' he coldly replied. The warlock was staring at him, her eyes moving over his blue and black armour. He hadn't been there when she had last looked, he had arrived without notice. It wasn't his way to announce his arrival, at least not to anyone except the Autarch, and he was certain that Selhiat was well aware he had arrived. Whether anyone else knew or not wasn't of concern to him. What was of concern to him was the reason they had been called to this planet, the so-called Vizius IV, an ancient maiden world now stained by the presence of the Mon'keigh and, worse, held in the attention of the ruinous powers. Arkash gazed around the room, ignoring the Warlock stood to his right as she spoke to his aspect warriors, who had assembled behind him.
Siel solemnly regarded the Wraiths from where he stood. Since the Reapers had roused him from his meditations, he watched the council from across the room, his stance rigid, observing the proceedings, listening silently. He knew not why the Autarch trusted the mechinations, how easily such creatures could be harnessed by a servant of Chaos. It mattered little, Siel awaited the hunt, and should such beasts of war turn upon the host, they would soon find themselves the chosen prey of the Grave Walkers. For now he resolved to keep his distance from the Wraiths. He turned to his second, his voice low,"Jueren, keep an eye upon those Wraiths, I smell the stink of chaos upon them." "Of course exarch." Siel waited, his men shadowing the rest as they continued to discuss the road ahead.
"A Chaos sorcerer infiltrated this cavern, but he was dealt with shortly by the wraith warriors here. Hence the blood on their blades." Larese answered.
"How numerous are the wraith constructs? Would they be willing to leave the caverns?" Sel inquired. Selhiat's plan of attack would change greatly if these wraithguards and wraithlords would help the assault and were numbered enough to deal serious damage.
Maiev stood still and silent, listening intently to the Autarch. Perhaps a distraction with the wraiths? That may prove effective. Allow us to slip in with little resistance. Or it could merely alert the Mon'keigh to our presence.
"The only functional ones stand before you, Autarch." An Idea came into his mind, "One more question Wraith,where did you awaken? Did you see any other wraith constructs there, even in disrepair?"
"They are all inactive... No Soulstones added to them, but there are many left. With some guidance they might return to life, but we know not if it will work, for we are the only active guardians." The Wraith Lord informed the Seer.
"Well autarch, these are the only ones we know work. However there are other constructs not yet implanted with soul stones." He sighed and continued on unsteadily "... I would have to take the soul stones from the infinity circuit here in the city. Seeing how we do not know how old this settlement truly is, we have no idea how they would react. Not to mention the inherent dangers of exposing our dead in combat. It is your call Autarch, but I warn you, the other seers will not like it."
Selhiat processed this for a moment. Did the Spiritseer know about all this before they landed? Why else would the necromancer have volunteered in such a seemingly adamant manner? He probably had some idea, but why had the Autarch council not heard of it? This is critical information. Nonetheless, that was the past and the present matters now. He could inquire into Larese's motivations later. "Spiritseer, the Infinity Circuit takes priority. I need to brief our troops and begin establishing approach vectors for the Lance, but these souls cannot be left on a planet falling prey to Chaos," Sel's comments tapered off somberly. He then switched to a more direct and calm tone, "Three wraithguard and a single wraithlord is not sufficient to deal any appreciable damage and all they would do is slow down our attack since we are already stuck on foot. I need you to evaluate the Infinity Circuit, figure out if we can deploy more wraith constructs, and otherwise utilize the webway gate to evacuate this Circuit's souls to Mymeara. If you find enough constructs and willing souls to constitute a large attack force, then notify me and we can use them to distract the Imperium's forces to save lives." Looking to the four standing guardians, "These four can guard you and the webway gate. It's our only escape route and apparently the Ruinous forces know of it. I'm sure these old guard don't mind standing vigil just a few more days." Placing his hand on the arm of the nearest wraithguard, where it's runes of protection had eroded beyond recognition, "You will be relieved very soon. I am sorry it had not come sooner." Selhiat had some sentiment for these ancient sentinels, but he knew they likely could not hear him. Moving past the wraiths, he moved away from the spiritseer to the rest of the seer council, "Farseer Ilidarian and company. We will need to move soon, and I'm sure the Exarchs are growing impatient for their assignments. It is unfortunate that time played against us such that we could not have retrieved the Lance under less pressing conditions, but we will make do." Regarding Ilidarian, "Is there a consensus towards what we must and must not do? Anything I should be accounting for? Anything before I start running on maps and the pathfinder's information?"
