at the start of writing this novel, i brought in many characters and povs. these were not just for writing's sake, they were tied to the plot.
caenus, the custodes first mentioned during the webway battle, was shown to have followed atrius through the warp portal. but instead of arriving where atrius was sent, he was displaced in time. this makes sense—warp travel is erratic and does not follow logic.
this led to the desert scene, where caenus came across a savage group hunting a lone woman. that woman was not just a mortal. she was slaanesh in flesh{she admits this to the emperor in "ruinous origins"}, using a body in the materium during ancient times. she was also carrying atrius.
because caenus intercepted her capture, she was spared from being burned alive with the child she carried (though she looked forward to it). this changed everything—or perhaps nothing. for with Warhammer chronology, there is no linear cause and effect. maybe it was always meant to happen, maybe not.
caenus stayed with them for a time, protecting them, until another warp portal appeared. he entered it, willingly or not, and was lost. It's a "mystery" why he chose this.
with him gone, slaanesh's mortal form was eventually captured, maybe killed, maybe not. the baby atrius survived. i didn't want to come out and state this directly, i thought it was obvious. it was my way of slowly revealing the origins of Atrius.
the chapters named Skyfall were written to show the worlds atrius fell through during his breach from the warp, and to drop hints of places he might return to. the battlefield where i introduced characters such as Andromache and the undying warriors, was a nod to the movie the old guard.
i thought the reference was clear, but not everyone has seen the same movies or consumes the same media as I do. that was on me.
skyfall two was where atrius reached themyscira.
the attic chapter was named after the attic war between the amazons and the athenians. i needed to show how and why that war started before throwing atrius into it. this gave space to build the world and introduce new characters. i admit the sequence could have been arranged better, I believe some readers with knowledge of Greek history understood what I was trying to express.
then there is the segment of the emperor's fleet, sent to seek Atrius. this part will soon connect to Atrius's Pov and hopefully clear up the confusion.
and for those wondering...no, the Warhammer universe has not been abandoned. it will become more relevant in volume two.
Feel free to ask me about anything if you're still confused.