The gods of the Immaterium did not possess truly physical forms within the material universe.
If they wished to act within realspace, they had only two methods.
The first was to create an avatar, such as the Avatar of the Death God or the Avatar of the War God. However, the more powerful the entity, the more difficult it was to create such a vessel. For beings on the level of the four great Chaos Gods, this was a monumental task. In a sense, their Greater Daemons were all avatars, yet these daemons had even developed their own consciousness, each one a unique and independent individual.
However, the God who stood before Axis was clearly not a mere avatar. He was not an avatar, nor was he possessing a follower. This was something else entirely. This was the true form of the Laughing God himself.
The Black Library, was located within the Webway, a labyrinthine dimension situated between the Immaterium and the material universe.
It was only in this unique space that Cegorach could coalesce the energies of the warp into a tangible body.
The god smiled and waved an arm gracefully.
A great banquet table materialized before Axis, and countless Harlequins appeared, carrying platters of exquisite food which they arranged on the table with disciplined elegance.
"Come, do not be shy, my esteemed guest! I know your appetite is considerable, so I have prepared a special feast for you," the The Laughing God said, his mouth stretching into a deeply unsettling grin.
Axis nodded with a slight smile of his own and took a seat. Without any hesitation, he began to partake in the delicacies on the table.
He had been on the move for some time and was, in fact, quite hungry.
"I must say, these dishes are not only beautifully presented, but their flavor is also truly exceptional," Axis remarked between bites.
"Hahahaha! Many of my followers were once nobles of the ancient Aeldari empire. These are the finest luxuries from that bygone era. I am pleased you enjoy them," Cegorach replied.
To host Axis, he had gone to great lengths, gathering a vast quantity of ingredients from every corner of the galaxy, all for the sake of entertaining his important guest.
Axis continued to eat, paying no mind to the Laughing God before him. A silence fell over the strange banquet.
"Lord Axis, while you dine, why not allow my followers to perform a grand Aeldari opera for you?"
Axis merely nodded and made a gesture to proceed.
Cegorach waved his hand, and the surrounding Harlequins began their performance. It was a play titled The Fall of the Aeldari Gods.
The story unfolded upon the stage: the birth of the Aeldari pantheon, the cataclysmic eruption of the War in Heaven, and the eventual fading of the Old Ones, the C'tan, and the Necrontyr from the stage of history. Then came the golden age of the Aeldari, a time when their gods walked among them and their empire reigned supreme. For sixty million years, they were the undisputed masters of the galaxy, a power none could challenge. It was an age when mortals and gods coexisted.
The audience witnessed the tragic tale of Khaine, the God of War, turning on the God of the Hunt and the Goddess of Life, attempting to slaughter all of their children. The divine couple was imprisoned, and Vaul the Smith God pledged to forge one hundred divine blades for Khaine in exchange for their freedom. Yet when the swords were completed, one among them was an ordinary, mortal blade. Then came the decree of the Phoenix King, Asuryan, forbidding the gods from interfering in the lives of mortals, bringing the age of divine communion to an end.
One by one, the grand chapters of Aeldari history were presented to Axis in the form of a magnificent opera.
The play depicted the Aeldari leadership descending into decadence, their vibrant civilization spiraling into a twilight of depravity. Their entire society began to fall, and from this corruption, a new entity was conceived.
A very particular Harlequin took the stage. This player was dressed in a lavish costume, completely distinct from the other Aeldari performers. They wore a violet mask carved into the shape of a human face, an unsettling visage that possessed an androgynous beauty, both masculine and feminine, but with a long, lolling tongue. It was a truly demonic sight. From the player's slender frame, Axis surmised she was a woman.
Within the Harlequin Troupes, a strict rule existed.
Only a Solitaire was permitted to portray Slaanesh; no other had the right. This was because strange things happened during the performance. An inexplicable power would reach out to the actor. Every Solitaire had but one chance to perform this role.
When the play concluded, the soul of the performer would be claimed by She Who Thirsts. For this reason, each Solitaire had only one such performance in their entire existence.
Now, this Solitaire began her dance.
The other Harlequins, dressed as the various Aeldari deities, engaged in a dramatic battle with the violet-clad Solitaire. The scene possessed a strange, ineffable quality that even Axis found captivating.
As the purple Solitaire spun and leapt to the center of the stage, the aetheric energies throughout the Black Library suddenly congealed.
Axis paused his chewing for a fraction of a second. He watched as the dancer's pointed toe touched the ground. In that instant, countless crystalline cracks bloomed across the floor, and from these fissures oozed a viscous, violet light. A bizarre and sinister aura began to emanate from the performance.
Axis frowned. He had encountered this specific energy before in the Immaterium, during clashes between the daemons of Slaanesh and the daemons of Khorne.
The Solitaire was actually drawing upon the power of Slaanesh through her performance. At that moment, the dancer seemed to transform into the Dark Prince himself, a true incarnation of the god slaughtering the Aeldari pantheon.
Cegorach, however, watched with a look of pure delight, even applauding and giving Axis a thumbs-up. It was clear his meticulously prepared show was a resounding success.
On stage, the Harlequin wearing the crown of the Phoenix King let out a horrifying scream. Golden powder, meant to represent the ichor of the gods, showered the stage.
But as the violet Solitaire's dance grew more frenzied, a change occurred. Her limbs twisted into inhuman arcs, the long tongue on her mask slithering as if it were alive. Every gesture was accompanied by a chorus of suffocating, rapturous whispers. One by one, the Aeldari gods fell. Where golden powder had been used before, now flowed fresh, crimson blood.
Axis felt as if he had been transported back in time, a witness to the actual, historical slaughter of the Aeldari pantheon by Slaanesh. It was a profoundly disturbing spectacle.
Axis set down his cutlery and turned to the god beside him. "Cegorach," he said, "don't you think this 'performance' of yours is going a little too far?"
The Laughing God maintained his exaggerated grin, but his eyes glinted from behind his mask. "Oh, my esteemed guest, all art requires sacrifice! Besides, this is a rare opportunity to witness a truly 'authentic' performance!"
Axis scoffed but said nothing more.
His gaze returned to the stage. The violet Solitaire had now completely lost control. Her body contorted as purple energy extended from her limbs like tendrils, ensnaring any Harlequin that drew near.
The captured players let out screams that were no longer Aeldari, their bodies beginning to mutate.
Lewd sigils appeared on their skin as their bones twisted into grotesque shapes. What had been a stylized performance had now descended into something that sickened Axis.
"Your Solitaire is a bit too committed to her role this time," Axis said, slowly rising to his feet.
He felt that if Cegorach allowed this to continue, it might summon an actual aspect of Slaanesh, perhaps not the god himself, but certainly a powerful avatar.
"The Solitaires are a special case," Cegorach explained, "The moment they decide to portray the great enemy, they forge a connection to that monster. And those who play the Aeldari gods… they are sacrifices. Offerings. When this performance ends, not just the protagonist, but every member of this troupe will die. That is why, from the very beginning, every one of my performers was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice."
"So I am very curious," Axis said, his brow furrowed, "What is your purpose in all this? Was it simply to show me this grotesque play? You could have just told me the history yourself."
By now, the chaos on stage had intensified.
Immaterium energies were flooding into the Black Library. Strangely, however, the Solitaire playing Slaanesh showed no signs of Chaos corruption herself.
"This is their first rehearsal, their first performance, and their last," Cegorach declared, "If this were anywhere else, a portion of Slaanesh's consciousness would have already manifested. But this is the Black Library. This is my domain. Come, Lord Axis, let us see if you can suppress the power of Slaanesh. Let us see if you can save the Solitaire upon that stage." The clown's face broke into a mad, howling laugh.
"Fucking lunatic," Axis muttered.
Just to test his power, Cegorach had orchestrated this entire farce. He couldn't believe the audacity of this creature, risking Slaanesh following the connection straight to him.
"Thank you for the compliment. Now, please, Lord Axis. Success or failure, I will grant you access to the Webway," the Laughing God promised.
Axis took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the escalating horror of the stage.
Purple energy spread like a living cancer, and the screams of the Harlequins blended with the sickening crunch of their twisting bodies into a hellish symphony.
Amid it all, the Solitaire became ever more ethereally beautiful, radiating an allure that was both breathtaking and deadly.
With a cold snort, Axis erupted in a golden aura, instantly entering his Super Saiyan state, and vaulted onto the stage.
The immense force of his presence blasted the other Harlequins away. He seized the Solitaire with one hand and channeled his Ki into her body. At the same time, a sacred golden halo manifested from within his soul.
The moment this holy energy appeared, the chaotic energies of the warp recoiled as if from their ultimate nemesis.
The violet power began to evaporate and dissipate. The Solitaire, who had been so heavily consumed by the influence of Slaanesh, slowly returned to normal.
"Oh-ho! Hee hee! Hahahaha!" the Laughing God roared, his voice filled with ecstatic, manic glee.
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some stone powers?