Shared conviction changes more than machines. In NO APPEAL: Adeptus Arbites in a Living Hive, discover the human side of the question: a Wrath & Glory campaign where rumours, authority and the decisions of your unit leave lasting consequences.
Warhammer 40,000 · Spooky October · Week II · The Price of Protection
The sign says DA FASTEST TRUKK.
Mara has been staring at it for nearly five minutes.
Not because of the spelling.
Because the vehicle underneath it has only three wheels.
The fourth lies on the ground beside a pile of scrap metal, two empty paint tins and a Gretchin who appears to be asleep.
MARA:
“Chibi?”
CHIBI:
“Hmm?”
“Can a truck drive with three wheels?”
“Sometimes.”
“Can it drive fast?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
Chibi points towards the workshop.
“Who’s driving.”
Inside, an enormous Ork is hammering a piece of metal into something that might eventually become an engine.
Or an explosion.
Mara isn’t certain.
MARA:
“They say red ones go faster.”
CHIBI:
“Yep.”
“But this one’s green.”
“Not finished.”
Mara examines the paint tins.
One is red.
The other is also red.
MARA:
“I think I know what they’re going to do.”
Chibi grins.
The Ork Mek emerges from the workshop carrying a large brush.
He looks at the three-wheeled vehicle.
He looks at the red paint.
Then he shouts:
“DIS ONE’S GONNA BE DA FASTEST!”
Several nearby Orks cheer.
The Gretchin wakes up, sees the brush and runs away.
Mara watches the Mek paint a crooked red stripe across the bonnet.
MARA:
“That won’t fix the missing wheel.”
CHIBI:
“Nope.”
“Or the broken engine.”
“Nope.”
“Or the fact that the steering wheel is attached to a pipe.”
Chibi peers inside.
“Funny pipe.”
Mara folds her arms.
MARA:
“So why are they cheering?”
CHIBI:
“They think it’ll be fast.”
“But it isn’t.”
“Not yet.”
The Mek climbs into the vehicle.
He pulls a lever.
Nothing happens.
He pulls it again.
The engine coughs.
A shower of sparks bursts from underneath the chassis.
The Orks cheer louder.
Mara takes a step backwards.
MARA:
“That’s not a good sign.”
CHIBI:
“They like signs.”
A third pull produces a deafening roar.
The truck lurches forward.
One of its remaining wheels falls off.
The vehicle crashes into a pile of scrap.
The Orks roar with laughter.
Mara stares.
MARA:
“Well, that proves something.”
CHIBI:
“What?”
“Red doesn’t fix everything.”
Chibi nods solemnly.
“Needs wheels.”
A little later, the Mek has found another wheel.
It is much larger than the others.
He attaches it anyway.
Mara watches him work.
MARA:
“Do Orks really make their machines work by believing in them?”
CHIBI:
“Not just believing.”
“What else?”
“Building.”
She considers that.
MARA:
“So they still need engines?”
“Yep.”
“And wheels?”
“Mostly.”
“And fuel?”
“Usually.”
Mara smiles.
MARA:
“Then what does believing do?”
Chibi looks towards the workshop.
Around them, hundreds of Orks are building, shouting, fighting, arguing and laughing.
Their machines are crude, but many are undeniably functional.
Some of the Meks possess a strange instinct for engineering.
And when enough Orks gather, their collective psychic presence can influence the behaviour of things around them.
Chibi watches a group of Orks arguing over which vehicle will win the next race.
CHIBI:
“Maybe it helps a little.”
MARA:
“How little?”
He holds his thumb and forefinger close together.
“This much.”
“Really?”
“Maybe more.”
Mara sighs.
“You’re not very scientific.”
Chibi smiles.
“Nope.”
A great shout rises from the far side of the settlement.
“WAAAAAGH!”
The sound spreads.
More Orks answer.
Engines begin roaring across the valley.
The ground trembles.
Mara feels something strange in the air.
Not simply noise.
A pressure.
A gathering excitement.
As though thousands of minds are pushing in roughly the same direction.
MARA:
“Chibi, can you feel that?”
CHIBI:
“Yep.”
“Is that their belief?”
“Part of it.”
Mara watches the crowds gathering around a massive Warboss.
MARA:
“They all believe they’re going to win.”
“Yep.”
“But they can’t all win every fight.”
“Nope.”
“Then some of them must be wrong.”
“Yep.”
She looks at him.
MARA:
“Doesn’t that bother them?”
Chibi considers the question.
“Not much.”
“Why?”
He points towards the Warboss.
“They’re busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Going.”
Mara laughs.
The newly repaired truck roars past them.
Its mismatched wheels bounce wildly.
The engine sounds dreadful.
But it is moving.
Fast.
Very fast.
The Mek leans out of the driver’s compartment and shouts triumphantly.
“RED WUNZ GO FASTA!”
Mara watches it disappear into the dust.
MARA:
“It actually is fast.”
CHIBI:
“Yep.”
“But I don’t know whether that’s because of the engine, the red paint, or the Orks believing.”
“Yep.”
“That isn’t helpful.”
Chibi thinks for a moment.
“Could be all three.”
Mara grows quiet.
Then:
MARA:
“If something works, does that mean the explanation is true?”
Chibi shakes his head.
“Nope.”
“Then the Orks could be right about what happens, but wrong about why.”
“Yep.”
Mara watches the dust settle.
MARA:
“That sounds like something grown-ups do.”
Chibi nods.
“A lot.”
They sit on a pile of warm scrap metal.
The Waaagh! continues gathering in the distance.
Mara draws a little circle in the dust.
MARA:
“Do you think humans have something like that?”
CHIBI:
“Like Orks?”
“Like believing together.”
Chibi considers.
“Yep.”
“Really?”
“Flags.”
Mara looks up.
“Flags?”
“And kings.”
She thinks.
“And prayers?”
“Sometimes.”
“And rumours?”
Chibi nods.
Mara traces another circle in the dust.
MARA:
“If everyone believes somebody is dangerous, they might lock them away.”
“Yep.”
“Even if they haven’t done anything.”
“Yep.”
She remembers the girl on the Black Ship.
MARA:
“Like Ilyra.”
Chibi doesn’t answer immediately.
CHIBI:
“Maybe.”
Mara looks towards the Orks.
MARA:
“But with Orks, believing together can actually change things.”
“Sometimes.”
“And with humans, believing together can change how people treat each other.”
“Yep.”
“Even without magic.”
“Yep.”
She sits quietly for a while.
MARA:
“Then believing something can be dangerous whether it’s true or not.”
Chibi nods.
“Very.”
The Orks begin marching.
A thousand voices rise together.
The ground shakes beneath their vehicles.
Mara watches them with a mixture of wonder and unease.
MARA:
“They look happy.”
CHIBI:
“They like fighting.”
“But somebody else is going to be frightened when they arrive.”
“Yep.”
“Maybe lots of people.”
“Yep.”
She looks down at the little circles she has drawn in the dust.
MARA:
“It’s strange.”
“What?”
“Believing together makes them stronger.”
“Yep.”
“But it doesn’t make them kinder.”
Chibi watches the great procession.
“Nope.”
Mara thinks about the Black Ship.
About Ilyra.
About the Orks.
About all the things people can do when they’re certain they are right.
Then she asks:
MARA:
“If believing something together can make us powerful, how do we know when to follow everyone else — and when we should be brave enough to believe something different?”
Game: Warhammer 40,000
System: Wrath & Glory / Imperium Maledictum
Campaign: Mythveil Chronicles
Theme: Spooky October · The Price of Protection
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