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Hello Eurobricks! I dedided to make a comic book from my Xenoarchaeologist 3: The Hour of Chaos photo story which is set in the universe of Warhammer 40,000 science fantasy tabletop game. Here are two first pages. The new parts will be added as comments to this post if you will be interested in the story. Additional photography: @Illarion Planet background: StarCraft II Check my comic album on Flickr!

Hello again, Eurobricks! Here is my new work based on the universe of Warhammer 40000 tabletop game. The following story is not a part of WH40k official lore, but my own creation. An exile. He was banished from his own craftworld by his own student. The rescue of a human hive world at the cost of Aeldari lives brought consequences. He had to flee to a distant, forsaken, barren planet that previously belonged to the ancient Aeldari Empire, and there he built a wraithbone tower where he lived as a recluse. Two hundred Terran years have passed. The old friend brought news about the fracture of Biel-Tan. And about the birth of the Ynnari, a new cult of Death God Ynnead that gave a new hope to divided Aeldari (or Eldar, as they were called before) tribes, promising to end Chaos menace once and for all. And the exiled Farseer moved on and understood that his war is far from over. He rallied like-minded Aeldari from his home craftworld and other places, and together they turned his hideout into a base of a small army fighting on Ynnari's side. The base is built on a deserted, barren planet. The shining structures made of wraithbone, an Aeldari psychically-sensitive material, are raised atop a cliff. The fortress consists of three buildings: the Farseer's tower, the Soul Shrine and the plasma generator: Not far from the hideout a portal to the Webway, the trans-dimensional network of tunnels used by Aeldari for transportation, is located: Like the road, it existed before the Farseer arrived at the planet. Now the Ynnari use this ancient arch to appear on other planets and strike at their enemies such as Chaos, Necrons or Tyranids: The wraithbone staircase leads to the entrance: The Soul Shrine was erected after the Farseer pledged himself to Ynnead. This building serves as an armory and a training center: Its shape was inspired by Dawn of War video game: The plasma generator provides energy for the base: It looks like an Eldar generator from Dawn of War: A conservatory with air filtration system is located near the generator: Aeldari buildings are white, decorated with lots of gems and stones. A transparent dome rises above Farseer's tower: An ornate spire crowns the tower: Walls with windows - there are corridors behind them: Some technical device is located near the Soul Shrine: The Farseer's tower stands on ornate yet sturdy supports: Б A side view: Now the hideout is attacked by the forces of Chaos, led by Space Marines from Death Guard Legion. The Farseer had to get support from Ynnari leaders and Drukhari to repel the invasion of Eternal Enemy: Yvraine, the Daughter of Shades, the Herald of Ynnead and the leader of Ynnari clashed with a Chaos Lord who worships Nurgle, the God of Rot. She wields Kha-vir, one of ancient Croneswords, and is accompanied by Alorynis, her loyal Gyrinx familiar: Along Yvraine the Visarch fights. He is her mysterious bodyguard who never takes off his helmet. He is armed with Asu-var, another Cronesword, and strikes with it the Plaguebearers - virulent daemons of Nurgle: The exiled Farseer of craftworld Ermyaris leads his followers to battle. He is reading battle spells, holding up his Singing Spear, and his Gyrinx Murzinx enhances the psychic power of his master: Howling Banshees Exarch Eyla - the very same friend who told the Farseer about the Ynnari - strides towards Poxwalkers of Nurgle. She will destroy these plague zombies with her Executioner before they spread their foul diseases: Autarch Xaniele who left Ermyaris by her own will, rides her jetbike, armed with laser lance: Chaos forces advance. They have Chaos Space Marines, ordinary humans and daemons: The attack is led by Pestilens Bubulgor, Death Guard Chaos Lord. Like all Space Marines from that Legion, he bloated due to blessings of "Grandfather Nurgle" and merged with his power armor, through which horns and bones began to protrude. The Chaos Lord is armed with a manreaper scythe crowned by the mark of Nurlge, and a plasma pistol: Chaos Lord is accompanied by Plague Marines - common Death Guard warriors armed with boltguns. Like their leader, they turned into monstrous mutants: Plague Marines are joined by our old friend Nefaros. This Noise Marine from Emperor's Children Legion can now boast with his stylish guitar that can not only make disgusting noises, but shoot bolts and fire! And it bears the mark of Pleasure God Slaanesh! Near the Chaos Marines march the cultists - ordinary people from various planets who are devoted to Chaos. This particular cult is led by an old psyker who worships Tzeentch, the God of Knowledge and Magic: Poxwalkers slowly shamble behind human Chaos followers. These mindless zombies were once Imperial workers who got infested by Nurgle's plague: Near the Poxwalkers, an ogryn fights. This big and strong, but very stupid abhuman mutant joined the Chaos Cult only because of loyalty to his commanders. Plaguebearers - the disgusting one-eyed, one-horned daemons of Nurgle: United, the Aeldari stand tall against the minions of evil: The Farseer is aided by Drukhari - Dark Eldar who abandoned their vile lifestyles and joined the Ynnari. A Drukhari Reaver jetbike emerged from the Webway gate, firing at Chaos followers from a splinter rifle: This Drukhari squad is led by Archon Teniria who came to Ynnari with the pursue of knowledge: A Drukhari sword master from Incubi order fights with Bloodletters - the daemons of Blood God Khorne: Spiritseer Tillmiele casts her spells, calling to Aeldari souls: The base is defended well. Support platforms with D-cannons that create holes in reality, and Ranger Moyaz shell the enemies from the walls: The battle is in full swing: The barren battlefield landscape: And here is what the hideout looks inside. I wouldn't have been myself if I didn't make the interior: The entrance hall and corridors are elevated above an underground cave: This large and spacious hall is a good place for meetings and discussions: The entrance hall has a glassy floor: You can see behind it an enigmatic fountain with swirling souls. Even the Farseer does not know what it is. These ruines apparently remained from the ancient Aeldari Empire, and now the soul magics made the plants grow around them... The corridors have high windows and statues of ancient heroes: In the conservatory, the Aeldari grow vegetables and fruit for food. It also reminds them of the nature of their home craftworld. And of their ancestors' real homeworld that was utterly lost after the Fall: The garden is inhabited by Gyrinxes and other animals. The Aeldari grow the seedlings with special lamps: A generator room is placed above the conservatory. Here the control panel for the plasma generator is located. The mechanisms are maintained by a hovering drone: The Aeldari have forgotten how to make these robots, so they do not use them in combat. The generator's roof with a spinning crystal: Let's move to the Soul Shrine. Here is the Chamber of Wisdom where the Warlocks practice their battle magics: The female Warlock levitates without CGI. It appeared this way because of here cloak, and I chose to keep this detail. This room contains all for peaceful rest and thoughts - even tea to drink between practice: You can also go to the balcony to see the bleak landscape of the planet: The Chamber of Khaine is located on the next floor. There the Aeldari God of War is venerated. In this halls, Ynnari warriors keep their weapons and do their training: The Chamber is lit by flames in chalices: The next floor is dedicated to the Chamber of Spirits, the place where Spiritseer Tillmiele comprenends the magic of souls and wraithbone: Tillmiele's table is full with artifacts and has a flask with deceased Aeldari souls: In the Shrine's attic the shuriken weapons are stored: The entire tower above the entrance hall contains Farseer's personal apartments. It is the oldest part of this hideout: The interior has a chair near a stained glass window and a cosy bed: Another stained glass window and an exit to the balcony: The Farseer can look through his telescope at the stars... and at the glooming red scar of Dathedian, the Great Rift that tore apart the Galaxy: Near the large purple window, a table with magic equipment, a Singing Spear holder and Murzinx's dish with a fish are located: The thoughtful Farseer and his Gyrinx: The Farseer studies ancient texts at his desk and stops to pet Murzinx: Above the heads of the Farseer and his high-ranking guest, shelves with potions and scrolls... and the vines can be found: Under the dome a pillar of shining soul energy comes, and around it plants with precious gems grow: The very same phenomenon was observed under the glassy floor. The Farseer cannot explain this magical effect yet. The spire houses a small room with various old artifacts: Here the Farseer stores his previous Singing Spear and a stasis cell with the spirit stone of Myranna - his deceased sister. Let's move to the dungeons. The Soul Shrine contains the library with many texts about magic and Chaos collected by the Farseer himself: The workshop where the Bonesingers repair the jetbikes after battles: Aeldari engineers use unusual tools such as a psytronome which rests on a table: The refectory - the place where Aeldari cook and eat their food: Cells with beds where Aeldari sleep and live: Now, when the tour of the Farseer's base is over, it is time to look at the characters. Let's start with servants of Chaos. The Lord (at center) and two Plague Marines of Death Guard - disgustingy resilient mutants with bone protrusions on their power armor: The Chaos Lord is armed with manreaper scythe, and the Plague Marines are armed with boltguns. One Plague Marine holds a bell - one of Nurlge's symbols. For this MOC, I changed the construction of Space Marines maxifigures from the previous work, and now their arms do not look like sticks. The back view - here you can see how Nurlge's "gifts" change even the power armor backpacks: Noise Marine Nefaros is a maniac who loves to kill with sickening sound waves. The bright colors of his armor and a guitar-shaped sonic weapon are a reference to old 80s Noise Marine miniatures: Nefaros from the back: Plague Marine and Noise Marine are brothers forever! Here you can see that a Plague Marine is taller than a Noise Marine even with his "disco" heels. The blessings of Nurgle make his followers bloated. Chaos Cultists: I had a lot of fun inventing this patchy scum. Their leader is a Tzeentchian psyker so he wields a bird staff. A standard bearer holds a Chaos Star sigil. Ogryn's horned helmet is a reference to old "bone 'ead" Ogryn Imperial Guard sergeants. Chaos Poxwalkers - plague zombies as they are: Lesser daemons of Chaos - Bloodletters of Khorne and Plaguebearers of Nurgle: Now come the Aeldari. Yvraine, the Prophet of Ynnead, the Visarch (it's a title, not a name), her mysterious champion, and Alorynis, her pet Gyrinx: Yvraine wears a dress back from ancient Empire days, and the Visarch is clad in ornate Bel-Anshoc style armor. They appeal to old ways because they want to restore the former glory of Aeldari race with the help of Ynnead who can defeat Slaanesh and Chaos. Yvraine's dress and Visarch's collar are lavishly decorated: Yvraine, the Visarch and Alorynis are the only canon Warhammer 40000 characters mentioned in this topic. I have some units in the form of WH40k miniatures, so I can compare LEGO and Warhammer 40000 versions with each other. Here are two Yvraines and two Alorynises: And two Visarchs: The psykers of craftworld Ermyaris - two Warlocks, the Farseer and the Spiritseer. And, of course, Murzinx - the Farseer's Gyrinx and the descendant of Murzion: Warlocks and the Farseer are armed with Singing Spears and shuriken pistols. The Spiritseer wields a staff and a dagger. Farseers and Murzinxes from LEGO and Warhammer 40000: Spiritseer Tillmiele and her prototype from the tabletop: By the way, she was a student of Spiritseer Salarian who remained loyal to the current ruling Council of Ermyaris. Warlocks - two minifigures and one miniature: Now I have a good explanation why my Aeldari do not wear helmets - in canon many Ynnari do not wear them either. Autarch Skyrunner on her jetbike: She wields a laser lance, and twin shuriken catapults are located beneath the jetbike's hull. Two Autarchs - note that this miniature bike is outdated, so I based the LEGO version on a newer one: Exarch Eyla (at the center) and two Howling Banshees: These female warriors are armed with power swords and shuriken pistols, and the Exarch wields the Executioner power glaive. Banshees from two different worlds: Ranger Moyaz in chameleoline cloak, armed with sniper rifle: With a WH40k Ranger miniature: Guardians are the civilian militia of craftworld Aeldari. Two of them wield shuriken catapults, and other two operate artillery platforms: Guardians from LEGO and the tabletop game: Vaul's Wrath anti-grav artillery platforms with distorting cannons (or D-cannons): They are used as defensive weapons of the base. A platform with its prototype from Warhammer 40000: Drukhari (or Dark Eldar) - an Incubi, an Archon and a Wych: Archon Teniria is a sophisticated person who likes philosophy, so she dresses more gallantly than her edgy brethren. Drukhari Reaver jetbike: The civilians - every base needs maintenance personnel. And, of course, Gyrinxes to catch mice! A bonus frame - an unlucky take or... something more? Thank you for watching and reading! You can see all these photos at my Flickr gallery!

It's sonic... The Doctor (Doctor Who) Hello Eurobricks again! Let me introduce my new MOC related to Warhammer 40000 universe - the battle between the Aeldari and the Chaos Sonic Dreadnought Clamorion: The photos of this work are stored in my Flickr album. Follow me if you liked the MOC. The High Farseer of Ermyaris (the character from my Xenoarchaeologist photo stories) was exiled from his own craftworld for friendship with inferior human species and joined Ynnari - the new Aeldari movement dedicated to summoning of Ynnead, the god of the dead who can destroy dark god Slaanesh. The Farseer was looking for the fifth and last of the Crone Swords, powerful weapons which can bring Ynnead to the mortal world. And the treads of fate brought him to a planet in the Eye of Terror known as Atherakhia. There, among the warp-mutated plants and the white ruins of ancient Aeldari Empire, the Farseer and his loyal warriors tried to find this crucial artifact, not willing to stay in that Chaos-infested world for long. But soon he was ambushed by Chaos Space Marines from Clamorion the Yeller's warband. They wanted to slay the Aeldari to please their twisted patron, Slaanesh... The full view of the MOC: It consists of three parts: Clamorion the Sonic Dreadnought, the Noise Marine maxifigure and the ancient Aeldari ruins in a death world where the battle occurred. The main character - Clamorion the Yeller, the Sonic Dreadnought of Slaanesh: 10000 years ago Clamorion was a skillful warrior from the Emperor's Children Legion of human Space Marines. Later he fell to Chaos with his fellow battle-brothers and pledged to Slaanesh, the dark god of forbidden pleasures who killed the majority of Aeldari race. Due to his great martial skills, he was among the first who held the Kakophoni, the prototypes of modern Emperor's Children sonic weaponry. But during the Isstvan V Drop Site Massacre Clamorion was betrayed by Lord Commander Eidolon out of jealousy and grievously wounded by his orders. Then, he was imprisoned in a Dreadnought sarcophagus, and his life was prolonged by advanced life support systems. For Clamorion, his fate was worse than death. He was stripped of his feelings and could no more hear the magnificent sounds of is sonic weapons and enjoy the screams of his enemies. He literally became a slave to Eidolon and other non-crippled marines. Clamorion was locked in a hangar and the Emperor's Children released him during important battles, only to imprison him again. Moreover, the Warp slowly began mutating and twisting his body, and though he didn't infuse with his sarcophagus, becoming a Helbrute, his eyes were covered by flesh and his mouth became very big and able to make sinister screams. Hopefully, Clamorion's slavery didn't last for long. He managed to escape from the spaceship where he was held. And after the Horus Heresy, this maddened Dreadnought assembled a warband of Chaos Space Marines from Emperor's Children who didn't want to serve Eidolon and other commanders. Now Clamorion lives only for two purposes - to avenge those who betrayed him and to please Slaanesh, hoping to return his feelings... Clamorion is a standard Ferrum Infernus-pattern Dreadnought painted black and pink - these are colors of post-Heresy Emperor's Children: The prototype of this MOC is an old Forge World Sonic Dreadnought: Thankfully, Clamorion's flesh didn't grow into the adamantium sarcophagus. Only his large mouth protrudes from his helmet, the mouth that yells inhuman screams during battles: Clamorion's shoulders are decorated with shining grids and the Mark of Slaanesh. There are the heavy flamer and the sensors which help him to navigate in battle, under his bulky, boxy body. His right arm has a twin blastmaster: It is a heavy variant of a standard Noise Marine sonic blaster and a weapon which creates horrific sonic waves that can rip internal organs. Two barrels of the blastmaster: For close combat Clamorion uses a power weapon in his left arm: His arms are very mobile: On his roof, smoke launchers (in the middle) and doom sirens (on the sides) are placed: The doom sirens amplify Clamorion's terrible voice, making it really deadly for enemies. On his back the engine is placed: Unlike the original Warhammer 40000 model, Clamorion has only two exhaust pipes, but they are chrome! The chains replace short wires and suit the aesthetics of Chaos and Slaanesh well. The Dreadnought stands on mighty hydraulic legs: Some pistons can be seen from behind: The Dreadnought can make some (anti)heroic poses: The chrome is shining (it's not CGI): Clamorion leads his own warband of Noise Marines. Since the Dreadnought was intended to be true-scale, and the Space Marines are taller than an average human or Aeldari, I decided to make a Noise Marine maxifigure: The Noise Marine holds a sonic blaster. The chain is a "wire" connecting the weapon with the marine's pauldron. The Noise Marines miniatures made by Games Workshop: Height comparison - an Aeldari, a Noise Marine and a Dreadnought: The side view of the Noise Marine: He wears an iconic backpack that powers servo-drives of his power armour: On a top of the backpack there are doom sirens like those on Dreadnought's roof. The Noise Marine without his weapon: This particular Noise Marine is called Nefaros and joined Clamorion's warband after the betrayal of other Emperor's Children. The Aeldari of Craftworld Ermyaris are represented by traditional minifigures. From left to right: Howling Banshees Exarch Eyla, the Farseer (he haven't been using his name for a long time), his Gyrinx (a psychic cat familiar) Murzinx and Ranger Moyaz: They all are characters from Xenoarchaeologist stories. Eyla is equipped with canon Banshee Mask which works very much like Slaaneshi doom sirens and armed with power sword of deceased Autarch Erestril and a shuriken pistol. The Farseer holds a Singing Spear and a shuriken pistol too. Ranger Moyaz prefers his sniper long-rifle. The same characters, albeit Eyla doesn't wear her helmet: The ruins where the battle took place: The word Atherakhia means destruction in Aeldari language and suits this forsaken world very well. The millennia spent in Warp changed forever its nature, and plants and animals became weird and deadly. And among that colorful ruins, the inlets of white ancient Aeldari ruins are scattereed, and in these ruins the Farseer was looking the lost Crone Sword. This part of the MOC was inspired by the piece of terrain produced by Games Workshop: The sculpture made like an Aedari rune towers over the ruins: Once majestic buildings are now destroyed: The green-and-red grass is inhabited by deadly spiders and other dangerous animals: The back view of the ruins: The review of the MOC is over, and here is a small story. The Farseer, Eyla and Moyaz walked carefully in the ruins, attempting to find clues leading to the Crone Sword: Danger found them very quickly - the Aeldari were ambushed by Chaos Space Marines. "I WILL BRING YOUR SOULS TO SLAANESH!!! RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" The Aeldari engaged in battle with the servants of their mortal enemy. The Farseer clashed with Sonic Dreadnoight Clamorion, and Exarch Eyla fought with Noise Marine Nefaros: The Farseer distracted the Dreadnought, simultaneously guarding his fellow Aeldari from sonic weapons with psychic powers: Moyaz took cover in ruins, aiming the Dreadnought's vulnerable parts: Eyla fought Nefaros in close combat, not allowing him to use his sonic blaster: And Clamorion activated his heavy flamer but the Farseer and Murzinx evaded his flames: And suddenly the Dreadnought impaled the Farseer in his chest: "BEHOLD, SLAANESH!!! I OFFER YOUR A SACRIFICE!!!!!" The Farseer was dead. He fell on the ruined wraithbone square. Murzinx looked sadly at his fallen master. But soon the Farseer's head began to glow... And he appeared on a ruined wall behind Clamorion's back! The Farseer created a psychic illusion to deceive his enemy and prepared to strike with his Singing Spear and to cast Eldritch Storm! Te battle continued. Emboldened by their Farseer's "resurrection", the Aeldari stroke the Chaos Marines with renewed vigor... Thank you for watching and reading! P.S. No Hogwarts was harmed in the making of this MOC. Almost.

Hello Eurobricks! This is a recap of the third part of Xenoarchaeologist, The Hour of Chaos. Or, to be correct, the first episode of the recap. The third part consists of three distinctive episodes and contains lots of events, so I decided to retell it in three posts. The names of the episodes were invented especially for these recaps. The Hour of Chaos is the finale of Xenoarchaeologist trilogy. Unlike the two first parts, it isn't connected with something in Adventurers mythos, but a separate story which concludes the plot lines of Donner, Farseer and Kruger. It was published in 2014 on the Russian Fan Forum of LEGO but wasn't translated for Eurobricks even partially. So this is the brief recap of The Hour of Chaos in English. Warhammer 40000 universe belongs to Games Workshop Ltd. Most of the characters and locations in the story are original. The recap of the first part, The Pyramid of the Dead, can be found here. The recap of the second part, The Jungle of Doom, can be found here. WARHAMMER 40000: XENOARCHAEOLOGIST PART THREE: THE HOUR OF CHAOS RECAP EPISODE ONE: THE HUMAN HIVE Prologue In an aristocratic castle on Krieg, noble baron Mannfred von Kruger tells his son, Sam, to leave the planet. Even Sam's favorite dog must stay but not him. Mannfred doesn't explain the reason for this but he is genuinely worried. Over a thousand years later, a working-class family lives in a housing block in Hive Primus of Necromunda. At the supper, a boy shows his parents his made-up map of an alien world but his father is annoyed at him. This boy's name is Johann Donner. Many years later he is picked by Illinois James, a wandering Inquisitor and xenoarchaeologist, to be his student. Donner accompanies James on several missions in alien worlds. On one such mission, they have to steal a crystal at mysterious ruins but are surrounded by three separate forces of Orks, Eldar and Tau. Johann and Illinois quickly take the crystal and run away from overwhelming alien armies. When it came time, Donner kneels before Lord Stanislav Vigilansky, the Grand Master of Inquisition on planet Spiridonia, in a gothic Imperial cathedral. Vigilansky appoints him a new Inquisitor. Illinois James and tech-priest Charles Kilrus are highly proud of their apprentice. James gives Johann his old, adventure- and battle-worn hat. But in the present day, Vigilansky gathers other Inquisitors in the same cathedral on Spiridonia and accuses Donner for befriending vile Eldar and murdering Inquisitor Albrecht Hammer. Stanislav labels Johann the heretic and declares the hunt for him. Separated by many light years from Spiridonia, the Farseer meditates in his room on the Eldar craftworld. He recalls the Fall of the Eldar and the tragic fate of his sister. Eyla, Exarch of the Howling Banshees, enters his room to talk about Autarch Erestril who sacrificed himself in battle with Tyranids on Smert. The Farseer tells Eyla about his woes and she is shocked that he shares his emotions with her. After the departure of his sister, he feels very lonely and devastated but hides this beneath the mask of calm and reasonable figure. Eyla comforts the Farseer and he gives her Erestril's power sword and shuriken pistol. When she leaves, the Farseer receives a message from Moyaz, one of his trusted Rangers. Moyaz tells him that he found Samuel Kruger in Burton system. The Farseer realizes it's time to help his new human friend to deal with his archenemy. In the hive city of Burtonopolis, the adult Samuel Kruger oversees the grey, polluted sky in a luxurious penthouse. With Rudolph Steiner, Gunslinger, rogue psyker Cassandra Dexter and Ogryn nicknamed Bonehead he prepares crates of blood for some disgusting Chaos ritual. Then Kruger discusses some treasures with Julio Palomar, a rogue trader selling drugs and Chaos artifacts on black markets. Kruger is determined to bring his plans into life. The story Johann Donner's Inquisitorial cruiser, The Emperor's Lightning, flies through the open space in the search of Samuel Kruger. As many Imperial spaceships, it looks like an ornate gothic cathedral. Donner finds a strange white item in his small and cozy cabin. It's an Eldar wraithbone, a psychically-active material. Donner takes the wraithbone and reveals a projection of Farseer. The Eldar tells him that his Rangers found Kruger on Burton Primaris. The Farseer also remarks that due to Imperial hunt for Donner it's better to go there through Webway gates, one of which is on Memnon, a nearby moon. The Eldar would join Johann in the Webway later. On the bridge, Donner, Charles Kilrus and Patricia Red discuss the news with Captain Harold Kane. They decide to land on Memnon and to find the Eldar gate. An Arvus lighter delivers Donner, Kilrus and Red from the ship to Memnon. After arrival to the desert moon under green sky and sandstorms, they ride their Land Speeder to find the Webway portal. The local feral Orks chase the Land Speeder with their Deff Koptaz. But they fail to hit it down because of deflector shields installed by Kilrus. Donner finds the Wevbway gate and the Farseer near them. They fly through the portal on the Land Speeder and leave Memnon and the Orks forever. The Farseer brings Donner and his retinue to his craftworld again. Under the domes aboard this gigantic space vessel, the humans see white, clean and shiny Eldar structures. They emerge from the Webway at the main square near some mysterious gates. The Farseer is pleased to see his old friends again. But other Eldar, such as Farseer Temaniel who is his apprentice, are not satisfied to see "primitive monkeys" in their sacred craftworld. The Farseer leads Donner, Kilrus and Patricia above verdant Eldar gardens. They end up in a dining room where the Farseer feeds them with surprisingly nutritious vegetables and Murzion, his pet Gyrinx, with fish. The Eldar tells that Kruger hides in Burtonopolis, the capital city of Burton Primaris. Donner decides to go there incognito. Donner, Kilrus and Red dress as civilians and return to the main square. Kilrus hides his bionically-enhanced body under the suit of some old and wise professor. The Farseer hides his true appearance under a human illusion. Disguised, the heroes go through the Webway gate to Burton Primaris. They emerge in a countryside which is not consumed by growing city jungle yet, near farms and cows. The Webway gate standing near the road is invisible for humans. Donner, Kilrus, Red and the Farseer, as ordinary Imperial ciivilians, catch a flyer bus to Burtonopolis and leave. Burtonopolis is an enormous hive city filled with people. Farseer who got used to loneliness in the craftworld, is disoriented and disgusted by human lifestyle. He is also shocked by an Inquisitor who arrests a man only for some fancy clothes. Donner and Kilrus find an apartment which used to be one of Illinois James' hideouts, and use it as their headquarters. As it's nearly impossible to find Kruger in the very large city without access to bureaucratic data, Johann decides to infiltrate the Imperial Administratum. Patricia, as a former clerk, needs to apply for an admiistrative job to find Kruger in their network. Next morning, Patricia and the Farseer move to the Administratum building. The city is busy and crowded, with flyers sweeping between the streets and citizens hurrying to their work. Patricia and the Farseer go to Imperial Square by underground train. The Eldar wonders how so many humans tolerate each other in a narrow carriage. The Administratum building towers on Imperial Square. In the center of the square stands the globe of Burtonopolis before it was colonized by the Imperium. Patricia joins the crowd of clerks and moves to the Administratum entrance. The Farseer stays waiting for her. After lots of queues and bureaucratic procedures, Patricia manages to enter the main office which is on the eagle-shaped top of Administratum skyscraper. Patricia appears in front of the local Master of Administratum. She presents herself as Linda Storm from Burton Secundus and shows documents faked by Kilrus. The Master accepts her as a new clerk of Administratum and says that she needed to start her work next day. Meanwhile in his penthouse, Kruger meets the Crimson Prophet. This enigmatic psyker leads the Right Path, the sect of Chaos cultists operating on Burton Primaris. The Crimson Prophet was an Imperial sanctioned psyker but after a battle with Chaos Space Marines he decided to betray the Imperium. Currently he is sworn to Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change, mutation and magic, and a daemon of this God lives in his head. The Crimson Prophet hates the Imperium and wants to take over Fergus McCracken, the corrupt Governor of Burton system. Kruger offers his help but the Prophet hates the off-worlders too and trusts only the Burtonites. But Kruger says that he's got a trump card - something called Belthazor. The Crimson Prophet starts to respect Samuel and makes an alliance with him. Meanwhile, Patricia and the Farseer return home from the Administratum. They visit Ultramart, the local store named after a Space Marines Chapter, to buy food and uniform for Red, and the Farseer wonders about the concept of supermarket. He wants to take the food with him and doesn't understand that he needs to pay near the exit. Kilrus makes an upgraded data slate which can be used to extract data from Administratum network. Patricia needs to bring it to her workplace but it's difficult to pass through the Securitas who check and take every undesirable electronic devices. So the Farseer needs to replace one guard. Next day, Patricia and the Farseer go to the Administratum again. Donner and Kilrus follow them taking the next train. The Eldar mind controls a Securitas to leave his post and stuns him with a cane. Then the Farseer uses an illusion to look like a guard. He passes Patricia with her improved data slate, and she is ready to start her work. Administratum clerks, dressed in uniforms, sit in rows at their cogitators, processing data under the supervision of Ordinates. When the superiors don't see, Patricia takes her data slate and starts the uploading. When Patricia is over with her work, she leaves the building and reunites with Donner, Kilrus and the Farseer. But they are quickly ambushed by the Gunslinger and other Kruger's henchmen. They realize that the infiltration to Administratum was a trap orchestrated by their enemy. The heroes jump on an underground train, and Kruger's henchmen follow them. They fight on the roof of the train. Donner, Kilrus, Red and Farseer deal with ordinary humans but are overpowered by the Gunslinger, a cyborg with a lascannon instead of one arm. They move to the end of the train and jump off its roof. The Gunslinger stays atop the train, firing his cannon, but is suddenly hit by a bridge. The heroes end up in the Underhive, lower city levels inhabited by gangs and drug addicts. The Farseer uses his mind control to evade one such gang. Suddenly they see a familiar figure. It's Magos Eugenius Nikitus, a tech-priest of Adeptus Mechanicus and their friend. In the mean time, the damaged Gunslinger returns to Kruger's penthouse. Samuel is disappointed that Donner was alive and orders to start the ritual. Inquisitor Hecate Llorona, the same one who arrested a man for his fancy clothes, sweeps the Underhive in the search for Johann Donner. She was called by a squad of Arbiters who witnessed Donner fighting on the train roof. Eugenius brings Donner to his underground laboratory where he conducts his experiments. The Zodiac, his old cruiser, was requisitioned by Archmagos Zeekus, and he needed to continue his research in another place. As always, Eugenius is accompanied by Thorvald Ragnarsson, his faithful Squat student. Thorvald mocks the Farseer for being the Eldar, and the irritated psyker changes his appearance several times using illusions. At one point, he recalls Inquisitor Llorona and absurd laws of the Imperium. Later the Farseer calms down and uses his illusions to pass as a servitor, a cyborg made for manual labor, and returns to Donner's headquarters to retrieve armor and weapons. The heroes leave civilian clothes and return to their familiar appearances and weapons. They turn on Patricia's data slate and find out that Kruger hides in a penthouse in Panem Building, under the alias of Baron Samuel von Barron. Eugenius uses the electro-riser, one of his inventions, to climb the skyscraper and to reach the penthouse. Donner, Kilrus, Patricia, Eugenius, Thorvald and the Farseer climb the Panem Building and look for Kruger. They find the heretic on the rooftop, performing some ritual. The eight-pointed star of Chaos is painted with blood on the roof. A rogue psyker, Cassandra Dexter, reads spells, and Kruger, Steiner, Gunslinger, Palomar and Bonehead are watching her. Donner and Kruger fight on the rooftop, kilometers above the surface of Burton Primaris. But the Inquisitor is late to interrupt the ritual. A space hulk appears in Burton system, and the coming of Belthazor is inevitable. Kruger and his men are outdone by Donner and his friends. The heretics teleport to their ship which is crewed by servitors under Calculus, a cyborg which serves as Kruger's captain. Meanwhile, Donner is surrounded by Hecate Llorona and her retinue. She declares the anathema and prepares to burn Johann and is friends as heretics but Donner teleports away too - to The Emperor's Lighning which emerged from the warp near Burton Primaris. Donner's cruiser leaves the hive world to find a mysterious space hulk that Kruger summoned. To be continued... Thank you for reading! I hope you liked the story and that my work is not vain.

Hello Eurobricks again! It's time to continue the recap of my Warhammer 40000 Xenoarchaeologist series. The second part of this photo story trilogy, The Jungle of Doom, was published in autum 2013 on Russian Fan Forum of LEGO. Only the prequel was published in English on Eurobricks. Because the translation from Russian to English would be a lengthy process, I'm going to present you a brief recap with best photos from the story. Very much like the first part, the second one is still Johnny Thunder in Warhammer 40000. But while The Pyramid of the Dead has Egyptian motifs like the first wave of Adventurers sets, The Jungle of Doom has (obviously) jungle ones like the second wave. The style of photos and sets and some characters' minifigures in The Jungle of Doom differ from the ones in The Pyramid of the Dead. This is because the first part was made by me, Illarion and Artlego, and the second and I made the third parts alone. Warhammer 40000 universe belongs to Games Workshop Ltd. Most of the characters and locations in the story are original. The recap of the first part, The Pyramid of the Dead, can be found here. WARHAMMER 40000: XENOARCHAEOLOGIST PART TWO: THE JUNGLE OF DOOM RECAP Prologue Three years after the events of The Pyramid of the Dead, an Adeptus Mechanicus cruiser approaches a green planet. This spaceship is called Zodiac and belongs to Magos Eugenius Nikitus, a high-ranking tech-priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus. As many other tech-priests, Eugenius is more than 500 years old because he replaced most of his body with bionic parts, considering flesh weak and unreliable. He has augmetic lenses instead of his eyes, and grey moustache is one of the few remnants of his humanity. Eugenius is a famed inventor and explorer. He travels the Galaxy in the quest for technology lost during the Age of Strife but also likes to invent something himself, which is seen as heresy by many other tech-priests. In his adventures, Nikitus is accompanied by his apprentice Thorvald Ragnarsson. Thorvald is a short and grumpy tech-priest with white bushy beard. Eugenius and Thorvald arrive at the planet of Smert. Smert is the Imperial death world which means its environment is very dangerous for humans. The lush and verdant jungles of Smert are filled with extremely poisonous plants and carnivorous animals. But the humans manage to survive within the concrete walls of the cities. One of such cities is Thanos, the capital of Smert. Eugenius and Thorvald go along the streets of Thanos to the governor's palace. Jean Francois Henri de Vermin, the young and arrogant governor of Smert, meets the tech-priests in his office. He tells him about mysterious alien ruins lying within the jungle. His Imperial Guardsmen tried to secure these ruins but failed because the stones somehow attracted local Orks. De Vermin begs Eugenius to investigate these strange alien objects and Nikitus agrees. Thorvald offers Eugenius to find a guide among the locals to better understand the jungle. They walk into a bar in Thanos where they find a slender man with handsome but somewhat strange face. He wears a hat like the Inquisitors do and calls himself Donner. The story A Land Speeder flies above the stormy winter seas of Cadia. Inquisitor Johann Donner arrived on this heavily-guarded fortress world close to domains of Chaos to find heretic Samuel Kruger who escaped Anubis with the Ether Crystal, the deadly Necron weapon. And now, with the help of local Inquisitor Albrect Hammer, he and his retinue, Charles Kilrus and Patricia Red, look for any Kruger's whereabouts. Donner, Kilrus, Red and Hammer chase Sandy Abnett, one of many Kruger's henchmen, on their Inquisitorial Land Speeder. Though Donner and Hammer are both Inquisitors, they are very different. On one hand, Johann is a xenoarchaeologist from Ordo Xenos and prefers finding alien artifacts rather than hunting heretics. On the other hand, Hammer is a straight-line and bold Inquisitor from Cadia, the world torn by perpetual war, and likes to act first and to think second. He serves at Ordo Malleus, the organization which hunts Chaos daemons, and wields a giant daemonhammer. With the help of Cadian Imperial Guard, they hit Abnett's flyer down. Sandy crawls from the cockpit on the snowy surface but is quickly stopped by Donner and Hammer. Albrecht insists to burn the heretic but Johann wants to interrogate him first. Sandy tells Johann about some death world in the Terribilis Sector. Then Hammer interrupts the interrogation and burns the heretic with his inferno pistol. After the conversation with Abnett, Donner's Inquisitorial cruiser, The Emperor's Lightning, leaves Cadia. Johann, Charles and Patricia meet on the bridge and find out that the death world Abnett mentioned is the jungle world of Smert. Captain Harold Kane who bears a remarkable resemblance with Donner, sets the ship's course. Inquisitor Hammer accompanies Johann and brings with him two interrogators, Hieronimus and Gregorius. They are grim-looking and wear black robes. The Emperor's Lightning moves through warp, the hyperspace-like alternate dimension inhabited by dangerous daemons, and appears above Smert. Inquisitors Donner and Hammer visit Governor de Vermin and he tells them about the alien ruins. Johann confirms that they are the main reason of his visit, not telling de Vermin about Kruger. He believes that the heretic is interested in the ruins too and wants to find out how. Meanwhile, in the jungle, Eugenius, Thorvald and Donner the Guide move through poisonous grass. Eugenius' and Thorvald's tech-priest power armor and Donner's thick trousers protect them from the venoms, and the guide somehow manages to calm dangerous snakes down. They are accompanied by Golem, the servitor who is basically a lobotomized cyborg with a plasma gun. The expedition finds the ruins and encounters some Orks near them. On the top of an alien stone stands Da Weirdboy, the leader of the aliens. This psychic Ork wears a cloak and has a peg leg and a large beard made from Hairy Squigs, the hairy leech-like creatures bred by the Orks. He holds a long magical staff with feathers and a large mushroom. It looks like the aliens are performing some kind of ritual, dancing near the ruins and roaring. Eugenius and his team interrupt the ritual and clash with the Orks. His Adeptus Mechanicus power staff meets Da Weirdboy's wooden but still effective psychic staff, producing lots of lightning in the air. The other Orks try to shoot the humans down but they are bad at shooting. Finally, the tech-priests overcome the Orks who flee deep into the jungle and reclaim the ruins for the Imperium. The Imperial Guard secure the object. They deploy the Tauros assault vehicles with mounted heavy flamers. Back in Thanos, Donner and Eugenius meet each other. As a tech-priest, Kilrus shows deep respect for Nikitus who is known as the Master of Ideas for his ingeniuty. Donner and Eugenius reveal that the ruins are some sort of psychic beacon, emanating weak but prominent psychic signals. They also find out that there are two other alien stones in the jungle of Smert, and that they are occupied by Da Weirdboy's Orks who use them for their rituals. Meanwhile, Thorvald and Donner the Guide eat pizza and drink in the bar. Ragnarsson compares his companion with an Eldar, in the negative way. But Donner denies his connection with the Eldar and tells he is human. Thorvald tells the guide that he is a Squat, a member of the race of dwarf-like mutant humans from high-gravity worlds. Squats lived independently from the Imperium and were excellent engineers. But a Tyranid Hive Fleet destroyed most of the Squats, and the remaining few lost their homeworlds and are scattered across the Galaxy. Thorvald's homeworld of Thrudheim was completely destroyed because an Eldar force refused to defend it against the Tyranids. And Thorvald survived as he was studying on Mars, the main planet of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Donner the Guide is deeply depressed by this story. The following night, unknown bandits attack civilians Tasha and Alex at the streets of Thanos. Inquisitor Hammer saves them and fights the criminals with his daemonhammer. In the morning, Hammer gathers the people at the main square and declares about a new heretical cult on Smert. In the front of many civilians, he executes the captured bandits with his inferno pistol. The crowd, including Alex and Tasha, cheers him. Meanwhile, Donner and Eugenius move to the second ruins. They ride a Valkyrie Assault Carrier, an Imperial VTOL aircraft, with Kilrus, Patricia, Thorvald, Golem and Donner the Guide. Orkish Deff Koptaz, crude and built from scratch, approach the Valkyrie and try to shoot it down. The Orks manage to hit one of Valkyrie's engines and it is forced to land within the jungle, luckily near the needed ruins. Donner the Inquisitor, Kilrus, Red, Eugenius, Thorvald, Golem, Donner the Guide and the rest of aircraft's crew come from the vehicle and engage the green-skinned aliens. They tend to defeat the Orkish crowds, though the Greenskins kill the crew of the Valkyrie and Da Weirdboy makes Golem's head explode. Da Weirdboy, standing atop the alien stone, performs a powerful psychic storm with his staff. All the heroes are hit by psychic lightning and lie on the grass. Only Donner the Guide stands up and calmly faces Da Weirdboy. He reveals himself to be the Eldar Farseer in disguise. The same nameless Eldar Farseer Johann Donner met on Anubis, with whom they made some kind of strange inter-racial friendship. The Farseer battles Da Weirdboy, sending his own psychic lightning to the Ork. Finally he overpowers Da Weirdboy and blows him away but is confronted by Eugenius and Thorvald. Donner insists that the Farseer is his friend. But Thorvald is stubborn and bitter about his homeworld betrayed by the Eldar. Donner says that not all Eldar are the same and that he is a competent Inquisition operative who decides what to do with the Farseer. Eugenius reminds Johann that he is not the only Inquisitor on Smert and insists to give the Farseer to Inquisitor Hammer. On The Emperor's Lightning, Hammer orders to take the Farseer to the torture room. Donner confronts his Inquisitorial colleague but is captured by him too. In the torture room aboard The Emperor's Lightning, Hammer chains the Farseer to an electric table and tortures him with electricity. He asks the Eldar about the alien ruins on Smert. The Farseer recalls how he visited the death world with his sister more than 12000 years ago, long before the Fall of the Eldar. They were talking, sitting on the deadly grass and repelling the poison with their innate psychic powers. The teenage Farseer liked that place because he sometimes wanted to be alone, away from the Eldar society which didn't understand him. But his sister considered such type of leisure boring and told about her friends, Drizzel and Malonil, who knew the meaning of true pleasure. In response, the Farseer thought of them as of silly Eldar. After the talk, the Farseer and his sister were sleeping near the alien ruins. And the Farseer saw a vision of ruined gardens, dying Eldar and laughing marauders. This was the vision of approaching Fall. The Farseer's sister calmed her brother but he still worried about the future. The Farseer told about the vision to his teacher, the great Farseer Eldrad Ulthran. Eldrad said that this was not relevant and that the Farseer shouldn't think about this nightmare. But the Farseer found out that Ulthran secretly gathered a meeting with other Farseers and told them about the approaching catastrophe. The Eldar returns from his childhood memories, happy and unhappy alike, with pain from Hammer's torture devices. The Inquisitor gloats with hatred, saying that the Eldar were always devious and arrogant aliens who wanted to destroy the humanity. In the mean time, Patricia hacks the ship's cogitators and open the door of Donner's cabin where he is kept by Hammer. Patricia and Kilrus free Donner from the custody and break into the torture room. Johann demands to free the Farseer but Hammer says him that though this Eldar may be innocent, the entire Eldar race cannot be trusted by the Imperium and the Imperials must not ally with these aliens at all. In the battle, Donner, Kilrus and Patricia free the Farseer and kill Hammer's interrogators. Johann's power sword meets Albrecht's daemonhammer in deadly combat. Hammer throws Donner back, preparing to kill him as a traitor of Imperium and humanity who sided with the Eldar. But Patricia takes two inferno pistols lost by the Inquisitors during their fight and burn Hammer in his power armor, very much the same way he killed heretics. Donner and Red understand that they became traitors and criminals from this point and that Hammer managed to send a message to Inquisition before his death. But they still have a work to do with the alien ruins and Kruger who is there somewhere. Eugenius and Thorvald don't agree with Donner and leave The Emperor's Lightning. After the battle with Hammer, the Farseer tells Donner about the ruins in Johann's cabin. The mysterious stones were built by the Slann, an ancient reptilian race with phenomenal psychic abilities. They intended the ruins to be psychic beacons, emitting the waves across many parsecs around Smert. The Farseer saw de Vermin's face in his visions and thought he was somehow connected with great danger. The Eldar arrived on Smert riding his jetbike. But he was quickly surrounded by the Orks and needed to abandon his jetbike and blend with local human society. During this talk, the Imperial Guard forces capture the third ruins, wiping out the Orks. The Farseer thinks that there is some malevolent power behind de Vermin. Donner, Kilrus, Red and the Eldar return to Thanos, to the Governor's palace to find out the truth. Johann takes Hammer's daemonhammer as it can be a powerful weapon, and Patricia takes Albrecht's inferno pistol instead of one of her paired stubbers. Near the bar they find Eugenius and Thorvald and convince the tech-priests to come with them. The Farseer mind controls de Vermin's guard with his psychic powers, and the heroes enter the palace. Johann faces Governor de Vermin, and he tells Donner his true story. He was a weak child and thought it was connected with incest within Imperial noble houses to which he belonged. But the truth was far more awful. When Jean de Vermin became 18 years old, his parents who ruled Smert told him they were a part of a secret Genestealer Cult consisting of human and Tyranid hybrids, and the House of de Vermin was secretly infested by Genestealers long ago. Then Jean killed his parents and tried to kill himself but the voice of Tyranid Hive Mind interrupted him to do this. De Vermin understood that the real purpose of his life was to serve the Tyranids and to bring the will of the Hive Mind to Smert and other worlds. Donner realizes that the bandits executed by Hammer were not Chaos heretics as the Cadian Inquisitor thought but Genestealer cultists who kidnapped people at night to infest them. De Vermin tells that his Genestealer Cult was cut off from other Tyranids when their Hive Fleet was stopped by Space Marines of Ultramarines Chapter. And then Jean met a man who offered him some help. Samuel Kruger casually walks into de Vermin's office and says that he helped the Governor to connect with the Tyranids in the outer space. He learned about the Slann psychic beacons but didn't know how to activate them. Later Eugenius unknowingly helped de Vermin and Kruger to activate Slann ruins and now the stones are about to work. In the antechamber of de Vermin's palace, the Farseer, Patricia, Charles, Eugenius and Thorvald encounter Genestealer hybrids, horrible mutants expressing both human and Tyranid features. They fight the waves of zombie-like enemies with their close combat and ranged weaponry. Donner and Kruger start dueling. They fall from the balcony of the palace and land on the main square where de Vermin's guard run to assist the heretic. Kruger tells Donner that he wants to betray de Vermin and to lure Tyranids on Smert to take their psychic energy with a weapon based on the Necron Ether Crystal. The heretics needs billions of souls - but why? Patricia, the Farseer and others fight the hybrids and de Vermin back in the Governor's office. Finally, they escape the palace and jump off the balcony to pursue Kruger and his henchmen, the mad scientist Rudolph Steiner, and the cyborg Gunslinger. But the heretics teleport away from Smert. Meanwhile, the Slann ruins in the jungle activate, emanating beams of light into the sky. A massive Tyranid Hive Fleet arrives on Smert in their humongous bio-ships. Lots of deadly alien creatures emerge on the surface of the world, coming from biological drop pods, and the sky is filled by greenish spores. The Tyranids surround Donner at the main square of Thanos, and the heroes fight them back. Remaining Genestealer hybrids emerge from de Vermin's palace, including the Governor himself, and are killed by Donner's people very much like their more alien cousins. The Imperial Guard forces who remained loyal to the Emperor rather than to de Vermin fight the Tyranids too, shooting them with laser fire. The civilians of Thanos, including Tasha and Alex, hide in buildings but are quickly found by the Tyranids. The aliens rend them with their claws and eat. Meanwhile in space, The Emperor's Lightning and The Zodiac battle with Kruger's ship. The spaceships fire at each other with batteries of huge cannons. The Eldar reinforcements arrive at Thanos. They are led by Autarch Erestril on a jetbike. Murzion, the Farseer's pet Gyrinx, also comes with them and reunites with his master. Captain Kane reports that Kruger prepared his cannon to fire. Donner realizes that the heretic wants to destroy Smert with the Necron weapon and to take lots of human, Ork and Tyranid souls for his dark goals. The Farseer tells there is a chance to hide in de Vermin palace and to cast a psychic shield which will defend them from Kruger's all-destroying weapon. Donner moves out but a giant Tyranid Carnifex approaches the main square. Autarch Erestril sacrifices himself to save his friends from the Carnifex, ignoring the warnings of the Farseer and Howling Banshees Exarch Eyla, his lover. He engages the enormous creature in unequal combat, saying he was wrong about Donner on Anubis. Erestril's sacrifice gives the heroes some time, and they hide in de Vermin's palace. With the help of Murzion, the Farseer casts the powerful psychic shield which blocks Kruger's deadly wave of energy. The heretic fires his weapon, and every living soul on the planet, except Donner and his friends, was eliminated. Then Kruger's ship escapes to the warp. The heroes walk onto the ruined main square of Thanos, filled with corpses of Tyranids, Genestealer Hybrids, humans and Eldar. They mourn Autarch Erestril who sacrificed his life to save them. The Farseer and Exarch Eyla take Erestril's soul stone, a gem which contains his conscious soul. Donner promises to continue his hunt for Kruger. He departs with the Farseer and Eugenius - only to meet them again later... To be continued in Xenoarchaeologist 3: The Hour of Chaos... Thank you for reading and watching! I hope you found the story interesting and enjoyful.

Hello Eurobricks again! Long time ago, in 2013, Illarion, Artlego and I have published the first part of Xenoarchaeologist, a LEGO photo story set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe (the prologue was published on Eurobricks). This story is written in Russian, and translation to English is a lengthy and consuming process. So to make you familiar with Xenoarchaeologist, I decided to do a short recap of each part of the trilogy. This is the first part, The Pyramid of the Dead. The original premise of Xenoarchaeologist is basically Johnny Thunder IN SPACE, but there are many new characters and plots not connected with LEGO Adventurers. I am sorry about the quality of photos and sets. It is better in the next parts of this story. I hope this would not distract you from the plot. Warhammer 40000 universe belongs to Games Workshop Ltd. Most of the characters and locations in the story are original. WARHAMMER 40000: XENOARCHAEOLOGIST PART ONE: THE PYRAMID OF THE DEAD RECAP Prologue It is the 41st millennium AD, the grim darkness of the far future. And there is only war. The humanity is united by the Imperium of Man, the totalitarian and dystopian regime worshipping the God-Emperor. The Inquisition watches the order in the Imperium and executes everyone who is suspected in heresy and betrayal of humanity. And the Imperium is surrounded by lots of enemies: from aliens such as savage Orks and enygmatic Eldar to dangerous Chaos daemons coming from the parallel dimension called the warp. A human forge world of Sara is attacked by Tyranids, locust-like aliens eating everything they have met. The Imperial Guard protectors of the planet fight back but are overwhelmed by masses of enemies. The Imperial High Command of Sara retreats to an underground bunker. The General receives a message that an energy wave of unknown origin has destroyed all Tyranids and Imperial Guardsmen alike at the planet surface. After that, the bunker is infiltrated. Not by the Tyranids but by human heretics. Their leader, a man in a top hat, raises his hand wearing some strange red glove, thinking that this would kill the General and his remaining soldiers. But the artifact fails and the heretic has to deal with the Imperials using simple force. His henchmen defeat the General, and he orders them to open the databases and to look for some other exotic weapons of mass destruction. The story Meanwhile, at the other end of the Galaxy a cruiser goes through the darkness of space. It is Emperor's Lightning, the ship of Inquisitor Johann Donner. Johann serves at Ordo Xenos, the Imperial organization which deals with alien threats and artifacts. He is a renowned xenoarchaeologist and seeks any opportunity to visit distant worlds covered in alien ruins but doesn't like hunting and killing heretics which may be necessary during his work. As many other Inquisitors, Donner wears a hat and a leather jacket. Donner's retinue consists of two people. One of them is Magos Charles Kilrus, a 300 years-old tech-priest of Adeptus Mechanicus who possesses great knowledge about aliens and their technology. His old body is havily augmented by bionics that help him to live longer than most humans and make him a strong fighter. Kilrus wears a red cloak common for tech-priests and a pith helmet, a gift from one Imperial Guard General from Praetoria. The second one is Interrogator Patricia Red. In the past, she was a clerk in the Imperial Administratum. Donner saved her from bandits in her homeworld of Medusa IV and offered service in the Inquisition. Now she is a professional agent trained for combat and a remembrancer who records the adventures of the team. Donner's retinue is invited to Anubis, a backwater desert world. Local archaeologists have found some ruins of unknown origins and the planetary Governor asked Johann for help. Donner and his retinue fly to Neo-Neo-Neo-Thebes, the capital of Anubis. As many other Imperial cities, it features many gothic buildings. The civilians look at the newly-arrived Inquisitor with curiosuty and fear. Donner visits Governor Peregrinus Adamantius. The planetary ruler tells him more about these strange ruins. They are undoubtedly alien but the Imperium haven't met that kind of aliens before. Donner requests a Land Speeder from the government. He, Kilrus and Red move to the desert. But on the halfway the Land Speeder is shot down. It is the work of the Orks, aggressive green-skinned aliens which present a serious threat to the Imperium. Donner, Kilrus and Red fight the Orks in the caves under the desert. The Greenskins try to kill them with their primitive war vehicles built from scrap and junk. Donner and his friends fight boldly but are overpowered by the horde of Orks. However, they are suddenly rescued by a team of Eldar, technologically advanced elf-like race of aliens. The Eldar are led by the Farseer, a powerful psionic wizard who can predict the future, and Autarch Erestril, a military leader. The other Eldar are a squad of Howling Banshees, female Eldar warriors with swords, led by Exarch Eyla. The Eldar help Donner to defeat the Orks, crushing Greenskins with their swords and psychic powers. Johann encounters the Warboss, the overgrown leader of the Orks, and wins the battle with him. Before Warboss dies, Donner asks him how the Orks came to Anubis. The leader tells that some "'umies" brought the Greenskins in their spaceship and promised to give the aliens some Imperial weapons, more efficient than the Orkish ones. Donner suspects that the Governor is the one who brought the Orks to Anubis. But why? Despite many conflicts between the Imperium and the Eldar, the Farseer is peaceful and friendly to Donner, though Autarch Erestril expresses distrust of humans which most Eldar view as primitive monkeys. The Farseer brings Johann and his friends to a Webway Gate, a portal to a parallel dimension which Eldar use to travel between worlds. Donner follows the Farseer and goes to the craftworld, one of many giant spaceships where the Eldar live. Ten millenia ago, these aliens had a prosperous empire which was collapsed by hedonism and birth of a new Chaos God, Slaanesh. The remaining Eldar escaped their Fall on enormous space vessels where they live to this day. Inside the craftworld there are lush gardens and glaringly-white, impossibly-clean and ornate Eldar buildings. The Farseer feeds Donner, Kilrus and Red with exotic fruits and vegetables. But Johann wonders that the Eldar are vegetarians and the Farseer gives meat and fish only to Murzion, his pet Gyrinx, a cat-like creature which forms a deep psychic bond with its master. The Farseer invites Donner to his office to tell him about the origins of Anubis ruins. Kilrus notices that a human face with moustache and a bionic eye appears in Farseer's crystal ball. This unfriendly face keeps watching Donner and his friends. The Farseer tells that the mysterious ruins belong to the Necrons. This very ancient race of aliens made a deal with Star Gods C'Tan and was turned into deadly, nearly-indestructible skeleton-like robots. They became the slaves of C'Tan but managed to overthrow their masters. Now the Necrons sleep in their tombs beneath the surface of many worlds, unbeknownst to many humans, Orks and other species. And on Anubis, the archaeologists carelessy awakened them with their excavations. Meanwhile in the capital city, Gustav Carnarvon, the Professor of Anubis Imperial University and the leader of archaeological team, meets a weird, widely-smiling man. He introduces himself as Rudoplh Steiner, a representative of Southern Alburn Archaeology League, some private scientific society. Steiner offers Carnarvon some help with the ruins and vertigious career and Gustav agrees. After the rest in the craftworld, Donner and the Eldar continue their adventure. They return to the webway to find a portal to the Necron pyramid. But soon they encounter Dark Eldar, the sadistic rogues which hid in the Webway during the Fall and now raid the Galaxy purely for violence and new slaves. Humans and Eldar fight the Dark Eldar as they don't want to be taken and tortured. The Farseer clashes with a Dark Eldar woman and suddenly recognises her face. The heroes manage to drive the Dark Eldar back. After the battle, Erestril suddenly accuses the Farseer for treason. The Farseer tells he can expel the discordant Autarch from the craftworld but Erestril refuses to go and stays with him until the Necrons are defeated. Donner wonders what is happening, and the Farseer notices this and places his hand on Johann's shoulder, giving the Inquisitor a psychic insight into his past. Twelve millenia ago, before the Fall, the Farseer was a child and was good friends with his sister. She was the closest and dearest Eldar for him. Later he became an apprentice of renowned Farseer Eldrad Ulthran and predicted the upcoming catastrophe. But many Eldar laughed at him, including even his sister. The Farseer and his allies left their homeworld on the craftworld but his sister remained and presumably died. Despaired and grieving, the Farseer left his craftworld and returned only after many millennia, hiding his real name. And until now he didn't know that his sister escaped to the Webway and became a Dark Eldar. Johann sympathizes with the Farseer and his loss. They realize that, despite their different races and widespread xenophobia on both sides, they can still be friends. Later the heroes are ambushed again by the Dark Eldar, and for this time they bring a larger force. Donner kills their leader, Archon Drizzel, but other Dark Eldar surround and capture Johann and his friends. Donner, Kilrus and Red find themselves chained to simple beds in some dark building. They see dreadful surgical instruments pointing at them and hear a sadistic voice of the Haemonculus, the mad Dark Eldar master of poisons and surgery. The Farseer is imprisoned too. He realizes that he is in a Dark Eldar fortress in the Webway and that his sister is their new leader. She wants to torture her brother by herself and plays with him using her knife. The Farseer reminds her about their happy childhood and tells about redemption. But she refuses and only laughs at his face. She has forgotten her older ways and now wants only to make others suffer to prolong her life. Meanwhile, Exarch Eyla and the Howling Banshees infiltrate the fortress and free Autarch Erestril and human slaves of Dark Eldar. The Haemonculus unleashes on them his horrible creations made from parts of different creatures. And suddenly the Farseer's sister attacks the Haemonculus. She kills him to save her brother but is mortally wounded. The Farseer, freed by Erestril, takes a soul stone and desperately tries to capture the soul of his sister. After the Fall Slaanesh wants to devour the souls of all Eldar, and any Eldar soul eaten by this Chaos God experiences eternal pain and torment. Craftworld Eldar wear soul stones which capture their souls after death, and these souls can be brought to craftworlds where they live calmly and peacefully. But the Dark Eldar do not use the soul stones and instead prolong their lives torturing other beings. The Farseer holds the soul stone near the corpse of his sister and realizes that he is late. Her soul has been already devoured by hungry Slaanesh. Utterly depressed that his sister is completely dead, the Farseer unleashes psionic rampage on Dark Eldar while his friends fight them. He doesn't notice a trap door in the floor and nearly falls into a deadly meat grinder but is saved by his new human friend, Johann Donner. The heroes leave the Dark Eldar fortress and return to Anubis by the Webway. They see that a group of humans has already reached the Necron pyramid. The heroes reach the pyramid by themselves and enter it. They move through corridors made of unknown metal and come to the throne room of Amentekh, the Phaeron of Anubarakh Dinasty. Donner tells Amentekh that he wants to destroy the Necrons but the Farseer says that he has come with peace. Amentekh tells the Eldar that the life of a Necron is eternal suffering and gradual loss of mind and that he desperately wants to have a body of flesh and blood but this is impossible. The Farseer says that Eldar and Necrons, despite their differences and aeons-long mutual hatred, have very much in common these days, and promises the Phaeron that together they may find a cure. But Amentekh refuses the help of the Eldar. New visitors enter the throne room. Their leader is a moustached man in a top hat. His right eye is replaced with a bionic monocular, and his left hand is replaced by a hook. Kilrus recognizes the face he has seen in the Farseer's crystal ball. And Donner recalls that he is Samuel Kruger, a fallen Inquisitor who made deals with aliens and defeated Chaos Space Marine forces using summoned daemons. His henchmen are Rudolph Steiner, the scientist and black archaeologist who has learned from Dark Eldar Haemonculi, the Gunslinger, the cyborg with the cannon in his arm, and Johnny "Ace of Spades", the rogue trader and notorious bandit. Kruger says that he was interested in artifacts that can destroy the population of entire planets. He has found such an artifact, the Gauntlet of the Blood Daemon, but after one use against billions of Tyranids and Imperial Guardsmen on Sara, it refused to obey him. Then Kruger found records about strange ruins on Anubis and quickly realized that they belonged to Necrons. He wanted to get the Ether Crystal, the Necron artifact which can be turned into a weapon of mass destruction. For this he bribed Governor Adamantius and brought the Orks to stop Donner. Steiner used his connections with Dark Eldar to distract Johann when he escaped the Orks. Kruger says that he did all these atrocities only for the sake of humanity but Donner doesn't believe Samuel and calls him a traitor of the Imperium. Kruger tells that humanity doesn't equal the Imperium and orders his men to fight. Steiner unleashes a daemonhost, a Chaos daemon trapped within the human body of Gustav Carnarvon. The daemonhost strikes with his psychic powers but is quickly stopped by the Farseer. The Imperial alliance with Eldar, the heretics and the Necrons engage in a three-sided fight. Donner, Kruger and Phaeron Amentekh battle in melee combat. But Samuel uses the opportunity, steals the Ether Crystal and escapes the tomb. Over the entire planet, thousands of Necrons emerge from the surface and kill people in towns and cities with their Gauss flayers. Feeling some good fight, bands of Orks brought by Kruger assault Anubis, and the Imperial Guard hold back both the Orks and the Necrons. The Space Marines of the Ultramarines Chapter arrive on Anubis in drop pods. These genetically-enhanced super soldiers in power armor join the worldwide battle with aliens. The civilians are evacuated from the planet, as there are no signs of heresy or dangerous virus. Donner and his friends emerge from the pyramid to see Space Marines fighting with Necrons. Brother-Captain Tertullian leads the attack. Meanwhile, Kruger and his henchmen teleport away with the Ether Crystal. The Farseer and his Eldar leave Anubis too, saying Donner they would meet again. The Space Marines commence Exterminatus, the devastating orbital bombardment of the planet. Lots of cruisers burn the surface of Anubis with orbital lasers. Thousands of Orks and Necrons die in purifying flames. The latter resurrect in their tombs, only to return and to be killed again. It is unknown whether the Necrons have been completely destroyed by Exterminatus, or the lasers haven't reached their underground tombs. Donner, Kilrus and Red returned to Emperor's Lighning. They stand on the bridge with Captain Harold Kane, watching how Space Marines obliterate Anubis, turning the already desert planet into a lifeless rock. Governor Peregrinus Adamantius is arrested for bribery and awaits the execution. Donner swears that he will find Kruger and kill him. Johann and Patricia say that they love each other and that they want to face all these challenges together. They realize that life still continues, despite the awakening of Necrons, the death of Farseer's sister and the destruction of Anubis. And in the craftworld, the Farseer thinks about his sister and the Anubarakh Dynasty, two ghosts of the past which have finally perished. He blames himself for his sister's betrayal but later sees Johann Donner's face in his crystal ball. The face of his new human friend. The Farseer looks at Johann and understands that he still has some things worth living for. To be continued in Xenoarchaeologist 2: The Jungle of Doom... Thank you for reading and watching! I hope you enjoyed the story.

[Render] XV104 Riptide by The Mugbearer, on Flickr The XV104 Riptide Battlesuit is one of the latest Tau Earth Caste innovations, designed to combat the most dangerous enemies of the Tau Empire. Powered by an experimental Dark Matter Nova Reactor and equipped with an arsenal of highly advanced weapon systems, the XV104 Riptide is the pinnacle of Tau Battlesuit technology. Standing twice the height of an XV8 Crisis Battlesuit, the XV104 is the epitome of Tau ingenuity and technology. Its long, back-jointed legs hold up a heavily armoured torso that houses the Riptide’s Dark Matter Nova Reactor -- an experimental power generator that can be activated should the Shas’vre pilot require extra power to sustain his heavy rate of fire. The XV104 carries a sleek Riptide Shield Generator on one arm and a Heavy Burst Cannon, which can be exchanged for an Ion Accelerator, on the other. To provide manoeuvrability, the XV104 Riptide Battlesuit is also equipped with a large Jetpack that juts out from its shoulder blades. Source

Hello Eurobricks! Let me introduce the teaser for the second part of my Xenoarchaeologist story which takes place in Warhammer 40000 universe. The far future of humanity The planet of death, covered with impassable jungle The dangerous heretic is at large and wields an absolute weapon And it is the Inquisitor's duty to find and stop him Humans Orks Eldar The eternal war will start this autumn (The photo of the heretic is taken from the first part of Xenoarchaeologist made by Illarion, Artlego and me)

Hello Eurobricks! Artlego, Illarion and I decided that I'll make the remaining parts of the Xenoarchaeologist trilogy by myself. I hope that both people who are unfamiliar with Warhammer 40000 and WH40k fans will like this story. The first part hasn't been released here yet due to translation issues, but it isn't required for understanding this story. This is not a beginning or a prologue of the second part but a trailer for it. Moreover, it's my first theme with photos matching EB requirements to resolution (800x533 or less). P.S. I hope you won't require a glossary but if you do, answer me. So, Allons-y! 815.M41 Year eight hundred fifteen of the forty-first millennium AD. In deep jungle of a far planet, one of the so-called Death Worlds... -Be careful, Seth. Try not to light some monster's eyes - this jungle is full of them. -For the Emperor's sake, Troy! Don't scare me. I've been serving in the Guard for five years and I count as a veteran here. Two Imperial Guardsmen were moving quietly through deadly jungle. One of them called Seth was illuminating the path with his torch while the other called Troy was carrying a vox-caster required to connect with the town. They were the last survivors in their squad which was sent to jungle by the Planetary Governor himself, and their mission was very important... "Look at this, Troy," they were speaking quietly, in nearly whispering voice because wild animals could hear them. "Oh my Emperor," whispered surprised Troy. "It can't be," said Seth. Imperial Guardsmen saw stone ruins in the jungle. A large stone plate covered with moss and grass looked like a sacrificial table and was likely made by non-humans. "I'm sure it's that thing we're looking for," Seth said proudly, "Troy, tell the Governor." But then they heard someone's loud and cheeky voice. "Puny humies! Duz ya know we'z da shootiest in da Galaxy?" "Orks! Run!" veteran Seth realized quickly. Orks pointed their built from scratch shootas at the Guardsmen and opened fire on them. "Dakkadakkadakka!!!" they shouted loudly simulating sounds of firearms. The Guardsmen ran quickly through the jungle. They couldn't overcome the superior Ork forces. If they were alive, the whole squad could defeat the Orks but now there were only two survivors. They were lucky that there were trees around them and that the Orks had usually poor shooting skills. Seth hid from Orkish bullets behing the bush and shot the Orks with his lasgun. Troy thought that was rather stupid. "If you want to die for the Emperor, I don't think now is the best time!" And he was right. An Orkish bullet mortally wounded the overconfident veteran. The torch fell from his hand and blew out. Troy didn't look back. He had no time to take his killed fellow. He hid behind a tree and decided to call the Governor. While Orks were trying to find the puny humie, the Guardsman took his vox caster. "Lord Governor, sir." he said quickly because every second counted, "We've found some ruins to the west from the river! Mission accomplished." "Good job, Guardsman," Governor said and drank amasec from his goblet, "Transmission over." And he hung his vox. Guardsman Troy put his vox caster down and saw the strangest Ork he'd ever seen. That Ork had a primitive wooden peg leg and his head was covered by lots of Hairy Squigs (Xenobiologist's note: Orks do not grow hair so they use hair-like parasites instead). He was holding a mushroom common in this jungle and a wooden staff with feathers. "Ya remind me somefink of," the Ork said slowly. He was looking at Troy with his mad red eyes. The Guardsman tried to yell but he couln't. He wanted to shoot the Ork with his lasgun but some unknown power stopped him. Also other Orks with shootas appeared near the weird Ork. "Mumbo-jumbo, hocus-pocus, alakazam!" the Ork was singing joyfully. Troy called the Emperor in spirit but that didn't help him. Shining lightning bolts appeared from the Ork's staff and the Guardsman's head exploded. Orks laughed in concert. Meanwhile, aboard the colossal spaceship carrying a part of the once mighty Eldar race... The wise Farseer of this Craftworld who lead his people since olden times, was lost in thought. With his psychic abilities he saw threads of destiny and all their cobwebs. He saw dozens of possible futures but he didn't know what to do for making one of them a reality. And one human visited him in visions. He didn't know him but his face pursued him in dreams. The Farseer closed his eyes and tried to track that human in the future but he saw only ancient ruins belonging to a race older than the Eldar... He called Autarch Erestril, a commander-in-chief of the Craftworld's warhost. "The runes told me that death would come to the same place as earlier, Erestril," the Farseer said in calm and vocal Eldar voice. "I'll rally the warriors, Farseer," Autarch responded. "There is no need," Farseer refused, "I'll go there alone". There was horror in Autarch's clear eyes. And a human head continued to look from the crystal ball... "So gentlemen," the Governor invited Lord General of the Imperial Guard and Master of planetary Administratum, "We have urgent business." "At first, we need a XENOARCHAEOLOGIST," the Governor declared. Interesting facts (some behind-the-scenes and trivia). Please read after the story.

Hello Eurobricks! I am a huge fan of Warhammer 40k and have two armies: the Eldar and the Imperial Guard. Here is my small MOC based on the Warhammer 40000 universe. It represents the battle between human Space Marines and mysterious elf-like aliens known as Eldar. The battle rages in a ruined city on the one of billions of Imperial worlds. Noble Space Marines of Crimson Fists Chapter defend the planet from the alien invasion: The Eldar Farseer, the master of psychic war and sorcery, avenges for murdered fellow Ranger: Original ruins from Warhammer 40000 on which the MOC is based: LEGO ruins without the minifigures: The stained glass: The window can be "broken": Here come the minifigures. I decided to make Eldar without their iconic helmets because clone ones and other don't fit. Two Farseers: The cats are called Gyrinxes. They are really psychic animals that can increase psychic abilities of their owners. The Eldar Ranger: Eldar Rangers are outcasts of Eldar craftworlds who serve as snipers on the battlefield. Original Rangers: Space Marines are the genetically engineered super-soldiers of the far future. For them I used almost unchanged Galaxy Patrol collectable minifigures: Original Crimson Fists Space Marine: And the last but not he least - the Imperial Guardsman, an ordinary human soldier with a lasgun: Original Cadian Guardsmen: Thank you for watching! Comments and criticism are welcome.