Vannin
| Name | Vannin |
|---|---|
| |
| Sub-Sector | Tertius |
| Type | Death World |
| Population | 4.3 million |
| Climate | Tropical |
| Status | Imperial |
“Do not be afraid. Spring is coming in. Walk with me?” – Leslie Littleotter, Kinsfolk of the Seventh Glade (previously Otto Secundus, sentenced to penal service for kidnapping and murder and bonded to House Vilas-Lobo.)
About Vannin
++Classified: The Full Details of this World are known only to the Holy Ordos and their Servants++
Vannin is a death world made up of impenetrable jungle, part of the holdings of House Vilas-Lobo, albeit only in a technical sense – even for a house accustomed to the exploitation of any world, no matter how hostile, there is little here to interest them. It presents no commercial use nor is it interesting to scholars, and as such it is omitted from many maps of the House’s holdings, and they are responsible for no tithe from it.
Vannin, regrettably, is much more interesting than the public truth.
The verdant jungle world of Vannin appears to the untrained eye as a prize jewel. A thick rainforest covers most of its surface; its soil is fertile and all life here is fecund. Even rudimentary geological scans from orbit reveal rich veins of exotic minerals, and its atmosphere is of a composition that can support human life.
When it was first discovered by the enterprising Scion Ilya Vilas-Lobo in 344.M41, during the hunt for new supply worlds after the Lash of the Eye, initial scans revealed a small existing human population. Plans were quickly drawn up to claim the world and conquer them in the name of the Imperium – with the intention that it might become a mining planet, or even a garden world. Few suspected the insidious horror that awaited them below.
Initial landings occurred at the poles, where the climate is more temperate and the treetops thin away into thick grasslands. Here, too, there were the most visible signs of cultivation and settlement, and so the initial exploratory force – a mix of Ilya’s personal forces and sequestered forces from the Burisalian 208th – was sent to make contact and inform the inhabitants of their liberation and new service to the Imperium. Initial comms reports came back that they had met some of the inhabitants of the world, a community called themselves the Greenfolk, and that they were non-hostile and cooperative; initial missionary reports suggested they were receptive to Imperial preaching.
However, reports from the surfaces thereafter became irregular and strange – until eventually after a couple of weeks they stopped altogether. A second team was quickly sent to investigate. After two day’s exploration from the initial landing site, now venturing into the jungle proper, they found most of the original team… who explained, calmly and smiling, that they simply had no wish or desire to return, and that they were content to remain here as members of the Greenfolk. And then, to quote from a debrief:
“All these people emerged from the trees. They was wearing masks, like, not animal masks but they were faces, you know, but not faces, like I can’t explain, they weren’t right, you know, they were faces but not how they should look… and then they were surrounding us, along with our mates who weren’t our mates no more, and we raised our guns and then… and then they joined hands and just started… singing. They wouldn’t stop. The song was in our heads and in our hearts an’…”
At this time, the second team opened fire. The “Greensfolk” – both Vannin-born and the members of the primary team – did not resist, but when shot down rose again quickly, their wounds visibly healing, bullets popping out and sinking, swallowed, into the soil. The second team beat a hasty retreat.
When they returned to Ilya’s flagship, they were quarantined and de-briefed over vox. Over the next few days, every member of the second away team began to succumb to whatever it was that had altered the primary team, crafting crude masks out of whatever materials they could find and beginning to sing and dance. They were executed, all they had touched and made incinerated, and the quarantine holds voided.
This presented Ilya with a difficult conundrum. The planet’s mineral resources are exceedingly valuable; on the other hand, it was clear that there was a threat that could not be ignored. Backchannel links with factions within the Ordo Xenos secured their assistance, the details of which are between the House and their allies alone.
Ordo Xenos agents made their way to the surface, equipped with powerful rebreathers and air filters, treating the atmosphere as toxic. A crude base was erected, with the environment within heavily regulated, and Vilas-Lobo disposable assets were exposed to it. They did not succumb to the strange influence, and neither did any of the others present. Slowly and surely, the base was re-fitted and expanded, though no further attempt was made to contact the “Greensfolk”.
Since that time, bases have been erected across the planet over particularly valuable veins of minerals. Life in the Vannin bases is a miserable one; inhabitants live in cramped and dirty conditions. The workers are typical Vilas-Lobo workers; bonded to the house and gene-modified to cope in low-oxygen and low-light conditions. The mines that have been built are vast networks of sealed domes and tunnels into which there is no natural light.
Occasionally, there is a breach. The light spills in; the paradise outside finds its way inward. The first signs of this are often that workers are cheerful, singing as they descend into the depths; once exposed to whatever malevolent force lurks on the surface, the progression to becoming part of the Greensfolk unfolds as it ever does. Experimentation and experience has revealed it can be reversed; someone kept in isolation and darkness, being tortured or otherwise put into stressful situations, will over time shake off its influence. The point of no return is when they choose a new name for themself, a “green name” – once this name has been chosen, there appears to be no going back. They will craft for themselves a mask and sing the songs of the forest until the Emperor’s Mercy is granted or they escape into the trees.
Ordos investigations have not revealed the source of the strange influence on Vannin. It does not appear to be malefic in nature – certainly, the afflicted are not responsive to exorcism. Neither, however, does it appear to be any detectable contaminant in the air, despite the clear effectiveness of rebreathers. Investigation has shown that some of the plants of Vannin are safe – or are dangerous, but not sources of the influence – and can thrive outside it without any turning to the Greensfolk – and indeed export of rare plants and medicines and substances derived from them is a lucrative second income stream for Vilas-Lobo, though the origins of these exports are obscured; the secret of Vannin remains hidden.
Something causes all those who walk upon the world, breathe its air, and stand beneath its sun to turn from the Light of the Emperor and to the path of the Green – and the Ordo Xenos grow increasingly nervous year-on-year that that something cannot be found. The uneasy protective pact they have granted the House will not last forever – eventually, their nerve will break – and Vilas-Lobo are increasing their operations on Vannin while they still hold it with the Inquisition’s blessing.