Blackstone Fortress: Warhammer 40, 000

There are those in the great expanse of the galaxy that seek profit wherever it is to be found: the deal makers, the opportunists and explorers – the Rogue Traders. Granted power by an ancient charter, sanctioned by the Emperor Himself, these scoundrels, entrepreneurs and adventurers roam the galaxy in search of fortune and glory. None perhaps are as hungry for these twin vices as Janus Draik.

Precipice is dying. For weeks, the space port has been battered by hellish geomagnetic storms, the work of sinister goings-on within the nearby Blackstone Fortress – a vast, ineffable creation that looms in the darkness of the void. Fragile alliances between Precipice’s xenos and human inhabitants crumble as the port’s docking points are destroyed, eroding any hope of escape. Amid this bedlam, opportunistic rogue trader Janus Draik remains coolly unaffected.

The Blackstone Fortress is silent no longer. Through heretical rituals, the followers of the risen Obsidius Mallex have activated more of the Talisman of Vaul’s apocalyptic weapons and created a corrupted citadel in the heart of the fortress itself. Where once only the most desperate and determined adventurers struck out into the Unfathomable in search of riches, now a new breed of explorer delves into the Blackstone to do battle with the forces of the Ruinous Powers.

Of the countless monstrosities inhabiting the Blackstone Fortress, none wreak such destruction as the dreaded ambull. Capable of rending a human in two with a swipe of its claws, hunting this apex predator is a suicidal task. Naturally, this leaves only one man for the job: Rogue Trader Janus Draik, gentlemen, scholar, scoundrel and duellist par excellence. Accompanied by the kroot tracker Dahyak Grekh, Draik must venture into the labyrinth for his most dangerous mission yet.

Five hundred years ago, Oleris III was ravaged by a Chaos plague. Now it is a world of tombs and catacombs. Colonel Graven and his 401st Krieg Regiment are charged with searching for a missing inquisitor in the bone-filled ossuary tunnels beneath the planet. But the dead are stirring, and down in the labyrinthine darkness, his kill team comes face to face with unspeakable horrors.