The Horus Heresy
THE REVELATION OF THE WORD (2019)
Written by David Annandale
Performed by: John Banks, Cliff Chapman, Emma Gregory & Stephen Perring
Scripted by Reverend
LIST OF CHARACTERS:
- Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers;
- Chaplain Bal Tavor;
- preacher Kalia Veston;
- nameless scribe.
Scribe: “The servo skull is recording, lord Lorgar”.
Lorgar: “I can hear that, scribe. I trust you are too”.
Scribe: “Every word, my lord. Every word”.
Lorgar: “If you omit[1] one, that word will be your death sentence”.
Scribe: “Let it be so, my lord. Let it be so. Such a failing would deserve no less”.
(sounds of a distant gunfight)
Lorgar: “Begin then… We have taken Vansios. Another world of Ultramar is chastised[2], punished for its allegiance and its beliefs. Eh, it would be satisfying to believe that Guilliman could feel this chastisement[3]. It would be satisfying to think he understood how far the consequences of what he did on Monarchia reach. Such understanding however is utterly beyond my brother. If he was susceptible[4] to the truth, he would have learned it after Calth. Every bombardment is an act of truth. Listen…”
(Thunderhawks fly over Lorgar’s head)
(numerous bolter rounds and explosions)
Lorgar: “That is a lesson being delivered. It is the forced confrontation with the truth. But who learns the lesson? Whom does it teach? The dead, certainly. They were witnesses to revelation in their final moments. They saw their errors as the glory of the true gods came for them, but such a lesson is stillborn[5]. The dead do not carry it forward. They do not speak to the living on other worlds who’d cling to their errors. Where shall we find the witnesses then?”
(bolter rounds and hysterical screams of gunned down civilians)
Lorgar: “Another mass execution. Another lesson delivered. Another truth witnessed, but my sons who teach the lesson know it already and their students do not survive the instruction. This is the paradox of conversion[6]. The truth of Chaos reaches its purest fulfillment in the greatest destruction and so we limit the spread of the word. Hm, this is a point of frustration, but Vansios burns, Ultramar bleeds. These are valuable truths in hand of themselves. Cease recording”.
Scribe: “Yes, my lord”.
Lorgar: “Chaplain Bal Tavor is aboard that Thunderhawk. I wonder why he risks my anger in choosing to interrupt me in my meditations”.
(Thunderhawk lands in front of the Primarch)
(embarkation ramp descends and Chaplain walks down)
Bal Tavor: “My lord Lorgar!”
Lorgar: “Chaplain, your intrusion upon my reflections had better be warranted[7]”.
Bal Tavor: “You shall be the judge of that, Aurelian, as you are in all things. But I believe there’s s something you must see”.
Lorgar: “You have not come to tell me that the resistance is proving intractable[8]?”
Bal Tavor: “Not… not exactly… Our operations proceed as planned, but there’s… there is a complication”.
Lorgar: “I do not reward obliqueness[9], Chaplain”.
Bal Tavor: “It is not my intention to be evasive. I feel I must speak carefully. I would not want to misrepresent what we have found”.
Lorgar: “And so you wish me to see for myself?”
Bal Tavor: “I think that would be best”.
Lorgar: “Very well, I shall accompany you. Scribe, keep pace”.
Scribe: “Yes, Aurelian”.
(three start to tread slowly)
Lorgar: “What is our destination?”
(embarkation ramp slowly ascends)
Bal Tavor: “Approximately 100 miles north-west of Vansios primary space port”.
Lorgar: “What is there?”
Bal Tavor: “An agri-settlement, very small. Its designation is Fentis Seven”.
Lorgar: “Not of strategic significance then?”
Bal Tavor: “I would not have disturbed you for a purely military matter, my lord. I believe its importance is far more profound”.
(Thunderhawk’s engines ignite and the craft takes flight)
* * *
Lorgar: “What is the status of Fentis Seven?”
Bal Tavor (after a pause): “No, it is under our control as is all of Vansios. We are engaged in the final purging of the world, my lord”.
Lorgar: “I am glad to hear it”.
Bal Tavor: “Fentis Seven’s unimportance has spared it our full attention until now and I believe you will be glad of this”.
Lorgar: “We dropped a mass conveyor on the space port. Fentis Seven must be in a very fortunate position to have escaped vaporization when the plasma drive exploded”.
Bal Tavor: “It was indeed. It has suffered from considerable eradiation[10] but the structural damage is minimal. This is fortunate for us as well. We paid it no attention until a few hours ago as we complete the punishment of Vansios. We are approaching Fentis Seven now, my lord”.
Lorgar: “Unprepossessing[11], an Administratum complex and some anonymous habs barely worth our attention. You could have simply disposed of it with a bombardment”.
Bal Tavor: “That we almost did, Aurelian”.
Lorgar: “What stopped you?”
Bal Tavor: “The defiance of some of its residents”.
Lorgar: “Their resistance was strong enough to stymie[12] us?”
Bal Tavor: “No, they did not fight at all. They had no weapons. They gathered in the center of the settlement and looked up waiting for our attack”.
Lorgar: “Interesting, I see why this drew your curiosity”.
Bal Tavor: “If I had not been on this Thunderhawk flying over just before the bombardment…”
Lorgar (interrupting): “Yes, the number of chance events begins to look like the workings of fate. So you investigated?”
Bal Tavor: “I did”.
Lorgar: “Were these people unafraid?”
Bal Tavor: “Oh, they were frightened, but still defiant[13]”.
Lorgar: “This still does not warrant my displacement”.
Bal Tavor: “What I found below does, my lord. Of this I am certain. We will land in the central square”.
(Thunderhawk begins its descent)
Lorgar: “I see you have gathered the prisoners at the square. Are they what you think I need to see?”
Bal Tavor: “I believe you will wish to speak with them, yes, but after you see what we found”.
Lorgar: “Which is where?”
Bal Tavor: “There, in that hab, in its cellar. We made the discovery after the nature of the citizens’ defiance attracted my attention and I ordered a full investigation of the settlement”.
Lorgar: “Then let us see what has you so concerned”.
* * *
(Lorgar and Chaplain descend down the ramp)
Bal Tavor: “Just over here, my lord, behind this storage vault”.
(hatch slowly opens)
Lorgar: “A corridor behind it. Ah, more than a corridor. This is a catacomb. How far does it reach?”
Bal Tavor: “Most of it has collapsed, but I believe it stretched at least as far as Fentis Six, inside the blast zone”.
(Lorgar and Chaplain keep walking along the catacombs)
Lorgar: “This wider chamber. This is what you wanted me to see”.
Bal Tavor: “It is, my lord”.
Lorgar: “That rockcrete slab[14], it cannot be anything other than an altar and the runes on the walls (smiling) Haha, this is a place of worship. You did well to bring me here, Chaplain”.
Bal Tavor: “Thank you, my lord”.
Lorgar: “Acts of worship taking place under Roboute’s very nose. The irony is delicious and from the looks of this construction it has been going on for some time. Better and better. (starting to walk around the chamber) But the worship of what? There is no iconography of Chaos here”.
Bal Tavor: “There is not. There is this reliquary[15] instead”.
(Chaplain opens the reliquary)
Bal Tavor: “We’ve found it in a concealed recess[16] of the altar”.
(Lorgar slowly approaches and grabs an old volume)
Lorgar: “The Lectitio Divinitatus”.
Bal Tavor: “I did not believe my eyes, when I saw this”.
Lorgar (angrily): “Nor do I now. My book, my words returning to confront me here. The words that had led to the shaming of our Legion. The words I now know were a delusion. The only truth was the belief in the sublime[17], but… (infuriated) Oh… How wrong I was to believe I had found it in the Emperor. And to find this here and now”.
Bal Tavor: “You will want me to speak to the… congregation[18], my lord?”
Lorgar: “Oh, I will. I most certainly will. Did any of the prisoners stand out?”
Bal Tavor: “One of the women. The others seemed to look to her for leadership”.
Lorgar: “Bring her down here, now!”
Bal Tavor: “I will, my lord”.
(Chaplain walks away down the corridor)
Lorgar: “What does this mean, father? Do you know of this? Is this further mockery[19]?”
(Lorgar hits the altar angrily)
(water keeps dripping from the walls)
* * *
(Bal Tavor and preacher enter the chamber)
Bal Tavor: “This is she, lord Lorgar”.
Lorgar (wheezing): “What do you call yourself, mortal?”
Kalia: “Kalia Veston, and I defy[20] you, foul traitor!”
Lorgar (smiling): “Ahah, I am sure you do. For now, tell me. This book… (knocks on the book with his finger) How does it come to be here?”
Kalia: “I brought it to Vansios. I was chosen to be the means introducing the revelation to this region”.
Lorgar: “Revelation? That is a term you do not understand. Much as you might think you do, but leave that for now. Tell me how you acquired the Lectitio Divinitatus”.
Kalia: “I answer you, because it is the truth and not you who commands. I was in the crew of the mass conveyor “Veridian Sail”. The truth was revealed to me by an Engineerium serf. There were copies of the sacred text aboard. One was given to me and I was instructed in its teachings”.
Lorgar: “So you are this world’s prophet. Is that what you claim to be?”
Kalia: “I make no such claim. All I have done is bring the word to this place. Others have travelled elsewhere on Vansios with other copies. We do not matter. It is the book and what it reveals that are important. I bore the book but it is the book that bears the word”.
Bal Tavor (knocks the wall): “I will end this mockery, Aurelian”.
(Bal Valor unslings his bolter)
Lorgar: “No, Bal Tavor, wait. There is more that I would know. You defy me, Kalia Veston. You call me a traitor, yet you defy the lord of Ultramar too”.
Kalia: “We serve him loyally”.
Lorgar: “Do you? Are we not underground? Is this chapel not secret?”
Kalia (unsure): “It is”.
Lorgar: “You hide your worship. That is because it is forbidden”.
Kalia: “Yes, but…”
Lorgar (interrupting): “I know very well what is in this book”.
(Lorgar throws the book on the altar)
Lorgar: “I know it better than you do, you foolish deluded[21] mortal. And I know more truly than you could possibly imagine, that its contents are contrary to the tenets[22] of you Imperial Truth. And that following these teachings is forbidden by your Emperor”.
Kalia: “I know that they are”.
Lorgar: “You call him a god against his expressed command”.
Kalia: “His dictates are a test of our faith. What is the value of a faith that is not challenged? We prove our fidelity[23] by following these truths no matter what”.
Lorgar: “Though he forbids the worship of all gods”.
Kalia: “There… There is only one true god”.
Lorgar: “Though your god declares he is not one”.
Kalia: “Only the one true god would deny his divinity”.
(Lorgar knocks the altar upside down in anger)
Lorgar (infuriated): “You dare… You dare to turn my words against me?”
Kalia: “I do not understand”.
Lorgar: “Only a true god would deny his divinity. That is the great delusion[24], the one that lies at the heart of that book. And that delusion was mine. I was the one who contorted[25] reason to produce that lie. I was the one who needed it to be true or else all my beliefs would collapse into ruin, as will yours”.
Kalia (scared, voice trembling): “No, no, you are lying! You…”
Lorgar (interrupting): “The truth matters to me, you, wretch[26]! You prattle[27] about its importance, but I understand truth in ways and to depths you cannot imagine. I know more intimately than you ever will. Shall I quote them to you? Shall I quote what I have written?”
Kalia (shocked, barely able to speak): “You… You could not… have… It is im… It is not possible”.
Lorgar: “You know I speak the truth. You know it because of the pain that fills your soul when you confront it”.
Kalia: “Then you are still further proof of the Emperor’s divinity. He works even through the likes of you (laughing hysterically) Hahaha, his power is so great that even his enemy must reveal his truth”.
Lorgar (disgusted): “Oh, you, simpering[28] insect, too cowardly to look out from behind the comforting veil of lies. The Emperor does not work through me. Through me his work comes to an end. His false dreams turn to ash. Yes, I composed the Lectitio Divinitatus and writing it was the great error of my life. But it was not an error without value, for in the end it brought me to the end of lies to real revelation”.
Kalia (scared, trembling): “No… No… I will not believe this… I will not let you… tempt[29] me down the path to…”
Lorgar (interrupting): “To what? To illumination? To the gods that await your witness? To the true gods? To the gods of Chaos?”
Kalia (scared): “Lies!”
Lorgar: “You have a choice before you”.
Kalia (scared): “My choice has been made and I have embraced divinity”.
Lorgar: “You have a choice, I said. This book is detritus[30], a discard[31] from an age of error. It has enslaved you. Even so there is one fragment of truth around which the web of lies is spun and you have seen that truth. The Emperor is not divine, but divinity does exist. You see that. Your existence is shamed by that truth”.
Kalia: “So it will ever be”.
Lorgar: “Good, good… That is right and proper. Now it is time for you to take the next step, to follow that portion of insight[32] through to the embrace of the Four”.
Kalia: “I will not… I will not!!! In the name of the…”
Lorgar (interrupting): “Hold on to your delusions and you die uselessly”.
Kalia: “The Emperor will see my loyalty”.
Lorgar: “He will not. You will die and be forgotten. Your life and your death will have been without meaning. There are no martyrs where there is no god”.
Kalia: “He will see me… He will see me…”
Lorgar: “Chaplain, I’ve had enough of this. Bring the prisoner above ground and have everything that can be carried from this chapel taken to the square. What the truth cannot mark, it will burn”.
Bal Tavor: “It shall be done, my lord”.
Kalia: “No! This is blasphemy! NO! NO!!!”
Lorgar: “If your reason will not see the truth, then your soul will feel it at last!”
(Lorgar slowly walks away from the chapel)
* * *
(congregation cries in fear and dismay)
Lorgar: “You are recording, scribe?”
Scribe: “I am, my lord”.
Lorgar: “I shall wish to review what happens this night. Be rigorous[33] in your duties”.
Scribe: “All shall be written, lord Aurelian”.
Lorgar: “Chaplain, you are ready?”
Bal Tavor: “All has been gathered, my lord”.
Lorgar: “Then let it begin (slowly starts to tread) Look upon these worshippers of the false god. Look upon this heap of refuse[34]. This is what you built to embody your faith. See how broken it is. See its futility. What is there to hold on to here? Nothing! There is nothing here”.
Kalia (scared): “We must be strong in our faith, comrades! This is the time of trial and we will be triumph…”
Lorgar (interrupting): “Yes, yes! We have heard it before and that is enough. Now, Bal Tavor”.
Bal Tavor: “With pleasure, Aurelian”.
(Bal Tavor sets the relics on fire with a flame thrower)
(crowd starts to moan and weep in desperation)
Lorgar: “The Emperor is a false god and I was enslaved to his falsehood. Now I am free and I bear the word of the true gods. This book, the Lectitio Divinitatus, that you venerate, it is a work of folly[35] and lies. It is the work of my chains. Behold, I am free!”
(Lorgar starts to slowly tear the book to shreds)
Lorgar: “I am free and I bear the word of the true gods! Hear me and hear truth at last! Hear me and the freedom of blood, of sensation, of plague and of change will be yours. Disdain this book and bow your heads to Chaos!”
Kalia: “Never!”
Crowd: “Blasphemy! Blasphemy!”
Lorgar (tearing the book apart page by page): “There are only a few pages left. Their number is the time that remains to you if you persist in your delusions”.
Kalia: “The Emperor sees us!”
Lorgar: “He sees nothing! He certainly does not see you”.
(Logra turns to Chaplain)
Lorgar: “They are fanatics, Bal Tavor. They do not question. They do not see. They will not be turned (grimly) Destroy them all!”
Bal Tavor (calmly): “At once, Aurelian”.
(Bal Tavor turns to his Word Bearers)
Bal Tavor: “Turn them to ash!”
(Word Bearers unsling their flame throwers and unleash the flames)
(people cry in agony and pain)
Lorgar: “Attend me, scribe”.
Scribe: “I attend, my lord”.
Lorgar: “These followers of this cult… They will defy us onto death, that is their nature. In small numbers they are helpless, but in large enough gatherings they will be a threat. Belief is contagious. Given a chance this cult would have spread over worlds and beyond. Kalia Veston and all her kind must be exterminated”.
(distant clap of thunder, distant screams of dying believers)
Lorgar: “But here is the paradox. Though these people will die for the Emperor, though they will fight us to their final breath, they also represent the end of the Emperor’s dream. They are what he tried to destroy on Monarchia. They are everything the Imperial Creed stands against. The Emperor’s most devout[36] followers will, if they can, be the ruin of his hopes and their holy book is my doing”.
(clap of thunder, storm approaches)
Lorgar: “Here at least I have destroyed what I created, what I once sought most fervently[37] to create. I echo my father’s actions and the irony is compound[38]. The contradictions seem irresolvable. I must make war on a religion whose foundation I have laid and whose followers reverently mouth my words. This is vexing[39]. You have recorded all, scribe?”
Scribe: “I have, my lord”.
Lorgar: “Give me, your data slate”.
Scribe: “Here, my lord”.
Lorgar: “Well, I am pleased. Your task is finished”.
(Lorgar charges at scribe and strangles him to death)
(scribe moans in pain, unable to take a breath)
(scribe’s neck breaks and his lifeless body collapses to the floor)
Lorgar: “No one will hear these words, but me. And there is no space now for me to untangle[40] these paradoxes. The urgencies of war will not allow it, but I will learn the full meaning of this mystery. If I have to extinguish life from the galaxy to carve out that time, then I will. If I have to wait until eternity passes before I can meditate on the full meaning of what has transpired[41], then I will. But I will understand. I will know revelation”.
(flames burning)
[1] пропускать, не включать, пренебрегать (чем-л.), упускать (что-л.)
[2] бить, пороть, сечь (подвергать телесному наказанию), карать, наказывать
[3] дисциплинарное взыскание; наказание (телесное)
[4] восприимчивый, впечатлительный, чувствительный; обидчивый, допускающий; поддающийся
[5] мертворождённый
[6] превращение, изменение; переход, обращение, переход (в какую-л. веру)
[7] обоснованный, оправданный
[8] упрямый, неподатливый; непокорный, трудновоспитуемый
[9] окольный; косвенный, непрямой
[10] излучение
[11] не располагающий к себе; непривлекательный, необаятельный
[12] блокировать, загонять в тупик, ставить противника в положение стайми
[13] вызывающий; неповинующийся, дерзкий, непокорный
[14] плита; лист, пластина, прилавок, стойка
[15] рака, гробница, ковчег, усыпальница (для мощей)
[16] углубление (в стене и т. п.); ниша (окна и т. п.); альков, углубление, впадина; расселина
[17] возвышенное, великое
[18] конгрегация, скопление; собрание, сходка, паства, приход (какой-л. церкви)
[19] насмешка, осмеяние, предмет насмешки, осмеяния; посмешище
[20] противостоять, сопротивляться; не поддаваться, представлять трудности, вызывать, бросать вызов
[21] обманывать, надувать, вводить в заблуждение
[22] догмат, доктрина, принцип
[23] верность, привязанность, преданность; почтительность
[24] заблуждение, иллюзия, ложное представление
[25] искривлять; деформировать, искажать
[26] несчастный, жалкий человек
[27] судачить; болтать; "трещать как сорока"
[28] хныкать, произносить что-л. с притворной или глупой улыбкой
[29] соблазнять, искушать; прельщать, привлекать, притягивать
[30] осколки, обломки; развалины
[31] что-л. ненужное, сброшенная карта, снесённая карта
[32] понимание, догадка, (внезапное) озарение, проникновение в суть
[33] доскональный, скрупулёзный, тщательный; неукоснительный
[34] мусор, отбросы, отходы, отбросы, подонки; отребье
[35] неосмотрительность, недальновидность, непредусмотрительность, глупость; недомыслие
[36] сердечный; верный, преданный, благочестивый, набожный, праведный, религиозный
[37] горячо, пылко, пламенно; страстно, с жаром
[38] составной; сложный
[39] неприятный, раздражающий, досаждающий
[40] распутывать, разрешать сложную ситуацию
[41] происходить, случаться