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The Dark Coil
Altar of Maws
A T’AU Short Story
There is no time for peace. No forgiveness. No respite. There is only war.
The galaxy writhes in the mailed fist of all-consuming conflict. The Imperium of Mankind teeters on the brink of annihilation, beset upon all sides by heretic warlords, daemon-summoning witches and rapacious alien empires. In every star system and upon every planet, fierce battle rages as loyalists, heretics and aliens tear reality itself apart in their war for dominance. Every day the flames rise higher.
This is a more terrible era than ever before, and there is no peace amongst the stars...
READ IT BECAUSE
It's a grim yet humorous look at the unintended consequences of war, and a warning to be wary when picking your battleground.
THE STORY
On Phaedra, battling armies of waterborne t'au and Imperials unwittingly disturb a monstrous Chaos creature that has slumbered for centuries.
Written by Peter Fehervari.
There is no time for peace. No forgiveness. No respite. There is only war.
The galaxy writhes in the mailed fist of all-consuming conflict. The Imperium of Mankind teeters on the brink of annihilation, beset upon all sides by heretic warlords, daemon-summoning witches and rapacious alien empires. In every star system and upon every planet, fierce battle rages as loyalists, heretics and aliens tear reality itself apart in their war for dominance. Every day the flames rise higher.
This is a more terrible era than ever before, and there is no peace amongst the stars...
READ IT BECAUSE
It's a grim yet humorous look at the unintended consequences of war, and a warning to be wary when picking your battleground.
THE STORY
On Phaedra, battling armies of waterborne t'au and Imperials unwittingly disturb a monstrous Chaos creature that has slumbered for centuries.
Written by Peter Fehervari.
54 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 22, 2023
11 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 6, 2023
A bite-size piece of Warhammer horror from one of Black Library’s best authors.
This story is a return to Phaedra, know as Fi'draah to the Tau, and familiar to many as the setting of Fire Caste. The Wintertide Concordance ferries human prisoners across the foetid rivers of this hellish planet, inadvertently stumbling upon an ancient evil imprisoned beneath the water.
Everything that you would expect and love from Fehervari is here. Reality is fluid and malleable, a fact that doesn’t mesh well with the rational Tau. Chaos is a subtle force, up until the point that it isn’t. It’s a delight to watch characters fall to the Ruinous Powers in Fehervari’s books. A highlight is a somewhat-dead guardsman rationalising his obvious corruption as worship of the Emperor.
This short story is yet another argument for a Fehervari novel with Tau protagonists. It’s fascinating to see the psychically-inert Tau grapple with the presence of Chaos, and Fehervari understands how to write Chaos better than any other.
This story is a return to Phaedra, know as Fi'draah to the Tau, and familiar to many as the setting of Fire Caste. The Wintertide Concordance ferries human prisoners across the foetid rivers of this hellish planet, inadvertently stumbling upon an ancient evil imprisoned beneath the water.
Everything that you would expect and love from Fehervari is here. Reality is fluid and malleable, a fact that doesn’t mesh well with the rational Tau. Chaos is a subtle force, up until the point that it isn’t. It’s a delight to watch characters fall to the Ruinous Powers in Fehervari’s books. A highlight is a somewhat-dead guardsman rationalising his obvious corruption as worship of the Emperor.
This short story is yet another argument for a Fehervari novel with Tau protagonists. It’s fascinating to see the psychically-inert Tau grapple with the presence of Chaos, and Fehervari understands how to write Chaos better than any other.
October 30, 2023
'Altar of Maws' sees Peter Fehervari return to two of my favorite subjects of his writing: the corrupted world of Phaedra and his take of the alien T'au. It's a horror story where the author is playing by his strengths, and despite this being already the eighteenth story of the 'Dark Coil' I'd consider it an accessible hop-on-story for readers unfamiliar with his work or simply looking for a expertly done horror story by one of 40k's most eloquent and idiosyncratic writers.
Phaedra, the seedy swamp world that's "too lazy to be a death world, too bitter to be anything else", will always be the original Fehervari-world to me, because it's the setting of 'Fire Caste', the novel that introduced and hooked me on his take on Warhammer 40,000. While it was never far away and always creeping around the edges of his stories, this is the first time that Phaedra is center stage again since 2015's 'Vanguard'. While it's a clishé to say, this planet really is a character unto itself, a place subtly tainting and dirtying body and soul of everyone and everything that's unfortunate enough to find themselves in it's muddy grasp, a menacing presence seemingly always on the edge between cruel indifference and malign consciousness.
I always love to read Fehervari's T'au stories because, in my book, they're the perfect protagonists for tales that are so drenched in cosmic horror. The T'au are a people proud of their technology and science, who are advocating for progress and understanding and who're at least nominally interested in a peace amongst the stars that's more than just a genocidal graveyard - which is another way of saying that they're exactly the wrong people to find themselves in the Lovecraftian nightmare of Warhammer 40,000. They're the perfect starting point for these horror stories, prone to be tried and tested by the encroaching (and sometimes leaping) madness precisely because they are so (comparatively) rational and progressive, arguably being more relatable than the humans of the Imperium who're already drenched in their own kind of superstitious insanity.
The T'au of 'Altar of Maws' are therefore painted across the spectrum between stoic/naive rationality and bitter familiarity with the fundamental irrationality of the world. True to the credos of the Coil, the degree to which they manage to adapt to the revelations of Phaedra's true nature and how able they are to question and transform their beliefs about themselves and the world will determine whether they fall and perish or rise and persist (or is it the other way around...?). I was particularly happy to spend additional time with Fire Warrior Jhi'kaara, who has been a recurring traveller of the Coil-stories ever since 'Fire Caste'.
'Altar' works very well as a stand-alone horror story. The accessibility of the story works a tad to the detriment of the veteran Coil-diver in me who's always parsing over these stories for new lore, fresh revelations and ever more convoluted twists. This is Fehervari playing the hits, not experimenting with a new instrument. It's basically the opposite of his latest story before this, 'Aria Arcana', which was a psychedelic trip riffing on the lore of his novels 'Requiem Infernal' and 'The Reverie' which I found very enjoyable, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to a reader unfamiliar with any of his other stories.
That being said, I really enjoyed Altar of Maws for what it is: a return to familiar waters and faces which neatly fits into the themes and the poetry of the stories that came before it, an expertly cheorographed horror story with some striking imagery (I particularly loved the cursed vessel and its crew of the damned) and a potential new go-to story to point new readers to.
Phaedra, the seedy swamp world that's "too lazy to be a death world, too bitter to be anything else", will always be the original Fehervari-world to me, because it's the setting of 'Fire Caste', the novel that introduced and hooked me on his take on Warhammer 40,000. While it was never far away and always creeping around the edges of his stories, this is the first time that Phaedra is center stage again since 2015's 'Vanguard'. While it's a clishé to say, this planet really is a character unto itself, a place subtly tainting and dirtying body and soul of everyone and everything that's unfortunate enough to find themselves in it's muddy grasp, a menacing presence seemingly always on the edge between cruel indifference and malign consciousness.
I always love to read Fehervari's T'au stories because, in my book, they're the perfect protagonists for tales that are so drenched in cosmic horror. The T'au are a people proud of their technology and science, who are advocating for progress and understanding and who're at least nominally interested in a peace amongst the stars that's more than just a genocidal graveyard - which is another way of saying that they're exactly the wrong people to find themselves in the Lovecraftian nightmare of Warhammer 40,000. They're the perfect starting point for these horror stories, prone to be tried and tested by the encroaching (and sometimes leaping) madness precisely because they are so (comparatively) rational and progressive, arguably being more relatable than the humans of the Imperium who're already drenched in their own kind of superstitious insanity.
The T'au of 'Altar of Maws' are therefore painted across the spectrum between stoic/naive rationality and bitter familiarity with the fundamental irrationality of the world. True to the credos of the Coil, the degree to which they manage to adapt to the revelations of Phaedra's true nature and how able they are to question and transform their beliefs about themselves and the world will determine whether they fall and perish or rise and persist (or is it the other way around...?). I was particularly happy to spend additional time with Fire Warrior Jhi'kaara, who has been a recurring traveller of the Coil-stories ever since 'Fire Caste'.
'Altar' works very well as a stand-alone horror story. The accessibility of the story works a tad to the detriment of the veteran Coil-diver in me who's always parsing over these stories for new lore, fresh revelations and ever more convoluted twists. This is Fehervari playing the hits, not experimenting with a new instrument. It's basically the opposite of his latest story before this, 'Aria Arcana', which was a psychedelic trip riffing on the lore of his novels 'Requiem Infernal' and 'The Reverie' which I found very enjoyable, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to a reader unfamiliar with any of his other stories.
That being said, I really enjoyed Altar of Maws for what it is: a return to familiar waters and faces which neatly fits into the themes and the poetry of the stories that came before it, an expertly cheorographed horror story with some striking imagery (I particularly loved the cursed vessel and its crew of the damned) and a potential new go-to story to point new readers to.
July 1, 2023
What Peter Fehervari writes is so uniquely grotesque & thought-provoking, it transcends the constraints of IP genre writing, which is usually just an enjoyable form of brand advertising, to become an auteurist style vision that peels back the escapism to present the darker, inherently more visceral reality of what lies beneath the 40K universe.
Fehervari’s Dark Coil thematics are an achievement and this story, as usual when Peter writes Tau, is one of his recent best.
Fehervari’s Dark Coil thematics are an achievement and this story, as usual when Peter writes Tau, is one of his recent best.
May 24, 2023
A lovely little cruise down memory lan... I meant in Phaedra. Wait... Did the water always have teeth?
Another stellar horror short from Black Library's finest! I really wish that we could get another novel from him though. And maybe an Omnibus collection with all the previous work? That would make rereading everything so much easier, which knowing these stories is a must.
Another stellar horror short from Black Library's finest! I really wish that we could get another novel from him though. And maybe an Omnibus collection with all the previous work? That would make rereading everything so much easier, which knowing these stories is a must.
June 12, 2023
Did you really think that you could leave Phaedra, pilgrim? Don’t know about you, but the unfortunate characters of the Dark Coil, who ended up there surely can’t. Even if their body managed to escape to a different planet, the spirit is another case entirely. And I am not different, I have a twisted connection to this cursed place, weaved into existence by mastery of Peter Fehervari’s writing, and it still holds me in it grasp in some weird way.
When I was reading Fire Caste for the first time, I was ill and had a strong fever, which surely enhanced my experience. But as we know, “nothing is a chance” so sure thing, when Altar of Maws came out, I was fighting another unwanted blessing of Grandfather Nurgle, making my return to Phaedra quite thematic.
But enough about me, what the new short story, the Altar of Maws, bring into Dark Coil? What diabolic miserable swamp of Phaedra left to offer? Quite a lot actually. Mysteries of this cursed place and people who lived here long before the events of the stories are brought up again, offering new pieces of the puzzle. New characters rise up to the corrosive influence of this hopeless shithole, while familiar one think that they figured it out in their arrogance. Genuine bonds are pulling the “heroes” out of danger, mundane and spiritual, while faults, distrust and sins doom them anyway. All the things that we are loving Dark Coil so much for are here.
And speaking of sins. I brought this up discussing Fire Caste, when I mentioned that all characters in this novel are sinners, even t’au. And my highest praise was for making t’au sins different from human ones, specific to them. T’au here sinned against the Greater Good. In this story we continue the exploration of this concept, to my greatest delight.
What else? The language is fantastic as ever, and the scenes weaved with it application continue to surpass my expectation. After Fire Caste I was so confident that nothing could top “her eyes were still beautiful” scene, because I knew for a fact that it was repulsive and horrific enough to force the professional coroner to put the book away for a moment. Now, after reading the scene where the Captain is trying to vomit his soul away together with his tongue I am not so sure. Just wow.
Another aspect of Fahervari’s skill that keep surprising me is his ability to create interesting side characters with a couple of sentences. In this horror story majority of them could as well wear red armor or something, reader is aware from the start that they would be dead in a couple of seconds. Rationally thinking, they don’t need elaborated personality, spending too many words on them would make the short story unreadable. But Peter doesn’t need to spend a lot of words. With his mastery he manages to give them more personality and characterization with a couple of sentences, than some side characters have in a novels where they are presented through the whole book.
And this should be the part where I draw the conclusion that we got another excellent Dark Coil short story. I wish it would, but I had to bring this up instead. I mean, I am an obsessed Dark Coil fan. I myself could rant for hours how unsolved mysteries and loosed ends are part of what makes Fehervari’s writing so enjoyable and great. But this is not a short story. It is a half of normal size story and knowing BL's track record we probably will never see the second part. In this aspect it is worse that the Greater Evil, which sequel I am hopelessly waiting since the moment the story was published. If I think and analyze really hard I can make an argument that some narrative lines in this story are resolved, but it is just empty sophistry – I don’t believe it, I don’t feel that the conflict was truly resolved at all. So, keep this in mind when you venture into this story.
Just a warning for one pilgrim to another.
When I was reading Fire Caste for the first time, I was ill and had a strong fever, which surely enhanced my experience. But as we know, “nothing is a chance” so sure thing, when Altar of Maws came out, I was fighting another unwanted blessing of Grandfather Nurgle, making my return to Phaedra quite thematic.
But enough about me, what the new short story, the Altar of Maws, bring into Dark Coil? What diabolic miserable swamp of Phaedra left to offer? Quite a lot actually. Mysteries of this cursed place and people who lived here long before the events of the stories are brought up again, offering new pieces of the puzzle. New characters rise up to the corrosive influence of this hopeless shithole, while familiar one think that they figured it out in their arrogance. Genuine bonds are pulling the “heroes” out of danger, mundane and spiritual, while faults, distrust and sins doom them anyway. All the things that we are loving Dark Coil so much for are here.
And speaking of sins. I brought this up discussing Fire Caste, when I mentioned that all characters in this novel are sinners, even t’au. And my highest praise was for making t’au sins different from human ones, specific to them. T’au here sinned against the Greater Good. In this story we continue the exploration of this concept, to my greatest delight.
What else? The language is fantastic as ever, and the scenes weaved with it application continue to surpass my expectation. After Fire Caste I was so confident that nothing could top “her eyes were still beautiful” scene, because I knew for a fact that it was repulsive and horrific enough to force the professional coroner to put the book away for a moment. Now, after reading the scene where the Captain is trying to vomit his soul away together with his tongue I am not so sure. Just wow.
Another aspect of Fahervari’s skill that keep surprising me is his ability to create interesting side characters with a couple of sentences. In this horror story majority of them could as well wear red armor or something, reader is aware from the start that they would be dead in a couple of seconds. Rationally thinking, they don’t need elaborated personality, spending too many words on them would make the short story unreadable. But Peter doesn’t need to spend a lot of words. With his mastery he manages to give them more personality and characterization with a couple of sentences, than some side characters have in a novels where they are presented through the whole book.
And this should be the part where I draw the conclusion that we got another excellent Dark Coil short story. I wish it would, but I had to bring this up instead. I mean, I am an obsessed Dark Coil fan. I myself could rant for hours how unsolved mysteries and loosed ends are part of what makes Fehervari’s writing so enjoyable and great. But this is not a short story. It is a half of normal size story and knowing BL's track record we probably will never see the second part. In this aspect it is worse that the Greater Evil, which sequel I am hopelessly waiting since the moment the story was published. If I think and analyze really hard I can make an argument that some narrative lines in this story are resolved, but it is just empty sophistry – I don’t believe it, I don’t feel that the conflict was truly resolved at all. So, keep this in mind when you venture into this story.
Just a warning for one pilgrim to another.
September 27, 2023
Really delightful. Maybe the best Warhammer material I've ever read. I can see why Fehervari has such a following. I don't want to say any more about it than that because you really do just have to let the atmosphere build piece by piece.
May 30, 2023
I have struggled in the past with some the authors dark coil books but found this short story to be a major improvement (for me)
January 8, 2024
I do enjoy when the T'au are forced to face the reality of the 40k universe. In this particular case, being shown Grandfather Nurgle's undying love.
February 20, 2025
"Sometimes the Open Hand was stronger than the Clenched Fist."
February 21, 2024
Entertaining bit of madness featuring the Tau.
May 8, 2025
Whilst I felt this was a bit long winded the multiple points of view gave a lot of depth to the story, the two main characters showcased distinct personalities that held opposing views of the Tau doctrine.
Returning to the planet Phaedra featured within this story, myself having visited it previously a long time ago in Fehervari's "Fire Caste", I remember why it was such a damnable place almost on par with 40K's myriad dreaded Death World's due to it's rotten reputation. The Dark Coil don't half chose the worst possible places to web their terrible schemes.
Returning to the planet Phaedra featured within this story, myself having visited it previously a long time ago in Fehervari's "Fire Caste", I remember why it was such a damnable place almost on par with 40K's myriad dreaded Death World's due to it's rotten reputation. The Dark Coil don't half chose the worst possible places to web their terrible schemes.
May 30, 2023
‘For Gretta Gud!’ Coraline rumbled as she surged past, hauling herself up by strength alone, her cannon swinging about on her back. She was too heavy for her grapple’s retractor, but that didn’t slow her. Jhi’kaara sensed her comrade’s eagerness. Part of it was battle-lust, but the greater measure was faith. Coraline was a genuine convert to the Tau’va. The cadre had accepted her more warmly than her own kind ever had."
(...)
"His gaze shifted to the giant looming over Jhi’kaara. Her pet gue’vesa was never far from her side. It was an ugly brute, even by the vulgar standards of its species, its features squeezed between a heavy brow and a slab-like jaw. O’grinn, the gue’la called such beasts. Apparently they were an uncommon yet stable mutation of the core species, adapted to high-gravity worlds.
This breed epitomises the true nature of the gue’la, Tal’hanzo judged. His nasal slits flared with disgust as his optics zoomed into the creature’s face. It was a female, its long black hair braided into dreadlocks entwined with bones."
- from Altar of Maws by Peter Fehervari
(...)
"His gaze shifted to the giant looming over Jhi’kaara. Her pet gue’vesa was never far from her side. It was an ugly brute, even by the vulgar standards of its species, its features squeezed between a heavy brow and a slab-like jaw. O’grinn, the gue’la called such beasts. Apparently they were an uncommon yet stable mutation of the core species, adapted to high-gravity worlds.
This breed epitomises the true nature of the gue’la, Tal’hanzo judged. His nasal slits flared with disgust as his optics zoomed into the creature’s face. It was a female, its long black hair braided into dreadlocks entwined with bones."
- from Altar of Maws by Peter Fehervari
July 9, 2023
Very much a companion piece to A Sanctuary of Wyrms, this continues to explore the insidious effects that Fi’draah/Phaedra has on the T’au, and in particular their ‘faith’ in the logic and rigidity of the Greater Good. Fehervari’s take on the T’au Empire has always been deeply considered and wonderfully dark, and on the strength of this there’s no question – it would be fantastic to get more! This might make a good introduction to the strange, compelling horror of the Dark Coil, as it’s a little more straightforward than many of Fehervari’s weirder tales. It’s still sinister, ambiguous and full of typical Fehervari idiosyncrasies, but it feels less interconnected than some of his stories, and a little safer than most, a touch closer to the 40k norm.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2023/07/...
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2023/07/...
July 7, 2024
A great short story, invoking the feel of Fire Caste, and indeed featuring at least one returning character. Has similar mix of horror, suspense and mystery, and just a shame for me that it wasn't longer, or allowed for a bit more feel for the future, but strongly recommended if enjoyed Fire Caste.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews