A Sanctuary of Wyrms

The Dark Coil

by Peter Fehervari

On the sept of Fi'draah, a tau water caste ambassador is sent deep into the jungles of the mysterious Dolorosa Coil on a vital mission. As she and her companions explore an abandoned Imperial facility known only as 'The Sanctuary of Wyrms', they find humans both dead and alive, including those of the Imperium's elite alien hunters - the Deathwatch.

Read it because
A tau short story from Peter Fehervari, the author of Fire Caste. Previously published in the Direct Exclusive anthology Xenos Hunters.

Genres: 40k, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2013

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Fehervari deserves to be held in the esteemed ranks of Dan Abnett and Aaron Demski-Bowden in the top tier of Black Library writers. His characterisation, world building and ability to write a compelling mystery are excellent.

Add in the fact that his novels and short stories are all connected in a way that rewards readers for sticking with him (whilst always being damn good as standalone works in their own right), and you have one of the best explorations of the 40k universe I have come across.

A Sanctuary of Wyrms satisfies everything I want from warhammer fiction, and is a great place to start with Fehervari's work, or an excellent chapter for someone following the trail of his ongoing Dark Coil mythos.

Thanks Peter!

[Tim Van Lipzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In an insane galaxy, only the mad will prosper."

A Sanctuary of Wyrms is a one of the earliest 40k stories penned by Peter Fehervari - in fact (if my sources are correct) the second one ever released, back in late 2012, and the first published story set on the world Phaedra (earlier even than Fire Caste). It's a first person account by a t'au of the water caste about her first and fateful expedition on this world that is "too lazy to be a death world, too bitter to be anything else".

Due to it's relative age, I found it quite interesting to revisit A Sanctuary Of Wyrms after having read 8 years worth of follow-up stories from Fehervari's "Dark Coil" several times over. It's a testament to Fehervari's organic and careful way of writing - he describes his process of writing Coil-stories as "discovering" them rather than planning them out - how well it has aged. While Nightfall, Fehervari's first 40k-story, shows a few debut-isms that Fehervari would shed from his later work like the inclusion of a Big Player Faction like the Night Lords (Fehervari has said that his truce with BL basically boils down to them letting him "indulge his madness" as long as he stays away from anything important), ASoW could have easily been released last week and felt right at home within the themes, arcs and motifs of his larger body of work. It's also another example of Fehervari's fractal structure of the Coil, as one of the companions of the narrating protagonist is a certain Fire Warrior whose arc has strong parallels to the journey of the protagonist's, but is/will be told over several stories instead of one. As above, so below.

ASoW is as much a horror story of exploring the physical horrors of the 40k-universe in general and Phaedra specifically as well as a story of revelation and disillusion for the main character. It's a Lovecraftian story in the sense that it's about an individual that views themselves, their society and their universe as  governed by reason and science, only to have the thin facade of sanity peeled away from all three. In 40k, the alien t'au are actually better suited as protagonists for those kind of stories than the humans of the Imperium, as they are at least on the face of it 40k's closest equivalent to Star Trek's Federation and a somewhat "modern" mode of interacting with the world.

The quote at the beginning of the review is one that Peter Fehervari named in an Interview as one of his favorites when it comes to explaining the appeal that Warhammer 40.000 has to him. It's propably an abbreviation of a quote from the very first edition of Rogue Trader from 1987: "Only the insane have strength enough to prosper; only those that prosper may judge what is truly sane." One way to read those quotes is the simple fact that the world of Warhammer 40.000 works by different rules than our own. As such, a Lovecraftian arc from sanity to madness is not necessarily a story of weakening, but can be one of empowerment, too - a painful unravelling of the lies of the old that paves the way for the emergence of a renewed/revealed self that is better adapted and more truthful to the mad world it inhabits. As within, so without.

A Sanctuary Of Wyrms is another of Fehervari's magic tricks of a compelling, well-rounded story with a fresh combination of parts of the 40k toy-box that's well worth visiting on it's own while still being a fascinating piece of a larger, complex puzzle that grows by repeated re-reads, even nearly a decade and over a dozens follow-up stories later. Highly recommended.

Addendum: For anyone seeking guidance among or easier access into the perhaps daunting number of stories of "The Dark Coil", Peter Fehervari's interconnected web of stories, the book blog Track Of Words has an extensive article titled "A Traveller's Guide to the Dark Coil", including an overview over factions and places as well as a recommended reading order and links to various interviews with the author.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

An oblique sequel to the phenomenal Fire Caste, this is an unsettling, insightful short story exploring the sinister side of the T’au Empire and the corrupting nature of the world Fi’draah.

A deceptively simple narrative hides a complex and fascinating study of the dynamics at play beneath the surface of the T’au Empire and their perspective on the Imperium, as well as the unique meta-narrative of the Dark Coil. It’s the sort of sinister, thought-provoking story that only Fehervari seems to write, defying classification but proving deeply satisfying.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/05/...

[Alina Zabiyaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I knew my sanity had gone, unravelled by O’Seishin’s lies and Fi’draah’s truths. All that remained was horror and the will to face it. For the Greater Good…”

Por’ui Vior’la Asharil, ‘walker of the water path’ arrives onto the grey-green surface of Sept Fi’draah – a planet full of vibrantly picturesque (if impure) life and countless mysteries. In fact she’d volunteered for this post – but who in their right mind would go for it?..

Pretty soon, Asharil becomes entangled in the literal Coil as she joins a mission to Sector O-31 – apparently the darkest place on a world of dark secrets.

“We are crawling through a diseased corpse, I thought, but what if it’s not dead, just forever dying?”

On this expedition the small team is accompanied by a familiar character – moody but fearless outcast Shas’ui Jhi’kaara with a bunch of her barbaric-looking gue’la janissaries. Their first discovery is a long-abandoned Imperial facility – and within it the grisly remains of a Deathwatch kill team (made, among others, of an Imperial Fist, White Scar, Iron Hand, Astral Claw, Mentor and White Consul – can this one possibly be the same from Kill Team Sabatina, I wonder?..) – along with the very enemy that the Space Marines had been sent against. And that enemy is like nothing the both parties had ever dealt with… But who had dispatched the kill team on Fi’draah – was it the notorious Inquisitor Escher who’d most likely been overseeing the facility, or some another shadowy Ordo Xenos lord?.. And shall the horrible taint still waiting in the cursed bunker eventually corrupt the entire planet – or is there a way to purge it somehow?.. These are just some of questions the Sanctuary made me ponder at leisure about.

Just like Out Caste with which this tale is linked thematically, it is told in the first-person style – and since the narrator is a t’au, we get some curious firsthand glimpses into the psyche of this young alien race. It’s precisely in the places like Phaedra Fi’draah – a delightfully corrupted, creepily verdant ‘terminal world’ with unmistakably Lovecraftian and ‘Alien’ vibes – where some unpalatable truths about one’s nature are gradually revealed, sowing discord, tainting the mind and souring the soul of those that dare venture far too deep and look much too closely. The planet can be likened to a crucible in which living souls are melted, reshaped and reforged – and Fi’draah changes the t’au to the extent that the revered bonds of their society begin to slowly but inexorably disintegrate and crumble. In doing so, letting us notice different facets of these stubbornly rationalistic, quasi-socialist xenos, with the main characters not all too perfectly fitting into the common image of their respective castes. Which, in my opinion, just goes on to show that the t’au are much closer to humans than they’d like to believe. The Ethereals may indeed hold some sway over them but, it seems, not indefinitely. Along with Peter’s debut novel Fire Caste these two stories show, among other things, just what happens to the blueskins when there are no Ethereals around. It’s also worth mentioning that like in many Dark Coil stories, the characters are deeply distrustful of one another:

“Abruptly, I realised how little I knew about my companions. We had travelled so far together yet we were still strangers. Was it our castes that divided us, or merely our personal flaws?”

The protagonists of Peter Fehervari’s tales are never dull, stereotyped or simplistic. If there is something common between them all, it’s their fascinating originality despite belonging to often rather well-explored factions. For example, Jhi’kaara is an outsider amongst her own kind, already much closer to Fi’draah’s wilderness than the tenets of the Tau’va, seemingly more at ease among the fanatic, unenlightened gue’la than among her own people. Asharil is instantly drawn to the Astartes warriors for their strong sense of fellowship rather than their brute power. Like one of the most prominent Fire Caste players – the ancient manipulator Por’o Dal’yth Seishin – having witnessed and learned far too much, she grudgingly agrees with the gue’la in certain respects. And like Jhi’kaara, eventually comes to realise that she has changed irreversibly: her old ideals, beliefs and loyalties beginning to weaken, fray, untwist and come apart. Fi’draah deprives Asharil of health, caste identity and finally reason – but by willingly choosing to confront the greater foe together with one of her people’s old enemies, she proves to be much more than an inexperienced young diplomat. Asharil’s disappointment in her ‘tainted’ existence drives her selfless desire to serve the Greater Good one last time. Alas, we do not get to know if she succeeds or not; but then, who could possibly hope to unravel the Coil?.. Definitely not someone armed only with the light of reason...

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

****1/2: story number two in the Phaedra cycle of Peter Fehervari’s The Dark Coil series sees the previously introduced Jhi’kaara escorting an archeological expedition to Phaedra’s dense jungle interior, leading to the discovery of a horrifying secret in a (seemingly) abandoned Imperial bunker. Notably, Jhi’kaara is not the narrator this time: Asharil, a water caste envoy, is and thus all the actions and events of this story are lensed through Asharil’s particular water caste filter. Jhi’kaara is fire caste, and we are predisposed to know more of her motivations, actions, and interiority than Asharil does, this level of reader awareness comes heavily into play during the back end of this story, when all plans have gone awry and the horror within the bunker has been unleashed.

I won’t say more. The plot is excellent, a refinement of many familiar sci-fi/horror tropes writ deep with atmospheric flavor and mystery. There is not another 40K writer quite like Peter Fehervari. I devoured this story; then I turned around and devoured it again (and then I went back and reread Out Caste just to be sure I hadn’t missed anything— no wonder Fehervari refers to his series as the Dark Coil, you can’t help but double-back again and again like a snake eating its own tail).

Onward to story number three, the full-length novel Fire Caste!

[Jack Creagh-Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tau don't always get along between the castes, not on the personal level anyway, but they do their duty. Sometimes, their perception of what their duty is can oppose one another. I also have to give special nerdy appreciation to Fehervari's japanese-inspired word play for the "O'taku" earth-caste character and the fire-caste's "powerful" name.

[Anthony Giordano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review of this solid Tau short here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...

[Andrew Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across The Dark Coil via the recently released Damnation Anthology. I’d heard of Peter Fehervari in regards to 40k horror and Tau and I was looking for something new to read so I took the plunge.

As others have said he definitely belongs up with Dan Abnett and other top tier Black Library authors as a stand out 40k author. I don’t understand why Black Library haven’t pushed the Dark Coil related books more.

To call the Dark Coil a series would be wrong. They are a set of interconnected stories where some characters pop up in the stories over again. In addition we get to know more about different aspects of the Dark Coil as we travel through the stories. It’s truly world building at its best.

If you’re looking for simple bolter porn this isn’t for you. If you like your sci-fi well written and plot driven these are for you. Easily must reads along with the likes of the Eisenhorn, Gaunt’s Ghosts, Cadians series of books.

[Ian Waddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific. Ties in very well to a lot of the other Dark Coil works and is just creepy enough. Oh, and Mutekh sucks.

[Tony Calder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story set in the Warhammer 40K universe. The main protagonists of this story are not the Imperial Guard or the Space Marines (although Space Marines do appear), rather it is a story of the Tau. The Tau are a humanoid race who are foes of the Imperium (isn't everyone?) but somewhat less implacable than the Tyranids or Chaos.

It's well written, and gives some insight into the workings of Tau philosophy. And it could be very easily adapted into a short adventure for one of the 40K role playing games. Whilst I haven't read it, this story is apparently set after the events of "Fire Caste" by the same author.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tau and Deathwatch vs Tyranids in an excellent short story. PURGE THE UNCLEAN, FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

[Stefan Koepeknie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I marveled that their stunted species had ever reached the stars."

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Warhammer 40k short. Good horror and story, and I say this as a non-Tau fan. I'll be reading more of his stuff.

[Vigneswara Prabhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

You remember the Silent Cartographer mission from Halo: Combat Evolved Game. The whole sense of mystery and horror, as the Master Chief arrives at the dark swamp, and slowly descends into the maw to uncover an ancient evil?

That's the sense of atmosphere you get while reading 'A Sanctuary of Wyrms'.

The story starts without preamble and ends without a climax. Detailing the internecine period which forms the meat of this all too short, but engaging narrative.

A group of tau and human turncoats are researching a mysterious yet overwhelming backwater planet, which is a world of exile for broken and unneeded tools of the greater good.

There, they discover a sealed bunker complex, littered with dead bodies of Space marines, of the deathwatch. For those of you who know what this entails, might be able to discern just how soon shit is gonna hit the fan.

In the face of a greater evil, old enemies put aside their differences to try and stop it.

A great thing about this really short story is that it barely gives you anything in form of exposition, preferring instead to show you the events that might've transpired. This, combined with the ancient atmosphere of the world and its inhabitants, allows you fill in the blanks and draw conclusions as to what might've transpired. Like a short detective novel.

Then, by leaving the story of our POV character unfinished, there at the end is this sense of yearning and empathy, to know what happened. Did they succeed in the mission? What of those who survived? How did these events transpire in the first place?

There is this little bit of a head cannon I've formulated based on the tid bits of information.

The deathwatch and the inquisition brought or chased some variants of a gene stealer cult to this planet, to use its toxic microbiome to develop a bioweapon. That failed, obviously. In embarking to neutralize this threat, the Astartes or their Mechanicus attachment, determined the chance for escape of the threat to be high enough, that it sealed the doors and trapped the lifeforms inside. Then committed suicide to make sure the information can never be extracted from it.

Then the last survivor of the Deathwatch, an Iron Hands warrior, stayed alive depending on only its cybernetics. Only to reawaken when the tau inadvertently reopened the containment.

The additional piece of lore, as to how the indigenous species of the planet, were somehow humans from ages ago, who were altered by the planet itself, makes you wonder, just how many millennia ago did this happen, and just how long was the Iron hands lying dormant inside that tomb. This and other brain food, makes me want to read a full version of this adventure, if it's available.

[John Laurin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I starting to realise that Fehervari is one of the best authors of 40k fiction has. I've only read two stories to date, but both have been deep, thoughtful and not as straightforward as 40k books tend to be.

In this story we follow a young member of the Tau Water Caste on an expedition into the jungle of a very inhospitable world, where they find an old complex where something has gone terribly wrong.

This story has a lot going for it, but what I really liked about it was the way it was told. It is basically an alien-esque horror story written from the perspective of the Tau, but it manages to touch on several aspects of the Tau that aren't often explored, such as the potential conflicts between the various castes, the disillusionment that comes with learning truths that the Greater Good have suppressed and their general ignorance about many aspects of the Imperium.

If this is any indication, I'm going to pick up more of the authors works starting with Fire Caste.

[DC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice! Some of the mystery was a little bit cheapened by knowing things about 40k - but otherwise really good!

[Tian Axtell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler Warning!!!

Would like to read the prequel to the events of Sanctuary of Wyrms about the DeathWatch last stand or a sequel focus on the Tau’s response to the event.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Framed as a recording by the water caste Por'ui Vior'la Asharil, "A Sanctuary of Wyrms" follows a Tau expedition on the planet Fi'draah, stumbling upon a ruin Imperial outpost and the horrors within.

I found the story to be okay. On one hand, the interactions between the fire, water, and earth caste members of the expedition showed the differences between the three, and I felt Jhi'kaara's talents were better shown here than in "Out Caste". Also, the outpost and the secrets within was pure horror.

However, on the other hand, Jhi'kaara's human soldiers exist only in the background and the ending feels standalone, even though the implications leave Fi'draah as a giant time bomb, yet nothing about is referenced in Fire Caste and "Vanguard", both of which takes place after this. Either Asharil accomplished what she set out to do, the horror was swallowed by the Dark Coil and displaced somewhere else, or it’s a plot thread left unresolved.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We are crawling through a diseased corpse, I thought, but what if it’s not dead, just forever dying?”

Sanctuary for Wyrms is good sci-fi horror in the vein of the Alien movie franchise and a great starting point if you’re at all curious about Tau. You won’t get exposed to much of their advanced tech, but the author shares enough to let you know this is a far more advanced race than the Imperium. You’ll also get some insight into the Caste system that is one of the Tau’s defining characteristics.

As a bonus, this story is a very satisfying appetizer for Fehervari’s Fire Caste.

A quick read and yet still cinematic, tragic, and heroic. I particularly liked the way the Space Marines (and my new favorite chapter the Iron Hands) are woven into the story.

[Matthew Hipsher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short read for a glimpse into the life of a Space Marine investigator.