Gathering The Grimdark (Tying My Warhammer 40K Shorts Together)

Most folks who wind up on this blog are here for TTRPG discussion, but if you've been checking out my Table Talk posts, then you know I've been trying to work a little bit of my fiction into my updates for the past few years. And of the stories I've been telling, the most popular pieces have all been tales of the grim darkness of the far future. So if you've been enjoying my Warhammer 40K stories, keep on reading, because I've got an update that (I hope) will peak your interest.

And if you're just joining us, well, there's plenty of stuff for you to catch up on!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

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How This All Got Started

As with so many recent creative endeavors, this whole project actually got started thanks to the pandemic. Let me explain.

I'd been quietly getting into Warhammer 40K since about 2018 or so, mostly via the various readers and lore channels on YouTube. And when the pandemic hit and we were all staying home, I needed something to stop me from online window shopping, where it was all too easy to just buy random fan merch. So I decided to take a jacket I'd had hanging in my closet for a while, get some fabric spray paint, and make myself a little something as a dedication to Cadia. And rather than just post photos when it was done, though, I put together a short story to commemorate the project.

"Almost" is still up, for folks who want to read it, as well.

And it's possible I would have just called it quits there. I had fun my with my arts and crafts project, and I enjoyed writing a little story to go with it, but then I crossed with Paul Graham, the voice and talent behind the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void (which you should go subscribe to if you enjoy this kind of content). He liked "Almost," and as you can see he did a lovely reading of it. The community response was overall positive, and it was refreshing actually having some of my work seen by people who genuinely liked it.

So I figured, what the hell, I'll write another story or two and see where it goes!

At the time of this blog I've put together 7 Warhammer 40K short stories (8 if you count the 50 Two Sentence Horror Stories, Warhammer 40K Edition), and a majority of them have either appeared on A Vox in The Void, or are slated to in the near future. A few of them have even gathered a small following, which makes me extremely happy. Not only that, but when "Almost" went up, the channel had around 8k subscribers. As of right now there are 46k folks tuning in to listen!

And since commenters seem to enjoy the tales I put together, I sat down with Paul and pitched him an idea... what if I started taking the individual story threads that are already on the channel, and began weaving them together to a single, climactic conclusion?

The Narrative Thickens

The first story that gathered audience enthusiasm was Waking Dogs: A World Eaters Tale. In this story we follow Crixus, a veteran of the long war who remembers the 12th Legion before the return of Angron, and the installment of the Butcher's Nails into the legion. During a moment of lucidity he looks around at the twisted battlefield, and decides this is unacceptable. In a shocking bout of wrath and violence, he purges the entire force he was sent to support, his rage now completely focused for the first time in 10,000 years. He means to wipe out the rabid dogs that the World Eaters have become... an impossible task, but one he intends to dedicate himself to all the same.

The sequel to this story, Broken Chains was even more popular, as we see Crixus confront his old sergeant, and settle a score that's been millennia in the making. We also get a glimpse into what he was like before the Heresy, and before the Imperium fell into rot and ruin.

The second thread that I laid down began in the story Field Test. In this tale an inquisitor comes to a world in the path of an ork waaaaugh, and she assures the populace she has a weapon to devastate the greenskins. In the end, though, it was all a test for a member of her retinue... something to prove his worth in a real, life-or-death situation. This story was, surprisingly, the most popular piece of mine so far, both in terms of reads on Vocal, as well as in terms of views on A Vox in The Void.

The third thread is the upcoming story Blackest Knights, which is a tale of the Deathwatch. Chosen by the viewers in a very close vote, this story follows Kill Team Errant, who is made up exclusively of blackshields. As the story goes on, though, we begin to realize what the secret is behind their black armor, and why it is they had nowhere to redeem themselves other than the Deathwatch.

This story hasn't yet appeared on the channel, but it is currently in the works, so if it sounds like fun, stay tuned to see what's coming up!

So what's the grand plan? Well, without giving too much away, I want to weave together these three narratives throughout the coming year (or possibly two years) into a single, cohesive whole. First to bring together Inquisitor Hargrave with Kill Team Errant to face a threat that requires the reinforcement of that many astartes to act as a decapitating strike. Then after we follow Crixus on his quest to wipe out the stain of his brothers from the galaxy, we begin to realize that war can make for strange bedfellows indeed... and in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

What sort of numbers are we looking at, though?

Well, ideally, there would be one more story to bring together the inqusitor with the kill team. Then another story about Crixus that would potentially lead to his one-man quest for vengeance turning into something a little grander in scale (not much, but a little). Then a third story bringing all of them together to face down a serious threat that will thin the ranks of our protagonists quite significantly. And while I could end the story there, if that's what readers want, I would also like to write an epilogue tale, showing the ripples of what this combined force managed to accomplish.

So, all in all, we're looking at between 3 and 5 additional stories, making for a full grouping of between 7 and 9 stories (which would make for several hours of listening content, if you prefer the audio versions).

In The End, This All Depends on You

As I've said repeatedly over the past several years, audience participation is what gets content made. I'm all too happy to write stories if people are reading and/or listening to them, and I'm not shy about taking on big, bold narratives if there's interest. But I want to make sure there's folks who are actually eager to hear more of the story.

So what can you do to help make this happen?

Sending in reinforcements is ALWAYS an option!

First things first, please read and share the text versions of these stories. It's really tough getting eyes on them, and a lot of folks don't even know there is a text version. If you prefer to listen to your narratives, though, then listen to Paul's gorgeous presentations, like, comment, and subscribe to A Vox in The Void if you haven't already! The more subscribers there are, and the more listeners the channel has, the better the chance there is that I'll be able to keep working with the channel on big projects like this.

If you like these stories enough to throw money at us as creators, you can either leave me tips through Vocal, Buy Me a Ko-Fi, or consider becoming a Patreon patron. I'm the first to admit I'm not 40K-specific in a lot of my content around here, but if you like tabletop RPGs with occasional steps into the grimdark with things like my Pathfinder Character Conversion for a Night Lord Space Marine, then you may be more at-home than you expect.

And if you'd like to help support A Vox in The Void, you can Buy The Channel a Ko-Fi as well, leave a PayPal donation, and of course hit that Join button on YouTube in order to pay $2.99 a month to help Paul keep the content flowing.

Some Extra Content For You!

I wanted to say thanks for reading through all of that, and thanks in advance of any and all support you can offer. It takes a lot of time and energy to get projects like this together, and it really helps when the audience is there to help us boost the signal, to offer an encouraging word, or to just put a tip in the jar.

And since you made it this far, I figured I'd offer you some extra content as well!

In addition to all of the stories mentioned above (and this video, which is the audio version of my 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, 40K Edition found on my Daily Motion channel), I wanted to lay out some of the extra stories I've put together that you may have missed!

- Broken Heroes (A Knight Story): When Renn and a squad of city guard are sent out into the wild to retrieve an experimental weapon, they end up fighting for their lives against waves of enraged, colossal, insectoid creatures called Deadheads. In trying to lead them away from his companions, Renn discovers an ancient bunker... and a weapons who's been waiting for centuries to finish the fight it started so long ago. This one hasn't yet been slated to get an audio version from A Vox in The Void, but if you send messages in to Paul he might consider putting it on the docket in the future!

- The Emperor's Hand (A Gav and Bob Story): Gav Smythe has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the ogryn and the rest of his inquisitor's retinue wind up in the middle of a war zone, he finds a Black Templar thrown off a cliff by an enemy commander. Picking up the black sword, Gav sees visions, and is told that the Emperor needs a champion. There's no time to find another... now the ogryn must finish what the astartes started!

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.