Editing Cyfecti

'''This page details people, events, and organisations from [[The /tg/ Heresy]], a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.'''

The Cyfecti are an ancient Xenos species, that have a natural propensity for extremely powerful psykers.
They were once a noble and good empire, but they were nearly destroyed by the Eldar, before finding safety by making an unwitting pact with the Ruinous Powers. Their empire was destroyed, along with most of their kind, but they were discovered by Primarch [[Uriel Starikov]], and were instrumental in corrupting both him, and his brother [[Aubrey The Grey]]. After the Heresy, the few Cyfecti still remaining have become mighty champions of the Gods, feared for their unfathomable psy power and revered for their deep understanding of Warp, and the Ruinous Powers that lay within.

==Biology==
===Physical Appearance===
The Cyfecti are bipedal beings, with two torso's, four arms, a long tail, and clawed felinid-type feet. They have pale grey skin, often adorned with colourful body paints denoting their pseudo-religious teachings and mantras, as well as intricate patterns.
Their second torso extends out from between the shoulders of the first, giving them their characteristic ~12 foot height.
Their hands are similar to that of standard humanoids, but longer and thinner, ending in small talons instead of nails.
Their skin is pale and leathery, being notably much more dense and thicker than usual for humanoids, giving the Cyfecti a surprising durability to tissue damage and shallow cuts. Their muscle mass is presumed to be similarly of increased density, not unlike an Orkoids; The Cyfecti seem to be far stronger than their appearance would suggest, the typical Cyfecti closer in strength to a space marine than a normal human, despite the Cyfecti having no bio-genetic capabilities.
The Cyfecti also have chitinous outgrowths, protecting both of their chests and backs, their joints, and neck. Curiously, their head has no such outgrowths. The chitin has been observed to withstand edge weaponry with great effect, but provides little protection against conventional projectile firearms. However, lasguns require a high-charge to penetrate through both the chitin and the Cyfecti's flesh.

The Cyfecti most commonly wear colourful loose fitting clothing, the most common being robes and cloaks, but a wide variety of other clothing has been observed. Surprisingly however, they wear little armour, that usually being just shin and forearm armour. They do possess shields in great number though, and have been observed to wear strange semi-armoured, psuedo-religious masks in the image of various known and unknown non-sentient creatures.

===Physiology===
Little is known of their physiology as no intact specimen has ever been retrieved to date, as upon the death of their brain the body bizarrely explodes in a cloud of plasma dust. While non-lethal, the plasma dust-cloud is dangerous due to its toxicity, but is generally diffuse enough in a ventilated area to only cause severe irritation if inhaled. Also unexplained is the small crystal-like stone that appears in the same process that creates the plasma dust cloud.
This is believed to be due to obscure rituals that bind the physical body of a Cyfecti specimen to the warp somehow.
This means everything we do know is based on inductive and deductive reasoning derived from conjecture and observation, or from documentation from other xenos races, such as the Eldar.

The Cyfecti appear to naturally possess very high-level Psyker powers, with some individual Cyfecti believed to have powers that exceed Imperial psy-level classifications.
Presumably, their corruption by the Ruinous Powers has increased these levels beyond their natural limits, and it is perhaps then fortunate that so few Cyfecti existed during the Heresy, and even fewer exist now.

==Technology==
Where their physiology may be largely unremarkable however, their technology is not.
Eschewing armour and firearms technology, the Cyfecti tech is purely about harnessing the warp, or enhancing the Cyfecti's natural psi-powers. As such they use the bare minimum of protection (usually just ballistic shields, if that), and possess no firearms whatsoever.

The most common weapon is a 7ft halberd-like polearm called a '''Hansza'''; a 7-8ft tall haft with a thick 3 ft single edged force blade on top. This functions as a close combat weapon when necessary, but its prime purpose is to channel warp-energy, with the blade functioning as an amplifier and the haft a nullfier. It is usually used in one set of hands, while the other set is left free.
But other weapons have been observed, most notably are the quad sickle blades of '''Naygo Ashkagaar''', the nine-tendril whip of '''Kajj Yaszut''' and the spear-scythe of '''Pajjen Kupeszran'''.
Interestingly, the weapons seem to be able to channel psy powers into beams and bolts of energy that are emitted from the blade.
Blunt weapons are uncommon with the Cyfecti as they lack the bladed-edge to focus the Cyfecti psy-powers and warp energies, but a highly revered set of artifacts known as '''"The Pillars of Mypan Adesh"''' do exist. The "Four Pillars", as they are more commonly known, are a set of weapons made up of a warhammer, a flail, an axe, and a sword.
It is now known that primarch [[Uriel Starikov]] came into possession of the hammer, prior to the Heresy. The sword has been recovered by the Inquisition, some time in M35. However, the fate of the remaining two weapons is unknown, although it is believed at least one has fallen into the hands of the traitor legions.

The Cyfecti also possess personal teleportation devices similar to the Eldar ''Warp Spider'', but they possess the ability to travel system-wide distances. These distances can be extended much further if they set up a '''Crux Portal''' conduit , allowing them to traverse the entire Galaxy with frightening speed. 
Thankfully the Cyfecti seem to have lost the ability to create it themselves, and the tech has not been replicated by the Dark Mechanicum.
This teleportation technology appears to have had made void-ships largely redundant to the Cyfecti, and so they have almost none in their employ; those they do have are archaic and never of Cyfecti origin.

==Society and History==
Peculiarly, the Cyfecti don't appear to have had or still retain any type of formalised society at all. The most accurate description that one might give, is that they are fundamentally an anarchistic society that focuses on respect of the wisest and most altruistic individuals. To a lesser degree they also respect the most skilled psykers among their race; note that skill does not mean highest strength, which is quite peculiar for an anarchist society, where the strongest usually dominate.

Their society appears to have been kept together by a very strong belief in pseudo-religious philosophies, reverence for rituals and wisdom, and a idealisation of self-discipline.
This has largely been retained by their surviving species, despite the ravages the Ruinous Powers have on the minds, and specifically the sanity, of its followers. However, with hindsight it is not hard to understand how these practices served to smooth the process of the Cyfecti's corruption by Chaos, and thus how it has been retained.

===The Four Kings===
The myth of '''the Four Kings''' or is apparently the most fundamental building block of the Cyfecti culture. Dating back to their very earliest history, the Four Kings myth is not unlike the myths of great and wise hero's of old found in Terran history.
When translated literally into Gothic, ''King'' or ''Emperor'' would be the closest translation, but this does not accurately translate the languages meaning: Kingship, and indeed authority itself in Cyfecti society is vastly different from what we Imperials would understand. 
For the Cyfecti, the role holds no actual power over anyone, but is instead a great and solemn responsibility, the ultimate objective of which is to protect others; so ''guardian'' or ''warden'' is a more accurate translation. 

The '''Four Kings''' themselves guard the Cyfecti from the 4 cardinal directions: North, East, South, and West. They also uphold the four ''core'' values of life according to the Cyfecti: '''creation, truth, unity,''' and '''discipline'''. Cyfecti all follow their own interpretations of these core tenets, but all strive towards an ideal that embodies each of the tenets equally.
Fundamentally, the Cyfecti sought to always undertake actions that would lead to at least some creation, unity, truth, and discipline, while avoiding or preventing all actions of pure destruction, falsehood, discord, and disorder.
The result was that Cyfecti thought of the consequences of their actions before undertaking them, ensuring that they always acted in a noble and just fashion.

An obscure scroll from a collection recovered from a buried Cyfecti temple complex mentions a fifth King, who's role was to try to undo the Four Kings work, thus maintaining a balance of forces in the galaxy, but this fifth King is never mentioned anywhere else, especially after the 8 Paths movement begins.

===The Eight Noble Paths===
While the pseudo-religious deification of the Four Kings had lead the Cyfecti to become a major player in the Galaxy, its tenets gave the Cyfecti no means of protecting themselves against the Eldar. This lead to great turmoil in the Cyfecti collective belief in their philosophies, as survival became increasingly more important in their struggle than remaining true to what many of the younger Cyfecti began to see as an old and outdated system.

This period of turmoil posed multiple problems for the Cyfecti position in the Galaxy. Primarily that the turmoil obviously harmed the Cyfecti's own coordination and effectiveness, which was incredibly important in a time of war. But the turmoil also posed a problem for the Cyfecti's culture, as the increasing number of individuals who turned from the Four Kings weakened the ability for the Cyfecti to combat the Eldar effectively and in a unified fashion. Thus with the turmoil fostering factionalism, the older Cyfecti who still followed the teachings of the Four Kings began to reinterpret the tenets they espoused to reunify the Cyfecti to one purpose, and allow them to combat the Eldar more effectively.
The reinterpretations maintained the Four Kings teachings, but added the importance of their opposites in times of need.
Thus destruction was attuned to creation, discord to unity, falsehood to truth, and disorder to discipline.
Thus, where the tenet of creation had previously prevented the Cyfecti from undertaking any action that resulted in nothing more than destruction, the reinterpretation allowed destruction to be used, so long as an equal act of pure creation was used to balance it. '''Balance''' became a key concept for the newly reinterpreted teachings of the Four Kings, now known as the '''"Eight Noble Paths "'''.
This caught on with many of the young and disillusioned Cyfecti, who saw the reinterpretations as true to their beliefs, but allowed them to fight back effectively. However, a great number of factions still existed in the Cyfecti ranks, with some turning from the path due to the reinterpretations themselves.

While the changes the Eight Paths brought with them saw great success for the Cyfecti, it only fought the powerful Eldar offensive to a standstill, and very little land was reclaimed of the Cyfecti Empire which had still been reduced to a fraction of its former size. The resulting stalemate and lack of resounding successes dulled many individuals enthusiasm for the Eight Paths, and this lack of conviction created the ideal conditions for the rise of the '''Ninth Way'''.

===The 9th Way===
It was at this point that, unbeknownst to the Cyfecti, that the Eldar empire was fully in its decline - the Eye of Terror had formed many years before, violently birthing Slaanesh into existence, and forever changing Eldar society.

But in the turmoil that preceded the reinterpretation of the Four Kings tenets into the Eight Noble Paths, a well respected champion of the Cyfecti by the name of '''Mypan Adesh''', began to become disillusioned in his beliefs. Adesh was widely renowned for being impressively close to the Four Kings ideal - Adesh was wise, noble, controlled, and decisive. Yet despite his might, despite his success against the Eldar, the Cyfecti were losing and that concerned Adesh.

Almost out of desperation, the Cyfecti copied the Eldar "Warp Spider" teleportation devices to use alongside the Cyfecti's existing warp portals. A move that was necessary as the Eldar had pushed the Cyfecti out of the Webway which they had previously used exclusively, and even destroyed the Cyfecti access to it. 
It was using one of these newly created packs that Mypan Adesh was lost, when a rogue shuriken shot hit his device as he teleported out, destroying its mechanisms and scattering Adesh into the warp.

A great despair was felt among the Cyfecti at the loss of such a champion as Adesh, but the Eldar would give them no respite, and so they fought on. Shortly after the loss of Adesh, the '''"Eight Noble Path"''' movement rose to dominance and a fresh counter-offensive campaign was mounted by the newly invigorated Cyfecti. Miraculously, Adesh returned to the Cyfecti eight days after the counter-offensive had ground to a stalemate.
Adesh was bombarded with questions on what had happened to him, but Adesh did not speak. In complete silence, and with a growing number of concerned observers, Adesh headed to the nearest forges, and began crafting. The questions had stopped after a while, but the curiosity and concern at Adesh's actions only increased. Eight days passed as Adesh worked the forge, allowing none near him to impede his work, always in silence. Then on the ninth day he once again returned to his people, and spoke to them.

Adesh informed the Cyfecti gathered around him that he had met the Four Kings in the warp, but that they were not who they had been venerating. Many Cyfecti were confused and shocked by this, but Adesh was quick to calm them; he had the truth, and it would lead the Cyfecti to victory. The truth was simple that time had warped the Four Kings tenets, and thus the Cyfecti had strayed. But this was okay, as the Four Kings had sent Adesh back to the Cyfecti to lead them back onto the true path, that would see the Cyfecti once again fulfill their purpose in the galaxy.
He continued to explain, that each of the Four Kings had a signature weapon, and had told Adesh how to reforge their unique weapons. He raised them to show those gathered around him: a sword, a flail, a warhammer, and an axe. Adesh finished by explaining to the gathered Cyfecti that the Four Kings once again walked with them, but they would not follow a path of four nor eight, but a new, ninth way would lead them to victory.
From this moment, the Ninth Way movement began, and it rapidly caught traction with the Cyfecti in the renewed disillusionment that followed the stalemate the Eight Noble Paths offensive resulted in.

The tenets and teachings of the Ninth Way were ill-defined, and relied almost entirely on the teachings and philosophies of Adesh himself, and eventually of disciples he proclaimed understood the truth of the Four Kings like he did.
While many were skeptical at first, or concerned by the lack of clarity in his tenets, the Cyfecti, lead by Adesh, began to see real military success against the Eldar attackers.
Only from Eldar history records can we see the truth unfolding: that the rise of the Ninth Way coincided with the decline of the Eldar species - that the successes of the Ninth Way were an illusion, mis-attributing the Ninth Way's success to the Eldar defeat.
But to the Cyfecti, the Ninth Way was the only way, if only they could have seen the truth, that the Four Kings Adesh spoke of were ''not'' the same as those they had followed before, but in fact much darker and more treacherous beings than they could possibly comprehend.

===The Great Crusade and Onwards===
The Cyfecti, reduced to a fractured and nomadic people, went into hiding, setting up waystations and safe havens across the galaxy, tied to their Warp Portal nexus. They would roam the galaxy looking to spread the teachings of Chaos to any they could manipulate, always moving, always observing.
Eventually, the unification of the Humans began again, and the 'Great Crusade' as the Cyfecti would come to learn it was called, began to unite the human race once more under one banner. The Cyfecti avoided making contact, and subtly probed and tested the humans wherever they could, manipulating Ork incursions, and interfering in independent human empires to test how the burgeoning Imperium would act and react.

Eventually, the Cyfecti would put a plan into motion; a plan their belief told them was a divine mission, their ''purpose'' in the Galaxy. They set about infiltrating zen-like chaos cults into the Imperium's populace, and left complex cryptographic patterns across the galaxy, all to lure one individual into their orbit to satisfy their gods. The gods themselves spoke to them the name of the one they sought; Uriel Starikov.

==Notable Cyfecti==
===Mypan Adesh, the Champion of the Ninth Way, The Ninth King ===
Mypan Adesh was the greatest hero in Cyfecti legend since the Four Kings. He was also however, unwittingly also their corrupter and destroyer, his '''Ninth Way''' introducing the Cyfecti to the Ruinous Powers corruption.
An individual of great might, skill, and wisdom, Adesh had devoted his life to mastering the teachings of the Four Kings in a way that no other Cyfecti could or can hope to match.

Adesh was lost once to the warp during the Eldar war, and was lost to the warp again during the final days of the Dark Age of Technology. He has not been seen since.
His unique weapons, the "Four Pillars" were left behind, and now are revered relics of the few remaining Cyfecti.

===Kajj Yaszut===
Kajj Yaszut is a powerful psyker and skilled warrior of the Cyfecti. He fought in the Heresy with the traitor, but never officially attached himself to a particular legion.
He now resides in the Eye of Terror, leading his own twisted warband of Astartes, humans, daemons, and xenos.

===Naygo Askhagaar===
Naygo Ashkagaar is one of the most powerful Cyfecti psykers still alive, and is well respected by other Cyfecti for his skill and wisdom. Ashkagaar was the first Cyfecti Uriel Starikov met on the world of Crux V.

Askhagaar wields four sickles blades, each dedicated to one of the gods. He meticulously ensures that each gets an equal amount of kills in battle, so as to appease each of the gods equally.

===Pajjen Kupeszran===
Pajjen Kupeszran was the Cyfecti who befriended and corrupted [[Aubrey The Grey]]. Kupeszran was the unofficial leader of the Cyfecti forces who joined Aubrey in the wake of the Purging of Lazarus. 
Kupeszran wields a 12ft spear-scythe combo weapon.

His current fate is unknown.

[[Category:The /tg/ Heresy]]