Black Augurs General Discussion

Okay.

So I've had some pretty crazy ideas floating around in my head. Things that I think will help redefine both the Voidwatcher and the Black Augurs. It may even play into some of the other events in the Heresy.

It does, however, all hinge on one thing that I know could easily be shot down/have too many holes put in it for it to work. So I'm just going to go out and say it so you guys can take it or leave it.

The Voidwatcher knew the Heresy was going to happen from the start. He's supremely prescient and he's seen basically his entire life, at least in broad strokes, play out before his eyes multiple times.

Obviously it's not hyper accurate 100% of the time, but it gives him enough info far enough in the future to plan his moves/articulate what he knows he's going to do very early on.

Towards his banishment into the warp it would get fuzzy. So the Heresy as a whole ends up being sketchy and he doesn't know for certain what the outcome will be. He believes he manages to ascend to godhood and that's why it gets fuzzy. It's the driving force behind a lot of his actions. He once tried to view past the hazy expanse and saw something so intense that his only two mental options where to believe he was a god or that he was dead.

Because he knew he manipulates the Augurs to serving his purposes/become the ideal minions, he generally alienates himself from the rest of the Imperium, and why he sides against himself (functionally) during the council of Nikaea.

Plus, I've expanded a lot on the motivations/evolution of the Black Augurs. They're less openly evil at first and I think make a lot more sense.

There's a long term overlap problem with the Vardhana (Darius). I tried to push him towards long view prophet stuff to get at the common ground of the original Darius and Octullus. Admittedly, the Voidwatcher was always going to that same well, so I'm not telling you to get off my lawn here.

Reading what you have on the Augurs page, you might be able to expand on the vision of doom angle to get the right result. Rather than have the Voidwatcher see his whole life, have him see his own death - and make that a "mutable future" vision, so that he can twist and scheme to avoid his demise? I think that keeps the character motivated and plays into existing themes, while preserving distance between Voidy and Shakya.