Seedworld AFG:218 is a forbidden maiden world of the Eldar and lies along the path of Craftworld Kaelor. Located in the Malfian sub-sector, this mysterious planet has long been under quarantine, put into place by the seal of Inquisitor Staven Arcturos. The quarantine is enforced by Battlefleet Calixis, and patrols of Sword-class frigates routinely sweep through the system. Those who make landfall on the Seedworld either evade the patrols or supercede them with Inquisitional authority, and there have been several such expeditions---because Seedworld AFG:218 is a planet haunted by an ancient alien presence.
The surface of the Seedworld seems pleasant enough at first---verdant fields, lush forests, and thick heather lie across the planet’s surface, dotted here and there by clear, crescent-shaped lakes. In one region on the main continent, crumbling plinths surround a sizable ruined city. Abandoned for millennia, only shattered remains endure of the once-elegant and beautiful architecture.
These ruins were first discovered in 604.M40 by Rogue Trader Serren Travius, fresh from the Periphery and his participation in the victory over the White Sorrows corsairs. Travius provided the Ordo Xenos with copious notes of what he found, including sketches and descriptions of automated defenses and strange, silent automatons armed with weapons that fired concentrated warp-energy. However, subsequent visits to the planet’s surface have found that the abandoned city explored by Travius seems to shift locations, and it is never found in the same set of coordinates twice.
Only after several groups of Acolytes vanished or failed to return from Seedworld AFG:218 did the Inquisition take a keener interest, resulting in the personal attention of Inquisitor Staven Arcturos. The steps taken by the Inquisitor to avoid or de-activate the ruined city’s guardians are unknown, but Arcturos’ venture was a success.
Inquisitor Arcturos was able to translate some of the symbols and runes found carved upon the Seedworld’s ruins, and identified that the planet once belonged to the enigmatic Eldar. Many of the runic scripts were verified as identical to those found upon the death world of Woe in 778.M41.
Seedworld AFG:218 has also, at various points, been explored by archeoexhumators of the Disciples of Thule.
The Fractured Palace[]
Finding the location of the ruins on Seedworld AFG:218 requires a Very Hard (–20) Navigation Test. If the character also has the Advanced Skill Forbidden Lore (Xenos or The Black Library) or is assisted by another character with that skill, the difficulty of the Navigation Test becomes Challenging (+0) instead. Finding the Palace is one thing; surviving the automated defenses and guardians is quite another.
A Ragged Oracle[]
The true value of the Fractured Palace is the psychic node that lies at its heart. Though damaged, the node still contains a vast repository of knowledge about the secrets of the Calixis Sector and the Halo Stars. A character may approach the node with one clear question in his mind, and should the node find him worthy, he will receive an answer.
The psychic node at the center of the Eldar ruins on Seedworld AFG:218 can only be consulted by characters with no more than 10 Corruption points. The node will not function for any character with a Dark Pact or possessing the Soul-Bound Trait. Using the node to gain knowledge costs the character one permanent fate point and inflicts 2d10 Insanity Points from his glimpse into an entirely alien consciousness. The node will only function once every hundred years.