On the Jeharwanate and their Origin
According to sealed Imperial records, the Jeharwanate are among one of the oldest Warp Cults encountered by the Imperium with their
first records dating back to the infamous Betrayal at Calth. While their first known sighting was amidst the fires of Calth's burning,
the Jeharwanate have faithfully served as the zealous slaves of the Word Bearers Legion for generations throughout these long ten-thousand
years. Unlike the typical insurrectionist forces of localized cults that rise up in worlds targeted by the Legion, the slave-warriors of the Jeharwanate
sail the black sea with their damned masters and serve as unwavering enforcers. When the Word Bears decree the construction of their accursed
cathedrals, it is these sickly pale creatures in ink-black masks that serve as Taskmasters. Many Hosts within the Legion still have thousands of
generational slave-warriors that make the same oath of life and soul as their ancestors had for ten-millenia.
The Jeharwanate, like many of the the Word Bearer's black traditions, is steeped in the origins of old Colchis. The term Jeharwanate comes
from an ancient tradition that had lost practice some time after Lorgar Aurelian came to power within the world's theocratic government.
Roughly translating into Low Gothic as 'The Ring', Jeharwanate is an ancient practice of slavery with rather specific and even somewhat
confusing parameters. The act of slavery is commonly understood as the valuing human life as an economic property, typically obtained
through raiding or conquest and forcing the would-be slaves into subservience on pain of death or worse. Jeharwanate, however, was the
practice of slavery at entirely one's own volition. While this may seem confusing to one's readers, it is important to understand that every tribe
and sect across all known Colchisian history recognized Heresy as the most egregious of sins. Because of this, Jeharwanate was the rite
of any individual, family, or tribe to decry their faith to be false and that of their master to be the true faith. To claim Jeharwanate was
to plead for a master's mercy and ask for them to accept such sinners into their homes.
If a potential master is to accept, then the slaves would be under his or her care. This involves a host of responsibilities that are generally uncommon among the general
practice of slaver. For example. A master is now the patron and pastor of his willing slaves, and he or she must provide his slaves with daily teachings of the the
master's faith. In this, the master becomes more a shepherd than a slaver, teaching and guiding his flock of loyal sinners into a new life of enlightenment and
contrition through service. In return, the Jeharwante were often treated with a level of respect and deference that other slaves were not. After all,
better the heretic that seeks to atone for his sins, rather than one that only seeks deliverance from his punishment.
The 'Ring' of this practice comes down to a stipulation of the practice itself. As a slave under the rite of Jeharwante,
one of the slave's most pressing responsibilities is to ensure a genetic lineage, marrying other slaves and producing children who will also
become for their master. This is, in essence, a generational process that moves at a slow pace of service and teachings. Each and every
child of these slaves is to continue as their parents and serve for the sins of their ancestors. It is only by the decree of the master that a bloodline
may be absolved of their sins and their service complete.
While there is no exact source as to why the Warp Cult took the name of Jeharwanate or their true origins, it is this humble scholar's belief that the
origins of this cult might be Colchis itself. Records indicate that a vast swath of the planet's recorded population was altogether missing from the
planet at the time of the XIIIth legion's exterminatus of the planet. Perhaps, in reconciliation for their sins of once worshipping the God Emperor
and returning to their old traditions, many people of Colchis offered up their lives in service for their perceived sins of Heresy.
If this is true, then the Jeharwanate, these twisted and pale things, are, in fact, what remains of Colchis' people,
the loyal slaves that have served their cruel masters for generations across ten thousand years.
Unknown Cultist of the Jeharwanate
Enslaved to the will of the Word Bearers Legion
Pict-feed taken at the 'Grief of Herodin' Culling
" I've seen what awaits us on the other side. There is no heaven. There is no great reward for our devotion. All that awaits us is the ravenous hunger of our sins... That's all we deserve."
Edited by Noctus Cornix, 23 November 2020 - 07:02 AM.
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