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In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Blackstone Fortresses were originally created as weapons in the first war against the C'tan, and were known to the ancient Eldar as the Talismans of Vaul. To capitalise on the C'tan's vulnerability to warp attacks the Fortresses were equipped with a warp-cannon that could create a devastating rip in space and an eruption of energy out of the Immaterium. Image File history File links BlackstoneFortress. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... A fictional universe is an imaginary world that serves as the setting or backdrop for one or (more commonly) multiple works of fiction or translatable non-fiction. ... Warhammer 40,000 (informally known as Warhammer 40K, WH40K, W40K or just 40K) is a science fantasy game produced by Games Workshop. ... The Nightbringer, one of the Ctan In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Ctan (also called Star Gods; in fact, Ctan is said to translate as Star God. The word can be pronounced in various ways - Ka-tan, kuh-tarn, say-tan, si-tan or... Eldar 4th edition codex In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Eldar are a race of elf-like humanoids. ... The Immaterium (also referred to as the Empyrean or Warp) is an alternate dimension in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. ...

They have since fallen into the use of the Imperium and Chaos, and have influenced two of the major wars in the Imperium. The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire of millions of star systems that contains the vast majority of humanity in the forty-first millennium, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop. ... In Games Workshops Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in some sort of parallel universe, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy. ...

The Gothic War

Over the course of history, the various Blackstone Fortresses were abandoned. Six Fortresses were discovered in various systems of the Gothic Sector, and were claimed by the Imperium, modified and integrated into the defense infrastructure of the various star systems. The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire of millions of star systems that contains the vast majority of humanity in the forty-first millennium, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop. ...

The Fortresses were dormant, easily boarded and occupied. Although inactive, there was enough residual power in their power grids to allow the humans to live in them and turn them into powerful spaceborne hardpoints that were central to the fortifications in the systems they occupied. Image File history File links Blackstone-fortresses. ...

However, during the Gothic War Abaddon was influenced by the C'tan 'The Deceiver' to find a pair of ancient devices, (known as the 'Hand of Darkness' and the 'Eye of Night', probably Eldar devices with some kind of command code or password) which re-activated the massive ships, bringing them under his control. Once awake they were able to shed their grafted-on Imperial equipment and glide slowly through space under their own power, using their original warp-cannon in place of the turrets and fighter bays the Navy had built onto them. There is also a record of a boarding party that made its way into one of the activated fortresses and described it as like a living thing, pulsing with power. As the war progressed and Abaddon acquired three Fortresses, he was able to combine their warp-cannon attacks to obliterate worlds and stars. The Blackstone, like most Eldar technology of that scale was equipped with an infinity circuit of some kind. However when it fell into the hands of Chaos, it was corrupted and possessed directly by the Chaos God and enemy of the Eldar, Slaanesh. Abaddon the Despoiler In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 and Battlefleet Gothic, Abaddon the Despoiler is Warmaster of Chaos, captain of the Black Legion and is rumoured to be the clone-progeny of Warmaster Horus and at one time, his most favoured son. ...

At the end of the Gothic War, the fortresses were attacked by a vast fleet of Imperials and Eldar, and Abaddon retreated into the Eye of Terror with two activated Blackstones, while the remaining Blackstone was re-captured. When the aforementioned boarding party boarded the Blackstone Fortress, the remaining three in Imperial custody simultaneously disintegrated. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Thirteenth Black Crusade

In the Thirteenth Black Crusade, Abaddon used two Blackstone Fortresses against the Imperium. One of these was used to attack the world of Cadia, obliterating Cadians and Chaos troops on the surface indiscriminately. This Blackstone Fortress was attacked by Eldar and Imperial battlefleets, but both took huge losses from the Chaos fleet guarding the structure. Eldrad Ulthran boarded the Fortress, attempting to remove the taint of Chaos and return the fortress to Eldar control, but failed. After this, the Fortress stopped attacking Cadia and concentrated on its own defence. (It is uncertain whether it was Eldrad's boarding action or the attack of a Necron fleet that caused this.) Although the Necron fleet was destroyed, the Fortress left Cadia. In the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe a Black Crusade is when the forces of Chaos manage to unite under the leadership of Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster of the Black Legion, and launch a massive attack from within the Eye of Terror against the Imperium. ... Cadia is a planet within the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. ... Eldrad Ulthran In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, Eldrad Ulthran was the mightiest and most ancient of the Farseers of the Eldar Craftworld of Ulthwé. Among Eldrads accomplishments are supposedly: igniting the Second War for Armageddon so as to spare the lives of ten thousand Eldar,[1... It has been suggested that Necron Monolith be merged into this article or section. ...

There are unconfirmed reports of the other Fortress being destroyed by Necron raiders.

Appearance

Viewed from the top the shape of an activated Blackstone Fortress has warped to resemble the eight-pointed star of Chaos Undivided (this is somewhat ironic considering the fortresses are of Eldar creation).

References

• Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook (Games Workshop)
• White dwarf magazine (various, summer 2004 'Eye of Terror' global campaign)