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Atlas Infernal

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Targetdrone.gif This article is about the the Webway map; for the Novel by Rob Sanders, see Atlas Infernal (Novel).
Bronislaw Czevak with the Atlas Infernal slung at his side.

The Atlas Infernal is an Imperial artifact and a "living" map of the Eldar Webway. It is currently in the possession of High Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak, who stole it from the Black Library of Chaos.[1a]

History

The Atlas's origins are obscured by the secrecy that surrounded its creation, not to mention the ten thousand years of history that have elapsed since then; although Czevak has formed a plausible theory, he griped that only the Emperor of Mankind Himself could corroborate even a fraction of it, if He were ever to step off the Golden Throne.[1a]

Czevak's theory runs as follows: during the Great Crusade, the Emperor returned to Terra to carve out and construct a section of the Webway hospitable to human life, thus enabling transportation and communication across the length of the Imperium without needing to risk the perils of warp travel. This endeavor was disrupted by the Horus Heresy, and the section collapsed, trapping a small contingent of Imperial experts in the Webway — likely experts from the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Sisters of Silence, the militant arm of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. The Atlas may have been created by this team as they attempted to chart an exit back to realspace.[1a]

Whatever its origins, the Atlas eventually found its way to the Black Library, where Czevak found and stole it (though, since it was undoubtedly Imperial in origin, he argued that the Eldar had stolen it first).[1a]

The Atlas Infernal is an artifact of incalculable significance; apart from the fact that its user can navigate the Webway and travel anywhere in the galaxy at will, it serves as a map to the Black Library, which is why Ahzek Ahriman, Chaos Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons, has sought it for centuries, and why Czevak is engaged on a never-ending journey to keep it out of his hands.[1a]

Description

The Atlas is constructed like a book, made of some arcane metal that is both lightweight and yet incredibly durable.[1a] In fact, the cover deflected a bolt round fired at Czevak by a Rubric Marine, with little or no damage.[1b] Instead of paper, its pages are thin, crystalline wafers, across which are stretched thin layers of skin taken from Blanks, possibly the same Sister of Silence trapped in the Webway.[1a]

The skin is kept alive through a small quantity of its original owner's blood, circulated by a small pump in the spine. Because it is Pariah skin, it is resistant to the reality-bending effects of the Warp and, because it is alive, it reacts to the currents and changes in the Webway, and has remained accurate and up to date even after ten thousand years. It is even semi-reactive to its reader; the veins of the skin change direction and flow, forming lines and text that point the reader to where he most wants to travel.[1a]

Sources