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Privateer Press did their end of year summary, and look ahead. Check it out here, because it had some interesting news on Warcaster

“We’ve shown concept art for the Lost Legion that we want to produce and we have hinted at the Exiles faction that will eventually appear. We have a lot of territory we want to cover with Warcaster and intend to do so, but it will take some time for us to get there.”

https://home.privateerpress.com/2023/12/28/a-look-back-and-a-look-ahead-2023-2024/

This is the first we (I?) have heard of the name exiles, but now that we have it there are a few hints around.

Exile is used a few times in the Thousand Worlds book

• Omens Pages say “Those Exiled Will Return“. This hints very strongly that the text of the Omens refers to them.
• Empyrean faction blurb says “Eyes wide with greed and wonder, humanity spread across the silent stars, bringing with them war, death, and untold destruction, jeopardizing the carefully constructed order of the universe and emboldening old enemies exiled beyond the darkness between the stars.”
• “Having vanquished or exiled all who did not heed their call, the Empyreans held absolute dominion across the galaxy. So secure were they in their authority and so long did they reign unopposed that conflict itself had begun to grow unfamiliar with the passage of eons.”
• “The darkness will return from exile to claim the worlds” a rune easter egg from the original Warcaster rulebook
• “I believed I was of service before I was exiled to the Oblivion Hold,” Nix said. “I am curious why you believe I could be of service again.”. Nix is a former Aeon of the Empyreans who was punished by them for excessive emotion (or at least understanding emotion) and blamed for past failures. He refers to being ‘exiled to the Oblivion Hold’ 3 times in his story
• Corebus is also referred to as an Exile: “An exile and a fugitive, Corebus is a former Empyrean Aeon who has sought solace and safety amongst the Marcher Worlds“. Corebus was exiled for sympathising with humanity, defending them against the Empyrean’s hostility and leading him to flee for his life. However the ISA believe that “Corebus is present on the frontier to watch for the reappearance of some elder threat absent from the Hyperuranion since long before the arrival of humanity.”

There are 2 threads here

1. Two named former Aeons are described as exiled for perceived crimes, failure or treachery against the Empyreans. In Corebus case he seems to have been banished, and Nix imprisoned, curiously both for crimes of ’emotion’. However both are still allowed to fight for the Empyreans, and for Corebus it is implied that he is on the lookout for…
2. An ancient enemy, or enemies that the Empyreans defeated or banished. The Omens page hints at vengeance, and the exiles being the masters of the universe before the Empyreans “Stole their place among the stars“. 2 quotes about the Empyreans mention them exiling races that rejected their call, which might imply that the exiles are a group of races that were chased away by the Empyrean’s expansion. These may also be the ominous threat at the fringes of the Marcher Worlds.

Maybe Exile is a common word used by the Empyreans, but it is difficult to marry these 2 themes: one implies single criminals from within the Empyreans while the other is about external enemies of the Empyreans. Perhaps ancient Aeons with grudges against the Empyreans are uniting the ancient enemies to lead an attack on the core Cyriss galaxy. This could be an interesting take – as defecting Aeons would be a huge threat to the core of the Empyrean empire. They would understand the void gates and location of Cyriss Prime: it is only humanity’s ignorance that has kept them away from threatening the Empyreans.

Another ominous piece of text is early in the thousand worlds book, and while it doesn’t use the word Exile, it has similar themes to the Omens page

“And even now, a darkness lurks on the fringes of our existence, promising doom as we hurtle toward our moment of weakness when the only hope for humanity will once again be put in the hands of the heroes of our age . . .:

Finally, there is another unpulled thread here: the Lost Legion are announced as releasing simultaneously. It is likely they are designed to be built-in rivals. While we don’t know much detail about the Lost Legion, Axel For Hire’s story (Link Included) hints at some old trauma and horrific enemies that pile up huge numbers of bodies. It also talks of a mysterious enemy whose weapon disintegrates the targets, and which works similarly to Axel’s rifle. Perhaps Axel has encountered the Exiles before and took his gun from them.

There isn’t a lot to go on, but wanted to highlight what I could find for hints about the future faction. I have other thoughts on the Privateer Press update, but will think a bit more on them before posting something more.