40K Lore: There Is No Such Organization Known As The Cabal, Nor Was There Ever
Greetings Loremasters, today we are not discussing the shadowy organization that sought to manipulate some of the most important events in humanity’s history, because there is no such organization, nor was there ever.
It would be utterly preposterous to say that the events of the Horus Heresy were set in motion by a handful of beings whose limited reach, lifespans, and vision would all prevent them from interfering in events at the galactic stage. The Heresy was set in motion by a handful of beings with superior genetics and psychic powers, this is something even a child knows.
(editor’s note–if you know of any children that know this, please report them to the Inquisition, for they are certainly a daemonhost)
Besides which, it’s simply not possible that any group, even a collection of disparate species that theoretically might not be readily identifiable to Imperial authorities could even exist. Especially when you consider the persistent mythology that surrounds these all too fictional Cabalites. Mechanical life-forms. Energy-based life forms. Insectoid, avian, and lizard-like creatures. Pah. Such a gathering would surely have been exterminated for the mutants and xenos that they are, should they set foot anywhere within Terra’s sphere of influence. But this fiction is persistent.
In spite of attempts to ‘correct’ the matter.
Perhaps because one of the rumored species to be a member of this Cabal is the perfidious Eldar. This does smack of Eldar treachery from its head to its toes. But–acknowledging how ridiculous it is that such an organization should exist, we can find some useful information in the legends. For instance, the Cabal is rumored to be a nomadic organization.
If you had an organization that traveled all over the galaxy, occasionally choosing to spend a period of time in one particular place, there would be some record of these. Particularly if these worlds had their topography altered to suit the needs of the Cabal, who supposedly would construct their landing-zones in an identical fashion. Worlds that they have set down on are therefore identifiable if one knows how to look at the terrain, two such worlds being Nurth and Eolith. As well as these geo-forming abilities, the Cabal also appear to have a high level of mastery over atmospheric alteration technology and the ability to extend or renew life. Or as you might better know it blasphemy and anyone espousing it should be strung up by their ears and dragged before an Inquisitor for harboring such treason.
But chief among the alleged abilities and events that the Cabal is said to have influenced is the Horus Heresy. One need only read on to see how ridiculous the Cabal is.
Having studied the development of the primarchs over some decades, the Cabal were able to determine that the most important of them were the “oldest” (Horus) and the “youngest” (Alpharius Omegon). They foresaw that Horus would ignite a galactic-level civil war using the powers of Chaos, and claimed that what Horus ‘would do’, Alpharius would ‘undo’. They also claimed that, while the Heresy was inevitable, the Alpha Legion was perfectly placed to control and direct it to one of the two possible outcomes.
The Cabal believed that, after the Heresy, a scintilla of the honourable being he once was would remain within Horus, eating at him and fueling a self-destructive sense of self-hatred and loathing that would see Horus fall on his subjects in an acceleration of the violence of the Heresy, creating civil strife amongst the traitor and Chaotic forces that would culminate in a final armageddon. The end result of Horus leading humanity would be total extermination of the human species within two or three generations…however, if this were so, the powers of Chaos, so heavily invested in humanity, would be extinguished with it.
The foreseen outcome of the Heresy, the Cabal saw the Emperor giving his life to kill Horus, becoming a howling rictus trapped inside the Golden Throne. They believed that this path would lead to stagnation, and stagnation to decay. This decay would accelerate, continually allowing the Chaos powers to grow and spread their influence, until after ten or twenty thousand years of misery, the entire galaxy would be consumed by Chaos.
This is preposterous. The Emperor was VICTORIOUS and now sits upon the Golden Throne providing the beacon of the astronomican to all who need it. The Emperor protects and is not imprisoned by the Golden Throne. And the Galaxy does not seem to be consumed by Chaos in the least.
The Cabal, operating on the long view, sought to generate the first outcome by convincing Alpharius Omegon of the truth of their predictions. They asked him to place himself and his forces under the banner of Horus, despite their sworn loyalty to the Emperor, and do all they could to ensure the betrayer’s victory, thus sacrificing humanity to destroy the Chaos Powers. As far as is known, the primarch of the Alpha Legion appears to have acceded to this request. As the Heresy ended with the second outcome, it appears that the Cabal’s machinations failed and that, if they are to be believed, the galaxy is doomed. The Alpha Legion are still branded traitors to the Imperium and the Emperor, although their true motivations and loyalties since meeting the Cabal are not currently known. Again–do you see how they include a grain of truth to every rumor, this is the insidious nature of urban legends–which are myths and folk tales for those of you who have never been to an Urban world.
But perhaps the most ludicrous of all of these tales–even if there were such an organization, even if they did engineer the heresy–could such a powerful and far-reaching organization, really fall to an Eldar? Especially the “Farseer,” Eldrad Ulthran, who it’s said eventually came to view the Cabal as a threat to the galaxy. He believed that their path of destroying Humanity to kill the Chaos Gods was little more than a hopeless ritual sacrifice. Eldrad saw a new path beyond the acuity, one that involved allying with helping the Imperium emerge victorious through actions such as aiding Vulkan reach Terra. However the Cabal refused to relent in its path, and Eldrad thus recruited the Word Bearer Barthusa Narek in a bid to eliminate the Cabal’s members. Eldrad and Narek killed most of the Cabals leadership and agents, including Gahet, Slau Dha, Cartur Umenedies, and Damon Prytanis.
Seriously, whoever heard of an Eldar’s schemes actually coming to fruition.
Not only is belief in these events heretical–they’re blasphemous as well!
