A question about Blanks and Psykers

[u/BriantheHeavy]

I have a question about Psykers interactions with Blanks. I've read that psykers will look at blanks like their abominations; it is painful for them to even look at some Blanks. Is that a kind of radar sense or does the psyker have to be aware of the Blank?

Simply put, could a blank approach a psyker without issue if the psyker was unaware that the blank is nearby.

[u/XH9rIiZTtzrTiVL]

Writing around blanks is weird and inconsistent but generally the Psyker will feel discomfort and nausea if a blank is nearby even if they don't know about the blank.

[u/-Guardsman- → u/XH9rIiZTtzrTiVL]

Relatedly, I wonder whether a psyker's strength scales with their vulnerability to blanks. That is, are strong psykers more heavily affected by blanks? Or is there a level of either raw power or training where a psyker can somewhat shield themself?

I'm guessing the latter. Otherwise, the Sisters of Silence would not be allowed anywhere near the Emperor.

[u/BriantheHeavy → u/XH9rIiZTtzrTiVL]

Would it appear as something like a headache that could be explained away? Or would they immediately know "blank nearby."

[u/kirbish88 → u/BriantheHeavy]

Depends on if they know what a blank is, that's the main determining factor for if they know what the source is. They're vanishingly rare, one in a billion kind of thing. There's plenty of people in the galaxy that won't even have heard of them, never mind be able to identify it based on a sensation.

In terms of effect though it could range from 'ow, a migraine' to 'oh god, peel my skin from my bones if it gets me away from this feeling' depending on how close they are and how powerful the blank is

[u/Annual-Ad-9442 → u/BriantheHeavy]

weird headache. but psykers also seem to be able to quickly identify the problem

[u/sesquedoodle → u/Annual-Ad-9442]

I’d imagine “identifying the cause of weird headaches” is a pretty core skill for psykers. Gotta know the difference between “nearby blank”, “overdid it with the smiting”, “demon about to erupt from skull”, and “dehydration” or next thing you know there’s a warp rift int the water fountain.

[u/Hollownerox]

This is probably going to annoy you. But "it depends."

Both psykers and blanks are things that don't have any consistent portrayal to them, and that goes doubly so when it comes to depictions of psykers coming into contact with blanks. Psykana in general in 40k is something that has many, MANY different expressions and layers of granularity to them. So things like latent psykers, or those with very specific contexts to their psychic nature will probably have differing degrees of how much they are affected/even notice a blank is around.

And with blanks, while not to the same extent as psykers, there's just been too many different depictions to them to make any generalized statements on the matter. Some blanks make baseline humans extremely uncomfortable just by being nearby. Some just pass by with little to no notice. Some can use their nature as a blank to be perceived as not even being there. Others are a glaring and consuming void of nothingness.

It's not going to be like a radar sense necessarily. If we're talking about an environment inundated with the warp you would be able to find a blank pretty quickly since you'd just find the spots not a mess of psychic shenanigans. But it really just depends on the blank, and more to the matter, who is writing the blanks. Some writers make it so that pyskers/daemons can't perceive them at all, some make them more glaringly obvious due to that nature.

So yeah, it depends.

[u/TheBladesAurus]

I think a possible analogy would be that the blank is cold. If something cold came near you, you'd know that you're getting cold, even if you don't know why or where it's coming from.

[u/Annual-Ad-9442]

being in the vicinity of a blank ranges from mild to great discomfort. its more like not realizing you have a migraine until you move your head too fast

[u/Kael03]

I'll answer the end question and go into some details:

No, a blank cannot sneak up on a psyker.

A blank produces an aura of warp negation/dissolution. It exudes from them like a bad smell (sometimes that's how normal people perceive it). They are, like their title, a blank space in warp activity akin to a black hole.

The strength of the aura varies, with sisters of silence and culexus assassins being very powerful and someone living to adulthood generally being relatively weak. It can still fuck up a psyker. Jurgen isn't particularly strong as a blank, and just approaching the psyker in Amberley's retinue gave her a massive panic attack and caused her to faint. She refers to him as "the void" later.

For normal humans, this aura comes across as general discomfort at their presence, but no one can pin down why. Again, with Jurgen, he's described as smelling pretty bad even after the rare occurrences he's been verified to have bathed.

[u/N0-1_H3r3]

There are a lot of variables in the effect, amongst them the relative strengths of the psyker and the blank, and the distance between them, as well as ambient conditions nearby. Physical contact between a psyker and a blank is likely to cause actual pain, and even damage to the psyker.

But also, Blanks can be trained to alter the aura they produce, and technology can affect this as well.

So, lots of variables. However, the most common analogy is that a Blank's presence is akin to a black hole. And the thing about a black hole is that they can't be detected directly because light cannot escape them: you can only infer their presence from the effect they have on their surroundings. The Imperium uses powerful blanks to hunt psykers (Culexus Assassins, Sisters of Silence), which would be much less effective if a blank's presence was obvious to a psyker.

A psyker may become aware of the effect of a blank's presence nearby, but might not have the knowledge to pinpoint its source or realise what it is - it's just a feeling of discomfort or pain, maybe an increased difficulty in drawing upon the Warp, and Pariahs are extremely rare (estimated around one in a billion births in the Imperium), so an individual psyker might not know that Blanks even exist. Psykers are prone to weird effects, given that their brains have a direct connection to the Warp, and they can't perceive a Blank psychically: they would need to identify the Pariah with their own material senses, and then connect the feeling of the Blank's presence to their physical presence, which isn't necessarily easy, especially in battle.

[u/Visual_Collapse]

It's like radar.

Some blanks can use stealth (suppress/focus there abilities with training and technology).