Emperor Preserve

Cold, Wet and Confused - Portheos' Personal Notes
Exploring a cellar without any wine...

Name_-_Portheos.jpgWhy?

Why am I here in this dank cellar, surrounded by this handful of psychopaths instead of back in the librarium with my books and a nice bottle of amasec? Yet the Inquisition calls and I must answer. So I follow them into the bowels of this horrible demesne in search of corruption to root out.

The first room was horrible – I found myself face to face with a combat servitor that not only nearly removed my entire handsome face, but it nearly ruined my favourite hat in the process. Yes, yes, the rest of my ‘peers’ were there and faced off against some deranged man in a lab coat – a coroner I believe. And yes I was saved by one of them who decided to bring a shotgun to a sword fight – but my HAT was nearly RUINED. I collapsed at the mere thought of being left so bereft of that delightful number.

As if that wasn’t enough, after we cleared out that servitor and some other minions.. the very bodies in the room came to life! Emperor save me, such things are beyond the pale. Coupled with the hat.. I could not even bring myself to enter that accursed place until my compatriots had cleared out what remained of those things. Once they had done the dirty work we made our way deeper in as I summoned my strength and courage to press onwards. Down the hall we came across a series of cells holding some poor souls who were gratefully still alive and not trying to kill us. We encountered this salty though capable trooper and some of his cohort. Oh….. and a sister.

Yes, a bloody sister. If it wasn’t bad enough that I’m getting my face chewed up by a chain sword, my favourite hat was nearly shredded, and here we are in a dusty, dark and utterly uncomfortable prison – I now have to watch my back against a witch hunter! Sanctioning means little to those fanatical daughters of our blessed Emperor and should she take a dislike to my use of the warp to aid us then my life is forfeit. I will have to be wary of her until I can be assured of her motives.

I need to go now, our elevator that we commandeered has come to a halt and the rest of our group is restless. Given what we’ve seen so far, my heart is racing in anxiety over what horrors await us still…

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Excerpt from the personal diary of Acolyte Eiael
The ongoing wanderings of a band of Acolytes

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(Imperial Date – in Low Gothic, redacted)

The Acolytes have taken me in. This is most fortuitous, and quite terrifying at the same time. I have longed to serve the Emperor and now have the greatest opportunity to do so. The protections the Inquisition offers one cursed as myself are also a blessing, should I be overtaken by the Warp I know one of my companions will bless me with a quick death.

[Line Redacted]

Our first foray into the workings of the Heretic are to track down the fragments of a Warp kissed mirror. I am unsure of its significance other than it is a conduit for the Warp or one of its denizens, making it an Inquisitorial matter to be sure. This corrupt and failing world needs no prodding to descend into further impurity and such malefic items need to be purged.

There are others on this blighted world who seek the mirror shards as well. Some are also cursed by the Warp as one had been to my lodgings. I felt their mark on the place when the Acolytes agreed to use it as a temporary safe house for a Lady. We wisely chose not to ensconce her there and with us she must remain for a while longer, until we find a secure place for her to weather this storm. A noble she may be but in this we are all agreed that she is an innocent, as far as the matter of the mirror are concerned at least. She lacks the fortitude needed to deal in such artifacts.

Not long after this we ventured to the Manse of a waning house to secure another mirror shard and were set upon by corpses possessed by animating spirits. These malefic beings are difficult to dispatch and my training with the Razorflail proved of little use, though grateful for it I was none the less. I must redouble my efforts to master this weapon if I am to both be of use to He Who Sits on the Golden Throne and to survive my service for any length of time.

We escaped the attack at the Manse with another shard in our possession, though some of us were injured, all will live to continue their service. I am unsure of where we are all to go next but my companions have proven themselves capable at every turn and I trust that they will know what we must do. These worlds on which humanity wallows have too many Captains, no clear chain of command, and no helmsmen. It is no wonder they are a confusing jumble and full of corruption.

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Investigation of Lady Amorite’s manse
We are the Inquisition…without badges!

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From: Intios, Adeptus Administratum & Acolyte of the Holy Inquisition, Ordo Hereticus

After Arion reached into the gooey remains of one of the undead, he brought back a portion of a mirror that was approximately 9 × 7 inches. He wasn’t able to fit it into the ornate box he found in the Eupheme Tassel’s office. He asked one of the court officers to find him an appropriately sized box.

The Sagacity, Lady Tassel seemed to be in shock from the mornings events. She wasn’t responding to my efforts to talk to her. Karpath took it upon himself to try to pry information from her through his sheer force of will. Needless to say, Lady Tassel did not respond and just went deeper into her already emotional state. Arion directed Karpath to help with the organization of paperwork in the office.

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No more than a half hour later, we see a person dressed in carapace armor walk into the Sagacity’s office. She removes her helmet and with a sign of recognition in her eyes, identifies herself a Detective Vas Casetlla. Constantine has sent her to personally aid our investigation. I can see the distinct red collar on her uniform that identifies her as a detective or investigator. While most citizens of Sinophia have a downtrodden demeanor about them, there is a certain intensity in Vas’s eyes. I am curious to hear about what she has seen in the past.

While Arion was able to recruit help in cleaning the Sagacity’s office, I can see Karpath clearly struggling with the task of organizing paperwork. Remembering that he took a couple of blows from the undead creature, I told him to drop the paperwork and report to medicae immediately. With a smile and a half salute, he left the office before I could say anything else.

We were a bit pressed for time because we still had an appointment to meet with Enforcer General Xiabus Khan. With Lady Tassel still in a state of shock, we decided to leave her behind with the medicae personnel. Unfortunately Karpath will have to rest of a while as well. Vas said she had a sedan waiting and could take us to see the Enforcer General. We step outside to the sedan and Vas introduced us to Arbites Regulator Darell Lombardino.

With quick introductions out of the way, we were on our way to The Granted Sanctum of the Loyal Enforcers of the Edicts of the Judiciary’s Court. From the outside, it seemed like a large, moldering collection of connected town houses in District III. We had Lombardino stay with the car while Arion, Vas and I entered Enforcers’ Sanctum.

From the inside of the Sanctum, the Enforcers were definitely on alert. There seemed to be armed personnel everywhere we looked. We told the officer at their front desk that we were here to meet with Khan. The officer told us to wait, which did not seem to please Arion. Within minutes, we heard a single shot from a room further inside the Sanctum. All of the non-Enforcers within the lobby all took notice while the uniformed Enforcers carried on as if it were business as usual. No longer wanting to wait, Arion followed the sound of the shot to a room a couple doors down.

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A single Enforcer walks out of the room with what looked like some traces of blood splattered on his face. Upon entering, we are met by a well dressed man named Alhaus Kent who says he is part of the noble family Freelon. He did not give any details of why a man was lying dead on the floor. Then an older gangly gentleman approached Arion and asked if he was with the Inquisition. Arion confirmed that we were. This gentleman identified himself as Eiael. I could tell by the tattoo on him that he had gone through sanctioning as a psyker on Terra. He said he was ordered to report to Interrogator Gaiseric here in Sinophia. This immediately caught my attention and we escorted Eiael out of the room.

I asked Eiael how he knew Gaiseric. He said they only met in passing, but he was ordered to meet Gaiseric here. Apparently, Eiael was caught on a Space Hulk, which may have delayed his arrival onto Sinophia by twelve years. (For more info on Interrogator Gaiseric, read the first 5 paragraphs of the first EVER Adventure Log: The Summons). Eiael had a meeting with the Sagacity Lady Tassel before the Clockwork Court turned into a fireball of a mess. He was dragged in by the Enforcers like many others. Eiael showed us an old parchment he found on the Space Hulk. The parchment specifically mentions Sinophia Magna and the most telling portion was the last paragraph where the writer states that he dared look into the mirror but was not sure it was his own reflection looking back at him.

With Eiael in the fold, we entered the Enforcer General’s office after we commandeered an officer to escort us in. Arion is asking Khan specific questions about the future seeing mirror or mirror shards. Khan claims to know nothing of such a mirror and continues to exclaim that if it’s a war that the Undertow wants, he will be the one to start and end it. Khan did confirm that he had someone tailing our cell. Then made mention of another possible Inquisitorial team on planet. He could not say why he thought another group would be Inquisition but did offer to us that they are very elusive.

Unfortunately our introduction to Enforcer General Khan did not seem too fruitful in regards to our investigation of the murders. Both the Undertow and Enforcers are blaming in each other for the recent turn of events. As we walked out of the Sanctum, Vas and Eiael asked about the significance of this mirror we had. Eiael is shown the mirror shard by Arion at the back of the Arbites sedan. He described the experience as not just seeing a reflection of himself, but it looks like he is looking at himself through a window. I believe that experience is enough even for a sanctioned psyker to see that we are dealing with something most unnatural.

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We decided to go to the Medicae Functionary in District III, where we were told that Lady Tassel and Karpath were taken. Upon arrival, we discover that Lady Tassel is in the Mind of the Emperor wing of the Functionary while Karpath is in extended care. A quick check also shows that our new Mechanicus tech priest was also sent here after the engagement at the Clockwork Court. We saw that Kensong was indeed still alive but barely holding onto life. He is still in a critical state but will eventually pull through. Another wing down, we find Karpath immobilized with a hard sleeve around his torso. Apparently the undead creature broke a rib or two. Karpath is conscious and quite eager to join us but we tell him he will be more useful healthy and to get as much rest as he can.

We locate Lady Tassel and decide to move her out of the Functionary and take her back to Haarlock’s Folly. Hopefully at the Folly, we would be away from more prying eyes. Upon entering the Folly, we were greeted by Officer Yeremi Lueker at the main desk. He nodded knowingly to Vas as we walked in. After securing a more private area on the second floor, it was apparent that Lady Tassel was still in a state of shock. I told the others that we probably do not have much time and will have to do what I can to get her out of this state.

I reached into my medikit for some stimm. Gave it to Lady Tassel and waited just a few moments for her eyes to open wide. Looks like the dosage worked. We start asking our questions regarding the future seeing mirror that we have heard about. Lady Tassel, now more cognizant, begins to tell about how her grandfather found and discovered the nature of the mirror. She wasn’t sure if the mirror originated with Terresa Sinos, who was the Rogue Trader that founded the planet, or with Erasmus Haarlock. She said that there were actually two mirrors that would show visages of distant worlds. She does believe that it was Haarlock who broke the mirror into 13 fragments. She also confirmed that there were 13 lightning strikes upon Haarlock’s Folly a few weeks back.

We did not want to leave the Sagacity at the Folly, so Eiael suggested we take her to his hab in District IV. We had Regulator Lombardino drive the entire lot of us in his sedan to District IV. Eiael walked up to the second floor door of his hab and immediately ran back to us and said he’s never coming back here again. We asked him what happened and he said that he sensed a warp presence/smell inside the room. We told Lombardino to keep an eye on Lady Tassel while the rest of us investigate Eiael’s hab. Eiael said that he specifically sensed a witch’s residual presence in his hab. I pull my auspex for readings but did not pick up anything unusual. I said thinking out loud, “It looks like we are being tailed again.” Eiael wondered how that could be since we just met a few hours ago. I corrected myself by saying, “It looks like another psyker has sensed your presence.” As I take a closer look at the hab, I have a tugging feeling that something is just not fitting into place. Logically speaking, everything seems almost unnaturally clean. I think that if Eiael is correct in his warp detections, that if he didn’t sense anything, we wouldn’t know that anyone was in his unit at all. This mystery pysker may be quite skilled as she is trying very hard to hide her tracks.

If we are indeed being followed, we cannot leave Lady Tassel here in Eiael’s hab. We decided to take her with us, but first we needed to go back to the Folly to get some equipment that may aid us in traveling through the shadow manses in District VII. Vas gets a skeleton key which should be able to open the gates in between the manses.

It is near dark when we identify the property that belongs to Lady Amorite. Within a high stone wall lies a grand house built of pale stone and roofed in black slate amidst a tangle of undergrowth; its windows sealed by shutters and its surface crawling with thick vines. Arion is the first to enter the large property and notes that the slip gates and main doors to the manse have both been broken in by brute force. Arion reports that the comms start to act up when he is within 20 meters of the manse door. Vas tells Lombardino to radio for backup. The response is that help will arrive within an hour. I have a strong feeling that things will be over with much sooner than that. We all rush to the front door of the manse. Arion in the lead, followed by Vas, Eiale and then myself.

The interior of the house is dark, with only vague shapes of rooms and furniture visible. The use of a stab light reveals ghostly shapes of grand furniture, portraits and artefacts all draped in thick cobwebs. The house smells of dust and neglect. We all hear a scream and crashing sounds from upstairs. Following the noise leads us to a room that is poorly lit by a candelabra held in the hand of a terrified old woman dressed in a tattered lace dress. Her hair is long, white and wild. She is screaming in terror at the cloaked figures that are slowly closing on her.

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Arion is first through the door way and yelled some sort of profanity at the cloaked figures inside. He confirms 4 undead zombies towards the right side of the room and yells at the rest of us to snipe from the doorway. One of the undead actually followed Arion out through the door with its attention solely on Arion. Vas makes it through the doorway and into the room where I hear the distinct sound of a hand cannon go off. As I am running toward the doorway, I see Eiael shoot off a bolt of bio-lightning toward the undead that Arion is now engaged with. I finally make it to the doorway but are we in time to make a difference?

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Slaughter at The Clockwork Court
This is unlikely to have a calming effect on the city.

Court_Guard_Battlion.pngFrom: Officer Lashunda Levers; CGB (Court Guard Battalion)
To: Captain Goradin Mottershead; CGB

Lieutenant Cabeza asked me to assemble an accounting of the Acolytes of the most holy Inquisition during the assault on the Clockwork Court, which saw the treasonous slaughter of thirteen members of our august Quorum and the murder of Sinophia’s most beloved Judiciary. I have pieced together a collection of information from first hand witnesses, as well as conclusions of our Observatta Division (OD) drawn from the physical evidence. Assuming it meets with your approval, the Lieutenant told me it was his intention to make it part of the official file.

Task Force Sciscitatio (TFS), as I am told this section of Acolytes are entitled, were at CGB Station Sophos awaiting approval to proceed into the Court proper. A series of explosions sent the Court Guard galvanizing into brave concerted action. TFS charged into the Court towards the sound.

Acolyte Arion, it is believed, quickly entered the Office of Protocol, where he likely witnessed the results of the savage dismemberment of the Revered Signiteitus Dorvillier and his entire staff. He valiently engaged the monstrous assassin he found there, designated “Primum”, hacking it to pieces until it self-immolated.
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Acolyte Kensong, an obvious Mechanicus represetative of TFS, probably engaged with the Brass Servant Ascella, for reasons unknown. CGB Mechanicus Attachment LockGauss-43 has been ordered to closely observe the Brass Servants for the next several weeks to ensure no aberrant behavior.

Acolytes Intios & Acolyte Rommulus advanced down the corridor leading to Gate Pius, where they likely heard the screams of the dying nobility inside. There they were confronted with a monstrous attacker, designated “Secundo”, that probably killed many or all of the slain nobles in the Brass Court itself. Since both Acolyte Karpath & Acolyte Intios both wield las weapons, it is unknown which shot off his scorch-marked arm, which was found just inside the Pius Gate. Despite the severe maiming, “Secundo” proved a dangerous unarmed combatant, fracturing a number of Acolyte Karpath’s ribs with his fist.

There Officer Billyet Gaisch stood his ground at Gate Pius, all but emptying his sidearm into the invader until being thrown against the wall, breaking his back in three places. (Biologis Inferior Laxthick reports that his soul joined the Emperor shortly thereafter due to pulverized organs. Officer Gaisch was a CGB veteran of 17 years, and Lieutenant Cebeza has filed a proposal for a brass plaque in his honor at Gate Pius.)

Acolyte Kensong & CGB Sergeant Jonel Gattel pursued “Secundo” into the Office of the Judiciary. Before this foul assassin could be felled (resulting in self-immolation), the Judiciary and immediate staff were dismembered and Biologis Inferior Laxthick reports that Officer Gattel perished when an organ was pulled out of his midsection. Acolyte Kensong remains in perilous condition, having sustained a shattering blow to the leg & being in proximity to the fiery charge that immolated “Secundo”; it is not known whether he will survive.

Two CGB guards assigned to Gate Pius that morning, Officers Buck Bonigan & Beyale Chenanus, were found in a state of extreme duress under respective tables in the Brass Court. As with all CGB guards posted in the Court proper, their prior records are exemplary & therefore their behavior is unexplained. Fellow officers, whose identity I could not ascertain, said that Officer Chenanus was screaming about a poisonous dust that would soon kill everyone in the city. Officer Bonigan was found trying to pull out his tongue – thankfully unsuccessfully. Both officers currently reside in medicae.

Court Clerk Magale Fuele reported that the attacker she saw resembled her mother, who’d been missing for over a year. (Clark Fuele only spoke to me on the condition that I swore to add that her mother was a sweet woman that raised five children – and would never do such a thing.) Enforcer Arnus Bichak, at the Court on Enforcer business that morning, said he thought one of the attackers resembled one of the odd robed gangers he’d encountered in the deserted District II some time back.

Officer Rekar Galek, a rookie officer replacing recently injured regular personnel, reports that Acolyte Arion searched the pile of ashen remains of “Primum”, finding a live grenade, a scorched gun of some kind & and a “shiny item that reflected”. He said it was largely covered in goo, but that what could be seen held the light. OD Mariel Breutzmann reported that Acolyte Arion instructed he and OD Nerot Mattay, sorting the office of the Keeper of the Rolls, to watch for anything that resembled a mirror, or piece of one. OD Mattay added that Acolyte Arion found a decent-sized wooden box, broken at the hinge. The Acolyte momentarily seemed somewhat mesmerized by its interior. Officer Pantelakis, posted in that room, observed the interior of the box over the Acolyte’s shoulder and told me it had ornate carvings, but was empty. Officer Pantelakis has since reported to Medicae for an unknown malady.

Soon after the cessation of hostilities, TFS had sought out the Office of the Sagacity. Lady Tassel was reported to be in severe shock and, as confirmed by Medicae Inferior Avitus, Acolyte Intios labored to improve her condition. Acolyte Arion commandeered OD Mattay, OD Breutzmann and possibly another officer I could not identify. He instructed them to help Acolyte Karpath & himself organize the abundance of scattered paper in the Sagacity’s office, for reasons unknown.Clockwork_Court_-_Crystal_lattice_dome.jpg

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Meeting at the Clockwork Court
Space zombies in the 40K universe?

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From: Intios, Adeptus Administratum & Acolyte of the Holy Inquisition, Ordo Hereticus

We departed the PDF barracks and returned to Haarlock’s Folly. We had appointments to meet with the Quorum and Enforcer General Khan the next day. In the meantime, we decided to go back to Worm’s End to look for further clues. We were able to get an Arbites sedan to take us to the edge of the District XIII, where we walked the rest of the way.

Upon arriving at Worm’s End, we did notice some possible movement two buildings away. Neither my auspex nor Kensong’s servo skull were able to discover any further information. We entered the bar and looked for any clues about the names we had uncovered earlier. We found large stacks of papers dealing with the bar’s business. With Arion’s help, we sifted through the papers looking for names and possibly addresses. We finally found the names Sev Mcand and Luc Cisen. These matched the initial bar tab we found. Associated with Mcand, we found, “Under the Water stairs” and “Staying with Luc?”

We needed to find what Under the Water stairs meant. We canvassed the area near the bar to see if anyone would talk to us. Most of the locals did not want to come to the door as we passed by. We were able to finally get an old woman to open the door. She asked for some sort of local food that we did not have but we did offer a bottle of amesec. She took the bottle gladly and told us that the Water Stairs referred to the local areas where water was dispensed.

We travelled a few blocks to where the old woman told us the Water stairs were. We entered the building and went down one flight of stairs. Underneath the stairs we found a pile of junk with signs of movement underneath. We dragged out a person, whom we finally identified as Luc Cisen. After some convincing, Cisen detailed how three green hooded figures came into the bar looking for Mcand. These three wanted something from Mcand but when he was not able to produce anything, they killed him using blunt force and then turned their attention to the bar. Unable to find what they were looking for, the three left everyone for dead, except for Cisen, who was hiding under one of the booths. Cisen did say that one of the figures seemed to have a hole in his face. Similar to what happened at Viscount Hiram Sur’Seculo’s manse, the video pict recorder stopped working during the attack and resumed operation once the attack was over.

With this information, we traveled back to the Folly, where I seeked out Scrivener Anneliese Courtois again. We wanted to ask about the mirror that shows the future. She referred us to find Eupheme Tassel who is the Keeper of the Rolls. Her official title is the Sagacity. Courtois told us that Tassel could be found within the Clockwork Court. With our appointment with the Clockwork Court in the morning, we decided to leave earlier in order to seek out Tassel.

Upon arriving at the Court, we were stopped by security, where they asked us to identify ourselves. This process seemed longer than usual when we heard up ahead, the voice of Arbites Precinct Marshal Colchis Skarmen. He was screaming at some of the internal security workers. I could discern something to the effect of, “These were the honored guests of the Inquisition we are here to meet.” Then the lights go dim with the sound of explosions coming from the rooms ahead.

We all charge forward inside the Court. Arion takes a smaller door to the right and I end up taking the larger door towards the center. I enter a large antechamber where I see a few servitors and a long hallway ending with large brass doors. The servitors seem to be malfunctioning so Kensong decides to look closer. Before getting to the desk in front of the brass doors, I can hear more screaming up ahead. As I pull open the brass door, there is one guard behind the desk. He yells, what I am doing here and my quick response is, “We are the Inquisition, here doing your job!” As I step into the large circular room past the antechamber, I make eye contact with a green hooded figure. At this point, I see what looks like a grenade flying in my direction. I immediately dive for cover and was able to avoid the blast of the grenade.

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Karpath is now at to the large door with his lasgun in hand. I take a position behind the desk. The green hooded figure is now in the door way and we are able to clearly see that this person is not a person at all. This creature looks to be already dead but still possesses unusual strength and speed. Karpath unloads a semi-auto burst which seems to hit square on. Not noticeably affected by the las hit, this undead creature takes a swing at Karpath and connects. While Karpath remains standing, I can tell that I would not want to be hit by this creature’s fist.

I take aim with my longlas and take off the creature’s right arm. It’s still standing so I call to Karpath, “It’s already dead, move back!” I don’t think Karpath or anyone else could hear me through the micro-beads because all I was getting was static. I begin my tactical retreat all the while yelling at Karpath to move back. Kensong is now by my side and has his own visual of the undead creature. Karpath is then hit again by the creature but this time is knocked down and drops his lasgun.

I then see the same guard by the desk raise his weapon and starts to fire at the creature. This seemed to be just the distraction that was needed. Karpath picks himself and his weapon up and is starting to make his way back. As I am covering Karpath, I am thinking that we need more firepower.

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Meeting with the Rag Court
Sometimes a tactical retreat is necessary.

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From: Intios, Adeptus Administratum & Acolyte of the Holy Inquisition, Ordo Hereticus

After putting out the fires caused by the purple embers, we were taken by the Undertow to meet the Rag Court. There we meet Tiber, Hesul & Scorn. The Rag Court gave us permission to take a closer look at Callisto’s hab and also said that there was an incident at a local bar called the Worm’s End.

Callisto’s hab was ransacked as expected. There were a few personal items around but not many more leads. We put the items into a box and worked our way to the Worm’s End. Upon entering the bar, we discovered dead bodies all about. We identified the ones we could with their personal ID’s. We found a poor quality pict recorder that showed images that were just a couple of days old. Then there was a strange gap in the recording. After the recording resumed, we could see the bar was torn apart as it is now. Before the end of the recording, we could make out one person who had been hiding underneath a booth. He seemed to get out of the bar unhurt. We also discovered a bar tab within. We were able to discern that at least three of the people on the tab were killed at the scene. Maybe the last survivor shown on the pict recorder is one of the people on this tab.

We decided to take what clues we had back to Haarlock’s Folly. On our way back to the pier, where our boat was waiting, we ran into what seemed like some Undertow gangers. When we asked for directions, they just laughed at the idea of the Inquisition being lost. Those apparently were his last words as Arion drew his sword and cut him down immediately. A gun fight ensued as both sides traded las and solid projectile fire and a few long grenade throws.

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Arion was able to run around the building and flank the gangers from the back. It was at this moment that Barabbas tried to invoke some sort of power but instead, caused an explosion that affected everyone within a few meters. After we dispatched the initial set of gangers, we could clearly hear the sounds of battle behind us getting closer. We decided to move away from the battle but ran into another set of Undertow gangers.

This time their grenade tosses were more accurate. Barabbas and Kaunitzer took the heavy brunt of the blasts. Karpath and I decided to grab some cover while Arion again ran around the back side of the building to confront this new set of foes. When our skirmish ended, Barabbas was barely hanging to life and Kaunitzer was no longer breathing. Karpath decided to put both the bodies over his shoulders and carried them off. Arion was able to take a quick look at the battle behind us and believed it to be the Undertow versus the Enforcers just like our initial encounter in the canal.

When we reached the pier, Ardite was not in immediate view. There were some people waiting around the docks so we decided to have Ardite meet us a bit upstream. Luckily our trip back to Haarlock’s Folly was uneventful.

Upon returning to the Folly, we were formally introduced to Kensong, a member of the Cult Mechanicus that was working in the precinct. We asked him to take a closer look at the pict recorder that we found at the Worm’s End. Constantine was away from the Folly but we were able to debrief him when he returned the next day. Constantine confirmed that there was a battle between the Undertow and Enforcers in District XIII. He then told us that Kensong was found near the old Arbites precinct that had been destroyed by the Logicians. Kensong seems to have lost his memory but Constantine believes that Kensong was meant to serve a higher purpose such as the Inquisition.

With Kaunitzer dead and Barabbas in critical condition beyond our medicae skills, Kensong has now temporarily become a part of our Scisitatio cell. With our new member now in tow, we decided to follow up on further clues. We asked Constantine to set up a meeting for us to meet both the Enforcer General Khan and the Quorum. We were able to get appointments to see them tomorrow.

With some time on our hands, we did take another look at the third floor of the Folly. Arion was looking for possible mirror fragments but we did not seem to see any. Our next clue took us to Viscount Hiram Sur’Seculo’s hab within the Shadow manses. This murder scene was fairly intact. There were signs of the door being forced open and blood at the scene. Whatever evidence that may have existed was already combed over by the Arbites or possibly the Enforcers.

From the Shadow manses, we then went to the local PDF barracks. The barracks were run by PDF Provost Marshall Georga Gottay. Maybe we can find some insight into this conflict between the Enforcers and Undertow.

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Investigation in District XIII, the Celestine Wharf
Undertow hideout in a fish factory?

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From: Intios, Adeptus Administratum & Acolyte of the Holy Inquisition, Ordo Hereticus

Biologis Adept Talanis’s medical report confirmed what we discovered earlier. The unidentified body was deceased for three days and wounds were postmortem. The exam did discover small carvings on the skin that formed a small sigil. The exam could not confirm any xenos DNA within this body.

We went over our leads and decided to use public information to take a closer look at the list of victims.

  • Mam’sel Zamura Rolart. Rolart’s body was discovered torn apart in her dressing room. There is information that shows Rolart was connected with Nida Sasser and a woman named Etsuko Lobue. Lobue’s family is a minor nobel family but well positioned and the same level as Rolart. Nida Sasser may have had issues with the Seculo family due to a bad business transaction.
  • Legate Senh-Ar Dole was an offworld trader and moneylender. He disappeared and his entire family was found dismembered. His estate now seems to be in trouble.
  • Viscount Hiram Sur’Seculo murder is what triggered Arbitrator Adjutant Constantine Fihad to send the astropathic message for the Inquisition’s aid. We came upon a photo of Sur’Seculo shaking hands with Ar Dole. This photo also shows Judiciary Evandus Idrani in the background. Idrani is the head of the Quarum and planetary governor.
  • Related to these nobels, we find the name Eugenio Rolart, who seems to be the front person of the family. We also find the name, Carmelos Seculo, who is the viscount’s brother and possible next in line in the family.
  • Callisto was a Rag King that was murdered. Other known Undertow rag king/queen are Hesul and Scorn. Callisto’s body was destroyed before the murder pattern was discovered.
  • In an attempt to learn more about Haarlock’s Folly, we discovered this structure was built by Erasmus Haarlock. He disappeared after his own family was killed and exacted his revenge.

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We were told by one of the Arbitrators that the Administratum Adept in the Folly was the local historian. We were directed to sub-level two where we met Scrivener Anneliese Courtois. She was surrounded by paperwork and the distinct pattern of her candlelight was clearly of prescribed Administratum protocol. After her initial surprise to see our group in her working area but also in sub-level two at all, she greeted us openly after introductions. She was able to speak of many rumors of the Folly involving xenos artefacts. She distinctly mentioned the Statue of Thiry, which was said to bestow blessings. She also mentioned a mirror that may have been used to see the future.

We asked Constantine for an audience with the Arbites Marshal. We were able to meet the Precinct Marshal Colchis Skarmen. Skarmen’s office on the third floor was playing tricks on my auspex. Seems to be some sort of electrical jamming that I am not getting anywhere else in the Folly. Skarmen told us that he took over recently after his predecessor Precinct Marshal Denarus Broad was killed during the Empty Men incident. Skarmen did give us the name of PDF Commander Georga Gottay. He said the Arbites would be glad to setup an introduction for a possible meeting.

With our equipment checked out and Carrus Nazal released into our custody, we were ready to set off in search of Juvinal Priator. Nazal stated that he did not know Priator directly but knew that he worked out of a fish factory in Celestine Wharf within district XIII. Since we were to travel by waterway, we called on Ardite once again to pilot our skiff.

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The trip took roughly five hours when Ardite told us we were at our destination. We then set off on foot to find this factory. Nazal directed us to one of the larger intact buildings within the area. After going through the gate and into the front door, the distinct smell of rotten fish hit us immediately. Near the center of a large room, we discover three dead bodies lying near a barrel that looked like it was used for a pit fire. A few seconds later, we hear a voice saying, “You’re surrounded, what business do you have here?” We simply replied that we were looking to speak with Priator. The voice told us to drop our weapons and to step outside. My auspex confirmed that there were at least 7 life signs in the area.

We dropped our weapons and were met by 5 ganger types. Barabbas confirmed that they were probably Undertow. We were briefly searched and could see two gangers go into the warehouse with large sacks to gather up our equipment. I saw one of the gangers start to search Barabbas and then quickly stops once Barabbas whispers something to him in a low voice. It was at this moment that purple embers exploded into the air around Barabbas and everyone in the vicinity starts to catch fire.

I took some initial damage from the fire but was able to roll onto the ground and put it out. I looked up to see some of my fellow acolytes still on fire. I helped Kaunitzer put himself out and then we helped Barabbas. While all of our cell were finally extinguished and standing, some of the gangers did not fare so well. The gangers all seemed a bit stunned. Maybe even surprised that we did not run away. Hopefully the Undertow will not look at this incident with too much apprehension.

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Murder in District XIII
Scisitatio turned crime scene investigators

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From: Intios, Adeptus Administratum & Acolyte of the Holy Inquisition, Ordo Hereticus

After finally finding Barabbas and leaving the Denita Corp building, we started our way toward District I. We could see a large fire of sorts coming from the near center of Sinophia Prime. It was at this point that Arion returned to the spot of the mysterious glyph in the wall. He told us to proceed but he would have to stay at least a day to perform a personal errand. He disappeared into a high rise hab across the street from the glyph. The rest of us decided that we would hole up for the night about a block away. About the same time we found a place to rest was when Barabbas went off on his own. Maybe curiosity got the best of him and he wanted to be near Arion. I wouldn’t know for sure because I didn’t bother asking when the two of them returned the next day.

With a simple inquisitive look towards Arion, his response was, “Let’s proceed and go back towards the city center.” As we got closer to District I, I tuned my microbead to the frequency given to me by the Aribites driver that dropped us off. There was chatter about another crime scene, this time in District XIII. I was able to use the microbead to call out for Arbites assistance. We radioed in that we needed an extraction point. Within an hour or so, we were picked up on the edge of District I. The driver said that he was given instructions by Arbitrator Constantine to take us directly to a new crime scene in District XIII.

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Upon arrival, we spot an armored Arbites vehicle in front of a non-descript hab block. One of the investigators on scene tells us that there is a dead body upstairs. When we entered the room, there were a couple more Arbites officers guarding a body on the floor. We noticed forced entry on the door and a pool of blood had formed a halo around the body. We could clearly see blunt trauma blows to the head and chest and one of his limbs was torn off. There were dog tags with the name of Bal Grey on it. The contents of the room looked like there may have been a hasty search. We told the officer to prepare to take the body back to Haarlock’s Folly for further examination. We were then told that there was another body spotted in the alleyway next to this hab block.

The body in the alleyway had multiple shotgun wounds in him. There was a greenish tinge to his skin and the body seemed to have started bloating. At this moment, it was Barabbas who said he spotted someone on the roof wearing a large black brimmed rain hat and seemed to be watching us. Arion and Karpath immediately took off into the building across the street. I followed their lead and told Kaunitizer and Barabbas to stay with the bodies.

We all ran up the stairs towards the top of the building where Barabbas says he saw the black brimmed hat. Karpath was first to get to the top of the building. He spotted a large cable running across the rooftops. He decided that he would forgo equipment and traversed the cable hand over hand. When I got to the roof, I see Karpath on the opposite building already and Arion preparing his grapnel and hook. I follow his lead and pull out my harness. Arion and I make it across to the first building without incident. Karpath tells us that he spotted a closing door on another building across the one we are on.

Karpath has made it to the third building while both Arion and I had some issues traversing this second cable. Upon getting to the third building, Karpath says he is running towards the ground floor. I pull out my auspex and find life readings on the fourth floor but am unsuccessful finding readings for the third floor. I see Arion waiting for me on the second floor and tell him that there are life readings in one room and a non-human form in another. Upon discovering that the non-human life form is some sort of native four legged creature, we decide to join Karpath on the first floor.

Asking brief questions of the inhabitants in the lobby and just outside the door, it does not seem the locals are very friendly towards strangers. Not being able discover where the black brimmed hat person fled to, we decided to go back to the crime scene and take the bodies back to Haarlock’s Folly for further examination. On the way back to the Folly, we were told that an Administratum building was set on fire near Prime in a possible retaliation to Bal Grey’s death.

Bal Grey was local muscle to the undertow prior to his death and also former PDF. It took a bit more time for the bodies to arrive but we were eager to get started with an autopsy. Constantine told us to meet with Biologis Adept Lecto Talanis on the 3rd floor of the cellar. The third floor cellar was a cold and dark open space that had been transformed to their morgue and medical examination facility.

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The examination of Bal Grey seemed consistent with what we saw at the crime scene. Blunt force trauma and limbs torn off just a day ago. Examining the second body was a bit more peculiar. We discovered that the body had been dead for three days and the shotgun wounds were created post-mortem. There were splinter and bloodless scars all over his arms and something that we did not notice at the crime scene. An entry wound in his chest that was stitched back up. We removed the stitches to find that the cause of death was probably a sharp blade of some sort to his chest. But why would someone stitch him back up and put shotgun blasts into his body?

We returned to Constantine to ask if he knew of any current associates of Bal Grey. He told us just by chance, the Arbites at the request of the Enforcers had recently picked up a Carrus Nazal. Constantine told us that Nazal is known to have been connected to Grey in the past. The Enforcers wanted Nazal picked up for possible Lho stick bootlegging. We expressed our desire to question Nazal and to also have the Arbites send a skilled interrogator to aid us.

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We went to the first floor of the cellar and were directed to the cell of Carrus Nazal. An Arbite by the name of Myrn Mordi introduced himself and said that he would help conduct the interrogation. Nazal was resistant at first but Mordi’s less than deft touch had him singing in no time. The use of stimm on the detainee seemed to help as well.

Under questioning, Nazal gave us the name of Juvinal Priator. In the end, he also blamed Xiabius Khan, Enforcer General for most of the troubles between the Undertow and Quarum. At this point, Karpath reminded us of the Empty Men that Inquisitor Karkalla debriefed us about. These Empty Men were transformed by the tech heretics, the Logicians, by adding xenos DNA into humans. This made me go back to Tech Adept Talanis to run a DNA test on the second subject.

We had dropped off some of our equipment to the Arbites tech priest for repair or examination. Those of us that had equipment suffer water damage may need repairs and those of us that suffered the high explosive wanted routine maintenance. Barabbas, after tinkering with his data slate for hours, told us that he just saw the dark wide-brimmed hat figure enter the main Enforcer precinct. So either the Enforcers had something to do with the crime scene or maybe we are simply being followed. I believe it is inevitable that we will have to meet with Enforcer General Khan in the near future. Now if we can only get the DNA results and our equipment back.

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Barabbas Found At Last
Find ruddy faced juvenile & mandate his membership to dream job - CHECK

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The Acolytes learned from Louvenia, who runs the boarding house they were staying in, that the structure under the bridge was the headquarters of Dravland . It was an organization that sounded essentially to be a mercenary organization that specialized in bounty hunting.

Acolyte Arion went in the front door to determine whether this group could be retained to locate the elusive Barabbas. They reasoned that this whole area was Dravland’s neighborhood, would have connections with the various regional gangs and specialized in finding people. The discussion to hire them was going well, but when Arion provided information about this Barabbas whom they sought, things took a different turn. Members of Those Left Behind were already there & were just about to identify and take custody of this same young ganger.
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The Cell escorted Barabbas’ robed TLB escorts back to the gang’s headquarters, which they were becoming quite familiar with. However, as Acolyte Intios was taking the opportunity of the lengthy walk to question the juvenile they’d sought for so long, a sudden howling gale wind erupted around the group, driving a number to the ground. The robes of a couple of the TLB members became dislodged revealing obvious mutations, including the absence of a mouth with one. Barabbas unsuccessfully tried to slip away in the confusion and, after the minor whirlwind ended as suddenly as it began, the Acolytes considered Barabbas’ responsibility for it.

The party arrived without further incident at the TLB headquarters below the Denita Corp. building, and their headaches, nosebleeds & general discomfort in Urok’s reception chamber renewed. They convinced Those Left Behind to release Barabbas into Sciscitatio’s custody, asserting that it was important to their investigation into who had desecrated Apker Cathedral. In return they agreed to share anything they found out with Urok, ogryn leader of the gang. They set out towards District I.

First though, they located the address they’d found on the corpse of Thal Varus, who seemed to have been proselytizing with those still in District II. In searching the premises, they found pious artwork, an extensive collection of mostly religious books & a lock box – the existence of which had been suggested in the Ecclesiarchal office they’d searched previously. Inside they found various ornate pieces. During this time in the late Varus’ domicile Barabbas & Karpath got into a tussle, suggesting it might take some time for Sciscitatio to adjust to its new member.

While continuing on their way to Prime, Arion had them stop at the location of a glyph on a wall he’d taken great interest in during the Cell’s initial journey into District II. In reexamining the drawing, he discovered that it was covered in some kind of clear oily substance. He told his fellow Acolytes they were free to proceed on without him, but he needed to stay there at least for the night. The blade-wielding assassin went off looking for a high-story dwelling where he could keep a vigil over the etching. Not understanding the purpose, the rest of the Cell nonetheless searched for their own deserted domicile to wait on the conclusion of this mysterious “errand”.

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From Those Left Behind to The Path of the Setting Sun...and back again
Finding a Barabbas in a haystack

Apker_s_Square.jpgThe explosion of the night before, combined with burning bodies on the morn in Apker Square, had the attention of what local denizens remained. The Acolytes of Sciscitatio approached a small group of eyes peering around corners from one of the Square’s edges. While most scattered, B’ahb remained…his hunger exceeding his fear. However, the Inquisitorial agents had not brought any provisions with them into District II and so had none to barter with. Arion lost patience with the doomed negotiation and took a harder line. B’ahb fled into a building and the Cell gave chase. Eventually running him to ground, he confessed that he knew little of the newly arrived cult members, but a local that went by “Balasus” might. He provided directions to Balasus’ hab, pleading that they not reveal his complicity.

As described, it was an unusual free-standing large hab dwelling several blocks off Apker’s Square. Behind a shotgun through a gun-hole in his front door, Balasus was open to trading information for llo-sticks, though Acolyte Karpath only had a small fraction of the agreed amount in the bundle he tossed against the door. The local had only basic information about the relative newcomers that obviously were living in Taahammie Hall. However, he did confirm that there was one who appeared to be of a particularly young age that would match the Barabbas they were looking for.

The Cell then departed for what seemed to be the headquarters of the local gang they encountered a day earlier, Those Left Behind. Less than two hours later they had hoofed it to that notable building that split the main street, and noticed that it said “Denita Corp.” on the side. Next to the slightly rusted lettering was an icon that consisted of a collage of building tools. They were once again taken underground to Urok’s receiving chamber, returning for the duel they’d agreed to, which was partial payment for permission to traverse the gang’s territory.
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Urok had already learned of their discovery in Apker’s Cathedral and was now far more interested in who had committed this act against the local population in his territory. (The Cell’s protection payment from the day before was therefore substantially refunded.) His men had found two of the cult’s members heading to Apker’s Square and had captured one of them. The other had been quite lucky and managed to slip away from the ambush. The hulking Ogryn wanted the Cell to question the one he had in captivity.

Revivalist Jakusch was tied to a chair in a cell and it was quite obvious that his brief captivity had already not been kind. The Cell was not able to intimidate him into revealing anything more than his name, getting the impression that Jakusch felt his near-term destiny was already written. They decided against applying coercive methods to forcibly extract the information they sought.

Egressing what appeared to be a confinement floor with quite a few doors, they noticed one other door being guarded, as Jakusch’s was. They questioned the guard regarding who it was, and briefly entertained pursuing it before heading back to the reception chamber.

Urok made clear he now wanted them to find out all they could about what happened in the Cathedral and report back to him. They agreed and, upon request, were told where the ambush of the cult members had taken place earlier that day.
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After a couple of hours hike they arrived in the described location, a run down neighborhood that was clearly not that attractive even before it had been abandoned. They were surveying for tracks and any other leads when, from a vantage point, Intios spotted a group moving South. Using optics it could be seen that there were three figures bound & wearing odd headgear along with nine escorts. The Cell tracked them for quite a distance, finally watching them approach what their map told them was Sabbatine Bridge. This suspension bridge spanned a river, but there was a building structure built into the underside of one end of it – and it was this that the group disappeared into. Kaunitzer spotted what appeared to be sentries above the structure on the outside girdings of the bridge. Sciscitatio traversed the bridge’s length unmolested and continued a couple of kilometers down the road to a small settlement. They secured lodging for the night at the Louvenia bordering house.

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