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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

When the firefight at the barge was over, both Karpath and Kaunitzer were down. I rushed to where our skiff had docked. The skiff had taken multiple hits from shotgun and heavy weapon’s fire. Kaunitzer’s motionless body was barely afloat with his arm caught on the remaining floating portion of the battered skiff. My eyes then immediately caught sight of the hover cart floating on its side in the canal about 7-8 meters from the edge.

Was it Kaunitzer’s voice in my head that told me to pull him out of the water? I quickly dismissed that voice as I pulled out my grapnel and hook to try to retrieve the hover cart. I couldn’t get it to hook on. As I stared at the cart, I wondered if I should use the gantry crane to pull it out of the water or should I just drop my backpack and dive into the canal. A few moments later, I see Arion with the help of one of the local dock workers driving the small gunboat towards me. As Arion gets near, it is obvious that his micro-bead is not working so I start to frantically point at the hover cart so that he picks it up first.

With the hover cart taken care of, we put both Karpath and Kaunitzer’s bodies onto the gunboat. We make it to Haarlock’s Folly by waterway. Upon arriving at the tower that is Haarlock’s Folly, we finally meet Adjutant Fihad Constantine. We told him that our cell is in need of immediate medical attention. Constantine directed one of the Arbites officers to drive us to the Commercia district, where the best med-lab was. We also ask where we may be able to get resupplied. We are told that the Turning Hand, at the edge of the Commercia district would be best.

My wounds seem to heal much faster this time around. Now with some quiet time on my hands, I reflect upon being in Sinophia. I know that Sinophia was once a world of pivotal destiny and economic power, but now is little more than a forlorn and forgotten relic of the past. This frontier world is situated on the furthest reaches of the Ixaniad Sector. My family, prior to the Inquisition, would have nothing to do with it, for fear of tarnishing its reputation.

Now that I’m on my feet, Arion seems eager to salvage what equipment he lost in the canal battle. I am also eager to see if we can find anything that was originally on the hover cart. We needed to get underwater gear so we had an Arbites driver take us to the Turning Hand. While in transit on the Fortune’s Path, I was able to do some research on Sinophia and its capital Sinophia Magna.

The Turning Hand is equivalent to an ancient meeting house – a very fancy one that has seen better days. It’s the oldest meeting house on Sinophia, said to have existed for more than a millennia and has succumbed by inches to the Sinophian malaise. During the centuries of prosperity, merchants, traders, information gleaners and other fortune-seekers would meet in the Turning Hand’s golden halls to exchange information, eat, drink and mingle in the incense-fogged atmosphere. People still come to trade and deal in whispers, but the bustle of the place is long gone. The alcove tables are not filled & one does not need to make reservations for private dining. The Hand has now become the ill-lit haunt of what few off-worlders come to Sinophia. Here, one is likely to find agents of foreign cartels, far travelers and silent strangers sipping spiced amasec and muttering discussions amid the empty spaces and echoing salons. The Hand’s great central chamber, is a richly decorated (but long-faded) domed room dominated by seven great pillars, each ten times the height of a man and glittering with tarnished golden fume pipes pumping incense into the air. Meanwhile, faces of cards from the Emperor’s Tarot – enameled on brass sheets – rotate on chains dangling from the painted ceiling. Designed to hold hundreds, the chamber seems now oppressively silent and ill-lit, it’s high stained-glass windows shrouded in grime and rainwater. A circular bar fills the center of the crimson carpeted floor and decrepit-looking servitors see to patrons’ needs under the watchful eye of the plump elderly owner.

We approach one of the alcoves and discover a trader by the name of Mateo Pinto. We ask for underwater gear and he said that he should be able to get one within a day. As we exit the Turning Hand, I realize that it has not stopped raining since we landed on Sinophia. A day later, while the others are still healing, Arion and I return to pick up what Mateo Pinto refers to as a survival suit. On our way out, Mateo says to stop by anytime. With a simple wink, I tell him that we will surely see him soon.

Back at the canal where our firefight took place, Arion donned the survival suit and jumped into the murky water. He was able find his pack and some of the items on the hover cart. Unfortunately, most of the electronic equipment was not operational and any clothing was unusable. We waited for the rest of the cell to recuperate before making another stop at the Turning Hand.

I warmly greeted Pinto by saying, “Master Mateo, I know that you are the one that can help me and my associates resupply. Here is a long list of what we are looking for.” Pinto seemed eager to trade. Sciscitatio was able to get a majority of the items we were looking for. I thanked him for his help and he said, “It looks like I will need to resupply before we meet again.”

Before leaving, Karpath asked Mateo if the image or phrase “a pack of Lho sticks with 13 doketh” meant anything. Mateo said that it sounded familiar but being an off worlder, he wasn’t sure. It seems the search for our new Inquisitorial acolyte has begun in earnest.