Caradoc Magnus- Journals

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L. Wax 1 419.M41 (Session 1)
 Day 1, The Beginnings:

 I have decided to expand my chronicle to include my adventures in the employ of my Lord, Inquisitor Kainus, so that one day, perhaps, should I leave no other record of my passing and should I perform my duties admirably, my accomplishments in the name of the Inquisition and the glory of the God-Machine might be remembered. I said my goodbyes to the crew of the Loci Veritas Lumen, notably the quartermaster for the vessel, Gaius Flavianus. I say he is notable not in that his position was such, for there are many quartermasters amongst the Battlegroup; this man is notable in that he had possessed a fine knowledge of the workings and use of much of his wares, rivalling, dare I claim, that of many of my fellow Tech-Adepts. I was already well-versed in weaponry, but with his guidance, I honed my skills for the trials I knew I would face beginning this day. With his aid, I made myself into a tool of war, to be unleashed upon the enemies of the God-Machine and his Imperium. We bid farewell, and I was surprised by a gift, from his private collection no less!

 A finer artifact I have not laid my eyes upon; the sniper rifle was very apparently ancient, likely made in the first few series of its model. It was also encased in separate pieces within a suitcase, like one that may be used to ferry documents about. He explained that the sniper was used in scouting operations on planets not yet brought into the fold of the Imperium and was made to be easily assembled and disassembled. He even added that, with a “bit of ingenuity,” it might “perchance” be automized. I may have only spent three years with the man, but I’ll be cursed if he didn’t already know what I was thinking the moment I laid eyes on the weapon. I thanked him, gave him the strongest blessing of the Omnissiah I was capable of, and took my leave. Gaius is a good man, and such loyalty to the Imperium deserves recompense should I prove capable of repaying him one day for the lives I will end with his finest stock.

 I then, in short order, was ferried to the surface, met with my fellow acolytes, met Sergeant Ribahn (our liaison with the local enforcers), met the staff of the Discoterium Invisibilis, and accomplished our first mission. The acolytes are a mixed bunch. We have an Arbite among us, whom I expect to get along with; he doesn’t say much but is armed and I’d expect he’d know how to use his weaponry. The other two members include a senselessly naïve and energetic shrine-born sister of the Adeptus Ministorum; I don’t know what my Inquisitor is playing at, but I trust he has reasons for this choice of acolyte… at the very least, I’ll be ready when she botches some combat scenario and won’t be killed with her. The other is a psyker that shows no outward signs of being sanctioned. She seems useful enough, despite the miasma of airs she puts on in interaction with anyone and everyone. If push comes to shove, however, I stand ready and certainly capable of putting a slug through her skull. Sanctions, my ass….

 Sergeant Ribahn seems like a decent enough sort. He seems to do his duty, just as can be expected of any servant of the Imperium. Four notables were met within the Discoterium: Perron, an incompetent pencil-pusher; Cassio, Perron’s only saving grace; Primus, a fellow acolyte and what seems to be a capable warrior, trusted by Sergeant-Arbitrator Magdalla, the head of the Discoterium, who may be an issue. She demands loyalty to her, rather than to our Inquisitor. Negotiating our duties may prove difficult here.

L. Wax 2 419.M41 (Session 2)
 Day 2:

             I decided to finish my previous journal entry with my impressions of my new coworkers and fellow acolytes, while neglecting description of the mission we were issued; as the ramifications of it affected each of us days afterward, I reasoned it could wait for my next entry.

             The mission was not so much given as requested. Magdalla was quite nonchalant at our presence, certain (and perhaps slightly hopeful) that we would be killed in the line of duty soon, likely an effect of the amasec she seems to drink heavily and that her personal acolyte squad was, days prior, killed on their own mission. We requested that we finish their mission for them, to show Magdalla our willingness to work with her and to prove our worth. As memory serves, she knew this of the area: there is a Kowloon in Regio Tribus that’s suspected of harboring psykers, and we were to investigate. We left for this upon being dismissed.

             Upon approach, I counted no less than seven guards stationed outside the Kowloon. Marrienne thought it best to invade the mind of one of them to find out anything that he knew. While she did so, I made sure to be ready my weapons; I’ve seen a single facet of what the warp can do to a body, and I will be ready should she bring down such horror upon any of us. Fortunately, her attempt was without incident, and she gathered that there were about five more guards within the building, and that none knew exactly what was being done within it.

             Now, I know well from experience that a superior force can be destroyed, or at least held at bay, through judicious use of strategy, but we were denied most resources here save for the weapons we already carried. Discerning from the gang-like nature of every group in control of such Kowloons, we appealed to a nearby one, the Harlocke gang, and were given some troops in return for the Kowloon itself, once we’re finished with it. These new bullet-soaks in tow, and after setting up in the window of one of Harlocke’s own buildings, we began our attack.

             Three of them fell to my blessed sniper rifle before any knew what was happening. Three more fell by other hands by the time the inner guards managed to reinforce their position. Taking up the most of my attention was a hulking brute with a heavy stubber and blank metal mask. We traded shots as the bullet-soaks finally died off and the rest of my squad took the remainder. The damnable barbarian finally managed to aim his gun at my position and took two of my teeth, as everyone else ignored my requests for, at least, a diversionary attack. Fething idiots. Knowing it would either be him or me, I took a final shot at the bastard and plowed it through a hole in his mask, right through his eye. The Omnissiah protects his own.

             After mopping up the rest of the gangers (no one else took any discernable form of injury), we were finally able to enter the Kowloon proper; there, we found the source of wrongness we sensed on approach. Psykers. Easily 15 of them, in witch cages. This was a great haul: our Inquisitor had only just given us a mission to deliver psykers to him through Detassi, and this should earn great favor with him. We managed to calm them down and go willingly with us as we summoned Detassi, asking him to bring transport with him. While waiting for this, we met Harlocke himself. He thanked us for delivering this Kowloon to him and let us go without further bloodshed and with the psykers. A ganger with a sense of honor…. I figured he may be useful, so I later offered him my rifle in exchange for influence and favors. We’ll see where this relationship takes the both of us.

             We also found a number of shredded documents. Once we had concluded with the psykers (we sent a dozen to Kainus, and six to Magdalla; we feared she may prove suspicious if we returned empty handed). We spent much of the rest of the day working with Mallochai, a fellow Tech-Adept, though of a different acolyte cell, piecing the documents back together. One was fairly indecipherable, though the other seemed to be a requisition receipt from Zel for the purchase of the witch cages we had found on the psykers. We resolved to investigate this lead the next day.

 Praise unto the Omnissiah,

 Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 3 419.M41 (Session 2)
 Day 3:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:200%"> We set out the next morning to revisit Zel and confront him with the documentation we found in the Kowloon. However, on the way, we were suddenly confronted with massive vid screens and laud hailers. Blaring a strange and deafening message of the God-Emperor’s unassailable might, we were ourselves confronted by men on a nearby rooftop wielding weaponry. Obviously under attack, I began my retaliation immediately. I tried to do what I could with my newly-acquired autogun, but its previous owner must have mistreated it, or I was simply unaccustomed to it, for my shots seemed to always travel wide of the target by approximately half a meter. I resolved to do what I could to appease its machine spirits later, upon our return to the Discaterium. That being said, we took care of the vermin in short order, starting with the one among them preaching a sermon and finishing with the one waving a flamer in our faces. Upon investigation of their corpses, we found an insignia Ecclesiarchal in origin, though we did little with it at the time.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:200%"> Arriving at Zel’s once again, we were quickly ushered into his private chambers once more; this time, the other various chambers seemed to be labelled after the Great Virtues, while very obviously in clear violation of them. This Zel is a strange one, and perhaps should also be subject to some form of investigation. He was forthcoming with aid, however. The account number linked with the witch cages was our own. Whoever had been corralling psykers in that Kowloon was a fellow acolyte squad. Or Magdalla herself. Through various other clues, however, it became obvious that this was attributed to Lady D’s cell. We thanked Zel and rushed to Magdalla to deliver to her the news.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:200%"> Magdalla proved eager to prosecute Lady D, but I was hesitant. A single document and circumstantial evidence? I felt we needed more, so I asked her to wait while we acquired more. She agreed, and this took place no more than thirty Terran minutes ago. We will continue to follow up on our various leads, and once we have something more solid, we will prosecute. At best, we will remove a cancerous group of heretics from within the Inquisition itself. At worst, we will remove a direct threat to ourselves and our holdings. May the workings of the God-Machine’s circuitry be clear to me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%"> Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 4-5 419.M41 (Solo-Session 1,  Post-Session 2)
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:40px;"> L. Wax 4 419.M41 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%"> Day 4:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             Our acolyte cell seemed to develop an unwillingness at the latest development. Investigation ceased while they began to work on pet projects or ceased to work entirely. I knew not the reason for this, though I resolved to remain productive. I requested and was granted an audience with Magdalla, where I volunteered for extra duty. She seemed surprised, though she assigned me to a mission with Acolyte Primus and his squad. She seemed derisive of him, though told me only that I’d find out why soon enough. And I did. Upon meeting the rest of his squad, I was somewhat taken aback by all four of them: identical. It was later explained to me by Primus that they were each gene-seeded to be such, and were additionally implanted with a premade personality, maximizing their ability to work as a team and achieve results according to some formula derived by their Inquisitor, Mesmeron. Fascinating.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             The ride to the slums was nearly uneventful; we were charged with the killing of a minor recidivist that had taken refuge in the area, and I was to provide fire support. Primus and his squad seemed strangely impervious to common sense, despite the protests by me and by one of their own. Primus was intent on being sufficient unto himself and squad that they needed no further help, despite my own presence, and that the locals, likely hostile of this recidivist, would be completely unnecessary, despite logic dictating that extra bullet-soaks are always useful.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             Our first assault was summarily rebuffed. We inflicted a single casualty on the recidivist’s forces while nearly losing Tribus. It was useful in one fashion, however; we found out that the man we were sent to kill has been reanimating the dead. We were swarmed and were pushed back, and we retreating to the Discaterium. Different tactics were, obviously, required.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%"> L. Wax 5 419.M41 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%"> Day 5:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             Primus’ squad had healed, and we were again on the mission. This time, however, we ventured first to the local slum-dwellers, rather than the target’s compound. There, we found that the dead we fought were the men and women of a sister tribe (the savages are organized into tribes….) and that revenge is forefront on their thoughts. We renewed our assault, our autocarriage crafted by me into a battering ram, and squads of tribesmen to absorb punishment. The fighting was brutal, and no less so once the dead once again rose to attack their past brethren. I fought this from the top of the autocarriage, beyond average weapon range, and dealt heavy damage to these scum. Lending my grenade launcher to Tribus proved to be a smart move, for it made short work of many of the reanimated fleshlings.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:200%"> Despite the knowledge that a new Tribus will soon replace him, identical in temperament and appearance, his sacrifice will not be forgotten; he went down in a glorious blaze of the Emperor’s wrath, bringing many lost souls with him into oblivion. Fighting to the bitter end is the most that can be asked of a servant of the Imperium such as he.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:200%"> His forces nearly destroyed, our target showed himself briefly. Wielding a holy bolt pistol in one hand, his other was taken with a massive, sickening bionic arm. It, in stark contrast with his bolt pistol, seemed unholy in nature, though I have not invested time into it just yet. He dealt Tribus a near-fatal wound with the pistol before being enveloped in a hail of fragmentation shrapnel, courtesy of the two grenade launchers spread amongst Primus’ squad. My sniper rifle ended his miserable life.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:200%"> Our victory was short-lived. His death seemed to unleash some form of psychic energy… the only way I can describe it would be as if there was something very wrong in our immediate area, with the reanimated flesh, the terrorists, the crematorium itself, and that it was righted with my rifle round. This, however, disgorged a flesh-mechanical behemoth from underneath our feet. A massive servitor loomed over us, an unholy amalgamation of many humans and machine parts. The walking dead: I haven’t determined their fashion of reanimation, so they may lie solely in the realm of heresy, puppets of an insane psyker’s will and creativity. This beast, however, was clearly a misuse of holy technology itself. This was tech-heresy. The occasional Magos is executed for such flaunting of ability. I fear the fight would have gone much worse than it did, were it not for its own faulty construction; before it could fire a single round from its triple-linked heavy stubber built into its own arm, the weapon fortunately jammed. I think that the Machine God itself rejected its creation and caused such a malfunction. We decimated the beast with what weapons we had, and it fell before it could land a single hit with the massive power glove built into its other hand. The firefight was over, and we emerged nearly unscathed, save Tribus.

L. Wax 6 419.M41 (Session 3)
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%"> Day: 6

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%"> It has occurred to me that this is not entirely a productive use of my time, and can be completed more efficiently.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             As expected, Inquisitor Kainus was appreciative of the dozen psykers we had sent to him. He fixed us with a large, monetary bonus and with a regular salary for our personal use. I used the bonus to acquire for my sniper rifle a suspensor, all the better to rain down judgment upon the Enemy with.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             We traced the Ecclesiarchal symbol from the ambush to a facility along the inner wall between Regio Secundus and Tribus. Well, that’s an overstatement; we received an SoS from within the facility, through Inquisitorial channels, and tagged with the symbol in question. Upon investigation, we encountered the Cult of the Ashen Rebirth, a splinter group of the Cult of St. Ezra. Strangely enough, we were welcomed inside as great heroes, where we were introduced to Silvanto, the Magus of the group. A blind man, and apparently given to fits of “vision,” he had somehow managed to carve plaster replicas of each of my fellow acolytes, myself somewhat included (he failed to capture my face, for reasons unbeknownst to me). He claimed that we are each sent here, to the crematorium, to spark a flame that would grow to engulf the Imperium. I largely disregarded him at this point; the man was obviously an insane egomaniac. The SoS originated with a mechanically-aided man locked in a cage in Silvanto’s room, who seemed quite eager to accompany us. We left with him, thankfully nonviolently, and were on our way back to the Discaterium when the man, named Karon, let out that he was the source of the psykers trap in the Kowloon and the encrypted documents therein. Despite his assurances to the contrary and my fellow acolyte’s reasoning, it seemed obvious to me that he betrayed his former acolyte cell and had them murdered, Magdalla’s old cell.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             Once within the Discaterium, I threw him through Magdalla’s door, confident that we had unwittingly rescued a traitor. Magdalla was accompanied in her room by a small child and a woman of the Ordo Famulos, and we were quickly ordered out. I, apparently, must keep reign of such self-assured confidence in the future. And Magdalla may be up to more than she lets on.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 200%">             While waiting in the hallway, we were approached by Lady D’s cell, including Mallochai. Acolytes of Inquisitor Tyreus, who apparently has it out for our own Inquisitor. They demanded that we hand over Karon, as he’s a suspect in one of their investigations. We refused, on the grounds that he’s vital to one of our own (they were to simply murder him, and he was to provide our final round of evidence to convict Lady D and the rest). Lady D is, apparently, a pompous bitch. And pompous bitches like her don’t get along well with their own kind. This instigated what can only be described as a bitch fight between her and Marienne, the two of whom came to blows (I likely should have tried to intervene, but at that point, I simply wanted to unsling my sniper and make sure I hadn’t damaged my bolt pistol when I jammed it in Karon’s face) before Magdalla herself intervened, sending Lady D away and ushering us in. Karon accounted his tale, conveniently filling in plot holes where I had previously accused him of treachery. I still don’t trust the rodent, but I won’t kill him in Magdalla’s face, at least. And he’s providing extra evidence for our court case, so he’s at least useful for now.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> The Omnissiah will know His Own.

L. Wax 7-10 419.M41 (Session 3.5)
Day 7(?):

Karon has been retrieved; he has promised us additional information regarding the slaughter of Magdalla’s personal acolyte cell by Inquisitor Tyreus’ forces: the acolyte cell under direct command of Lady D. This has furthered our current plan into its endgame: the indictment of said acolyte cell of the heresy of directly working against the forces of the Holy Inquisition. Sessilie has been set to the organization and presentation of the evidence for our case against the renegade cell. It has also been suggested that we gather video evidence that we had not earlier considered; what’s now Harlocke’s kowloon likely has video recordings of the ambush, and Magdalla herself had a pict recorder stationed outside her room when Lady D specifically requested Karon so that she might kill him. I’ve been set to recover the Harlocke recordings.

Day 8:

I’ve gathered the Harlocke recordings and have been set to aiding Sessilie in the logical construction of our case. It proved a challenging task, yet I believe it was accomplished to a satisfactory extent.

Day 9:

The portion of the case consisting of a more emotional appeal had begun. Being somewhat less suited to this task than others, I retired to my room, time I spent further maintaining my weaponry and crafting another mask of mine; I find I enjoy the process and the result. Its name shall be “Fear.”

Day 10:

Today was the day of the trial, and I fear we have made a mistake. It began well enough; it was apparent that the other cell had no defense against our arguments. The only defense they could have conjured would have been to prove the corruption of Magdalla’s own cell, and they lacked proof. Idiots. They should have had it before they began shooting. They were sure to be judged guilty by the evidence we had arrayed against them. They nearly were, until, in their desperation, they summoned their Inquisitor via astropath. He then, ignoring all evidence, demanded the release of his acolytes, or his full wrath would fall upon the Discaterium as a whole. Now, desperate ourselves, we had our own Inquisitor summoned. Apparently, the two of them are great enemies.

I wish I could say that they nearly came to blows, however that’s exactly what they did. There was a fist fight between two Inquisitors of the Holy Ordos in an Inquisitorial court room through the flesh-puppets of a pair of wiry astropaths. It might have been laughable, if the both of them didn’t have the power to burn worlds at their fingertips. As such, if one were taken to flowery, overused phrases, Tyrias’ rage could very well be described as “terrible to behold…” if it weren’t for the astropath he raged through, at least. He, however, did declare his wrath upon the Discaterium and Inquisitor Kainus especially, and the two Inquisitors departed. Magdalla proclaimed Lady D’s cell as guilty and had the lot of them shipped to prison. We had just drawn the eye of a rather vengeful Inquisitor, and declared ourselves his enemy. I’m fully aware that, as members of the Inquisition, we’re going to make enemies; I simply would have preferred that we did not do so with such haste and with such an apparently prickly fellow member of the Inquisition.

We are All Born Weak under the Omnissiah’s Gaze.

Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 11 419.M41 (Session 4)
Day 11

Today, we were ordered into one of the Crematorium facilities this entire district was constructed to contain. The mission was screwed to begin with, and it only got worse. Our orders were to locate the Archbishop of the Cult of St. Ezra and retrieve him alive from within Crematoria Three, where he and a few select followers had taken shelter after driving the Crematoria workers out.

After we gained entry to the facility, we were doused in promethium vapor and nearly lit on fire as part of a “decontamination” program. Fething flame-cultists. After this warm welcome, we were greeted by the site of a hulking brute with a heavy stubber gunning down a number of fleeing people. We slew the brute quickly, but then Marienne began talking strangely. It appeared that the brute was controlled by the disembodied human consciousness of the Archbishop, and with his new host-body destroyed, it latched onto the nearest, most open-minded person in the vicinity: the psyker. The mission only worsened from there.

Our next obstacle was a turret equipped with two twin-linked heavy flamers. Our three grenades proved insufficient, and I had to risk life and limb to kill the last servitor manning it. Once this business was concluded, I managed to botch the shutdown of the lower security forces: the entire point to facing the turret to begin with.

We then travelled into the depths of the Crematoria, Marienne and the Archbishop both conversing with the same voice the entire way. That is, until two blasted arco-flagellants attacked and one put out Sessilie’s eye. She always seemed foolish, but I presumed she’d have more common sense than to stand within an arm’s reach of a mechanized, drugged-up lobotomized combat servitor while it was swinging a chainaxe as large as she is. Guess not.

We put the sinners out of their misery, patched Sessilie up as best we could, and proceeded to the Archbishop’s chamber. I guess the flagellants got to me more than I thought they did; the whole walk down, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I don’t know why; they simply began to unnerve me more than two corpses should. We found the Archbishop integrated into the Crematoria more than I’ve ever seen a living human integrated into any machine. We attempted to disentangle him from it, but failed, and cost him his life in the process. Pity.

To Break With Ritual is to Break With Fate

Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 14 419.M41 (Solo-Session 2, Post-Session 4)
Day 14:

My augury array had been installed and I was allowed out of the medicae facility. I believe that this cybernetic augmentation was a very wise choice on my part; I have already disabled three bugs placed within my room made egregiously visible with the array’s abilities, and I look forward to testing it in the field, where its sensory capabilities may make the difference between life and death, success and failure, in many a situation. However, to my disappointment, it seemed almost that the staff of the Discaterium was avoiding me. Primus needed no fire support for any of his current tasks. Magdalla didn’t think my abilities could be utilized well for any pending assignments of hers. There are no other active groups within the Discaterium for me to go to for extra assignments… come to think of it; this is a large facility, why are there so few people? Perhaps what few there are are unsure of the efficacy of my augury array; that may be why they were unwilling to ask for or request additional aid. At any rate, I decided that I would search for my own mission with which to further test my new cybernetics and make my time productive.

I traveled to the Harlocke’s territory once more, and found that they did require my aid. They were set to wipe out a kowloon of mutants, except the mutants had prepared a killzone for a hundred meters surrounding their facility; my skill with the sniper rifle would come much in handy to wipe them out. I felt ill at ease with this assignment; I would avoid wanton slaughter if I could avoid it, though this garners extra influence with the growing power that is Harlocke’s gang, and further influence for me is further influence for my Inquisitor. On this basis, I accepted, and made my way to the kowloon in question with several of Harlocke’s elite troops in tow.

The fight was arduous, but concluded with some difficulty. Harlocke’s greener troops were slain, but with them were two mutant psykers, a fellow sharpshooter, and a plethora of miscellaneous ragtag mutant gunmen. A shame that the psykers had to die, but I could come up with no plan to incapacitate them and drag them to Detassi without alarming Harlocke’s fighters unduly. The slaughter began in earnest once we breached the facility; men, women, and children, mutants all alike, were killed. I watched impassively, but I watched; I would know the faces doomed to death by my interference. Eventually, we came to an area of powerful psychic energy; we had located a psyker not actively attacking us all. I convinced him to come with me, as I could send this one to Detassi, and I was promised two slaves from the kowloon as reward by Harlocke. We concluded our bloody business in the kowloon, and returned to Harlocke’s encampment.

Harlocke allowed me to leave with the psyker, and, to my surprise, named me a knight of his court. Strange fellow, putting on such ridiculous airs as a king or lord might. Marienne may enjoy his company, come to think of it.

The Truest Power is Knowledge, and So the Omnissiah.

Caradoc Magnus

==  L. Wax 25 419.M41 (Session 5)  == Day : 25

Today, we had our first brush with the real powers of the warp. It was nothing like my encounter with the chaos spawn. We were also introduced to the sorts of illicit activities Magdalla has been up to. I shall begin with these acts.

We were ordered by Magdalla to accompany Inquisitor Vownus’ newly arrived acolyte cell to the local Ordo Famulous. Inquisitor Vownus is a member of the Polypsykana, just as Inquisitor Kainus is, and is considered by Kainus to be a friend as well, so we were happy to acquiesce. Along the way, we discussed each other and our preferences and styles. There is Gerd Valerious, a psykers of some form and who has been blessed with a particularly strong constitution; he is a psykers and so he can be a threat, though judgment is largely still reserved. There is Alaric, a fellow sharpshooter and the man who was supposed to occupy my place in Kainus’ cell, and I his in Vownus’; he seems an ignoramus and hedonist, though I think it unwise to question his skill with his weapon just yet. There is “Lady” Rhea Mychondria, another noblewoman-psyker (of course the Omnissiah feels the need to inflict another upon me); despite a drug-addled air about the woman, she seems to have much in common with Marienne. Finally, there is Leon of Mychondria; she moves with a litheness and grace that indicates quite clearly her deadly ability. She claims to be a duelist and wields what appears to be a modified power sword and, moreover, is the “psychic guardian” of Rhea Mychondria. This suggests that to make an enemy of the psykers is to make an enemy of the swordswoman; perhaps both should be kept at a distance, one more literally than another.

While at the Ordo Famulous facility, Vownus’ cell lead us into what appeared to be a research facility hidden within it. Therein, we found that we were allowed in thanks to Inquisitor Kainus’ signature being on the documentation allowing such a facility to be constructed, and what a facility it was! Psykers: being vat-grown, by order of Magdalla, allowed by Kainus and somehow aided by Vownus. Not skipping a beat, we suggested that we had been sent by Kainus to inspect the progress being made; Magdalla had these psykers grown from her own gene and made into exceptionally powerful pyromancers. I cannot imagine that Inquisitor Kainus would have placed us in this area without alerting us to the projects he has here, if only so that we may avoid conflict with them. The entire situation seemed illogical to me, and my only conclusion was to assume that this was done in his name without his knowledge; I had copies of the research notes made to me so that I could hand them off to Inquisitor Kainus. This might be tech-heresy of the worst sort, but this seems like something he would want to have at his disposal and like something better left in his hands, especially if the alternative is a, comparatively, lowly Sergeant-Arbitrator. We left before our subterfuge could be discovered.

Then came the warp itself. We were ordered to some silly memorial wall, for it had been displaying characteristics of the thinning of reality. Demons, or demonic entities, were reported terrorizing the population. We arrived to find the local populace exterminated, the entities destroyed, and Interrogator Callidon. We managed to get some information out of her regarding what was happening; the wall, distorting with agonized faces of psychic energy, was birthing monstrosities of plaster. She killed those that had formed, burst the ones that had yet to completely form, and destroyed the local populace to get at whoever instigated this.

We searched the surrounding area and found what we thought at first to be an entity that had escaped Callidon’s wrath. After experiencing phenomena that defy reality, we came face to face with a daemonhost, claiming to be a daemon prince. It offered each of us a favor in return for “freeing” it. Marienne immediately fell to her knees, asking to become its bride. Charon feinted. The rest of us opened fire. We had succeeded in damaging it to some extent, but then it flew ‘through’ the ceiling after declaring that its favor would be that it wouldn’t kill us “this time.” Marienne seemed to recover from a daze, protesting that her mind had been clouded the entire encounter, though she acquired one of the daemonhost’s feathers before we left. Whether or not I believe that what she had done was due to a loss of control on her part, it’s still a loss of control that could lead to the death of all of us. This is why I don’t like psykers.

We then left, cheered on by a parade of the dead, appearing to our allies to walk on thin air up a broken staircase. Charon began discussing the downfall of Magdalla.

If there’s anything I dislike more than making enemies, it’s making enemies that I didn’t manage to kill when I had the chance. I must learn of these fel creatures, to better destroy them as they are encountered.

The warp itself shall tremble in the wake of the Omnissiah’s Wrath.

Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 27 419.M41 (Solo-Session 3, Post-Session 6)
Day 27:

It’s been another period of prolonged and generalized inactivity once more. I had decided to request additional assignments from Magdalla once again. She assigned me to investigate the local Technomat’s guild, an organization dedicated to the maintenance of the massive antennae sticking from the side of the crematorium. I was to be on the hunt for a man named Agrippa Bale, a relatively minor recidivist thought to be the planning behind several seditionist plots, namely the hijacking of communication equipment and the spreading of anti-Imperium messages. I accepted the assignment, thinking it another near-routine search-and-destroy/apprehension mission. I was mistaken.

It began ordinarily enough. I donned my finest of Adeptus Mechanicus attire, as the Technomat’s guild is an extension of the Mechanicus. Once there, I began my questioning for the man; all signs pointed to a worker there named “Pavo,” though I thought to investigate the coincidentally malfunctioning defense array in the facility first. The adepts working on it tried to describe exactly how it was malfunctioning, and the words they used reminded me, frankly, of the warp. The conflicting nature of the malfunction, riddled with oxymoronic statements, spoke to me of the reality-breaking characteristic of the warp itself. This was soon somewhat reinforced by the fact that the moment one of the adepts tried, with much effort, to describe the nature of the malfunction, a demonic entity ripped itself out from his chest. I began firing immediately, though I was not able to kill the beast before it tore the administrator of the Technomats apart.

My investigation now taking a much more serious turn, I had as much information regarding this “Pavo” brought to me as I could and demanded two Skitarii as escorts for the rest of the “inspection” I was performing. Turning to the antennae first, I sensed a very psychic disturbance from within it upon approach. Reluctant to use the outer terminal (if it were somehow infected with a psychic entity, I did not wish to confront it upon the battleground of my mind), I had the Skitarri open the door. We charged in, only to fall under fire of a defensive turret launching, of all things, the filthiest, most despicable weaponry that the Adeptus Mechanicus, for reason and logic unbeknownst to me, hasn’t declared anathema: haywire grenades. They immediately disabled the Skitarii, though I, knowledgeable in their function, managed to evade the roving fields of haywire energy. I quickly destroyed the turret by exploding the promethium tanks on its back, and progressed onward, only to be stopped very shortly thereafter by a telekine. It threw the shredded remnants of the turret after me, but I managed to drop the filth with only two rounds from my blessed rifle. Continuing after the other recidivists, now hereteks, I found Agrippa himself plugged directly into the antenna. Before I could kill him myself, he proclaimed victory, unplugged, called forth a burst of warp-flame, and threw himself off the antennae into the rest of Hive Sibellus miles down.

I then rushed to the interface port, plugged myself in, and by the Omnissiah’s favor, managed to halt the overload sequence Agrippa began that would have ripped the Technomat’s guild and a sizeable portion of Regio Tribus from the rest of the Crematorium. In the process, however, I found that there was another plot happening concurrently! The other “Pavo” twin was attempting to blow the fan from the celing of the Crematorium! I made my way to the Skitarii as quickly as I could, relayed the situation to them, and it became apparent that I was personally needed to put a stop to this treachery. I was given a grapnel and line, and I made my way to the surface of the top of the Crematorium with one of the Skitarii; I sent the other to warn the noble houses. Upon arrival, with the whole of the Hive laid before our view, I saw Pavo. He was typing into a dataslate, wires streaming from its innards, grasping at a number of krak charges laid around the pinnacle of the structure. Putting my faith in the machinery of the Omnissiah, I structured my shot, and took it. There was no detonation that day.

They Have Broken With Ritual, and So Were Broken

Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 28 419.M41 (Solo-Session 4, Post-Session 5)
Day 28:

Today was to be a routine day: perform routine maintenance on my weaponry, armor, and cybernetics, practice with the sniper rifle in the firing range (as much as that can be considered practice with a weapon as accurate and reliable as that sniper), and otherwise exist in as droll a fashion as can be within the Discaterium. That all changed when the bodyguard knocked on my door, asking for aid in installing a cybernetic implant; he wanted cranial armor, so we ventured to the medicae facility and I supplemented his bone and tissue with subskin armor plating. The operation went smoothly and we had opportunity to discuss his upbringing; he was bred on Lathes Primaris where he was to serve in a unit specifically devoted to bodyguard detail. Eventually, he became good enough that he was handpicked by Inquisitor Kainus for our acolyte cell. Interesting as that is, it became more interesting when I inquired as to the wondrous forms of weaponry he must have seen on a Lathe world; he replied only that he once fought some tech-thieves that were harnessing the power of psyker brains for handheld weaponry. Apparently, the enemies of the Imperium are just as ingenious and far less restrained as those among the Imperium are.

He then asked me to accompany him on a mission he was personally assigned to by Magdalla. Apparently, he saved the life of a bishop of the Cult of St. Ezra, who is now asking for his regular services. Sensing another opportunity to win influence over the local populace, I accepted. We drove in our autocarriage to the Cathedral of St. Ezra, where we quickly met with the bishop and were promptly accosted by the bishop’s “bodyguards.” The fools were in the employ of the other bishop (the two bishops have been jockeying for power of the cult since our “mishap” with the Archbishop) and threatened to detonate the room if we were hired by Xanthos (the bishop we had journeyed to the cathedral to meet with). This is why Saints and split doctrines are so foolhardy! While there are many that disagree with others within the Cult Mechanicus, I one of them, we wouldn’t go so far as to declare war on them! Fortunately, I was able to use their misplaced faith against them. Clouding their purpose and distorting their minds with the pure illogic of what they were attempting to accomplish (weak minds are so easily swayed), I managed to talk myself close enough to them to grab the trigger from their leader. They opened fire and we returned it. We were forced to flee after their reinforcements arrived, but the three that first accosted us paid for our retreat with their lives.

The foes of the Omnissiah lack not for Intellect or Knowledge, but they do in Understanding.

Caradoc Magnus

L. Wax 29 419.M41 (Session 6)
Day 29:

Today, we deposed Magdalla. It actually surprised me, how quickly we decided upon it, planned it, and executed the plan. Shortly after Charon brought it up after the encounter with the daemonhost, we decided to find a private area with him in which we could decide upon a course of action. Many ideas were considered, the simplest being to kill her or have Harlocke kill her. Eventually, we decided that that was an unsavory path to take (questions would be asked, especially if my gun drilled a bullet through her skull). We argued various methods of forcing her into resignation or knocking her out and sending her offworld. We decided upon the former. Charon became useful here by suggesting the one time she’s disarmed and unarmored: during the relaxing evenings she and Charon have by the Arvus-lighter during days when the fan has ceased to function, days like the last few.

We acquired the documents necessary and I “fixed” the helipad pict cameras to shut down between 11:05 and 11:20, plenty of time to accomplish whatever deeds need be done. We made our way up the elevator at 11:06, and began our discussion with Magdalla. As was to be expected, she was angry and hurt; she was betrayed not only by her new “loyal” cell, but also by the only remaining member of her old one. We explained our reasoning as best we could to her, and she eventually acquiesced to signing the papers we had prepared for her: the firing of Cassio, the transference of her illicit psyker-growing facility to Inquisitor Kainus, and her own resignation. She was most unwilling to sign the last one, but she did when faced with the fact that, should she not, Marienne would simply make her do it and then walk off the platform; the cameras would record none of it. We had defeated the only enemy we chose to make for our Inquisitor’s favor and the growth of our own and Inquisitor’s influence.

We allowed her time to gather her things and leave. I’m unsure of the wisdom of this, but I felt that we owed her that much.

Intellect and Understanding do not Comprehension Make.

Caradoc Magnus

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Caradoc Magnus

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