The Inquisition chooses. Who guides, who follows; who lives, who learns, who dies. Who will leave their world behind to bleed and suffer in distant lands, only to return and burn it to ashes.
Very few wish to be chosen. Very few are given a choice.
These five certainly weren't.
Two have worked for their master for many years-- one since adolescence, one as long as he can remember and probably much longer than that. Three have been selected to replace three before them, unlucky souls lost two months ago in the acid-choked substrata of Hive Ossat. A setback, yes, but Inquisitor Ran Il-Rayyah, ever-pragmatic, counts the mission a success.
There is, after all, no shortage of replacements.
And so two have waited, career killers idling away the days with practice and paperwork and slow recovery from burned lungs, while three were located, contacted, and informed in no uncertain terms that their lives were no longer their own.
The ships took them away.
Now they and their new partners stand in an upper spire of the sector capital, a city a continent wide, home to thirty billion individuals who hardly matter and, at the moment, perhaps eight who do. Ran Il-Rayyah is one of them. These five are not.
Yet.
They were brought here by a wheeled servitor, mindless reminder of one possible price for failure, and told to wait: their master would arrive shortly.
The Inquisitorial spire is circular, windowless, baroque in styling, almost blindingly bright: Ossat is a dark world, and such powerful lights are an affectation few are granted. Power is for the forges, not for comfort. The lights are set in alcoves near the ceiling, directed at mirrors which bounce the beams from wall to wall, illuminating columns of dust flecks and elaborate panels etched with images of local saints: El-Aan, Unir, Marea. All are yellow-robed, barefoot, skull-faced, empty sockets blank and staring.
In the center of the room is a wooden table, low and plain. An arcane device marked with blinking green lights hangs from the ceiling directly over it, humming faintly and emitting occasional gouts of steam. The air is heavy and thick with rust and cinnamon incense.
None of the five, save the original two, have met before this moment.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Dramatis Personae
In which you explain a bit about who you are, so other people know.
Chris: Xilius Cambers
Nadine: Tzarine, inhabitant of a fairly small, "cursed" feral world which only came to be ruled by a Planetary Governer when she was 12. After it was discovered that the planet was considered "cursed" because of a multitude of precious ore buried beneath ground, the Planetary Governor contracted a multitude of off-world miners to extract it, as the on-world inhabitants would die before touching the substance, which had radioactive properties that had already led to the majority of the population being deformed. Both of Tzarine's parents were eliminated as mutants, and eventually poverty and hunger pressed her into being recruited into an experimental subset of the Imperial Guard by the Governer, which was created (secretly) by him after it was realized that certain mutations in this planet's population would be useful for hunting heretics. She is tattoo'd in her tribe's fashion, muscular, and hideously strong for her slight build, which is common amongst the cursed feral world. She has a hairy growth on the left-front area of her skull which twitches much like an ear, though not in response to sound. She excels at close-combat fighting and las weaponry, though has little real-world battle experience. Though she tolerated her initial off-world warp, technology and psychic things are appalling to her, as is the color orange.
Nathan: Arbitrator Solomon Ravion IV, the stocky red-haired successor to an ancient military dynasty that built its fortune upon the valiant (and often violently separated or exploded) shoulders of its own martyred dead. A legacy lately including 12 incumbent members, including two high admirals, and an unimportant number of servants. Solomon, having already earned himself the title of "official embarrassment" at the tender age of 15, was saved from the firing squad only through the Emperor's mercy and, miraculously, granted an official pardon (read: service to the Inquisition until either demons ate his soul or the vengeful remnants of his very powerful and well-connected family treated him to a second round of justice). He then proceeded to spend the next ten years in rehabilitation and emerged as a vicious killer. With a badge.
Hagen: Assassin Asmodai VI, sixth or so in a long line of Asmodais who were all, he figures, him. He's been mind-cleansed so many times he's rather losing count. Big, old, grizzled, and grey, he's instant death with a gun and believes himself to be invincible (and if he isn't, hey, he'll just come back as Asmodai VII). Despite the fact that he doesn't know where he's from or how long he's been working for the Inquisition or even what he did to merit his current state, he's more than willing to tell anyone who asks-- and if what he says one day doesn't line up with the next, tough. He hates idiots, is pretty sure he's fought aliens, and, oddly, makes a darn good doctor. He's also missing an eye and can hide small objects in his chest cavity. Oh, and he's invincible.
Paige: Tech-Priest Zeta an-Vosenstaller Seven, of the august agricultural station Vosenstaller Seven. She's tall, thin, greyish, heavily scarred and tattooed in a mostly unsuccessful attempt to disguise the stitching, though it doesn't really matter as most of her is hidden beneath that ubiquitous red Cult Mechanicus robe. Known in local circles as the Wandering Disaster, she was captured by Heretek genetics cults twice in a row on two separate worlds less than five years apart and consequentially is a little less than half metal by weight (the finger bones on her belt are hers, and so is the canned eyeball). Unlucky? No! Far from it. The opportunity to remove her own leg with a hacksaw was a most generous gift from the Machine God, obviously, and who is she to spurn Its blessings? Which may be why she works for the Inquisition now, aside from knowing a few things she really ought not to and being desperate to get away from the farm. Er, farm-station. It's also possible the farm just really wanted to get away from her and arranged the whole thing.
Chris: Xilius Cambers
Nadine: Tzarine, inhabitant of a fairly small, "cursed" feral world which only came to be ruled by a Planetary Governer when she was 12. After it was discovered that the planet was considered "cursed" because of a multitude of precious ore buried beneath ground, the Planetary Governor contracted a multitude of off-world miners to extract it, as the on-world inhabitants would die before touching the substance, which had radioactive properties that had already led to the majority of the population being deformed. Both of Tzarine's parents were eliminated as mutants, and eventually poverty and hunger pressed her into being recruited into an experimental subset of the Imperial Guard by the Governer, which was created (secretly) by him after it was realized that certain mutations in this planet's population would be useful for hunting heretics. She is tattoo'd in her tribe's fashion, muscular, and hideously strong for her slight build, which is common amongst the cursed feral world. She has a hairy growth on the left-front area of her skull which twitches much like an ear, though not in response to sound. She excels at close-combat fighting and las weaponry, though has little real-world battle experience. Though she tolerated her initial off-world warp, technology and psychic things are appalling to her, as is the color orange.
Nathan: Arbitrator Solomon Ravion IV, the stocky red-haired successor to an ancient military dynasty that built its fortune upon the valiant (and often violently separated or exploded) shoulders of its own martyred dead. A legacy lately including 12 incumbent members, including two high admirals, and an unimportant number of servants. Solomon, having already earned himself the title of "official embarrassment" at the tender age of 15, was saved from the firing squad only through the Emperor's mercy and, miraculously, granted an official pardon (read: service to the Inquisition until either demons ate his soul or the vengeful remnants of his very powerful and well-connected family treated him to a second round of justice). He then proceeded to spend the next ten years in rehabilitation and emerged as a vicious killer. With a badge.
Hagen: Assassin Asmodai VI, sixth or so in a long line of Asmodais who were all, he figures, him. He's been mind-cleansed so many times he's rather losing count. Big, old, grizzled, and grey, he's instant death with a gun and believes himself to be invincible (and if he isn't, hey, he'll just come back as Asmodai VII). Despite the fact that he doesn't know where he's from or how long he's been working for the Inquisition or even what he did to merit his current state, he's more than willing to tell anyone who asks-- and if what he says one day doesn't line up with the next, tough. He hates idiots, is pretty sure he's fought aliens, and, oddly, makes a darn good doctor. He's also missing an eye and can hide small objects in his chest cavity. Oh, and he's invincible.
Paige: Tech-Priest Zeta an-Vosenstaller Seven, of the august agricultural station Vosenstaller Seven. She's tall, thin, greyish, heavily scarred and tattooed in a mostly unsuccessful attempt to disguise the stitching, though it doesn't really matter as most of her is hidden beneath that ubiquitous red Cult Mechanicus robe. Known in local circles as the Wandering Disaster, she was captured by Heretek genetics cults twice in a row on two separate worlds less than five years apart and consequentially is a little less than half metal by weight (the finger bones on her belt are hers, and so is the canned eyeball). Unlucky? No! Far from it. The opportunity to remove her own leg with a hacksaw was a most generous gift from the Machine God, obviously, and who is she to spurn Its blessings? Which may be why she works for the Inquisition now, aside from knowing a few things she really ought not to and being desperate to get away from the farm. Er, farm-station. It's also possible the farm just really wanted to get away from her and arranged the whole thing.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Character Things
Just a few notes for filling out the sheets:
For Characteristics, just go ahead and add up all the modifiers from creation and put them in one number unless said modifier can only be used in certain situations. For instance, if you've simply been given a flat +3 to Strength, just raise the number by 3. Makes it a bit easier on my end.
For Homeworld/Career events, when putting them on your sheet you don't have to place them as a Trait or Talent or anything: just put down the modifications and use the flavor text that went with them as a possible inspiration for background information. You don't have to have gained/lost whatever it was through the method listed.
For Wound points, you should probably reroll with a 5-sided dice online or something, since the only problem we had earlier was lack of 5-sided dice.
The first row of boxes beside Skills means that you're actually skilled in them; you'd fill it in for all the advanced ones and then only for the basic ones you actually have as full skills and not just basic ones, if that makes sense.
The memento stuff can probably go in notes, along with any cybernetics you've picked up.
NOTE-- I'm not really sure if it'd be possible to link them up to this site so people can see them, and have them remain interactive. Maybe upload a new one every so often? Any help on this, oh Web-design people?
EDIT-- Maybe you can just have the sheet floating around on your computer, and just post up on the blog the "fluffier" stuff? Like, a brief overview of the character. And then maybe send ME the sheets, and then we can both update our versions as necessary? This seems like it might be easiest...
For Characteristics, just go ahead and add up all the modifiers from creation and put them in one number unless said modifier can only be used in certain situations. For instance, if you've simply been given a flat +3 to Strength, just raise the number by 3. Makes it a bit easier on my end.
For Homeworld/Career events, when putting them on your sheet you don't have to place them as a Trait or Talent or anything: just put down the modifications and use the flavor text that went with them as a possible inspiration for background information. You don't have to have gained/lost whatever it was through the method listed.
For Wound points, you should probably reroll with a 5-sided dice online or something, since the only problem we had earlier was lack of 5-sided dice.
The first row of boxes beside Skills means that you're actually skilled in them; you'd fill it in for all the advanced ones and then only for the basic ones you actually have as full skills and not just basic ones, if that makes sense.
The memento stuff can probably go in notes, along with any cybernetics you've picked up.
NOTE-- I'm not really sure if it'd be possible to link them up to this site so people can see them, and have them remain interactive. Maybe upload a new one every so often? Any help on this, oh Web-design people?
EDIT-- Maybe you can just have the sheet floating around on your computer, and just post up on the blog the "fluffier" stuff? Like, a brief overview of the character. And then maybe send ME the sheets, and then we can both update our versions as necessary? This seems like it might be easiest...
Useful Things
A fillable pdf character sheet: Go
A few handy charts and tables in one place: Go also
Edit:
One more thing-- how will this work, anyway? Do you guys make all the rolls or do you just tell me what you want to do and then I roll it and post the results? The first way would let you guys play with your own dice, but the second would be much easier as far as applying modifiers and stuff is concerned, let alone making sure people don't cheat (not that I'm saying you're not trustworthy or anything)...
Thoughts?
nadine: I don't have dice...maybe we can use online dice? I'm kind of more in favor of you rolling for us in general, though, just because it would take less time...if we rolled ourselves then there would just be "more things to do," i.e. you tell us what to do, we roll and tell you what the roll is, and then do something...
A few handy charts and tables in one place: Go also
Edit:
One more thing-- how will this work, anyway? Do you guys make all the rolls or do you just tell me what you want to do and then I roll it and post the results? The first way would let you guys play with your own dice, but the second would be much easier as far as applying modifiers and stuff is concerned, let alone making sure people don't cheat (not that I'm saying you're not trustworthy or anything)...
Thoughts?
nadine: I don't have dice...maybe we can use online dice? I'm kind of more in favor of you rolling for us in general, though, just because it would take less time...if we rolled ourselves then there would just be "more things to do," i.e. you tell us what to do, we roll and tell you what the roll is, and then do something...
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