The Conclave

Hey ho

This is an open rp everyone is welcome to join in just post a character and see how this develops, the opening posts will be a major event that will hopefully draw in an inquisitive and investigative narrative that will be perfect for Inquisitors and agents of the Inquisition to fully grow and develop.

N 

Volunteering Ottakar Grant, Ordo Xenos (formerly Hereticus).

I will present my usual template when I get home from work tonight.


EDIT: Ack, didn't realise I still had a clarifier up from the first character I wanted to present, who would've been a walking continuity error -- Grant has no such problems.

I'll try and get the next few posts up to set the scene for people to join in.

+++DATA PURGED+++

As you may be able to tell, I am not aiming for serious at all here.

References to a censored character are for the benefit of anyone who may be reading my work on 40K Online.

Oh, yes please. I'll work out a character soon and stick it up. Would an acolyte, rather than an inquisitor, be OK?

Quote from: Zephon on March 03, 2010, 05:34:51 PM
Oh, yes please. I'll work out a character soon and stick it up. Would an acolyte, rather than an inquisitor, be OK?

Why limit your power level? I'm fielding a power-armoured pyromaniac with interchangable heavy weapons, for crying out loud (that, and this is probably not something random Interrogators would be permitted to take part in, because if I understood it rightly, the relevant info seems to be fairly classified -- it's a really big jump up from Interrogator to Inquisitor, remember)

Ramp up the power level, but just avoid the wall bangers and everything should be OK.

I'm afraid I've not got anything half as funny as Koval's Inquisitor, but I would like to get back into RPing, and Lyra Rhodes could really do with some RPing to help flesh out her personality - so unless you've got a problem, I guess I'm in.

Crude basics of her and her main entourage (her Kasrkin bodyguard, and a psyker*) can be found in this topic (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=422.0) - assuming she's okay with you, I'll get up more detailed information later on.

*Renatus has been replaced by Maya - her profile is further down the topic.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on March 05, 2010, 01:55:11 AM
I'm afraid I've not got anything half as funny as Koval's Inquisitor

All I'm willing to say on the matter is that I think 40K needs to move away from the IN THE GRIM DARK GRIM DARKNESS THERE IS ONLY GRIMDARK GRIMDARK GRIMDARK angle, because if you add too much it just gets boring. There needs to be something to help us ease off once in a while (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PluckyComicRelief). Grant will probably be just that here, likely without realising it, and his nameless former acolyte* is definitely doing it on 40K Online, in a story that's trying to be a giant shout-out to the Cain books.


_{*It's not that he doesn't have a name. He just doesn't like anyone using it, to the point where he's quite willing to pull a sword on his old mentor for addressing him as "Clarence". So far he's spent most of the story being addressed as "Inquisitor" or by an alias; on the surface, he claims to subscribe to this idea that knowing someone's name gives you power over them, or at the very least makes you equals. In reality he just doesn't like his name.}


Dragging this back on topic kicking and screaming, I like Lyra. The blurb on the graviton grenade is quite funny, too, and her Pure Luck thing is quite characterful. I have a minor character with something that's the exact opposite, as it happens. I will however say that she doesn't really have much of a power level on her, but at the same time Grant wouldn't have many abilities either were I to actually bother drawing up an Inquisitor statline for him. Last time I picked the book up was two years ago... and I'm far more likely to bring out the Dark Heresy character sheets instead these days.

*adopts blank, world-weary voice* Inquisitor Fabio Glosche reporting. I will contribute to this Conclave, if only to get out of doing this damned paper-work.

My details are included below. My apologies for the censoring, but I am still technically under probation until I finish decoding Jorken's data-log and a more senior Inquisitor can determine whether or not I was, in part, responsible for his death.


Name: Fabio Glosche
Rank and affiliation: Inquisitor, Ordo Malleus.

Gender, age and appearance: Male, approx. 84 yrs standard (exact date of birth unable to be confirmed). 6' in height, black, cropped hair, pale skin, heart-shaped tattoo on his right cheek. Rarely seen without his trench-coat, a gift from his master, and always wears a silver locket, a family heirloom found in his possession when he was recovered from Schindelgheist Major.

Personality and beliefs: He is generally remote and hard to converse with, although those who knew him before the Invasion of Schindelgheist say he used to be very open and emotional. Specialists suspect deep psychological trauma. He has a tendency to use narcotics, and has just written his first novel, a dramatized version of his own life story (novel currently being edited by Inquisition staff prior to publication). He is an Amalathian.

Abilities, strengths and weaknesses: Has a good eye for subtle details, including body language, and an abnormally fast reaction time (approx. 0.005 seconds, on average). This gives him a decent advantage in most close-combats, and makes him an excellent opportunity sniper. He occasionally becomes absent-minded, and has, on one occasion, gone into a coma for three days. The cause for this is uncertain.

Weapons and equipment: Carapace armour, sabre, laspistol and autogun.

Recreational tendencies: He enjoys playing the violin.

Servants: His savant, Gregorius Vlax and his bodyguard, Eins Stellfield.   

History: CENSORED, PENDING JUDGEMENT.

all looking good so far Zephon why not go for a newly appointed Inquisitor one with a few years under his belt and now wanting a more powerful sponsor to help him achieve his goals

I've drawn up a character sheet for Grant using DH -- it looks overpowered but keep in mind, DH isn't meant to handle actual Inquisitor-level characters, and IIRC the two presented in the Disciples of the Dark Gods supplement are quite a fair bit more powerful.

I'll email it on request.

Feel free to join in,

Next grav train is later on in the evening (Around midnight)

So any arriving now will be heading to the palace to await the train, or wandering round the city watching the festivities starting to get underway

Wait, wait, slightly confused here. With all this talk of character profiles and datasheets, I want to know: is this simply a narrative roleplay, where people write sections of the narrative in order to explore their characters more thoroughly; or a gaming roleplay, where people use these characters in a game and then write up the results as a story here?

Only asking because I'm not really prepared for any kind of gaming roleplay, seeing as I have not yet actually started Inquisitor in any way, besides writing half a datasheet for a character who, historically speaking, died in 999.M41

It's more a point of reference than anything else. Notably, Marco and I* have presented character sheets for different games.

*Well, ok, mine's more a case of "I'm willing to present it on request" but it does rely on emailing it to people...

Ah, excellent. I was a little worried for a moment there.

Right, that should be better,

NAME: Bernard Wyebold

RANK / AFFILIATION: Inquisitor / Ordo Hereticus

AGE / GENDER / APPEARANCE: 59 / Male / a little below average height, round, pinkish face, hair is currently its natural grey and straight. His most, some might say only, distinguishing feature would be his somewhat large, lobeless ears.

PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS: A defining belief of his is that all heretical cults are in some way linked. The similarities between them are proof enough that they sprang from the same source: an original cult. He believes that this cult is still in existence, secretly controlling most of the others, with members in very high places. These are not merely the ravings of a conspiracy theorist: Wyebold has amassed a library of information, carefully showing what he believes to be the links between each heretical thought. This tends to make him cautious, and he always prefers to gather information before acting, infiltrating agents, making great use of false identities, surveillance, blackmail and bribery. Wyebold disapproves of the more militant members of the Holy Ordos, and especially of overt behaviour. Personally pious, he tends towards the Amalathian philosophy, and distrusts both psykers and other mutants. He also feels partially responsible for his master's death, feeling he should have investigated further before informing the old man of the problem.

ABILITIES / STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES: While an excellent investigator, Wyebold is disinterested and inexperienced in politics, seeing it as an unnecessary distraction from the true purpose of the Inquisition (or any other organisation). He thoroughly examines the operations of heretics, and in the past has allowed diabolical plans to be carried out simply to avoid alerting his enemies of the presence of the Inquisition. When he feels he has sufficient information, he prefers to call on other forces of the Imperium to exterminate his target, such as the Arbites, PDF or Eccelsiarchy. It is usual for him to leave networks of agents wherever he goes, carefully placed to feed useful intelligence back to him. Wyebold trains his acolytes to act in much the same way, and operates a number of roving acolyte teams specifically charged with setting up new spy networks. His spies were responsible for many of Inquisitor Haldebran's successes. However, his disdain of overt action usually means his acolyte teams lack the firepower or skills to deal with a major problem without assistance. Personally, he is a competent combatant, but no expert.

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT: as he believes the Inquisition should be centred on investigation, his equipment will usually be only what he needs to maintain his safety and whatever cover-identity he is currently using. Still, he isn't stupid, and may be slightly paranoid, so he will usually be carrying at least one concealed weapon. He favours silenced stubbers and mono-knives, though he encourages the use of garrottes, knuckledusters and blackjacks.

SERVANTS: His staff is large, since he ran much of Haldebran's organisation, though the parts he did not control were taken over by Inquisitor friends of Haldebran. His retinue is currently divided between those who worked for him when he was an Interrogator, and the remnants of those who worked for Haldebran's other high-ranking acolytes.

HISTORY:

-950.M41 – born on Kavin II
-970.M41 –joins Enforcer cadre of one of the Margraves on Kavin II
-971.M41 –recruited from Enforcers to Investigation and Protection Division.
-976.M41 –an organised series of rebellions breaks out on Kavin II, exacerbated by Chaos cultist infiltration of local security services.
-977.M41 –interned in Camp XIV as suspected cult spy, later released by Inquisitor Haldebran.
-978.M41 –Kavin II rebellion decisively crushed. Purge begins.
-982.M41 –sets up the infamous network on Hidishar. Adherence to IPD protocols leads to over one hundred dead, including three Inquisitorial operatives, and the destruction of the network. 
-994.M41 –while cleaning up in the aftermath of a purge, uncovers a small cult. Delays clean-up operation on a pretext, and proceeds to conduct an investigation, revealing a conspiracy stretching into the higher levels of planetary government. Elevated to rank of Explicator.
-998.M41 –Elevated to rank of Interrogator.
-004.M42 –Inquisitor Haldebran and immediate retinue are ambushed and slain by heretics, leaving as most senior acolyte. He takes up Haldebran's Seal, and methodically investigates for 9 months before calling on the Adeptus Arbites to eradicate all traces of heresy.
-007.M42 –ordained as full Inquisitor by three of his peers

@Swarbie: As Koval says, it's a narrative roleplay.
I might note that however a character who died in 999.M41 might be a little interesting, given that the events we are discussing occur in 010.M42 (current Conclave time) - back in 999.M41, Lord Grolin was alive, and probably wouldn't have taken too kindly to people discussing his death and replacement.

Of course, we can survive a little timeline disorder.

Quote from: Koval on March 05, 2010, 09:45:20 AMAll I'm willing to say on the matter is that I think 40K needs to move away from the IN THE GRIM DARK GRIM DARKNESS THERE IS ONLY GRIMDARK GRIMDARK GRIMDARK angle, because if you add too much it just gets boring.

Indeed. You really don't want to overdo the Grimdark.

Humour, whether in universe or from the perspective of us as outside observers, should be part of the 40k universe. And it's not even as if it's not - take the Ork Codex for example (I quite like the rule: "A Warboss may not both have mega armour and warbike, as he would probably fall off a lot.") . After all, the point of the game and universe is to entertain, so as long as it's reasonable for the universe, I enjoy some humour and tongue-in-cheek stuff.

I don't know whether you'll have seen the character profiles I put in the Inquisitor Rules section, but the Quotes section of my profiles include a few that demonstrate the fact that my characters aren't entirely serious at times - particularly Silva who, amongst other daft quips, has the quote: "With all this cliché around, you'll hurt yourself."

QuoteDragging this back on topic kicking and screaming, I like Lyra. The blurb on the graviton grenade is quite funny, too, and her Pure Luck thing is quite characterful.

If you want to make some odd technology, involve a mad scientist.

As I said further down the topic, the basic idea for her was to do a bit of a tribute to Indiana Jones - although very much less prone to getting into his near suicidal action sequences (that job belongs to other characters of mine). I thought an archaeologist Inquisitor was an interesting idea.

QuoteI will however say that she doesn't really have much of a power level on her

No, she doesn't, but she's not really a "charge in all guns blazing" type. She's capable of holding her own and defending herself, as you'd expect of an Inquisitor, but she is a covert Inquisitor rather than an overt one.

~~~~~

Anyway, a fuller profile for Lyra. As I say, I'm looking to further develop her in this roleplay, so what will probably happen is that I come back and add a few things as we go, most likely to the personality and quirks sections.

When I've got a couple of reasonably succinct biographies for her two companions, I'll add them. However, I imagine they'll be less important.

FULL NAME: Lyra Joandra Rhodes

TITLE(S): Inquisitor of the Order Perditus / Doctorate of Archaeology

AGE / GENDER / APPEARANCE: 98 Terran Years; Female; Height: 5' 3" / Weight: 107 lbs. She has blue eyes and light blonde hair in a long pony tail. Right handed.

Slight of build, although of respectable physical fitness, Lyra's physical appearance is of a woman around 30, and remains relatively free of the scars that litter the bodies of other Inquisitors.

ATTIRE: Having grown up in a hot and sunny region of her home planet, Lyra's attire tends to reflect the habits of her youth. As such, she usually wears a light blouse and trousers, but supplements it with an array of hard wearing leather items intended to protect against sunburn or scorching hot surfaces.
These items are made up by the wide brimmed hat, jacket (woven with flak fibres as a measure of protection), elbow length gloves and knee length boots that she is typically seen with.

PERSONALITY: Lyra is most easily described as feisty. Despite being close on a century old, she hasn't ever really lost her youthful exuberance, and approaches her work with enthusiasm and optimism unusual amongst those that have served the Inquisition for as long as she.
Willing and able to put a sense of humour to use, she is generally described as a pleasant woman to be around or work with.

However, those who know her know that this doesn't mean she can be pushed, as she is very much a "one chance" woman. While she will forgive once, crossing the line twice is to risk her very real fury.

She, like all Inquisitors, is possessed of strong opinions - she will defend them persistently, although she almost always does so in a manner that some find infuriatingly calm and logical.
The exceptions to this manner are her rejection of the title of Inquisitrix on the basis that it is superfluous and sexist. Her responses alternate between ignoring and verbally grilling anyone who uses it to address her.
No-one has yet had the balls to try finding out what happens if you call her a Doctrix of Archaeology.

BELIEFS: Lyra, like most other Perditus Inquisitors, generally follows an Amalathian viewpoint, although she has shown by example that she is not utterly averse to seeing change exacted.

ABILITIES / STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES: Given her Doctorate and experience, Lyra's real strength lies in investigation and research. It is telling that while she has taken on some very sizable investigations, she has always been at the helm of collating and analysing the information, rather than simply leaving the work to a team of savants like many Inquisitors would.
While she is in the main intelligent and well educated, she is not particularly well versed in some areas which would be considered conventional within the Inquisition, such as sciences or military knowledge.

In combat, Lyra's expertise tends towards hand-to-hand fighting, an intentional compensation for the weaknesses of her energy field at short ranges. Although, through both necessity and practicality, she has practised to a capable skill level with handguns. The obvious limit on her combat prowess is the physical limits of her feminine frame.

It has been noted that Lyra seems to enjoy more than her fair share of good luck, fortuitous flukes and near misses.

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT: Not being particularly heavily built, Lyra tries to avoid carrying a huge weight of equipment, and therefore favours a compact energy field over physical armour.

Her primary ranged weapon is a Cassett Pattern 62 Revolver in 9mm Magnum, which she received as a 90th birthday gift from (then) Interrogator Skoll – it is a marginally larger weapon than she would perhaps naturally choose, but her long standing friendship with the other Inquisitor makes it a favourite.

Her close quarters weapons are a power knife (although she may on occasion use the adjective "vorpal", a common colloquial term for power weapons on her home-world) and shock maul, both being compact but powerful weapons, and between them offering her a welcome range of options in melee.

She is also at times seen carrying a modestly sized object that most assume to be some form of grenade, although the effects of it are known to few but herself. As a final last resort, she also carries a compact stub pistol in a holster concealed up the back of her jacket.
   
SERVANTS/ACQUAINTANCES: Lyra employs Kasrkin Sergeant Kai Gillmore as a bodyguard and advisor on military matters. A combat experienced soldier from Tryphosa, one of the many worlds which mirrors Cadian military doctrine, he is very much the muscle of Lyra's entourage.

She is also usually seen with Maya Avens, a psyker whose powers revolve around deception, shock and awe - through use of psychic smoke and mirrors, Maya is capable of disappearing from view, destroying concentration and when circumstances demand, seemingly metamorphosing into a terrifying beast of fire and flame.

Lyra maintains reasonable contacts within the Inquisition, especially Inquisitor Skoll, as well as their mutual mentor, Inquisitor Lembus Byssus.

HISTORY: Born to a family on Ilibac Prime which was reasonably successfully ran several tailors, Lyra enjoyed the benefits of a well-off family with connections amongst the wealthy.

From an early age, Lyra had always shown interest in her education, and when she passed into adulthood, her father pulled some strings with some clients, allowing her to follow the path of a scholar reading early Imperial history.
Her first paper was on the infamous M33.75X Jagodian political conspiracies and their repercussions within the sector – it is still considered a leading text on the subject.
Using this success as a gateway to progress into field work and archaeological research, she later wrote a second paper, this time on the subject of M32 Ineaci plumbing technologies.

At age 33, after six well received papers, building a positive reputation and receiving the title of Doctor,  she was recommended to Inquisitor Byssus for his investigation searching for the Asirael archives.
It took the best part of two years to track the Asirael archives, time enough for Byssus to have grown highly fond of Lyra – discarding his original plans to mind-scrub her to contain any knowledge of the archive, he instead took Lyra on as his acolyte.

Her experience as a scholar proved highly valuable to Byssus' investigations, and after a lengthy training, at the age of 57, Lyra was officially promoted to the rank of Inquisitor in her own right.

23 years later, she was first introduced to Byssus' next acolyte, Marco Skoll. As a favour to Byssus to allow him to attend to personal matters, she oversaw the acolyte for a four month period of his training. It didn't take particularly long for a friendship to be forged between the two - they remain in frequent contact, being far closer to each other than their mutual master.

In recent years, Lyra has been on the hunt for the Palix Array, an ancient warp lens rumoured to have been constructed within the Carthax Sector by Pre-Imperial civilisation.
Although a handful of excavated records detail basic facts about its appearance and function, the details given about its location are of little use, being either vague to the point of uselessness or associated with place-names unknown to the Imperium.

It is no simple task, but few could be said to be better suited to solving it than Lyra.

QUIRKS:
-   She is well known for a lopsided smile. No-one has yet worked out where she picked up the habit.
-   Will usually drink before or after eating, but usually not during.

~~~~~

Anyway, there's my profile. Assuming we're on the move, I'll try and get up a section... well, I was going to say tomorrow, but it's really today now.

Quote@Swarbie: As Koval says, it's a narrative roleplay.
I might note that however a character who died in 999.M41 might be a little interesting, given that the events we are discussing occur in 010.M42 (current Conclave time) - back in 999.M41, Lord Grolin was alive, and probably wouldn't have taken too kindly to people discussing his death and replacement.

Of course, we can survive a little timeline disorder.

Ah, no. I meant the only datasheet I've tried to write so far is for a character who died in 999.M41, but who is definitely not Fabio. Fabio is, at the moment (this may change as I continue writing my story), the only surviving member of Inquisitor Jorken Rovel's retinue. He has only become an inquisitor in the last 7 years or so, having been in a coma for a long period (probably around a year) after the Invasion of Schindelgheist. Three of Jorken's old associates approved his ascension to the rank of Inquisitor after serving as an acolyte to one for two years.

The Inquisition has now, after 10 years, given him Jorken's data-log, as they were unable to crack the codes he used. At first he was arrested, but as he was an Inquisitor and refused to give the Inquisition the key to decoding the data-log while under arrest, he has been released and given orders to decode the data-log. The two members of his retinue have orders from high members of the Inquisition to keep an eye on him and report his progress to the most senior member of the Inquisition in their vicinity. This may eventually involve the more senior members of this roleplay learning his history.

Hope this helped to clear things up a bit.   

Quote from: Zephon on March 06, 2010, 02:22:19 AM
OK, here goes:

NAME: Ottokar Wyebold

Instant problems, in that his first name is too similar to Grant's. however, this is workable, and could be the subject of a few jokes.

QuoteAGE / GENDER / APPEARANCE: 49 / Male / a little below average height, round, pinkish face, hair is currently its natural grey and straight. His most, some might say only, distinguishing feature would be his somewhat large, lobeless ears.

Well, he's a bit young for an Inquisitor, but I'll let it slide because he's only recently been promoted from the look of things.

QuotePERSONALITY AND BELIEFS: A defining belief of his is that all heretical cults are in some way linked. The similarities between them are proof enough that they sprang from the same source: an original cult. He believes that this cult is still in existence, secretly controlling most of the others, with members in very high places. These are not merely the ravings of a conspiracy theorist: Wyebold has amassed a library of information, carefully showing what he believes to be the links between each heretical thought. This tends to make him cautious, and he always prefers to gather information before acting, infiltrating agents, making great use of false identities, surveillance, blackmail and bribery.

An interesting theory but how long's it taken him to amass this "library"? Did it pass down to him from his old mentor?

QuoteWyebold disapproves of the more militant members of the Holy Ordos, and especially of overt behaviour. Personally pious, he tends towards the Amalathian philosophy, and distrusts both psykers and other mutants.

Safe choice to start off with.

QuoteHe also feels partially responsible for his master's death, feeling he should have investigated further before informing the old man of the problem.

This may need more explanation...

QuoteABILITIES / STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES: While an excellent investigator, Wyebold is disinterested and inexperienced in politics, seeing it as an unnecessary distraction from the true purpose of the Inquisition (or any other organisation).

The two Ottos would get on so well.

QuoteHe thoroughly examines the operations of heretics, and in the past has allowed diabolical plans to be carried out simply to avoid alerting his enemies of the presence of the Inquisition.

So he's an Amalathian with Recongregator tendencies? (http://i43.tinypic.com/2uhb8ma.jpg)

QuoteWhen he feels he has sufficient information, he prefers to call on other forces of the Imperium to exterminate his target, such as the Arbites, PDF or Eccelsiarchy.

Not entirely sure about the mention of the Ecclesiarchy, but Arbites/PDF are fine.

QuoteIt is usual for him to leave networks of agents wherever he goes, carefully placed to feed useful intelligence back to him.

This is the traditional approach of the Inquisition, to be fair.

QuoteWyebold trains his acolytes to act in much the same way, and operates a number of roving acolyte teams specifically charged with setting up new spy networks.

He's been an Inquisitor for about a year and already he's taking on acolytes? At his tender age? (http://i43.tinypic.com/2uhb8ma.jpg)

QuoteHis spies were responsible for many of Inquisitor Haldebran's successes.

In order to fix this I'd change it so he doesn't have acolytes per se, but was just very influential and good with logistics and team management while under Haldebran.

QuoteHowever, his disdain of overt action usually means his acolyte teams lack the firepower or skills to deal with a major problem without assistance. Personally, he is a competent combatant, but no expert.

It works... I personally dislike it but it works.

QuoteWEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT: as he believes the Inquisition should be centred on investigation, his equipment will usually be only what he needs to maintain his safety and whatever cover-identity he is currently using. Still, he isn't stupid, and may be slightly paranoid, so he will usually be carrying at least one concealed weapon. He favours silenced stubbers and mono-knives, though he encourages the use of garrottes, knuckledusters and blackjacks.

Ergh. For the covert stuff, this is ok, but he surely has the means to requisition a needle pistol. He sounds like the sort of guy for whom it would be a very fitting and characterful addition.

QuoteSERVANTS: His staff is large, since he ran much of Haldebran's organisation, though the parts he did not control were taken over by Inquisitor friends of Haldebran. His retinue is currently divided between those who worked for him when he was an Explicator, and the remnants of those who worked for Haldebran's other high-ranking acolytes.

How many of them would necessarily be loyal to him, though?

Quote
-998.M41 – Elevated to rank of Explicator.

Pretty sure this is the lowest rank for a proper acolyte, are you saying he wasn't strictly Inquisition material before this?

Quote-008.M42 –Inquisitor Haldebran and immediate retinue are ambushed and slain by heretics, leaving as most senior acolyte. He takes up Haldebran's Seal

While ultimately a variation on the deathbed promotion idea, this is still a deathbed promotion... Also, set the date back to 004 or something, otherwise this really is a deathbed promotion.

Quote-009.M42 –begins searching for Inquisitors willing to sponsor his rank

Again, I really dislike how the date's worked. I'm pretty sure you've not left enough time between field promotion and actual ordination.

It's workable, but this will be why you post for critique, I imagine...

The name is quite embarrassing. I just picked the first name that came to mind... it must have come to mind because you'd already used it. What about Bernard? I could bump his age up by a decade, it isn't too important. When I started, he was about 90.


His 'library' is hyperbole: it's all of the files on cults he has, painstakingly cross-referenced to show how they are all linked. Some of the raw information would have come from Haldebran, but much of it Wyebold recorded himself.

QuoteThis may need more explanation...

In brief, he informed Haldebran of the presence of a cult before he had finished checking how far the taint spread. Haldebran went off to deal with it, despite Wyebold's request for more time, and fell victim to a coordinate strike by a group that had far more power than expected. Wyebold blames himself for passing on incomplete information.

QuoteSo he's an Amalathian with Recongregator tendencies?

He is definitely Amalathian, he just likes to make sure he catches every last heretic when he purges, and until he has fully investigated he will let them get away with murder to avoid spooking his quarry.

QuoteNot entirely sure about the mention of the Ecclesiarchy

Mobs! Torches! Pitchforks!

QuoteHe's been an Inquisitor for about a year and already he's taking on acolytes? At his tender age?

Until recently, they were Haldebran's men, and he was just the spymaster who actually gave them orders, received the reports and organised training. Perhaps it is Dark Heresy's influence, but I tend to refer to almost any employee of the Inquisition as an acolyte. It's a bad habit.

QuoteErgh. For the covert stuff, this is ok, but he surely has the means to requisition a needle pistol. He sounds like the sort of guy for whom it would be a very fitting and characterful addition.

But a needle pistol shows that you are someone who can afford a needle pistol and you wouldn't just ditch it in a gutter when done with it. He would call say that if someone needs shooting, it is better that it looks like they were shot by someone after their wallet. He is also austere, and doesn't think much of 'fancy gadgets'. Some of his staff are a bit more open minded. When the time comes to start purging, he might borrow something impressive to wave about while commanding minions.

QuoteHow many of them would necessarily be loyal to him, though?

Quite a problem for him that, though the most interesting of Haldebran's networks and agents (it particular, his spies within the Inquisition) were snaffled by the three friends of Haldebran who elevated Wyebold to Inquisitor.

QuotePretty sure this is the lowest rank for a proper acolyte, are you saying he wasn't strictly Inquisition material before this?

Sorry, I was running off my own version of the ranking system: where interrogator is above explicator, but only a bit and the interrogator always accompanies the Inquisitor, which is how Inquisitor Zephon ran things on the other side of the galaxy two hundred years ago.

Quote from: Zephon on March 06, 2010, 01:51:14 PMI just picked the first name that came to mind... it must have come to mind because you'd already used it. What about Bernard?

Heck, I quite like the idea that we might have two similarly named characters. It's like what happens if you ask for James, Chris or Dan in amongst my group of mates. You'll get at least three answers from different sides of the room.

Anyway, there's a post from me. It's the normal lengthy and colour coded stuff. Enjoy.

post from me, picked up the yelp thing and ran with it.

Same here. Anyone for a lho-stick? Fabio has some to spare.

Excellent, my diabolical master plan has worked - I like to put things in to help give other people ideas.

Obviously, I suspect most people have seen it, but just to be certain that it hasn't gone missed, if looking for information on Grolin or the Carthax conclave, the Chronicles thread is pretty much the source for general facts: http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=352.0

Craaaaaaaaaaap. Just realised that it's all the way on the other side of the friggin' galaxy from where Grant's meant to be based (Ultima Segmentum, few hundred light years coreward of Ultramar -- not exactly the far frontier of Segmentum Pacificus)

crap, crap, crap... uhh, need a fix...

A little dodgy galactic geography isn't terminal. It happens anyway when characters from different Segmentums hit the gaming table, so you can't be too serious about it.

While most of my characters have had their background altered a little to tie in with the Carthax Sector, they've still appeared all over the galaxy - Marco is obviously part of After Hours on Kurabata Prime (northern Segmentum Solar, unless I've forgotten), but was promoted in the Carthax sector. Although, that part of his background was added after he had started involvement in After Hours.

But largely, I've stopped giving the Segmentum of any given planet, mostly so the information just isn't there to be contradictory.

Is it vital that Grant be in Ultima? Do you have a lot of material placing him there already? Otherwise, the only thing I can think of his the standard 'warp did it'.

Tried to use this character several times but never quite got his background right. I'm hoping this time I've got it sorted.

Name: Molovich Czernarvok, Inquisitor

History: Molovich was born on the Forge World Accatran, one of a hundred 'siblings' specially bred to join the ranks of the Skitarii. Following extensive tests Molovich was inducted as a Skitarius Irrumperii. Not widely known the Irrumperii are specialist infiltrators and investigators largely under the command of the Divisio Mandati and used as part of the vanguard forces which scour those worlds which draw the attention of the Divisio in order to gather intelligence to aid the Imperial authorities.

Operating aboard the Imperator Titan Sanctus Occisor Molovich worked closely with the Inquisitor Xiao Napthine. Naturally she formed a close bond with the Skitarius due to his specialist nature. Molovich was quickly able to learn from Napthine and with his genhancements, neuro-upgrades and modifications became a highly skilled operative which the Inquisitor used ruthlessly. In the end Molovich became far too valuable an asset to risk on infiltration missions and became a member of Napthine's staff on permanent secondment. Due to this the Adeptus Mechanicus made Molovich an adept of the Machine Cult to ensure that his loyalty was to them first.

Molovich worked with Napthine for over seventy years until the Inquisitor became too old to continue in her glorious role aboard Sanctus Occisor. Molovich was an Inquisitor already in all but name and under Napthine's direction it was to be only a matter of time before he was given his own seal. However the Adeptus Mechanicus had not forgotten him and he was recalled to Mars to take part in the Holy Mysteries of the Machine God. This also provided the ideal opportunity to completely download every single thought on coded engrams implanted at birth and which are usually used to assess the function of a unit after its termination.

Molovich spent the next twenty years on Mars in communion with the Omnisiah. In addition to all the previous upgrades he had received Molovich was given a unique suit of fright armour with the intention that he would return to the Inquisition, be granted his seal and thence forth always be a figure that would not only strike terror in the foes of man but ensure he was seen first and foremost as an adept of the Machine Cult.

Returning to the aged Napthine Molovich was finally made a full Inquisitor. He served for a time aboard the Sanctus Occisor before becoming embroiled in a Genestealer plot on Ictus. Molovich became a legend on that world when he fought atop the battlements of the palace of the Imperial Commander. As the xenos cult was slowly revealed and destroyed the bloated Patriarch dragged its bulk out of the labyrinthine sewer system in a desperate attempt to secure victory. As dozens perished to the abhorrent psychic might of the Patriarch Molovich stood alone. 
Wych fire boiled the flesh from his bones leaving only twitching augmetics and shorting cables and even then, forced down onto his knees before the Patriarch Molovich still lived. In a last act of defiance Molovich was heard to call upon the Emperor and the Omnisiah. No doubt Molovich thought it would be his last prayer but a malfunctioning rocket hit a two hundred metre high statue of the Emperor, breaking off his sword hand at the wrist and the stone blade fell from the heavens, destroying the Patriarch utterly and cleaving the armoured wall in two, leaving Molovich's battered body completely untouched.

Characteristics: Molovich is a bear of a man, standing nearly seven feet tall. His legs and arms are armoured bionics and his bear torso is criss-crossed with scars, many decades old. After his hear destruction on Ictus, Molovich required extensive grafts and his skin is deathly pale and translucent, veins pumping purplish blood and ribbed cables that force syrupy unguents through his augmetics clearly visible.

Molovich rarely uses his flesh-voice and as he has aged has come to reject his organic origins just as happens with all members of the Cult Mechanicus over time. He reserves his flesh voice as a rare honour for those closest to him and when he does speak his voice is a harsh whisper. Normally Molovich cants anything he has to say in binaric but for those who are unaugmented he uses a peculiar form of communication. Vat grown, just like himself, Molovich is able to jack directly via a cranial socket into a customised servant which he speaks through. At this time the servant appears as a young girl whose child-like voice is totally at odds with the hulking Molovich although why this servant appears as a child none can say.

From his left shoulder sprout a fan of blades, a stylised wing/cog to symbolise the union between the Mechanicus and the Imperium. His right shoulder incorporates a pauldron from which hangs a heavy crimson cloak, worked through with binaric prayers and adorned with feathers, scales, beads, ork teeth and other primitive decorations. Also from this shoulder Molovich has a servo arm which carries a masterpiece of las-weaponry. The heavy gun is devastatingly powerful yet can maintain a steady rate of fire and when not in use folds nearly behind Molovich, the long barrel of the weapon rising menacingly behind him. When not trudging relentlessly into battle using his las weapon Molovich wields a mighty power axe. The haft of the weapon is eight feet long and is carried like a battle standard by an even bigger Praetorian. The most obvious thing about Molovich is that he lacks a face. His mandible was replaced with a combat mechanism that allows him to bite through armour and bone. Purified by Molovich himself the jaw was taken from an Ork boss during one of the many campaigns between the forces of the Arch-Arsonist and Legio Destructor. The crude ork mechanism was highly modified to more represent the holy human form but it still retains several ork glyphs too rude to translate. From the nose up Molovich's head is an armoured cap, like a Merryweather helmet that conceals the eyes completely with the cockscomb brought down to form a wedge to deflect blows from the face and skull.

Associates: Molovich has numerous retainers, most of which are little more than servitors. The only non-augmented human to accompany Molovich is his Interrogator. Loathe to take on an apprentice of his own Molovich became obliged when an old comrade died. Arisha Dolan is a young woman with a promising career within the Inquisition. Unfortunately for Arisha she is almost phobic about bionics and is often utterly terrified of her master. A naturally distant sort Molovich also maintains a physical distance from those around him but seems to derive a sick pleasure from looming over Arisha who quails before him.

I've been following this RP with interest as it ties into the Spring Conclave, and to get things going (and to help with the question of 'who is Lord Grolin?') I figured I'd share some information that will be in the player pack.

Lord Marcus Grolin's death was ostensibly due to natural causes, although there are some who believe they have evidence that he was murdered.  These rumours are being deliberately suppressed until they can be properly investigated so as to avoid throwing the Conclave into disarray - but there are stories of mysterious figures seen in the catacombs under the Inquisitorial fortress, a fortress guard who was found dead that night and that Grolin had taken a Rogue Trader as a lover and she left the system just before his death.  His personal navigator, Terah Nola sensed his passing and he was pronounced dead by his physician Doctor Godiva.  I see him as having served the Conclave for a long time, maybe rising to head of the Ordo Hereticus before becoming head of the Conclave.  As for his beliefs, I figure he was probably a Monodominant in his youth, but mellowed with age and became outwardly much more moderate.  As head of the Conclave, his main focus would be in ensuring that the Inquisitors in the sector work to combat the enemies of the Imperium rather than squabbling openly amongst themselves, and he'd use his considerable political power to keep them in line, while still allowing them freedom to persue their own investigations and beliefs.  Other than that, I have no real background to Grolin so feel free to make up whatever you want.

As for the succession - any Inquisitor has the right to put himself forward as a candidate; however in the past no Inquisitor Ordinary has risen to head the Carthaxian Conclave.  Then during the run up to the High Conclave called by Calleia at Tigguo Cobauc, the candidates must vie for nomination by attempting to gather as much support as possible from their peers and other influential figures within the sector before the final vote at the High Conclave.

Currently the following Inquisitors have put themselves forwards as candidates;

Lord Inquisitor Calleia – Calleia is acting head of the Carthaxian Conclave and the leader of the Helios Cabal, a body of Inquisitors dedicated to combating the threat of the deadly Graveel Hegemony.  Even though he has never chosen to join an Ordo, Calleia is well respected and his independence means there are many ready to support him should he be nominated to succeed Lord Grolin.

Inquisitor Lord Praetus – Lord Praetus has led the Ordo Hereticus in the Carthax Sector for over a century.  In the past he was seen as the frontrunner to succeed Lord Grolin; however he is becoming rather frail and it may be that he is physically not up to the demands of the role.  Despite this fact, there are still many within the Conclave who would back him.

Lady Inquisitrix Ingrid Zwolak – Lady Ingrid heads a cell of Amalathians operating in the Carthax Sector and is a leading candidate to succeed Lord Grolin.  Several months ago, dark rumours surfaced claiming Zwolak was being manipulated by dark forces.  A thorough investigation has cleared her of any taint and her popularity remains as strong as ever.  Should there be some dark secret in Zwolak's past, she may be the ideal candidate for someone willing to use blackmail to control the head of the Carthaxian Conclave.

Inquisitor Iacton Regis – Regis is well respected as a learned and scholarly Inquisitor.  He retired from the field three decades ago and is seldom seen outside the the Inquisitorial Library on Farness II.  Many feel that his centuries of service and well-rounded career would make him an ideal Inquisitor Lord.  For an Inquisitor Ordinary to be elected head of the Carthaxian Conclave is unheard of, however there are many who would be ready to support Regis.

Inquisitor Ze Thiago – Almost nothing is known of Inquisitor Thiago.  He announced his presence in the sector at the last meeting of the Conclave and since then has kept a low profile but rumours persist that he seeks the lordship.  Those who have met him appear to dislike him intensely and many rumours surround him.  Some claim that his secret is as simple as him being a Pariah, others that he is touched by the dark powers.  There have even been claims that he is an infil-traitor placed within the Conclave by powers unknown.  Despite all this, it is said that he not only desires the lordship, but that he has the support to claim it.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, players do not have to support someone from this shortlist, and it'd be really good if some players decided to put their own player characters or NPCs forward as candidates.  Also, during the course of the day players are likely to meet other NPC Inquisitors who they may wish to support.  In case you were wondering, some of the candidates have mysterious pasts with the intention that they can be used as plot hooks by players - so if someone turns up to the Spring Conclave with a Chaos warband (for example) they may want to write that Ze Thiago is in fact an agent of disorder who has infiltrated the Conclave.  The characters above have no background other than what is written here (although since I've made a model of Calleia, he may get more in future), so feel free to expand on what is written however you see fit.

Hopefully that'll be of some use to you...

- Dave

Quote from: Zephon on March 07, 2010, 01:15:33 AM
Is it vital that Grant be in Ultima? Do you have a lot of material placing him there already?

Well, his home sector is in Ultima, and is fairly close to both the Tau Empire and the Realm of Ultramar (close as in about a thousand light years or so, give or take a couple of hundred), with Ymgarl being a short hop away. He's spent a lot of his career in and around the sector, and was on the sector Conclave until recently...

I can juggle the dates slightly so that he's had more than just a year to get across the galaxy... a fix presents itself, maybe he was initially researching the widespread nature of Orks/Hrud/the outer space equivalent of the common house fly...?

EDIT: Added it in, and changed Gideon's last name. I've already used Szymaczek for something else, whereas Antal was a name for a character that never got off the ground...

Cheers Dave

As Always you're forever useful

Although this event may not actually get to discussing the upcoming Lordship

*Insert Evil Laughter Here*

That's fine and is pretty much what I figured - I was just going to post info about Grolin, but added the rest as it's stuff your characters are likely to either know already or be able to find out. (And if it doesn't get used here then it might elsewhere...)

Not hugely advancing the plot I know, but I figured I'd witter on about Maya for a bit.

So, yay or nay on Molovich? Any problems or am I good to go?

good to go

EDIT *

Something for you all to react to I'll let some of you post your reactions before the next event takes place (bear in mind that maybe a few seconds will have passed before the next event

oh and

dum dum dummmm

Anyway. Postage (some time ago, given the delay in posting this).

I figured Lyra wasn't anywhere near senior or self-assured enough to try taking control of the whole situation, so I simply had her trying to keep control of her own part of it.

For some reason I though everyone was unarmed but they aren't are they. Hmm, I suppose a pistol of some description will suffice so far won't it?

Quote from: Kallidor on March 11, 2010, 02:25:20 AM
For some reason I though everyone was unarmed but they aren't are they. Hmm, I suppose a pistol of some description will suffice so far won't it?

Grant's definitely not unarmed, though he doesn't have his big burny death weapons on him right now (which I imagine is rather a good thing).

Ah ha

the light was just the beginning.

Well, that psychic blast was definitely not good for Fabio. I wonder what he'll remember when he wakes up?

Well, this should be fun.

Lyra might be wrong about the time they have left before the building comes down - as I say, she's not any kind of engineer, so she's just guessing.

Those of you who are half conscious or less, feel free to have Kai rescue you. Under these adrenaline fueld circumstances, he could quite easily haul two bodies to safety.
Or you could just be rescued by someone else. Your choice.

Let Kai save me. I will be grateful to both him and Lyra.

Likewise, feel free to have someone save Grant -- I dare say I can turn it into a sort of Noodle Incident with Antal (only reason I introduced him was to throw in a series of Noodle Incidents anyway, so this can be one of them)

Incidentally I lost a post where Grant was actually up and bellowing for everyone to get the hell out, and Antal had been blinded by something, and I'm not rewriting that now. :P

Noodle?

Noodle. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleIncident)

Ahh, I see.

Noodle, noodle noodle noodle. Noodle! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife) Noo-dle. Noodle noodle noodle, noodle noodle. Noodly Appendage. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster) Noodle noodle noodle.

Ramen, brother.

On the note of Noodle Incidents, even though I'm usually in the habit of building up my characters' backgrounds in considerable detail, there are some things in the background which I've alluded to and just haven't explained. Some I might one day get around to - some I do intend to leave unexplained.

~~~~~

Also, how is anyone going to save Grant? Even Kai would have one hell of a task to haul someone in power armour out of there!

Mol can probably do it, a seven foot ten-ish ex-skitarii with very good bionic arms and legs should be able to drag him away at the least. Probably best to carry him though in case scratching the armour offends the machine spirit.

It'd probably be a joint effort between several PCs and Antal (who, I've just noticed, I've not described. Give me a moment and I will provide a picture)

Well, Molovich would actually have to enter the half-destroyed building to do that.

I suppose that works - someone with Mechanicus training and augmentations could assess the building's structure and get a much better estimate of how long it was before it came down than a wildly guessing Inquisitor. If they thought the numbers were right, it could give them the "bravery" to walk in there and assist.

This is Gideon Antal, Grant's associate. (http://i42.tinypic.com/210ilwz.jpg)

I may do Grant himself a bit later.

This is Ottakar Grant. (http://i42.tinypic.com/16m803p.jpg)

Or at least, it's trying to be -- what I use doesn't yet have the option of either humans of non-white backgrounds, or wrist-mounted weapons of mass destruction. :P

Wow, nice graphics there.

Good thing Jeremiah uses warp strength.

Postage, and another couple of Noodle Incidents thrown in for you. :P

Sorry I haven't been around, something happened to the internet connection and Praise the Omnisiah I managed to fix; not sure how I pulled that one of though  :-\


Looks like Mol is totally irrelevant anyway now.

QuoteWell, Molovich would actually have to enter the half-destroyed building to do that.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of tone you're using here but at the end of the last post I made IC they were heading inside so I don't see the issue. Anyway, if everyone's coming out there's no point saying Mol's going in so he might as well wait outside and then hang around at the back.

Well. It seems like Maya has found her senses again. Not too pleased though.

Quote from: Kallidor on March 13, 2010, 02:00:57 PM...but at the end of the last post I made IC they were heading inside so I don't see the issue.

Fair enough. I figured they were outside and unlikely to enter a damaged building unless they had particular reason to - either assessing it as safer than Lyra had, or something VERY important.

Yeah.

Was going to edit this into my earlier post, but I forgot and now people are gonna be looking down to the bottom of the thread anyway so I'll post it here.

Basically, since Grant is about as foreign as they come, I'm trying to pitch Antal as both an old acquaintance of his, and as a member of the local Conclave. In case you want your character to know Antal, he's basically a big flirt with a big mouth on him. Fairly simple fellow, likes swords, likes hitting heretics with his swords, prefers his women as Determinators (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Determinator) (the aforementioned Eliesa Schwertwald is one of these in other stuff I'm writing; although Plucky Girl (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PluckyGirl) is supposed to be the female counterpart, it isn't really a trope that's relevant to the Inquisition). Has a soft spot for grox kebabs. Is indifferent to politics and hasn't opted to run for head of the Conclave himself.


...guess I should edit this into Grant's profile, under a new "Associates" section...

Well, Fabio and Kai seem to be hitting it off. Although it seems that Fabio has once again lost his memory. How tiresome. Although not entirely unexpected.

I hope no-one will mind the interruption but it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Works for me. I love your character by the way. Very creepy-gothic. I'm assuming he won't want a lho-stick.

I've been pondering that one and I'm not sure which way he'd go. Ask him.

by the by the answer to Jeremiah's question should be

no

and they most definatly will not be able to contact the due to the psychic static in the sky.

Well, Grant's buggered unless we can account for Storm Troopers having brains (sufficient to know something's wrong, but not sufficient to know to stay away). All he has is his armour and a side-arm of some sort, most likely a stub gun or laspistol.

That, or he's the designated "tank" for this operation...

Fabio disagrees with Jeremiah. Mainly because you posted while I was writing my bit.  :P

We shall see who is right.

Anyone got an untouchable in their retinue?

No, but Grant's got his own way of dealing with such difficulties; you'll see what I mean in a bit.

Cool. I look forward to it.

There we go. :)

Thanks. He really needed that. Crude, but undeniably effective.

Fabio owes Ottakar a few packets of tabac when he wakes up.

Tony, very slight issue -- while I appreciate your use of Grant, he's not normally that inclined towards direct physical assaults (in fact he'd probably have shot that guy with his present side-arm rather than flatten him under his boot), and I wouldn't exactly call a guy who's only about 4'11" a "brute" :P

I'll post a bit later whenI get home from work, and might give you a Deathwatch post too if I'm well enough. Something's been killing me since Saturday.

Well, Fabio's up, a little faster than expected perhaps. Yet once again, he has missed something. Poor guy.

urgh, cancel my mention of maknig a post, in the hour since I last posted I've been feeling decidedly worse than earlier. If I make anything today it'll be a lot later than planned, but most likely it'll be towards Thursday.

Whoever thought killing themselves was a way to get out of being questioned had little idea that there would be a psyker there at the time.

Also, as you've probably guessed, I'm going with the idea that Gideon and Lyra have some passing acquaintance with each other.
Although, presumably, they haven't really seen much of each other in the few years since Lyra recruited Maya.

Gideon does indeed have a tendency to get around.

As for the telepathy stuff, I suppose guys like this one need to learn to use toxins that kill off brain matter, or to render their brains unusable by some other means... then again, generic low-end villain types are a bit short on sense by definition.

Quote from: Koval on March 16, 2010, 03:53:41 PM... or to render their brains unusable by some other means.

An explosive charge implanted in the brain would do the trick. Not going to be much that a telepath could do with that kind of mess.

Quotethen again, generic low-end villain types are a bit short on sense by definition.

Indeed. That said, it probably wouldn't occur to even those slightly more blessed with sense - psykers aren't exactly plentiful.
However, when going into an Inquisition fortress likely to be well populated with telepaths, the distinction between clinical and brain death becomes a little more important.

Still, I suppose it got him out of being tortured to death.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on March 16, 2010, 08:20:28 PM

Quotethen again, generic low-end villain types are a bit short on sense by definition.

Indeed. That said, it probably wouldn't occur to even those slightly more blessed with sense - psykers aren't exactly plentiful.
However, when going into an Inquisition fortress likely to be well populated with telepaths, the distinction between clinical and brain death becomes a little more important.

You could argue that he was braindead to begin with, or at least stupid enough to qualify (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawfulStupidChaoticStupid).

Daemon time? *enthusiastic*

Yay, cosmic horrors. As soon as they manifest Gideon's probably gonna pass Grant the biggest gun left (Probably a bolt pistol) and run off to hide somewhere.

Out of the two, Grant has never fought more than one or two daemons at a time (usually the lowest-level sentient that can communicate with its summoner, so for example a Bloodletter). Gideon on the other hand has encountered daemons on three separate occasions, one of which entailed a full-blown planetary invasion (incidentally, planet Adin is now uninhabitable on account of being, well, Mordor without an atmosphere), and as a consequence he isn't all that enthusiastic about fighting them unless he absolutely has to. He therefore respects, and is scared witless of, any and all Ordo Malleus operatives... something Glosche may be able to use to his advantage later on, as it happens.

just some little screamers streaking through the sky

they can be explained away as xenos


move along nothing to see here

If that wasn't quite what you wanted the beacon to be for Necris send me a PM and I can ammend that post.

nope it's good you got the idea the transponder was placed as an emergency escape plan, a drop ship awaits the beacons signal...

what comes with it.....

Might as well get the killing started - whichever way around the killing is going to happen.

I originally wrote more of that post, but cut it back to leave more of a cliffhanger for someone else to jump onto.

~~~~~

As you may have noticed, I'm doing a bit of exploration with Maya's powers.

I hadn't originally given her the Fireball psychic power on her tabletop profile, but she's meant to have powers based around low-level telepathy, micro telekinesis and pyrokinetics - while her powers are often a mix of the different disciplines, there's no reason she couldn't just hurl fire at the enemy, given the relatively moderate skill and control it would take compared to the other things she's capable of.

She has more powers on her character sheet than when I started this RP, I can tell you.

Postage. Swarb, I expanded on your mention of close quarters fighting and had something manifest near you and Grant.

by the way, prepare for incoming brown stuff if you court-martial Gideon for running off -- Grant is literally the only person in this RP aside from Gideon himself who knows why daemons terrify him.

Fabio kicks the arse of an unaligned lesser daemon, in a reference to the Destroy Daemon power from the daemonhunter's codex.

Right, I'm going to not be here this weekend. Wyebold still intends to run for the bunker and try to coordinate things from there

Episode synopsis: Lyra speaks in Latin* & tries to make a badass one Liner, Kai shows why Lyra keeps him around, and Maya rants at a daemon.

*Probably very bad Latin, given that I can't actually speak it.

Okay. Things are not looking too good for Fabio. And everyone else, if that Bloodletter drops him and Grant doesn't take it out.

Let's hope he makes it.

I'll post something in the morning; exactly why I'm still up at 2am, I don't know...

It happens. Sometimes you just can't sleep. Remember though, 2am for you is 9am for me.

So that puts you somewhere around Australia?

Yep. Perth, Western Australia. I thoroughly enjoyed waking up at 3am every day on my trip to western europe last year. My room-mate, however, did not.

Postage, RATED R FOR REPULSIVE. The daemonette's lines are not for the faint of heart. I got that speech off a motivational, believe it or not, with the caption "SMILE. It eases the pain". I don't know where the original image is from, sadly, so I can't credit it, but still, can anyone say Nightmare Fetishist (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NightmareFetishist)?

Indeed. My thanks for allowing Fabio to go spectacular-daemon-gore with the bloodletter. I think I may have met that daemonette before though . . .

Quote from: Swarbie on March 28, 2010, 12:42:48 PMI think I may have met that daemonette before though . . .

Not impossible. Lesser Daemons can be made from the souls of "interesting" dead, stripped down so far that only "existence" is left (Obviously there is stuff like Nurgle's Rot which does this to living people, and the Big Four are powerful  enough to create Lessers from scratch, but it's easier to use a pre-existing, erm, existence -- sorta like how it's easier to mine a natural diamond than make a synthetic one in a lab). I imagine that if I'm not grossly misinterpreting you, this is what happened...

Yep. Sounds much like a particularly foul-mouthed chick I met at a party once. Glad to know she will go to what I could roughly define as hell. Just because Slaanesh is the god of pleasure, doesn't mean his realm is made of condom-trees, ecstasy mines, pubs and brothels.

Anyways, general call-out for someone to perhaps lead the way.

Anyway, not a big post from me, but one I wanted to get in before it was too late to.

Lyra isn't stupid. While she turned down the offer of a bigger weapon earlier, she wasn't expecting she'd be in the middle of fierce fighting, let alone fighting against daemons - so now she has the brief reprieve the ward has offered them from the fight, she's grabbed the biggest gun she's up to using.

...which means no bolt weapons* - those are a bit beyond someone of her stature.

*If there are even any left. They were popular.

The bolt weapons were indeed popular. I get a feeling the three pistols Grant and Fabio grabbed may have been the only ones in the scavenged equipment.

There were initially five, I think; Grant (well, Gideon) took two and I forgot to keep track of who else had one, so the one on the top of the pile might not have been the last one -- there may have been more buried in the bottom of the crate.

For whoever's leading the group of Inquisitors; Gideon will be trying to put as many of you between him and the daemons as he can contrive. He's not normally this much of a coward but like I said, daemons have caused him rather a lot of grief in the past and have rather scarred him for life. Don't mention Adín around him if you don't want him to cripple you, that's all I will say.

We've stalled...

Posted something... a month after I said I would. Sorry.

It's ok. It let me put in something for everyone else to argue about ;D

Time for the natural rivalry between inquisitors to peak a little, methinks.

"I'll press the big red button!"

"No, I'll press it."

"Neither of you can press it because I'll press it first!"

Etc, etc, etc.

Lyra has decided that she's not really trusting any of you lot. You'll have to excuse her that, as she doesn't really know any of the other characters.

Of course, she's not going to tell any of you that she suspects that some of you may be involved in the conspiracy.
But she's certainly going to watch you for any signs that you might be.

In the absence of anyone else posting, I've continued the story a bit myself, as well as developing Lyra's own (rather embarrassing*) history with daemons a certain amount.
*But to be fair on her, when you've spent most of your life thus far as an archaeology student, encountering a daemon for the first time probably is pretty scary - particularly if you think you're alone.

I'm hoping I'm not too off the mark with Arisha, but I took it that the stress and terror of fighting daemons might start to catch up with a somewhat nervous interrogator after the adrenaline ran out.

My apologies I've not been getting much free time of late, work is leaving me very washed out 

I've not been posting much myself because, frankly, there isn't a lot for Ottakar to actually do around here at the moment. Filler with Gideon isn't high on the agenda.

I think we might be heading back out.

Jeremiah wants to activate the transponder and others might want to activate it too

... and Lyra is rather adamant that she doesn't want it turned on.

Not that she's scared... well, I suppose she is, but that's because she's been doing this long enough to know that turning on unknown pieces of enemy equipment is not usually a good idea.

Also, it is forbidden to tell Lyra anything along the lines of "This. Is. SPARTA!", even if she did assess the idea of turning the beacon on as "madness".

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on May 11, 2010, 04:34:55 PM
Also, it is forbidden to tell Lyra anything along the lines of "This. Is. SPARTA!", even if she did assess the idea of turning the beacon on as "madness".

Can we tell her this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhWXa2ka5o) or this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIFlDl1TWd0&feature=related) instead?

No. Mostly because I've swapped it out with something that reinforces Lyra's unusual curse of choice "shaft".

Although that does remind me, I do need to add in more Pink Floyd references. I'm not sure I've used any in this RP yet.
And that's very poor form on my part - I had one in the first hundred words I wrote for "After Hours".

Fabio delivers his opinion carefully and succinctly. Make of it what you will.

I've used it as an excuse to start adding in the missing Pink Floyd references. ;D

Really? *hurries over to IC thread*

Making vague references to "doing your job" when you should be working in unison? Not necessarily the best thing around someone who suspects there may be other traitors in the Inquisition.

So, we finally have Maya demonstrating possibly her most useful ability - the power to go literally unseen. Not completely flawless, and takes some astounding concentration on her part, but when it works, utterly invaluable.

Not the kind of power you regularly see an Imperially sanctioned psyker using. For the obvious reason that a psyker who has such a talent usually either can't be found in the first place (in teh imoartul wurdz of cieling cat, "INVISIBLE PSYKER!"), or kills themselves in the process of trying to perform such a complex combination.

EDIT: Oh yeah, those of you who are staying behind have the full freedom to ask Lyra inconvenient questions like where Maya has got to.

He is doing his job

He's finding out more about the man behind this,

And he doesn't care what people think of him, and isn't used to waiting around to be given orders he's more accustomed to giving them ala what he's doing now.

Postage, ninja'd (dammit, Tony). Grant's slinging his weight around -- I've left it open for Marco to have Lyra question him as forcefully as is necessary.

Also, Gideon needs a drink (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHjpaqv7CQw&feature=related)

Hmmm. Fabio puts his observational skills to good use and spots a potentially fatal flaw in Lyra's plan. The floor is yours, Marco.

Lyra chooses to defer to Fabio's experience on this one.

I will probably come back and add more later, but right now, I have a dog that needs walking.

EDIT: Actually, I may leave it for now. However, I am left wondering why Ottakar has decided that he would sooner trust Lyra than Gideon.

Because of the Noodle Incident at Adín -- we've already seen how Gideon behaves around the advance guard, and if indeed a full-scale daemonic incursion is on its way then the poor sod's gonna go to pieces. I doubt Lyra suffers from a similar disorder.

Yeah, that makes sense. Reading that, I was going to ask why not Fabio - it would seem that the Malleus Inquisitor might be the right choice - but I suppose his pessimism doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Also, I don't know whether it's intentional, but I've just noticed that Jeremiah now seems to have two different last names.

~~~~~

Anyway, I got bored earlier, so I hit the sketchpad. After my hand had stopped aching, I decided that drawing on it was a better idea, and had a go at working out Maya's appearance. Here's where I got to. (http://ragnarokeotw.deviantart.com/art/On-wings-of-fire-WIP-164058537) Obviously, she doesn't walk around with the fiery 15 foot wings the whole time.

I did think about whether such a psychic talent would be viable - not sure there's exactly a precedent (I know there is a mention of a magical version in the 6th edition Empire Army book, but this isn't Fantasy), but in the end, shaping psychic fire in such a way should be possible.

Actually flying might be a bit trickier however.

Yes, a man who broods over his forgotten past while continuously smoking, injecting himself with stimulants or making sarcastic remarks does not make for the most inspiring or trust-worthy person. And, of course, no-one really knows what happened to influence his mind all those years ago.

But Fabio being Fabio, he doesn't really care at the moment, so he's gonna go shoot some daemons.

@Marco: I'm sorry, but my computer's filters won't let me see the picture. However, I think I can visualize what you are talking about, and it seems rather an impressive idea. You're right, though, actually flying would be difficult.

I may be able to solve that problem. If deviantART is a problem for anyone, I've just uploaded it in both Photobucket (http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/RagnarokEOTW/MayaWings1800.jpg) and Imageshack (http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/8113/mayawings1800.jpg) versions.

I can see it now, and it is very cool. I like her hair.

Yeah, I decided I was just going to go for it with her. Glowing eyes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GlowingEyesOfDoom), Echoing voice (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PowerEchoes), Wind blowing her hair about (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DramaticWind) - all common side effects of her powers.

Whether they are unintentional side effects or something she deliberately does to amplify her "shock and awe" factor is up for debate however.
She's very much a show(wo)man when it comes to her powers, and often overdoes it simply to try and stun those around her into submission. Of course, that can sometimes make things worse...

WHOAMG CLOUD STRIFE HAIR.

Maya is now a lot less cool >_>

The all-over-the-place-spikiness is because I'm rubbish at drawing hair (particularly when it's being blown about), not because I actually want her to look like a porcupine. ::)

The word "amateur" definitely features in the description of any of my artistic talents.

Trust me, she looks a lot better than anything I could draw. If I try to draw a human, it ends up looking like a mutant. Not even a good-looking, well-drawn mutant.

I get that a lot. Just about any time I admit a non-mastery of art, someone else will assure me that their mastery is even less complete.
But in the end, perfection isn't all that important. Sure, I'd like to be better, but I'll improve with time, and in the end, I enjoy my art anyway, and I can get a concept down well enough to share it with other people - and that's enough for now.

That said, that I'm even there is highly improbable in its own right. I quit art as a school subject first chance I got.
And, if I'm permitted some ramble, the fact that such a thing happened is just stupid. I like the subject (now, at least) - the fact I hated it so much at the time as to quit gives you an idea of how badly it was being taught.
In the end, I've learnt more from some fairly basic art textbooks and a joke bet than from years of school classes. It's not been all that hard to learn... they just never taught me. They just told me to paint X, draw Y or sculpt Z. Sure, practice is incredibly important, but gorram it, I needed to be taught how to learn drawing first. (Very meta. Needing to learn how to learn.)

Ugh. If they followed that practice in any other aspect of the school, it'd be laughable: "Kids, go into the chemistry lab. Mix up Compound A - I'm not going to teach you how to do it, I'm just going to expect you to do it anyway."

Anyway, to put that bugbear aside, this particular piece remains something of a work in progress, so I've made a few small tweaks - it's possible you may be seeing a full colour version at some point in the future.

Alas two similar character names for two different things

and typically I get them mixed up...at least it's only the once here not like the other....3 chapters of edits to sort through oh joy

Anyway, another section from me. Lyra starts a conversation with Ottakar - although, as the post suggests, she's being very careful about it.

Koval, it's up to you if you want to continue that conversation or just leave it to me, but here's a few points...

She's obviously looking to find out how trustworthy he may be. The fact that he's not native to the sector may be good or bad - it seems improbable that someone would get involved in a plot 30000 ly away (potentially making him reasonably trustworthy), but then, it's improbable he's there at all.

Of course, she's not necessarily entirely convinced that he really IS from that far away.

Another question is likely to be:
"What exactly has that sergeant been ordered to do with the beacon?"

Other statements may include:
"Good. I'm glad someone else is actually taking that transmitter seriously."
"Someone needs to calm Gideon down... I'd offer the job to you, but I think we may still need him conscious."

Hopefully I've handled Lyra at least inadequately (which is better than handling the Idiot Ball (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall), I guess)

So, I've put a little post-hook in for anyone who wants it. Feel free to make up what may be happening out there, but first in, first served and all that. My suggestions are: something big, lots of little ones, something dangerous but alone, or something entirely unexpected (from my point of view. I don't have the widest stretching imagination.).

So, yeah. Go nuts, or tone it down, your choice.

daemon prince!

Well, good job there are some reinforcements on the way to Crowe. Bad for them, of course, because now they're all going to die.

No, that's fine for Lyra. Often I like putting my characters into an RP simply so that other players might throw me a bit of a curveball - someone else might do something that I hadn't thought of, and give the character a quirk that helps make them a bit more unique.
Sometimes characters just need a bit of input from other people to mix them up a little.

Now, as far as that Daemon Prince... we should all know that no daemon can survive the Power of ROCK (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePowerOfRock)! Break out the guitars!

Okay, that's not actually going to help us. But still, I reserve the right to base my character's names on those of  rock/metal guitarists. (It's the naming theme for this "warband": Lyra Rhodes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Rhoads), Kai Gillmore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gilmour) and Maya Avens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Howell_Evans).)

Do you have a character called Downing? :P

Not currently, although I do intend to add more characters to this particular group in future (whether or not they'll be tabletop characters will vary) - and I will continue with the naming theme.

Is this Daemon Prince heading back to the rest of us?

I certainly hope not although I do get the impression it's following Jeremiah...

I'm just stuck on something for Molovich to do.

Explain why the long-range vox won't work. Or repair it, allowing the situation across the planet to be discovered to be just as bad, while interference prevents us contacting orbit. Or say that what Fabio saw was the Arbites precinct-fortress plasma reactor going critical (brilliant way to discourage sneak attacks by rebellious governors, incidentally, since the explosion will take half of the capital city with it). Or it was a daemon horde and requires shooting. Or talk to Bernard about the tactical situation and the possibility of escaping the city in an armoured breakout, or by air if anyone can get Valkyries or shuttles operational.

Aye, that sounds good, bombing the Arbites sounds like an idea. Bit late now so I'll get on with that later on.

We really are twisted bastards, aren't we? "Blowing up the Arbites sounds like a good idea".

This city is having really bad luck. First a load of psykers blow up, then the Arbites blow up, and if things go really tits up, they'll get blown up from orbit.
Anything else? Oh yeah - there's some daemons, but I'm not sure they amount to much of a threat against the rampant pyrotechnics.

Look, we are a bunch of people with vivid imaginations and, in my case at least, a short attention span. Increasing levels of pyrotechnics hold our attention until our imaginations have formed images of the daemons, then we realize we like the pyrotechnics a lot so we add more in.

Daemons are fun, but are in most cases relatively small compared to a plasma reactor going critical.

A short section from me that looks to wrap up Lyra and Ottakar's conversation for the moment. (Thought it was best to get it out of the way before any more giant explosions).

Although it's not actually stated on the profile I posted up in this thread for Lyra, the fuller version includes the line: "Willing to extend the benefit of the doubt."

While she doesn't automatically trust people, it doesn't take too much to gain her (tentative) trust - but bear in mind this line: "However, those who know her know that this doesn't mean she can be pushed, as she is very much a 'one chance' woman" (which is in the earlier profile).

Those people who are stupid enough to mess with her find out just how true the phrase "hell has no fury like a woman scorned" is.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on May 19, 2010, 04:41:48 PM
Those people who are stupid enough to mess with her find out just how true the phrase "hell has no fury like a woman scorned" is.

Lyra is Valkia the Bloody? (http://i43.tinypic.com/2uhb8ma.jpg)

*Insert swear words here*

After the fight six months ago, my laptop seems to be packing up again. The wireless card failed earlier today (so I'm currently on a wired connection), the graphics are getting more and more sluggish (although they have been for some time), and it's regularly degenerating into panicked beeping.
I'm going to have to call the suppliers again and get them to fix it - and last time I sent it off, it took them six weeks to only half fix it.
(That ridiculous wait is why I've held out getting it fixed.)

I'll be forced into sharing a computer while this is going on, so likely less input from me while it's actually sent away.
An upside, if I can even pretend one exists, is that I've known the computer's failure was coming for some time now, so I've lined up quite a lot of projects for while I'm without computing power.

Quote from: Koval on May 19, 2010, 06:42:15 PMLyra is Valkia the Bloody?

No... the phrase has been around much much much longer than that.

bugger

and here was me about to ask you about sculpting minis

I think we can take it as read that the Arbites are all dead but of anyone fancies using one or two I've left it suitably ambiguous just in case.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on May 19, 2010, 11:39:55 PM

Quote from: Koval on May 19, 2010, 06:42:15 PMLyra is Valkia the Bloody?

No... the phrase has been around much much much longer than that.

My attempt at humour fell through, it seems.

Shame about the laptop. I need to get a new one myself because... well, let me put it anothr way, I dunno how it's even survived all I've done to it.

Quote from: Koval on May 20, 2010, 08:13:53 AMShame about the laptop. I need to get a new one myself because... well, let me put it anothr way, I dunno how it's even survived all I've done to it.

What I hate is the way laptops are made so that you can barely do anything with them yourself - if the graphics are going, you can't just go out and buy a new and more up to date part and replace the failing one.

... no, you have to send it back, at which point they will try and pinch pennies as much as possible and just send back a half reconditioned card. Frankly, I'd be content to pay for just a straight out replacement of the failing parts. A) It'd take them far less time to do than trying to "fix it" and B) it'd last longer.

Yes, it is now an ageing laptop, but I don't want/need to replace it (I don't use it for anything that taxing), and frankly, I'd rather it didn't fail six weeks out of warranty.

Quote from: Necris on May 20, 2010, 12:01:13 AMand here was me about to ask you about sculpting minis

I'm not going to be gone completely - but if I'm forced into sharing other computers, I will be around less often.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on May 20, 2010, 05:20:30 PM

Quote from: Koval on May 20, 2010, 08:13:53 AMShame about the laptop. I need to get a new one myself because... well, let me put it anothr way, I dunno how it's even survived all I've done to it.

What I hate is the way laptops are made so that you can barely do anything with them yourself - if the graphics are going, you can't just go out and buy a new and more up to date part and replace the failing one.

... no, you have to send it back, at which point they will try and pinch pennies as much as possible and just send back a half reconditioned card. Frankly, I'd be content to pay for just a straight out replacement of the failing parts. A) It'd take them far less time to do than trying to "fix it" and B) it'd last longer.

This is why I prefer a bigger desktop computer. Not only can I put the darn thing together myself (and that's exactly what I did for my current and previous desktops) but you can replace bits yourself and be up and running again in hours while needing to pay less.

Ah well.

If a desktop were practical for me, I'd much rather the serviceability (and the extra processing power wouldn't hurt), but in the end, I need the mobility of a laptop.

Bloody annoying really.

Well, the good news is that my laptop isn't completely dead, so I've managed to magic this up - a coloured version of Maya.
DeviantArt (http://ragnarokeotw.deviantart.com/art/Burning-angel-wings-to-dust-165124793) & ImageShack (http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/88/mayawingscolour1800.jpg)

Afraid it's not a new segment for the story, but given how tired I am at the moment, it's probably a good idea that I'm not writing...

Ooh, very fancy. I like the force effect around her hand.

I should have put that up three days ago, so it ran straight on from Swarbie's post. Ah, well. Sorry I dragged Fabio inside again, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. How am I going to convince Bernard that defending the city is hopeless? By the by, the war-riders are equipped to full Steel Legion standard, aren't they? Just thought I'd check before I let Captain Henroth fire the Basilisk battery. I imagine most of the population not inside the defended zone has been massacred by now and the zone is next, because it looks like I've let the bunker and surroundings get off the lightly up until now.

Fabio tells Bernard their chances for survival, ie, slim as a monomolecular blade to none.

I'm assuming that Lyra (and Kai, who serves as something of a military advisor to her) is in the middle of discussions with others but I don't really feel like writing such discussion right now.

So instead, here's a segment from Maya's viewpoint. She appears to have found something...

Interesting. Not sure what to make of it, and seeing as Fabio's well occupied at the moment, I shall wait and see what comes of it.

Well Ottakar's not exactly busy. I owe all of you a post anyway.

EDIT: Grant demonstrates destructive practicality at its finest.

And I give you the result. Not quite a pile of rubble (I assume the wall is somewhat sturdy), but near enough is good enough.

Well, for all he's playing at being a Space Marine, Grant doesn't weigh half a tonne, so I guess that's a fairly accurate result...

Tony, your post just confused me.

I had to go back to work will finish it now...

Anyway, in an attempt to avoid tying up the RP waiting for me... a post!

Koval - in response to what Ottakar is saying, I haven't given Maya a final value for her age yet, but it's likely to be mid-twenties to early-thirties.

Also, it's probably a good thing that Ottakar tried knocking down the wall. Maya's approach would have been far messier - and by messy, I may mean "molten concrete".

Just caught up on the last few posts and I only have one question: what the hell is going on?  :P

Jeremiah has just punched a PDF general, Lyra is holding him at gunpoint because of that, Maya and Ottakar have just made a hole in a "fake" wall inside the bunker (I had originally thought about the possibility of it leading to a tunnel network, but whether or not it does is up to the story) and everyone else is panicking about the daemon prince about to show up at the front door.

Thanks for the clarification, it just seemed like everyone had gone mad for no reason. Well Mol is out the back rigging a Chimera for when the daemon turns up so he won't know about the ruckus going on inside and none of his people have the authority to interfere unless anyone wants them to and the skitarii are expendable enough to send through the hole in the wall.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on June 10, 2010, 01:34:30 AM
Koval - in response to what Ottakar is saying, I haven't given Maya a final value for her age yet, but it's likely to be mid-twenties to early-thirties.

Coincidentally the Clarence he mentions is 105, so, 3-4x Maya's age wouldn't be far off.

He's not wrong, by the way; sparks would fly between them, and not just because he's even randier than Gideon, though it's incredibly likely the "sparks" would in fact be much bigger and more destructive. I get the feeling Maya doesn't like men very much.

Anyway, a brief addition from Lyra. What she says isn't QUITE true - there are a couple of people she might tolerate doing that kind of thing, but she knows them a hell of a lot better than she does Jeremiah.

Quote from: Koval on June 10, 2010, 08:31:30 AMI get the feeling Maya doesn't like men very much.

Depends on her mood and the man in question. Today, she's having a very bad day and if you combine that with her empathic powers allowing her to easily see through insincerity, she's not going to be particularly sociable if some randy old git comes over.

On a better day, and around men whose every second thought isn't about trying to get into her - uh... I would say trousers, but she doesn't normally wear them. Ah, whatever. You know what I mean - she's normally fine.
But she is somewhat jaded towards men in general*. And let me stress this here - unlike some writers, when I say that, it does not mean "she's moved on to women". It's more appropriate to describe her as asexual.

*She doesn't dress the way she does because she wants to appear sexually attractive, but because it's part of her deliberately portraying herself in a way where people will dismiss her as less likely to be a threat.

... Um. While I'm not usually going to complain about other people's interpretations of my characters, I think I do have to comment on that post Necris.

Kai isn't the type to wade in when Lyra's backed off (even if she's only backed off slightly). His rank of sergeant isn't just arbitrary - like a sergeant in the military, he'll use his own initiative at times, but he is still ultimately a subordinate expected to follow with what the higher-ups want. And in this case, that means not picking up fights Lyra has left.

Secondly, Jeremiah's former experience or not, Kai is still a slab of muscle with extensive experience in close quarters. Even for those with biomancy enhanced strength, he's not quite that easily pushed around.

Lastly, and most importantly - if Jeremiah had assaulted Kai immediately after Lyra had just warned him about the antihero act, then there would now be a firefight* going on.
As that's probably not an outcome particularly conducive to the continuation of this story, I think I'm going to have to ask you to omit (or at least rewrite**) the altercation between Kai and Jeremiah.

* I say firefight, rather than gunfight, as any fight Maya contributes to is usually rather dominated by fire.

** Kai is not likely to actively start a confrontation (unintentional or misunderstandings are possible). The only real exception is if he thinks you're about to inflict harm upon Lyra, in which case, there would be no hesitation, and you'd probably get a fight anyway.
And as I say, if Jeremiah actually does anything to earn much further ire from Lyra (assaulting her staff included), then that's another way to start a fight.

There hopefully edited

Postage. We still need to work out what's behind that wall, but my guess is, it's a tunnel to some secret heretical stash of weird and not-so-wonderful goodies.

or maybe a secret meeting chamber filled with more evidence

Quote from: Necris on June 15, 2010, 07:49:46 AMThere hopefully edited

Yeah, that works. As it was, while Lyra is reasonably forgiving, that would have been a bit too much.

When she's really wound up, restraint is not one of her virtues. And that's why there's an impending explosion.

Fabio decides that finding a mook of sorts is the best plan for exploring the tunnel. Preferably a heavily-augmented, well-armed mook, such as one of Czernarvok's skitarri, but a cook or scribe would function just as well, I suppose.

There are three Skitarii (I think I said three anyway) so one of them is free to go along.

Hm. It's short, and doesn't actually include any of my characters. I think I'll edit it shortly. Also, while checking back, I realised that one of the three Skitarii was chopped up by a Bloodletter, so there are only two.

Edit: Well, I've added a gizmo, fixed the spelling and done a bit that tidies up Wyebold's staff. Bit of a stretch on 'shortly', though.

Post that gets in a bit more about the underground room before we get tied up in a meeting/discussion/argument.

With regards to the meeting/discussion/argument, Lyra is likely to still make the point that what Gerhan believes and what is true are not necessarily the same.
As well as, if it really is true, do they really want to turn on the device and have a potentially heavily armed dropship turn up?

(Of course, someone else could well make these points first, but Lyra would say them if no-one else got there ahead of her.)

EDIT: Huh, seems this is my 1000th post. (Although I don't think post count includes the IC section). I dread to think what having 1000 posts on a forum about playing make-believe with toy soldiers says about me.

I had over 5000 posts on the old 'Clave so I wouldn't worry too much. It's only when you consider that you've written millions of words that it makes you really think.

This whole situation is going to be somewhat of a suprise for Molovich, I don't think he even knows about the interrogation since, as I recall, he went outside before all the fracas happened. I reckon if Mol had been there on his own he would have activated the beacon ages ago.

It is going to be impossible for me to even read this for a week. I have a feeling this might be a bad time to not be here, so I thought I'd note Bernard's probable attitude to the new information about the beacon, in case anyone wants to argue with him. From his point of view, the fight for the planet is very much ongoing and not necessarily hopeless. He will probably stick quite strongly to this, especially if the only other option is escape and Exterminatus. Even if demonstrated that the whole planet has more-or-less fallen, he'd likely try to find another option that would allow maximum evacuation. Bernard really isn't fond of Exterminatus as a tactic. Sorry about vanishing like this – I could write some plot irrelevant grisly goings-on in the city while I'm away, but I might settle for working out backgrounds for Bernard's mob.

Not the best passage I've ever written, but this seems to have totally stalled, so I'm at least trying to push it forwards.

Aye. Thanks for the push, Marco.

In the meantime, Fabio decides to organize one last surprise.

Well, things seemed to be going too easily, so now I've made it a bit harder. I'm guessing you can work out why Lyra is asking about auditory analysis. (If not, read this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-sniper_tactics#Sniper_vs._Sniper))

Also, I've realised that I've not been writing Lyra quite optimistically enough. Not that she should be irredeemably peppy - especially in a situation like this - but it seems that a certain amount of some of my more cynical characters has been leaking into her personality.
I guess it can be written off under "daemonic auras" affecting her mood, but I'll try and get it sorted from now on.

Well, that may not be the most accurate portrayal of counter-sniping, but Fabio is not really meant to be an expert on the subject. Just a good reaction-shot kind of guy.

However, this may get more interesting if we offer up 'bait' for our little mutie-sniper.

Well, to add to the available options, Lyra presents another possible choice of bait.

I'll respond in kind later on.

In response to Maya: can she make others invisible?

As she says, she can in theory, although her microtelekinesis has only a few metres range.
What she hasn't said is that doing such a thing would be a challenge on a day when there wasn't daemonic corruption in the warp and she hadn't already been pushing herself.

The problem is, if Maya believes something is "the right thing to do", she does sometimes try stupidly selfless things.

Or you could just let Ottakar give it a go, and if all else fails, he can hose the place with his bolt pistol. I'll write something after dinner.

Dammit, Tony, I think we've just broken each other's posts.

Anyway, Ottakar runs for cover and I need to familiarise myself with the whole thread all over again so that I know who has what, where, what's happening.

Well, I've assumed both posts are accurate. The events are a bit of a shambles, but it's not an impossible situation. Perhaps it resulted from bad communication under pressure or a misunderstanding.

After all the confusion, Fabio unburdens himself in expectancy of death. We'll see what happens.

Well, Lyra isn't necessarily sure that Fabio's sacrifice is wise... so she may find use for her graviton grenade yet. (Or not, if you prefer.)

For convenience, a lolcat will now demonstrate the effects of a graviton grenade:
(http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/funny-pictures-stunt-cat.jpg)
Basically, everything in the vicinity not actually fixed down when one goes off will find itself making a rather rapid transition to elsewhere.

Fortunately for Lyra, while incredibly rare and expensive, graviton grenades are rechargeable. It just takes a LOOOOOOOOONG time.

Bon Jovi reference *shock-horror*

Is the grenade a dud? Will it work on a daemon? Will Fabio learn to fly? All this and more in the next installment of: The War of Shadows!

Quick question, is the daemon prince roughly bipedal and of humanoid shape if not stature?

...because I have a nice little movie-Marine thing lined up for either one of Ottakar or Fabio when it goes down...

Aye. Two arms and two legs. Mind, those arms do end in massive claws.

Also, it doesn't matter if Fabio is severely wounded. I've just had a little idea concerning that locket of his . . .

Don't be silly, the grenade is obviously not a dud. Not only has Lyra CLEARLY taken a pause for breath action to check the grenade and make sure she's not getting a risky action this turn, part of her "Pure Luck" skill means she gets to ignore the first 1 rolled on her dice for the purpose of risky actions anyway. :P

Anyway, if it should happen that someone else beats me to writing something "cool" for the effect, Lyra's plan is to get the throw between Fabio and the daemon, and send them flying in different directions... although whether she gets the throw quite right is yet to be seen.
It shouldn't injure Fabio... the actual effects of being in the "blast" are non-lethal, although it would certainly hurt if it propelled him into something solid. (In the same way that falling is not lethal. Stopping suddenly is.)

The other potentially lethal side effect is that, like conventional gravity, heavy things accelerate with as much vigour as lighter things, so it pays to be VERY careful that you're not throwing it near an unsecured heavy object , because said object will become just as airborne... its mass no more secures it than it would for a lighter object.

Yes. I have thought about this a lot.

Hey, we could use Ottakar as a human bullet  :P

Naah, only joking. 

Like I said, don't be afraid to injure Fabio. That locket is really old. One of his family's legends is that the elves gave it to one of his ancestors. Who knows what it might do (besides being a sentimental ornament that is made of silver)

Quote from: Swarbie on August 15, 2010, 11:17:38 AMHey, we could use Ottakar as a human bullet

That would actually be quite lethal...

Oh yeah, the OTHER thing not to do is not to throw the grenade directly under anybody you want to keep alive. While they'll survive the sudden vertical acceleration, they will come back down again.

Hmmm, yes. My little plan might save Fabio from a daemon-claw across the chest, but I don't think it would work if he was effectively pulped by a huge fall. If it did, it would really, REALLY hurt.

I've written the grenade throw... someone else can describe the aftermath.

Did the daemon get thrown? Did the grenade go off soon enough to save Fabio from the daemon's pounce? And most importantly, where's my lunch?

I'd make you a sandwich, but I think it'd go off before it got to you.

EDIT: Well, I added in the result for Fabio. Maybe a little over the top, but such is the 42nd millenium.

Someone help him. Please.

Well, Maya is going to try and help. She's not exactly much of a medic though, especially while her power is exhausted.

As for Maya's staff... well, it is a powerful psychic locus and, if needs be, it can be used as a form of force weapon. Perhaps Jeremiah will be able to use it to help finish the daemon.

Apparently, the events which have transpired since going out this morning have sorta left my daemon-killing idea rather out in the cold, unless it survives the flying force staff.

It did, as it happens, sorta involve using Ottakar as a human cannonball, but he'd need a hell of a boost and with Maya apparently staff-less, bye-bye psi-focus, bye-bye kill.

Well, Maya's power is exhausted as a result of overstretching herself with veiling Fabio - she's not reliant on her staff for her powers (although it certainly helps).
If you just need a psi-focus, then you might be able to blag it off Jeremiah. If you need Maya's power... well, she might be able to manage something. And if you need both, then Ottakar could I suppose grab the staff instead of Jeremiah and chase after Maya.

That said, I'm not exactly sure how she would "boost" Ottakar anyway. She doesn't have that kind of telekinetic power (it's called microtelekinesis for a reason). A huge pyrokinetic explosion*?
*Which, given how crude a use of her power it would be (compared to bending trillions of photons and air particles in a very precise manner at the same time as maintaining a telepathic distraction, everything is crude)... well, I'd say she could probably have a go.

Ultimately, Ottakar is an Inquisitor. If he thinks his idea for killing it will work better, then him taking the initiative and going for it his way is perfectly likely.

Will send a PM entailing exactly what I had planned. It only related to actually killing the daemon, though, not how Ottakar's actually going to get there.

Don't know if you'll get to it in time, but I've PMed a possible way to solve that. I have to walk the dog soon now, so I can't write it, but I think it would work.

Postage. Cookie for the first person (not Marco, as he knows about it) who works out where I stole that kill from.

If in fact it's not a Slaaneshi Prince, then I'll edit my post accordingly.

Necris, I'd note that Lyra is still up on the walls, helping drive off what remains of this wave of the attack.

It's Maya who was over with Fabio.

Dude, I think we're dealing with broken posts again. Bit hacked off that we've managed to go from AWESOME MOVIE KILL (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FastballSpecial) to "it never happened and Ottakar was on ground level shooting at the daemon".

hopefully thats fixed it

Wrong thread?

directed at whom?

The dude posting his underpowered game character.

Well, Fabio's changed for the better. But how is this possible? What is the purpose of the crystal?

I've given breathing space for others to post their characters thoughts about the events, and then Fabio shall explain. This could get interesting.

It could indeed.

Ottakar transferring to Malleus would mean he's the only Inquisitor I use that's been in all the major Ordos. It's actually a very interesting thought.

I think I'll leave him as Xenos, though, otherwise things would get rather complicated back in his home sector. He's already left the Hereticus, for a start.

Perhaps a wise choice. We don't want people getting the idea that he may have been punted from Ordo to Ordo, do we? :P

Just be thankful he's not being punted in the direction of the Sicarius.

Sorry i posted on wrong thread

Well, we're getting closer Necris, but the name of the person next to Fabio is now "Laya". ::)

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 16, 2010, 05:07:37 PM
Laya

Don't mind if I do.

No matter Silv's response now, Ottakar's immediate reaction to whatever she says will probably be along the lines of "Now let's both shut up and focus on the enemy rather than each other" before making a point of getting away from her and firing his (presumably reloaded) bolt pistols at anything Chaotic.

He doesn't do idle threats, by the way, so if Silv argues too much then she's probably going to end up legless pretty quickly.

Maya kicks some arse. I figured it was time for her to prove just why Lyra described her as able to rout entire squads of trained soldiers. (Refer to this post (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=562.msg7674#msg7674).)

Of course, a flaming rampage is one thing. The reactions of the collected Inquisitors are another, but that's for you lot to descride*.

*Descride = Describe + Decide. It's a good word for collaborative RPs.

EDIT: And yes, I had to include the flaming wings (http://fav.me/d2qb73t) somewhere. However, they're actually mostly for show. The actual flight is more to do with telekinetically induced updraughts.

Any one who wants to be the interrupting party feel free

I have an idea of who's going to interrupt, and a plan for another small crisis, involving the gizmo from earlier.

Edit: will add more exciting stuff shortly (ish)

Just for the record (I'm not complaining, more surprised), I hadn't planned that Maya would deal with more than a handful or so of the "few dozen" cultists that there were described as being. But I suppose we have just had a quite lengthy action section, so I suppose there's been a plenty of chance for the other characters to introduce boots to posteriors.

In short, sorry Fabio, it looks like you didn't get to earn back any good graces with Silv* by killing cultists.
*That's freaking hard to get right. I'm so used to typing "Silva", that I keep putting the A on the end by mistake.

So, now for something completely different. And by completely different, I mean "bickering between each other instead of fighting daemons".

~~~~~

Actually, while I'm here, I've got some wisdom to share. If you put down headphones with neodymium magnets in them down on a desk which has bits of DIY projects on it make sure that no screws have attached themselves to the earbuds BEFORE you try and put them back in.

Apparently, Inquisitor Fye didn't screen out all the cultists, though some probably would have been in place before. He's probably dead by now anyway.  I realised that Wyebold hasn't got people near enough to Gerhan to narrate an interruption, but my post probably gives a decent idea of the kind of person about to come through the door.

Gerhan is out

if any one hears Silv's vox transmission thats up to people.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 17, 2010, 02:50:41 AM
So, now for something completely different. And by completely different, I mean "bickering between each other instead of fighting daemons".

Accidental Python reference or intentional?

Anyway, the bickering can be quite easily focused on Fabio and the crystal: if I've got the measure of the Inquisition, there will probably be a few objections to what he wants to do with it.

As for what the crystal is for, that can probably wait until the momentary crisis is over. If someone wants to kick things off, that's fine by me. I'll PM you the crystal's purpose etc, and let you start, then have Fabio explain in full-depth.

Some more killing. While the rulebook says pyromancy only has so many uses, my addendum is that it is very good at those things.
(Of course, Maya can both summon AND control fire, which is most of the reason I use the word pyrokinetic for her, rather than pyromancer.)

Quote from: Swarbie on August 17, 2010, 11:17:05 AMAccidental Python reference or intentional?

Oh, come on. If it's me, and it's a reference to Pink Floyd, Monty Python or Douglas Adams, it is almost certainly intentional.

Quote from: Swarbie on August 17, 2010, 11:17:05 AMAs for what the crystal is for, that can probably wait until the momentary crisis is over. If someone wants to kick things off, that's fine by me.

Well, as Maya is the only person who's really seen it (Jeremiah was unconscious, the medics were dealing with him, and Silv probably wasn't paying attention), I guess she's the most likely candidate to start up that conversation.

Oops, fight's not over just quite yet. I'll just edit out the bit in my post that said it was.

Edit: mopping up is what it must seem like to a guy in a Leman Russ, anyway.

Yeah, as you can probably tell from my earlier OOC post, I had thought it was pretty much over as well - but Swarbie decided it wasn't, so I went along with it.
I suppose the assumption to make is that Silv decided that Maya's involvement meant the result was a foregone conclusion.

Postage. Lyra returns to the bunker to find the renegade guardsmen. Long post is long.

I've also deliberately referenced what I said earlier in the OOC about me constantly mistyping Silv's name. As Lyra knows Silva (and pretty well), it seemed reasonable she'd make the same mistake.

I'm expecting Silv is going to be pretty cross at Lyra - possibly in part because while Lyra has lowered her pistol slightly, she's not about to lower it completely... after all, Silv could be part of this conspiracy and acting as bait. But probably mostly because no-one responded to her vox call.

Judging by the beacon recovery I take it Sergeant Manning's now either dead or a sleeper?

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 17, 2010, 03:40:20 PM

Quote from: Swarbie on August 17, 2010, 11:17:05 AMAs for what the crystal is for, that can probably wait until the momentary crisis is over. If someone wants to kick things off, that's fine by me.

Well, as Maya is the only person who's really seen it (Jeremiah was unconscious, the medics were dealing with him, and Silv probably wasn't paying attention), I guess she's the most likely candidate to start up that conversation.

Ok. I will PM you.

Either way I'll leave that to you Koval

PM received Swarbie.

Expect an instalment from me covering both Lyra and Maya's activities sometime after I have walked the dog.

EDIT: Instalment delayed, but still working on it as quickly as possible.

EDIT #2: Instalment finally posted.

Full explanation provided.

Let the bickering begin.

Uh, first reaction: Ottakar will want to stay the hell out of any decision making re. the golem shard. He's never heard of them before and probably thinks it's more Malleus territory at this stage (fortunately Fabio's Malleus). Being alien to this part of the galaxy it's probably not his right to mess with other Inquisitors' provate affairs; to quote Voltaire, "now now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies"

Gideon will probably support Fabio's decision regardless of what Fabio actually decides to do, unless the group's present sources of T&A are vehemently opposed. He's like that.

Ultimately it's a rather odd predicament. Would smashing it be like saving Marcas' soul? Or has he spent so long in there that smashing it would smash him into conscious fragments that know they've been smashed, and can still feel it? Would it save him or damn him, destroy him, worse?


Also, if anyone wants to write in Manning anywhere, poor sod's probably dead by now.

Well, I think Fabio's plan is to see if the crystal can radiate psychic power as opposed to simply absorbing it and nothing else. If that turns out to be the case he may well try to reincarnate Marcas (I have an idea for testing if the crystal can be psy-radiant, but Maya's probably going to be very unhappy with what Fabio may suggest, even though his idea may indeed have a firm basis in his past "afflictions"; ie, the blacking out and the comas).

As for smashing the crystal, I get the feeling Marcas's consciousness could well be evenly divided among the shards. I now have the thought of a tiny speck of crystal floating through the air containing nothing but a psychic resonance that equates to "Oh no, not again".

Quote from: Swarbie on August 19, 2010, 02:07:57 PMI have an idea for testing if the crystal can be psy-radiant, but Maya's probably going to be very unhappy with what Fabio may suggest

Well, she's been getting on alright with Fabio, but she really will not appreciate any suggestion of being used as a psychic guinea pig*. And frankly, she'd still probably prefer to avoid getting too close to the shard if possible.

*Hmm, now there's an idea for a new kids TV programme. The adventures of Cookie the psychic guinea pig, who saves the world without his owners ever knowing..

QuoteI now have the thought of a tiny speck of crystal floating through the air containing nothing but a psychic resonance that equates to "Oh no, not again".

Don't tell me - Marcas is going to be reincarnated as a bowl of petunias.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 19, 2010, 04:26:56 PM
*Hmm, now there's an idea for a new kids TV programme. The adventures of Cookie the psychic guinea pig, who saves the world without his owners ever knowing..

Float it towards the BBC, you'll be a legend for thousands of small children the nation over.

Lyra's luck seems to be working overtime. The problem with that is it'll soon start demanding overtime pay as well.

Quote from: Koval on August 19, 2010, 08:05:11 PMFloat it towards the BBC, you'll be a legend for thousands of small children the nation over.

The scary thing is that I'm not sure whether you're serious or not...

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 20, 2010, 01:00:57 AM
The scary thing is that I'm not sure whether you're serious or not...

Both, neither.

'tis worth a shot anyways.

Cracking story so far! :D

I've just sat at read through the lot of it

Oh yeah. For reference, Lyra will have taken advantage of the armoury to swap the bolt pistol (which is really too big for someone like her) to a lasgun - or at least an assault rifle or SMG equivalent.

I'll leave the particulars up to whoever gets to it first - which is reasonably likely to be me, but hey.

Just a warning, we're moving house at some stage, so my sporadic IC involvement is going to drop off even further, and very sharply, between now and then. Apologies.

Marco, if you want to take care of Ottakar while I'm gone, you may, and if anything goes wrong in the IC side of things, chalk it up to withdrawal symptoms.

I had no idea just how much had been written IC since my last post but I've munched through four pages of posts and finally got back into the action. Many apologies for my laxness  :-[

I guess just about everyone has been as busy as I have recently, probably for similar reasons. However, I'm currently experiencing a lull in real life activities, so I thought I'd try to breathe a little life into this.

I take it the cultist isn't quite dead then Necris? Anything in particular that you want me to have Czernarvok ask him?

Jerimiah is stood over a dead tech priest i assumed Czernarvok  might be a bit techy about a non mechanicus touching the body let alone relieving it of a weapon 

Ah, I wasn't too sure what was going on  :-[

Well, I probably should have been doing something else, but I felt like writing a passage. Firefly reference FTW!

In terms of time, I imagine it fits in slightly before Bernard (or whoever it is) starts the engine.

Poor Bernard, stuck in a tank with someone who seems to be his polar opposite. I thought 20 shells would be a full load, but I could change it.

I'd be more worried that he's stuck in a tank with two psykers in the middle of a daemonic incursion.
Even more worryingly, a tank with no roof, making it easy for daemons to get in.

You're a rolling buffet for daemons.

Quote from: Zephon on November 09, 2010, 12:13:21 AMI thought 20 shells would be a full load, but I could change it.

Imperial Armour says 500 rounds is a typical load for an Salamander's autocannon (600 for the heavy bolter). However, apparently, it is loaded from a feed tray which only holds four rounds at a time.

In the end, 500 rounds doesn't need you to be very sparing, so let's just assume that it's very low on ammunition.

OK, folks, apologies for absence, but I felt I should pop on to make one statement.

In case it isn't apparent by now, I've not been on at all in recent weeks/months/whatever, and it's very unlikely I will be in the future; for what it's worth, therefore, I'm withdrawing from all Conclave activity.

It's been a fun six years, but at this stage I feel it's about time I moved on and did something else -- if I write something else, which is likely, it'll probably end up somewhere else.

If you need me for anything, then drop me an email and I'll try to reply. As for this RP, do what you will with Ottakar, worst case scenario is that this never happened.  ;D

Quote from: Koval on November 10, 2010, 09:33:03 AMIt's been a fun six years, but at this stage I feel it's about time I moved on and did something else -- if I write something else, which is likely, it'll probably end up somewhere else.

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck wherever you decide to move on to, although I'm afraid I won't be able to follow and read your work elsewhere - I've got enough forums wasting my time already that I shouldn't be joining any more!

QuoteAs for this RP, do what you will with Ottakar, worst case scenario is that this never happened.

Or this person just happens to be a surprisingly similar Inquisitor...  ::)

Truly a shame you shall be missed ole bean