Okay, so here goes. My buddies and I are working on our upcoming Inquisitor campaign, and I managed to finish my background for my first character. It's been a while since I've delved really heavily into Inq. related fluff, so there may be a few mistakes in there. I also noticed I may have a bit too much information. Anyways I would like to here what you think. Thanks for looking!
Inquisitor Garran Ehrhardt
WS: 73
BS: 52
S: 59
T: 62
I: 64
Wp: 63
Sg: 65
Nv:73
Ld: 71
Skills: True Grit
Equipment: Shock Maul, Heavy Stub Pistol (Counts as Naval Pistol) w/ 1 reload, 2 Frag Grenades, Auspex, Advanced Bionic Eye (right), Carapace on chest, arms, groin, pieces of carapace on legs (counts as flak), heavy resilient cloth in hood/lower face mask (2 points of armor ).
Ordos: Ordos Hereticus
Age: 53
Abbreviated Biography: Ehrhardt was born in 431.41 on Kyntorek in Kyntor, the planets capital. His father was a Arbite judge and his mother was a medicae. This resulted in him being brought up with a strong sense of justice and a desire to help the citizens of the Imperium. He was the oldest of two children, and has a brother named Renik (who now serves as a major in the Kyntorek PDF). He attended Neirwitz University of Law and Ethics and graduated at the age of 22. From here he went and joined the Arbite forces as soon as possible. From here he was transferred to Minendark, the capital of Lithiak III. Here he was stationed in the western precinct, the most crime-ridden area of the hive, known specifically for riots and civil unrest. By the age of 25 his precinct commander, Erwin Laffery, promoted him to Sergeant, based on his tenacity, keen investigative skills, and strong sense of justice.
During the summer of 456.41 vast civil unrest occurred across the hive, and massive riots broke out . To investigate this matter, Inquisitor Kyranus, a staunch Amalathian, arrived with his retinue, and Ehrhardt was selected to serve as his guide to the area. By the fall, Kyranus had determined the catalyst of this anti-Imperium sentiment, a cult based in the underhive of the western precinct. Ehrhardt discovered the headquarters of the cult leaders and sent the coordinates to Kyranus. Kyranus and his retinue left immediately, forcing Ehrhardt to catch-up. When he arrived to Kyranus' location, he found him and his retinue surrounded by over a hundred armed cultists and pinned down in the basement of a manufactory after they had assassinated the cult leader. Ehrhardt rallied a nearby group of rioters using firebrand oratory, and directed their discontent at the cultists. The cultists were broken and driven off, freeing Kyranus. At the conclusion of the case, Kyranus inducted Ehrhardt into his retinue for his perceptive nature and unflinching resolve.
After prosecuting many successful cases with Kyranus, Ehrhardt was promoted to Interrogator in 458.41. His fate changed a few years later when Kyranus and Ehrhardt discovered the headquarters of a major supplier of goods and chaos-infused artifacts across the sub-sector, following a two year investigation. When Grandmaster Yefir was told of this, he dispatched three Inquisitors; Kyranus, Carius, and Defenial, accompanied by three platoons of Inquisitonal Storm Troopers to deal with the situation.
Kyranus, his ten man retinue, and the platoon of storm troopers, headed by 1st Lt. Vendrek Hellmann arrived on the scene first to find the enemy command in the process of evacuating. They descended into the lower levels of the compound by powered lift to cut the heretics off. Kyranus and his men were totally unprepared for what they encountered. The group encountered over seventy well-armed, equipped, and trained troops led by a Heresy-era veteran of the Alpha Legion. In the resulting battle the cultists died to the man, along with the entirety of Kyranus' retinue, excluding Ehrhardt, and three storm troopers. Kyranus, Ehrhardt, a wounded Lt. Hellmann, and two storm troopers were all that stood against the veteran space marine. At this point Carius arrived at the upper level of the compound and cordoned off the lower level, forbidding any of his men to descend. After hearing distress calls from the party below him, Carius, hoping for glory, blocked the incoming signals to his men and told them to stay put. Thinking he could lead his men to finish the job, and thus gain the victory he wanted to ensure his ascension to grandmaster was too tempting, and he made the decision to let Kyranus and his troop fend for themselves. When met by protests from the storm troopers he was accompanied by, he told them to follow his orders or a swift execution was in line.
Meanwhile down below the survivors of Kyranus group fought the battle of their lives. Ehrhardt and one of the storm troopers led the charge. Ehrhardt found his suppression shield shattered by a kick as the storm trooper was gutted by the marines chainblade. Ehrhardt then swung with his shock maul just to have the blow intercepted, disarming him and breaking his right arm. As he backed away he was caught with a glancing punch to the face, which ruptured his right eye, broke multiple bones, and left him on the floor briefly unconscious. The last storm trooper and Kyranus attempted to engage the marine, but the storm trooper was quickly cut down. Kyranus fought the marine chainblade to chainblade for over a minute before the marine broke Kyranus' blade and knocked him back. Ehrhardt awoke to see Kyranus, not three meters from him shouting litanies to the Emperor as he emptied his heavy stub pistol into the advancing marine. The marine closed ground and beheaded Kyranus as Ehrhardt was coming to. Hellmann had not been idle this time though, laying on the ground, broken legs and ribs, he had been overcharging his hellgun. He yelled curses, deploring him as a traitor, at the marine to get his attention. When the marine turned to face Hellmann, he unleashed the overcharged hellgun blast targeted at the marine's head. The blast exploded the hellgun's pack, leaving terrible burns through Hellmann's carapace and leaving him unarmed. The blast destroyed the majority of the marine's helmet and he began advancing towards the defiant storm trooper. As he advanced Ehrhardt struggled to pull himself to the nearest weapon, his master's heavy stub pistol. He picked up the gun, and aiming left-handed through his ruined face, he fired the gun's last shot, striking the unarmored head of the marine and exploding his skull.
Inquisitor Defenial stormed into the complex, delayed by the poor weather, approaching he saw Carius' blockade. He asked the meaning of the blockade, and Carius said that they were unsure of the tactical situation, and were waiting for Defenial and his men to storm the lower level. Disgusted, Defenial led his retinue and platoon of storm troopers to the industrial lift to the lower level. Invigorated by Defenial's boldness, the platoon of storm troopers with Carius followed Defenial to the lift. As Defenial and his men approached the bottom of the lift he witnessed a wounded Ehrhardt and Hellmann supporting each other in walking away from the carnage that laid behind them.
After the conclusion of this case, Defenial asked Lord Yefir that Ehrhardt and Hellmann be transferred to serve under him, as the young Interrogator and the storm trooper officer had nowhere to go. Yefir approved this action and both were transferred to serve under Defenial after they had recovered from their injuries. Ehrhardt came out of the medicae missing his right eye, and with a new bionic in place. He replaced his suppression shield with his fallen master's Heavy Stub Pistol and had his shock maul reforged. Another result of this case was that Carius was barred from promotion from Master to Grandmaster, for his incompetence, cowardice, and possibly being responsible for the death of another Inquisitor.
Working for Defenial was a whole new experience, not only a powerful psyker, Defenial was a radical, a Xanthite in particular. While Ehrhardt at times did not agree with Defenial's methods, he could not question their effectiveness, or the character of the man who used them. While Ehrhardt quickly was accepted by Murdoch Blackwell, a former Catachan Valkyrie pilot and pilot of Defenial's Valkyrie, and Eneril Teffig, a former Guard field surgeon who served as Defenial's medic and torturer, he was very off put by Xeritos, the Inquisitor's demonhost. This aside Ehrhardt learned much and developed strong allies in his time with Defenial. After apprehending a rogue Imperial governor in 464. 41 while working with Inquisitor Defenial and Inquisitor Helena Jyntos, Ehrhardt was promoted to Inquisitor at the behest of both Inquisitors and having the Grandmaster's blessing. Lt. Hellmann, now good friends with Ehrhardt, also left Defenial's retinue and was counted as the first member of Ehrhardt's.
In the following year, Yerif had assigned Inquisitors Ehrhardt, Jyntos, Defenial, and Carius to deal with a pair of rogue traders who were smuggling stolen Imperial technology to secessionists in a nearby sector. Ehrhardt and Jyntos successfully executed the first rogue trader in a daring ship boarding. Carius and Defenial tracked the second to a chemical processing plant on Lithiak III. In the resulting engagement, after the execution of the rogue trader, Carius found an opportunity to take revenge for his barring of promotion, and detonated a vat of volatile chemicals next to Defenial. Carius left the planet to report "his" work to Grandmaster Yerif.
Meanwhile Ehrhardt received a psychic communication when returning to the Inquisition base on Marredoral. He had a hard-time making it out, but it mentioned something vaguely of a chemical processing planet on Lithiak III. Drawing the connection to Defenial's last place of deployment, he set course for Lithiak III. Arriving nearly two days after Defenial's injury, Ehrhardt found it remarkable the man was alive. Ehrhardt returned to Marredoral with the horrifically scarred, and now mute Defenial and instantly rushed him to the medical facilities. Defenial's life was saved after extensive treatment, however he was now a changed man. When Yerif called Carius to trial for what happened to Defenial, he was able to dismiss it as an injury inflicted by the rogue trader. When questioned further, Carius pulled strings and had his uncle, the Inquisititorial Grandmaster of the sector close the case.
Within a week of Defenial recovering, Ehrhardt woke to find a note on his computer reading simply:
"Please take in Blackwell and Teffig. I know they are serving with a good man under you. I have business to attend to."
Your Friend,
Inquisitor Defenial, Ordos Malleus
When he went to speak with Defenial, he found him gone, his demonhost unbound, and Blackwell and Teffig waiting for him, explaining that Defenial said they would now work with him.
Over the next nine years Ehrhardt has prosecuted many successful cases for the Inquisition and has become a successful Inquisitor, prized by his superiors for his pragmatism, tenacity, strong investigative skills, and perceptive nature. Over the next years he has built a solid retinue as well.
In 469.41, he tracked a chaos cultist out of the sub-sector and into the neighboring one, as he was running a slave trade to other cults. During this time period, he freed a large number of slaves, and one, a feral world warrior named Mordath, pledged his life to Ehrhardt and serves in his retinue to this day. Later in this year he stopped a Lithiak administratum official from funneling money into the hive gangs of Lithiak III, and here he gained the services of Denil Targo, a young savant he found working in library, and his ganger brother Jull Targo, a gunfighter and skilled mechanic. Shortly after recruiting Denil, he promoted him to Interrogator.
Perhaps a decade later, Ehrhardt was assigned another Interrogator by the name of Irsus Vatclef, who proved to be a skilled combatant and even more skilled investigator. Later this year, Ehrhardt was involved in a mission to recover a demonic artifact before a cult claimed, and his path was met by Inquisitor Carius. Battle ensued and Denil was killed, Jull lost an eye and a leg, and other suffered minor injuries. Ehrhardt blew off Carius' left arm, and three members of his retinue were killed. This tragedy set the stage for the next years to come.
The year is 484.41, and Ehrhardt has been tasked with recovering a number of chaos-infused artifacts to prevent a anti-Imperial group known as the "Black Dawn," from retrieving them. This group has strong ties to many powerful Imperial officials and has agents working within the Imperium, meaning that this task will be a most daunting one...
Retinue Members:
-1st Lt. Vendrek Hellman, former Inquisitorial Storm Trooper.
- Murdoch Blackwell, former Catachan 33rd Valkyrie pilot, pilots Valkyrie "Devil's fang."
- Eneril Teffig, former IG field surgeon, serves as a torturer/medic.
-Mordath, feral world warrior, serves as muscle.
- Denil Targo, Savant and Ehrhardt's original Interrogator (Deceased).
- Jull Targo, brother of Denil Targo, former hive ganger, gunslinger/mechanic.
- Interrogator Irsus Vatclef, assigned to serve as Vendrek's apprentice. Specializes in research, investigation, and has decent combat abilities.
Contacts:
-Fenric Ehrhardt, Garran's father, an Arbite Judge on Kyntorek.
- Kadren Ehrhardt, Garran's borther, Kyntorek PFD Major.
- Commander Erwin Laffery, West Precinct Commander at Abrites Station in Minendark.
- Inquisitor Defenial, Ordos Hereticus, Radical Inquisitor, MIA.
- Inquisitor Helena Jyntos, Ordos Xenos, Puritan Inquisitor.
Personality: Ehrhardt is a pretty silent individual generally, and is known for his dour and tenacious demeanor. He has a dark and ironic sense of humor, and when he jokes, which he rarely does, his audience is usually unsure if the comment was meant as a joke. He can also be very stubborn and at times tunnel-sighted towards goals he deems important.
Ehrhardt however, is very good at inspiring individuals in their service to the Imperium, this mainly being to his lead by example attitude and devout belief in the Imperium. Ehrhardt has an incredibly strong sense of justice, and is at times conflicted when asked to carry out orders that he deems unjust, particularly when they put innocents in harms way. He is very loyal and devoted to his comrades, and would risk his life for any of them. Because of his upbringing and former career as an arbite, Ehrhardt will go out of his way to protect Imperial citizens, no matter how lowly they are in society. Many of his fellow Inquisitors view this as weakness, though few can deny how advantageous it is to have a local populous support your investigations.
As a Amalathian, he believes in working with other sections of the Imperium, and in general cooperates very well with other Imperials. Ehrhardt is very pragmatic and thorough in his approach to his work and investigations, and is not one to throw caution to the wind.
When not working he can be found playing regicide with Hellmann (which he often loses) and occasionally other strategy games, studying new movements in ethics, working word or number puzzles and other critical thinking activities, or reading horror novels by the author Hector Reyes. He also spends a good deal of his time training to maintain a high standard of physical fitness and maintaining his equipment.
Appearance: Ehrhardt stands about 1.8 meters and weighs about 73 kilograms, and has a wiry build. His remaining eye is dark grey and he has dark brown hair. His right eye is replaced with an advance bionic, which is slightly bulky. Ehrhardt tends to wear carapace and a crimson cloak, hood, and scarf (over his lower face) when in the field, and cuts quite the imposing figure. When he is not in the field, one would rarely guess him a member of such a prestigious group as the Inquisition. He tends to wear very ubiquitous and utilitarian outfits, generally similar to those of a junior officer in the Imperial Guard, minus the medals and other "flair." When made to dress to show his position, he almost always wears his field outfit, viewing the ostentatious and impractical outfits of many Inquisitors with contempt.
Equipment: Ehrhardt wears Carapace armor on his torso, on his arms , and over his groin. He wears pieces of carapace (counts as flak) over his legs. He wears a hood and scarf of a heavy resilient material over his head (counts as 2 points of armor). His carapace is his reforged carapace from his time as an arbite. He wields a shock maul from his time as an arbite, and Kyranus' heavy stub gun (counts as a naval pistol). He also has a combat knife which is stored in a sheath on his left arm.
EDIT 3/24/11: Made some changes based on Flinty's advice.
I'm not overly qualified to comment here, so don't take any of this the wrong way...
Great background, nice to see that level of detail - and action packed too. I personally steer clear of tying characters down to a specific chronological point, not least due to issues with warp travel. Of course this depends who you play with, and that can always be fudged if they work on a different time frame.
He does seem a little young to be an Inquisitor - I'd expect a 40 something to still be a senior acolyte type character; its a long hard struggle to prove oneself worthy of a Rosette, and I'm not sure connected Uncles are going to help. Don't forget that the internal infighting within the Inquisition often leads to the removal or 'disaperance' of Inquisitors who antagonise rival factions and then wander down dark alleyways...
There was a thread, probably a few pages back now about Inquisitor ages, which was an interesting read. I'm afraid Im being a bad forum member by not posting the link, but being inept, it would take me ages to find it again...
His stats look okay - he's a hell of a shot though, perhaps you can tweak his background to include some extensive range time to explain this - doing the crossword may improve his smarts, but my shooting skills haven't improved since my limited attempts at the Times cryptic.
Nice kit, not overpowered and fits in nicely with his background. Curious why the heavy stub pistol counts as a naval pistol – do you mean as an improvised hand to hand weapon? I'm not sure if its technically a wise idea to bash someone with a semi-auto pistol, you may find it becomes reluctant to eject, but then there is no reason why a particularly robust version is not in production somewhere.
(On a side note, I've just finished an interesting history of the AK-47, in which the author photographed some models produced in 1954 being used in Afghanistan a year or two ago).
Any ideas on how you are going to model him?
QuoteI personally steer clear of tying characters down to a specific chronological point, not least due to issues with warp travel. Of course this depends who you play with, and that can always be fudged if they work on a different time frame.
That's a really good point, and one I didn't consider at the time of writing, I may have to reorganize.
QuoteHe does seem a little young to be an Inquisitor
Honestly, this was one of the issues I was most concerned about. My only real point of reference was Eisenhorn/ Ravenor (And I believe Eisenhorn was appointed at 24, which is pretty absurd). I think if I drop the chronology this will be an easy fix. I'll have to take a look at that thread.
QuoteI'm not sure connected Uncles are going to help
I might have worded that oddly, Carius' Uncle dismissed the case against Carius (who I'm setting up to be Ehrhardt's rival).
Quotehe's a hell of a shot though
That pretty much comes from my lack of knowledge on game stats, haha. He isn't supposed to be a great shot. I figure he would have had some training in the Arbites, but beyond that not too much. I'll drop the stat five points.
QuoteCurious why the heavy stub pistol counts as a naval pistol
I was looking for a weapon he could also use in melee, particularly something robust (much like the mentioned AK-47), and I wanted it to be single fire only. Most of the pistols in the Inquisitor rulebook have at least the semi-auto feature, and that didn't seem to fit Ehrhardt to me.
http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1326.15 (http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1326.15) I have him in the works right now, he was just primed (I'm looking for a suitable pistol to replace the bolt pistol and maybe making an order from Heresy miniatures to do that). Also a few other of the characters mentioned are in there, though only Lt. Hellmann is complete, aside from basing.
Thanks for your feedback it is much appreciated!
Ah, nice. I find pistols quite difficult to find at a decent scale. 28mm las pistols fit okay as a 'lightweight' side arms. Ork ones are okay but look very basic and I have fiddled with chopping up bolt guns and Necromunda wepons (I paid far too much for 6 weapon sprues on e-bay and was then a little dissapointed) with limited success.
Then again GW seem to vary the scale a fair bit, compare Von Castellans pistol with Eisenhorns holstered version for example.
I'd be interested to hear/see how the Heresy ones work out.
Edit: Repeated facepalm, should have checked/remembered you're talking Inq28