Inquisitor Lord Cass and the Pankinopeton

[DapperAnarchist]

So, not posted here in even longer than when I last posted in the P&M section! I have been writing rules and background though, so here's some posts for an in-progress warband - Inquisitor Lord Andrej Cass and the Pankinopeton, starting with Cass himself. This background is in third person, but there is a partially complete first person part, but I'll have to post that another time.

Lord Inquisytor Andrej Cass


The career of Inquisitor Andrej Cass is a bloody affair. Never one to hold back from brutality when he saw it necessary, Cass drew admirers and allies from both the Monodominants and the Amalathians. Referring to himself as a Totalitarian, Cass argued that Mankind's nature was to either be ruler or ruled. Stability and survival rested in destroying any force that might attempt to rule Mankind in opposition to the Imperium, or that would attempt to undermine the rule of the Imperium's political system. The power of the Imperium was its own justification.

Across dozens of star systems, Cass and his retinue would infiltrate the culture, either seizing control of existing secret police forces or establishing paramilitary groups. Political opposition and the 'wasteful' would be culled or forcibly re-educated. Public executions, terror attacks, 'disappearances', labour camps, psychoactive chemicals, and memetic propaganda were all used to strengthen the position of Imperial institutions. Anything that might undermine the loyalty to the Emperor was a valid target, whether it be the industrial guilds of Perilym, or the familial clans of the aquatic cities of Atlantesh V. Son was turned against father and one worker against another in the name of Imperial Loyalty. It is estimated that Cass's purges killed 160 million on Atlantesh V alone.

Those who once praised Cass's commitment to the Imperium above all would be horrified to know of his new plans. However, as he would most likely point out, they would be horrified to know the secrets he has learned. As a Lord Inquisitor with access to the private libraries of the Avaris Conclave, Cass has learned of the cumulative errors in the Golden Throne, of the secret and tainted roots of the Horus Heresy, of the billion-year-ancient threat of the Necrons, of the vastness of the Tyranid and Orkoid threats, and of a thousand other threats to Mankind. Already doubtful of the mass's suitability to rule themselves, these new fears have driven Cass to break with his previous faith in the power of the Imperium to rule an entire galaxy. Mankind has no hope of unified galactic dominance. Instead, it is time for Mankind's domains to look to their own protection.

This mission has led Cass to strange allies. The suspect alliance of local nobility known as the Unity has, under his patronage, gained a level of respectability, and more power than they had suspected was possible. Cults and hermetic orders across Avaris have been gathered in, shaped into survivalists who look into the darkness. Cass himself is surrounded by the 'Pankinopeton', a sinister collection of dangerous allies - assassins, manipulators, suspected hereteks, abhumans, and possibly worse.

WS   BS   S          T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
68   59   78(47)   54   72   84   108   86   91

Cass is right-handed

Equipment
Brondine Craftsman's Shotgun (RIA Double Barrelled Shotgun, Improved Barrel)
Sol's Edge
Filtration Plugs (+5 to Gas Resistance)
Inhaler with 5 doses of Detox
Psi-Hood
Berisian Augmetic Left Arm (S55, Av 4)
Cherub Sophocles with Sage (Mindscan) and implanted Psi-Scanner
7 Solid Slug Shells
6 Flechette Shells
3 Inferno Shells
2 Executioner Shells
1 Smoke Shell
1 Snap Dragon Shell
2 Gas Shells with Choke

Abilities
Leader

Name      Reach   Damage   Parry Penalty   Weight
Sol's Edge   4           2D10   15%              40

[MarcoSkoll]

Good background so far...
I am a bit doubtful that even a Lord Inquisitor might have found out much about the Golden Throne's failings though, given that was a discovery late in M41 and likely kept uber-secret.

As far as the stats... well, firstly, no armour?

Secondly, even for an Inquisitor Lord, I think the mental stats need some taming. By my personal yardstick, unaugmented humans shouldn't have stats exceeding 100 - that's the realm of the superhuman to me.

[DapperAnarchist]

I wasn't thinking the ones that could result in the Emperor's death, but more the ones that disrupt the Astronomicon - given that, canonically, entire fleets have been lost as a result of those, the Inquisition must at least be aware of the rumours around the Mechanicus adepts. Might shift that one around a bit though.

Forgot the armour! It'll still be rather low, and subject to how the model goes, so probably Av2 or 3 on all locations except head.

The Sg score was supposed to push him into the superhuman. Though well equipped (very fancy chainaxe - that's what Sol's Edge is - and a well made shotgun with lots of flexability), and both experienced and enhanced, he's not a Tyrus type, storming into combat himself. Instead, he's a plotter, an analyst, a manipulator. Though I might well either drop it 10 points (98 is still pretty darned impressive) or give him more implants to his head, or some kind of Sg boosting equipment...

Just caught another error! He's currently got a psychic hood but no powers... I may add some manipulation/clairvoyance powers, or make it a psyblocker type thing.

[MarcoSkoll]

I wasn't thinking the ones that could result in the Emperor's death, but more the ones that disrupt the Astronomicon

Fair enough. I guess that would be much more common knowledge for the Inquisition.

The Sg score was supposed to push him into the superhuman.

I'm not yet seeing what makes him superhuman though.

True, he's got hundreds of years of knowledge but a three-digit lifespan isn't atypical enough for an Inquisitor character that it really exceeds normal limits (even if a mind that's still sharp at 200 or 300 would certainly would exceed modern standards).
In truth, I have plenty of characters that I would think of as genuinely superhuman, but very few have 100+ stats* - often because I feel it's better to represent it with abilities than high stats, as the latter tend to break the system somewhat.
* I think I have three. An Astartes (S116 before power armour, IIRC), a Wraithguard (S180) and an immortal (Nv120, which actually works better than using the NoS & FoW combination).

Now, if I were to do a 100+ Sg character, I'd expect a combination of natural genius and centuries of experience, backed up by things like augmetic engram matrices and neurally interfaced cogitator units.

[DapperAnarchist]

Consider it cut to 98 Still smart beyond current human norms, but not beyond current human possibility.

Here's the next member of the Pankinopeton.

Othuum of the Deep Clans

+++++ ACCESS SECURED
PASSCODE REQUIRED
ACCESS APPROVED+++++
The Chronicle of Inquisytor Cass

Atlantesh V, the 8th Day of Sixtilus, 3453 Anno Regis (Local Calendar, Rungholt Royal Municipality)

I have been compelled to return to this world. I had thought it purged four decades ago, but my agents have reported a return to the unions and clans that prevented this world from full adherence to Imperial Loyalty. It may be that on my previous visit I was too mild. This time, the funeral pyres will burn for years.

+++++22nd Day of Sixtilus
Having met with my agents and attended several public gatherings, it is clear that the clans have re-established themselves. Given the thoroughness with which the leaders and organisers were exterminated, this is indeed a puzzle, especially as it seems the "Deep Mysteries" of the clans have remained intact. The killing or removal of all who knew their details was a primary target in my first visit, and was believed to be complete.+++++SECTION REDACTED+++++4th Day of Solmonath, 3457
Nearly four local years have passed, and still the clans resist. Total destruction may soon be my only option. An Inquisitorial cruiser is on its way to rendezvous with the blockade fleet, and the urban address systems are carrying my message – if the clan leaders are not given up, the entire planet will burn. The survival of the human presence in Avaris cannot be risked for the sake of a borderline heretical obsession!

+++++
17th of Solmonath, Thonis Municipality
I'm nearly there – a concerned citizen has offered to lead me to the clan leaders, in exchange for his family's life. It seems the reason the strike teams have failed to find them is that they have taken refuge in a cavern complex underwater. Once the site has been identified, a team of submersibles have been prepared

+++++
25th of Solmonath
I have given the orders. The broadcasts are ended, the Fate of Recusants is returning to it's holding position on the edge of the system, and my intervention teams have been called off. The security of Atlantesh is now in the hands of the clans, who have gained my sponsorship. It all makes sense now, the inaccessibility of the clan leadership, the communication failures, the very name "Deep Mysteries". The clans have offered up one of their champions for my Pankinopeton. He must be kept very much out of the attention of even my allies, but his physical abilities and lack of moral sympathies will make him very useful indeed.

WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
61   35   88   72   58   69   32   61   34

Othuum is right-handed

Equipment
Hunyadi Workshop Pump Action Shotgun(RIA Pump Action Shotgun)
Cleaver (Axe)
6 Scatter Shot Shells
5 Underwater Shells

Abilities
Amphibious
True Grit
Blind
Sonar

Underwater shotgun shells - Range Band A; 2D6+1 Damage, Trivial, when above water ineffective beyond 20 yards

Amphibious - the character is never affected by drowning, and can swim at 5 yards per action.

Blind - the character cannot see, and never makes any Vision awareness tests.

Sonar - Anything the character can hear, they count as being able to see. This means that they are not affected by darkness, blind or photon flash effects, smoke, etc, but also that they cannot make out details such as text, features, colour, etc.