Inquisitor Lord Raghnall Askell Valbrandr

[Raghnall]

Hi guys, big thanks to Gav for getting me on here in spite of the spammers he's been dealing with.
First time poster, but i've been lurking on here for a while (long enough to know Marco is the verified Chaos God of Pink Floyd ).
I'm relatively new to Inquisitor, but have been working on this guy for a while, with many many drafts. The psychic powers are taken from the Revised Inquisitor Psychic Power Archive, and everything else is sourced in the text. Hope you enjoy, and I would particularly like feedback regarding Apsara, in terms of both rules and background. Background a stats for the other war band members will come soon, although models may be less forthcoming. Without further ado, I present to you Inquisitor Lord Raghnall Askell Valbrandr, of the Ordo Obsoletus.

Full name: Raghnall Askell Valbrandr

Aliases: Aschen Grey, Commissar Faelan Duke, Lord Gaius Volkoff, Troubadour

Titles: Inquisitor Lord, Doctor of applied mathematics, Scholar Empyrean Honorarius

Date of Birth: 497790.M41

Place of Birth: Liluri Alpha

Gender: Male

Height: 191cm/6'3"

Weight: 81kg/180lbs

Appearance: Raghnall is tall and of a medium build, with a reasonably athletic frame. He has a hawkish face, clean-shaven with short black hair, dark green eyes and pale skin. Despite his advanced years and many accumulated injuries, sophisticated rejuvenant treatments have fixed most of the damage and left him with a more youthful demeanour, appearing merely in his early forties. Overall, his height and a cold look in his eye make intimidation relatively easy, but his appearance is generally unremarkable and would blend in on most worlds in the Imperium, which suits him just fine.

Attire: As an Inquisitor who makes regular use of cover identities, Raghnall owns a variety of outfits suitable to fulfil many different roles. From the long robes of a ministorum adept, to the sturdy overcoat of a hive worlder, to the luminous aetheric-weave gowns of a flamboyant noble, he has an outfit for every disguise.

Day to day attire for investigation rather than outright deception is chosen for pragmatic reasons. A hard wearing black flakweave jacket, grey shirt, navy combat trousers, boots and brown grox-hide belt, accompanied by a battered brass chronometer and simple adamantine ring set with a blue gem.

For combat purposes, Raghnall owns a set of finely crafted lightweight mesh armour, complete with cameleoline coating, advanced targeting visor, thermal gloves, and rebreather.

With regards to formal wear, he has a preference for the traditional Inquisitorial colours of red and black, with runic script in silver trim to neatly complement his adamantine ring and rosette.

Personality/Beliefs: An experienced diplomat, Raghnall is a rather calm and reserved person, who detests unnecessary formalities and would rather be addressed by name than rank. Though no stranger to intimidation, he often finds rewards to be a better motivator than threats, and treats everyone with a basic level of respect unless they seem to think of abusing it. He has an eye for detail and patterns, and tends to rapidly process all available data in a given situation before acting, and plots advanced schemes considered intricate even by other Inquisitors, with multiple redundancies and precautions for dozens of possible events.

Philosophically, he is a moderate recongregator, with the belief that mankind must evolve to face new threats and combat the degeneration and decay brought about by foolish leaders and factional rivalries. To this end, he cares more for results than labels, and tries to work with fellows across the philosophical spectrum, as long as their goals don't conflict with his own. Preferring to work within the system, he subtly strengthens forces, forges alliances and places the competent in positions of authority where they will excel. However, he does denounce the methods of some of his more radical kin, as complete anarchy and instability can often give rise to worse.

Regarding mutants and beastmen, he is ever the pragmatist, readily employing them where they are devout and useful, and has even more lenient views on psykers, believing that they are the next stage of humanity. While he does nothing to prematurely bring about this evolution, he considers it and inevitable salvation if humanity has the strength of will to survive it, and as such is a major advocate of sanctioned psykers, but no advocate of the use of rogues.

Abilities/Strengths/Weaknesses: Compared to many of his peers, Raghnall is fairly unsuited to physical combat. As is only natural for an agent of the Inquisition, he received basic training upon initial recruitment, and knows how to use and maintain a gun or blade. However, he cannot honestly claim more than mediocrity and relies primarily upon superb reactions and a plethora of dirty tricks.

While traditional combat may not be his forte, he is far from incompetent in general, and possesses a diverse array of skills. Amongst his many talents, he is a competent cartographer and astrographer, skilled at sleight of hand and cogitator use, and a master regicide player with a fairly aggressive and spectacular playing style. Mentally however, is where he truly shines. Initially trained as a savant, he holds multiple advanced qualifications in applied mathematics, possesses superior powers of deduction, and utilises sophisticated mnemonic techniques to grant him incredible powers of calculation and recall. More recently, he has also become a leading authority in psychic sciences and all manner of obscure warp phenomena.

His mind is also more literally a great strength, in that he is a potent psyker, with a specialisation in telekinesis. Perhaps somewhat lacking in raw power compared to the alphas, his aptitude lies more in precisely controlled applications of power. Although capable of hurling objects and limited levitation, his ability focuses more on picking locks, jamming guns, deflection projectiles and distorting images. Finally, he has a number of minor powers, some of great use in his line of work, such as reading the tarot, sensing vague intentions, detecting enemies, and evading psychic detection.

Weapons/Equipment: Due to his potent psychic abilities, both offensive and defensive, equipment plays a different role for Raghnall than for many of his peers, but that is not to say he doesn't use it. His primary weapons are a DK-19C precision stubber, loaded with various specialist rounds and stored in a shoulder holster, and an Eclipse-D4 compact laspistol tucked into his trouser pocket. Furthermore, he also carries his psykana mercy blade, inscribed with sacred runes, an Aquila knuckle-duster fitted with shock generator, and Apsara.

Apsara is a bizarre archaotech device, taking the form of a simple adamantine ring inscribed with runic script, inset with a blue focusing gem more recently implanted with a poi-savant to detect toxins in food. Its origin and purpose are lost to the mists of time; material analysis suggests it predates the Imperium, but no records of it remain from prior to mid M36. However, the role that it now fulfils is as psychic amplifier and anti-daemon weapon. What records remain suggest that only a mere sliver of its true power has been unlocked, but even this is sufficient to greatly increase Raghnall's mastery of his own abilities, and channel spectral energies with unnatural ease to ward off and banish the tainted.

In terms of more mundane equipment, Raghnall also carries basic field kit useful in general operations; an ignite, orienter, stab-light, photo-contacts, filtration plugs, and micro-bead, in addition to a small multi-tool consisting of knife, las-sunder, sonic coupler, vox recorder, and data coil.

Servants/Acquaintances: Naturally, given his status as an Inquisitor Lord who has served the Holy Ordos in one capacity or another for over two centuries, Raghnall has built up a rather impressive network. Consisting primarily of independent acolyte cells, there are also elite kill teams under the command of Colonel Petronius Sabinas, private medicae and astropaths, teams of savants led by Clarissa Quintina, and assassins, spies and infil-traitors scattered throughout every major government company, organisation and criminal gang in the sector, coordinated by Raghnall's second in command, Morwenna Crow.

In spite of the large size of his overall operation, Raghnall's group of trusted throne agents whom accompany him in all endeavours is decidedly smaller, only consisting of his bodyguard, Crusader Melissa Pelagia, and the Voidwalker, Lykos Athanas.

In terms of allies and contacts, Raghnall, has all the resources of the Ordo Obsoletus Maenali, and is generally on good terms with the Ordo Malleus, with support mainly coming from amongst the ranks of the recongregators and some thorians. Particularly, he is close with renowned daemon hunter, Lady Inquisitrix Silvestre Darkova, fellow student of the late Inquisitor Garrick Laefal, Inquisitrix Rhea Chryseis, and his own former acolyte, Inquisitor Elias Pandev. Outside the Inquisition, his allies lie primarily within the Scholastica Psykana, the Vespasiano navigator house, the Drustus-Kronauer arms dealer, and the Order of the Crimson Dawn crusader house.

History: By any standard, Raghnall had a fairly peaceful upbringing. Born on Liluri Alpha, a civilised world in the northwest Maenali sector, to a minor merchant family, he showed great promise at mathematics early on, and from a young age was trained as a savant. Precocious, he enrolled at the prestigious St Augustine University at the age of 16, and had completed a doctorate in applied mathematics by 21.  From the age of 18, his private life was marred by the gradual development of his psychic power, although he took extensive measure to conceal this successfully. His first involvement with the Inquisition came shortly after the completion of his doctorate, with a string of brutal murders at key locations and times, which left the arbitrators perplexed. In cracking the Heimdallr cipher, he stumbled across a tzeentchian conspiracy spreading through the nobility, and came in contact with Inquisitor Garrick Laefal, who was also investigating the killings. Inquisitor Laefal, a skilled psyker himself, quickly saw through Raghnall's deception to realise his psychic prowess, and recruited him in rooting out the conspiracy. Seeing the value in an intelligent savant with great deductive skill and potent telekinesis, he sent Raghnall off for express sanctioning, with orders to be immediately returned to him upon completion.

Five years later, Raghnall completed training and sanctioning, and was returned to Inquisitor Laefal's retinue. What followed was 20 years of service to the Inquisitor, including a promoting to acolyte 2 years in, for the hunting and elimination of the rogue cryomancer Einaar Cyneric. Subsequent operations of note include the recovery of the Daemonaclis Severus, the assassination of Erik Drakensis, and the Phraxix corridor incident. Finally, his promotion to Inquisitor came for his part in the investigation into the resurrection of General Jedediah Baggot.

Like his former master, Raghnall subscribed to the recongregator philosophy, and joined the Ordo Obsoletus to better fit his area of expertise and gain access to specialist knowledge as well as alliances with several prominent Inquisitors,

His early career included several high profile cases, such as defeating the twin sorcerers Selvig Laeshkaer and Eskrin Silvermane, cleansing the azure heart, banishing Phw'rythal'gar'skreet the incendiary, and preventing the canonisation of the false saint Eva Khalili.

Apsara was recovered in 940.M41, in the ruins of a ghost ship destroyed while answering its own distress signal. In the hold, was a horrific insectoid monster at the head of scores of corpse soldiers, the walls bedecked in litanies of devotion to the omni-dimensional horror, Karmun-Rael. The ring was found deep within, and proved instrumental in overcoming the ravenous hordes and eventually defeating the nigh-impervious beast.

Two decades after this event, following the deaths of three Inquisitors in mysterious circumstances, Raghnall faked his own death and went deep undercover. He never revealed the precise details of the conspiracy he uncovered, but he surfaced two years later, in time to call in his allies to foil a plot to destroy the conclave at Ashendal, consisting of over 90% of Inquisitors active in the sector at the time. However, despite his best efforts, and those of other Inquisitors, a third of those present were killed in the ensuing battle, including Inquisitor Laefal.

In recognition of his work to minimise the damage, and to compensate for the severe casualties faced by the Ordo Obsoletus, Raghnall was elevated to Inquisitor Lord, and was left as one of the most senior members of his Ordo. Despite his seniority and academic nature, he is now still very active in the field regarding major cases, due to the small size of the Ordo Obsoletus, and growing demand for their area of expertise, particularly focusing on events regarding the prophesised second resurgence of Karmun-Rael.

Quirks/Notes:
-Has a tendency to pause slightly when questioned to think of the perfect retort.

-Rather fond of Raenka, an expensive brandy derived from ploin fruit, which is popular among voidfarers across the Segmentum Obscurus.

- Prefers vat-grown replacements for lost limbs to bionics, as they are less conspicuous and require less maintenance.

Quotes:
-"I did not come to preserve your power Governor. Power must only rest with those who have strength enough to wield it. Goodbye. – Inquisitor Valbrandr to Governor Kazumi shortly before his execution.

-"The heretic is dead, by my own hand. A pity that death is rarely the end." – Inquisitor Lord Valbrandr to Arbitrator Krasis on, the threat posed by the deceased heretic Ephyre Invicta.

-"Do not test me. To consort with the common criminal may cost your reputation, but to cross the Inquisition will cost your very soul." –Inquisitor Lord Valbrandr to Queen Anima of Zeltis IX.

"As madness claws on the edge of imagining, the dark must be kept at bay with every waking moment. Only with divine blessing may this power be controlled. That ever more are so blessed must herald ascension to divinity, and the triumph of man. Yet not all who wield such might are so blessed, and they must be guided, or they will fall and the Emperor's work will have been in vain. They must not be allowed to fall." – Inquisitor Lord Valbrandr, Ascension to Divinity.

Profile:
WS:53 BS:55 S:50 T:52 I:71 WP:84 SG:86 NV:70 LD:69
Right handed
Psy rating- 5
Skills- Psyniscience
Traits- Leader
Psychic powers-hurl object, lift object, machine empathy, telekinetic shield, project, float, detection, detect alignment, obscure image, psi-shroud

Weapons- DK-19C precision stubber with 3 reloads, including one reload of corporeal rounds and one reload of incendiary rounds, Eclipse-D4 compact laspistol with 2 reloads, anointed knife, shock-dusters
Armour- flakweave jacket: 2 points of armour on chest and abdomen
Equipment- Apsara, filtration plugs, photo-contacts, stab-light, micro-bead, igniter, orienter, multi-tool

DK-19C precision stubber- Precision stubber from Revised Inquisitor Armoury
Eclipse-D4 compact laspistol- Laspistol from Revised Inquisitor Armoury, with military magazine, standard muzzle, mid-length barrel, 18-megathule lasing chamber, Triplex-Phall discharge generator, duelling grip and concealable frame
Anointed knife- Using rules from Swords of the Faithful
Shock-dusters- A pair of knuckle-dusters, which count as shock weapons
Apsara- Counts as a psychic hood. If you spend an action and pass a Sagacity test, then it also counts as pentagrammic wards for 3 turns
Photo-contacts- Gives +20 bonus to resist photon flash grenades and similar effects
Stab-light- Counts as torch from Shadows of Deceit

[MarcoSkoll]

I'll say that you've been lurking a lot! I don't think I've used that particular version of my background sheet for years (it got reordered quite a few times, eventually ending up with "history" near the top) - you've been digging fairly deep in the archives for that.

In both profile and background, he generally looks good to me.

There's nothing that seems particularly off to me about the background - I'm usually sceptical about Inquisitor Lords taking to the field (as it's usually either a very political position, requiring the individual to develop the alliances and support that he needs to be powerful even by an Inquisitor's standards, or one earned for a superlative level of talent, worth risking on only the most dire threats), but the explanation seems fairly valid - somewhere between respect and a need to reassemble the hierarchy of a decimated Inquisition.

Rules-wise, he's getting towards as powerful a psyker as the game can really handle, but he's not wildly dissimilar to my own Maya Avens. (Who's WP 85, Psy Rating 5 when I'm using her Revised profile, with a psychic hood equivalent. She's a bit lower in other stats, but then she does have more than two dozen psychic powers to draw on!)

All in all, pretty good, I'd say.

[Raghnall]

Thanks for the feedback.

I have indeed gone rather far back in the archives for the background sheet. It comes from the version you used for Katlien Vance when you posted her up five years ago!

There's nothing that seems particularly off to me about the background - I'm usually sceptical about Inquisitor Lords taking to the field (as it's usually either a very political position, requiring the individual to develop the alliances and support that he needs to be powerful even by an Inquisitor's standards, or one earned for a superlative level of talent, worth risking on only the most dire threats), but the explanation seems fairly valid - somewhere between respect and a need to reassemble the hierarchy of a decimated Inquisition.

I agree with you in general regarding the role of Inquisitor Lords, but I wanted to portray a desperate Inquisition in a time of crisis, where he was able to exploit the situation to gain a rank which he ordinarily wouldn't have had enough political clout to obtain, and where everyone has to make a contribution regardless of position. I possibly made the massacre of the Inquisition too far back to convey this properly. While not set in the Carthax sector, I still want to be playing by current Conclave time (014.M42?), which would make the attack over half a century ago. I do foresee that as the Inquisition rebuilds (and my collection grows), he will become more political, and only take to the field for progressively more serious threats.

Rules-wise, he's getting towards as powerful a psyker as the game can really handle, but he's not wildly dissimilar to my own Maya Avens. (Who's WP 85, Psy Rating 5 when I'm using her Revised profile, with a psychic hood equivalent. She's a bit lower in other stats, but then she does have more than two dozen psychic powers to draw on!)

I did worry that I had overdone it with his psychic powers. He is intended to be powerful, and a serious threat, but it might be a bit too much given that his bodyguard is going to be rather skilled in melee, although she will be fairly weak at range and the third war band member won't be anything special in combat. If it does get too much, then I would happily drop project, detect alignment, and psi-shroud, and I could also lose float and obscure image if necessary, along with dropping his WP to 80 and downgrading the psychic hood equivalent to a psi-booster equivalent.

I'm pleased you like it in general though, if you think it looks alright, then I suppose I should use him a bit as he is, to see if any changes are needed.
Now I just have to convince my mates to give it a try, so this isn't purely academic. They have played skirmish games and RPG's before, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince them to look at the intersection of the two, but any further advice about how to go about doing that would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[MarcoSkoll]

It comes from the version you used for Katlien Vance when you posted her up five years ago!

Actually, that's pretty much what I guessed. There was something about the brandy that struck me as perhaps having been vaguely inspired by the luxafruit.

I possibly made the massacre of the Inquisition too far back to convey this properly. While not set in the Carthax sector, I still want to be playing by current Conclave time (014.M42?), which would make the attack over half a century ago.

'Clave time is set as 39,000 years ahead of present day so, as I'm writing, the full Conclave date would be (0)648015.M42.

Half a century isn't entirely unreasonable, to be fair. Even after finding suitable candidates, it can take several decades to train an Inquisitor, and it can take them just as long to develop the network of agents they need to be fully effective, so if a sector lost nearly a third of its Inquisitors half a century ago (and quite possibly more in the aftermath, as they'd suddenly have been incredibly overstretched), they could well still be considerably understrength.

I did worry that I had overdone it with his psychic powers.

Given that the psychic power system (even Koval's revised version) tends to be quite specific about what can be done with powers, I tend to find characters who specialise in being psykers tend to need quite a few powers such that they've actually got a decent range of options to apply to the game!

I wouldn't normally recommend quite as many powers as Maya has (at last count, 29!), but in her case, it's part of her fluff that she's very creative about finding ways to apply and combine the narrow disciplines she can actually use. (And some of the powers aren't that powerful anyway. Some of them would be "minor powers" in Dark Heresy terms - summoning small flames, shouting really loud or the like).

Now I just have to convince my mates to give it a try, so this isn't purely academic. They have played skirmish games and RPG's before, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince them to look at the intersection of the two, but any further advice about how to go about doing that would be much appreciated.

Well, if you haven't already found it, the leaflet we updated recently: http://mediafire.com/?4gk9dhgv4a5y72k

I tend to find what makes Inquisitor for people is the opportunity to carve out their own little piece of the universe. Their own stories, their own characters and all of the opportunities that come with that.

I love it for the sheer flexibility it provides as a story telling medium. A conventional RPG gives you one character, who usually slowly scrapes up through levels, never quite feeling complete. Being able to write and play an entire cast of fully formed characters... it is, as PrecinctOmega once put it, wargaming for poets; the whole game is really quite a rush for an author.

It takes a cooperative attitude in a way that conventional skirmish or RP games don't, as those tend to have balancing mechanisms in the form of points or XP, but it provides many experiences those can't. Maybe the most thoroughly weird and immersive gaming situations I've ever been in are things like arguing with myself, because it was just "right" that my characters would have disagreed - and you can't do that in any other game I know.

[Raghnall]

Hi again, sorry its been a few days, but real life can be a pain at times.

Actually, that's pretty much what I guessed. There was something about the brandy that struck me as perhaps having been vaguely inspired by the luxafruit.

Spot on, in that that was the inspiration for providing details of his dietary preferences.

Half a century isn't entirely unreasonable, to be fair. Even after finding suitable candidates, it can take several decades to train an Inquisitor, and it can take them just as long to develop the network of agents they need to be fully effective, so if a sector lost nearly a third of its Inquisitors half a century ago (and quite possibly more in the aftermath, as they'd suddenly have been incredibly overstretched), they could well still be considerably understrength.

I suppose your right there, but I've decided to make the event a decade more recent anyway.

It takes a cooperative attitude in a way that conventional skirmish or RP games don't, as those tend to have balancing mechanisms in the form of points or XP, but it provides many experiences those can't. Maybe the most thoroughly weird and immersive gaming situations I've ever been in are things like arguing with myself, because it was just "right" that my characters would have disagreed - and you can't do that in any other game I know.

Sounds good, but trust me when I say my friends don't need any excuse to argue with themselves. 

Anyway, here is the next warband member, Crusader Melissa Pelagia.

Full name: Melissa Pelagia

Aliases: Lady Flavia Imperatrice

Titles: Crusader

Date of birth: 648958.M41

Place of birth: Ares VI

Gender: Female

Height: 173cm/5’8”

Weight: 61kg/136lbs

Appearance: Dark skinned, with silver hair down to her shoulder, a round face, and stern blue eyes. Melissa has a wiry and athletic frame, with little excess body fat, and an Aquila tattoo at the base of her spine, but no other distinguishing markings.

Attire: Melissa generally prefers to wear her light, black and gold, crusade issue flak armour, along with a dark blue storm coat. In combat, this is accompanied by a full sensory helm, but normally this is replaced with a simple targeting eyepiece. Where this load out is inappropriate, she prefers tough and simplistic clothes in muted earth tones, primarily greens and browns.

Personality/Beliefs: Melissa’s personality is, in many ways, what you might expect from someone raised by a crusader house with ties to the Inquisition, and a reputation for a relatively shady nature. Full of pessimism, with a caustic wit, she has a simplistic view of life and little care for material wealth.

Given her upbringing and training by an order of the Ecclesiarchy, she is very devout, and faithful to the Emperor, with a puritan viewpoint. However, as her order is more pragmatic than most, so is she. Although taught to abhor the mutant and disdain the psyker, she is also more loyal to the master that she serves, and his role as a representative of the God Emperor. Despite some philosophical disagreement with Raghnall, regarding the place of the psyker and the role of the mutant, she does trust him for the most part, and willing serves, acting in some capacity as a moral guardian, to keep him within the realms of the moderate, and prevent him straying too far outside His divine light.

Abilities/Strengths/Weaknesses: Fluent in High Gothic, and well versed in Imperial scripture, Melissa is otherwise uneducated besides basic literacy and numeracy, although reasonably quick witted. Furthermore, she is a relatively poor shot, although she can still pose a credible threat. However, where she excels is in hand-to-hand combat. Proficient in numerous martial arts, particularly Beyiel, a flowing, grappling based art, and Sayus, a striking based art, and skilled with a wide variety of close combat weapons, she is very much a skilled warrior. Finally, her great command of scripture and strong faith make her a skilled orator and banisher, armed with the will and litanies to soundly smite the unclean.

Weapons/Equipment: First and foremost, Melissa’s signature weapon is the Sentinel’s blade. An ancient relic of her order, passed down from master to apprentice for millennia, it was forged from Styxian adamantine and set in the gravitational arrays of the Irnael cluster, prior to inscription with the nine seals of vengeance, and cooling in Arondite blood. A straight sword, with a gleaming sliver blade 3 feet in length, a golden crescent crossguard, and an Aquila pommel, it is said to burn with the fury of a thousand dying suns, and cleave the victims very soul in twain.

Other than this, Melissa frequently uses a slightly curved Kriss 36 combat blade, a Hexis-Supreme autolas, and a Rector-7 tunnel revolver. Additional equipment is more limited in scope, consisting of a simple holy talisman, micro-bead, filtration plugs, and targeting eyepiece with built in motion-predictor and infra-scanner.

Servants/Acquaintances: Been an ascetic warrior-monk in service to an Inquisitor-Lord, Melissa has few contacts of her own, but a lot of political power arising from her position. Those contacts she does have are primarily the fellow members of the Order of the Crimson Dawn, and related sects of the Adeptus Ministorum, as she has little experience staying in other places long enough to forge lasting alliances of her own.

History: Born on the shrine world of Ares VI to a family of off-world pilgrims, Melissa was taken by the Order of the Crimson Dawn at the age of one, due to her parents’ death defending the shrine of Saint Inge against a criminal horde. Raised from this early age with utmost faith, she underwent intense combat training, and her education was mostly tailored to mastering the art of the sword. In this role she excelled, and was quickly picked out as a potential candidate to serve as an Inquisitor’s bodyguard and aide. As this brought with it further trials, so did she rise to meet them, and become one of the order’s better warriors. At the age of 23, she underwent a mission to pre-emptively destroy an emerging recidivist sect, and recover the cursed talisman suspected to be driving their growth. For her success in this task, she was gifted the Sentinel’s blade, a relic weapon originally forged for a close companion of the order’s founder, but she also drew the attention of the Inquisition to the order.

Inquisitor Lord Valbrandr arrived on Ares VI to investigate the presence of the cursed talisman, and to contain the spread of its corrupting influence. Reading the reports complied by his agents of the young Crusader who had recovered it from the recidivist sect, he made the decision to investigate the Order of the Crimson Dawn, and speak with Melissa personally. Deeming the Order pure, and impressed with their reputation and history, he spoke with Melissa and set her a series of trials, which she readily passed, even when more experienced members of the order failed. Raghnall recruited her then, to serve as a bodyguard, and to help repair the damage done to his network on Ashendal, nine years previously, as well as consulting him spiritually to help ensure his purity in the face of the difficult task.

Melissa proved more suited to this role than any other she had previously fulfilled. Lacking the cunning to lead an investigation, she was never the less able to quickly make sense of Inquisitorial politics and the unlikely events that are the expertise of the Ordo Obsoletus, quickly making strange, yet plausible connections, and providing the brunt and combat expertise to deal with martial affairs. She has served Raghnall faithfully since this time, despite some disagreements in philosophy, accompanying him most notably during the Transcendence, and the Cahya incursion of 004.M42.

Quirks/Notes:
-Frequently refers to Inquisitor Lord Valbrandr by the diminutive Val, been the only person who dares to do so, although he shows no great aversion to the name.

Quotes:
-“I am Crusader Melissa Pelagia. Warrior of the Order of the Crimson Dawn, and servant of the Lord Inquisitor Raghnall Askell Valbrandr of the Ordo Obsoletus, emissary of Him-on-Terra, and in Hid name, I sentence thee to death. So is His judgement on this day, and so shall you fall to my blade.” - Melissa Pelagia to the cult of the jagged knife.

-“Just my luck. Stuck in the middle of a civil war, with the building crawling with cultists and ghosts, a frakking zombie plague bursting from the underhive, and now a handful of daemons in case I got restless. Should have packed more holy water.” – Melissa during the Carstrix incident.

Profile
WS:74 BS:52 S:63 T:61 I:68 WP:65 SG:50 NV:69 LD:53
Right handed
Skills- Takedown, Feint
Traits- Acrobatic

Weapons- Sentinel’s blade, Hexis-Supreme autolas with 2 reloads, Rector-7 tunnel revolver with reload, knife
Armour- Crusader issue flak armour: 3 points on all locations except head
Equipment- micro-bead, filtration plugs, targeting eyepiece

Sentinel’s blade- This is a close combat weapon, which cannot be destroyed by power weapons, and ignores daemonic abilities, with the following profile.
Reach: 3 Damage: 3d6 Parry penalty: -10%

Hexis-Supreme autolas- Laspistol from Revised Inquisitor Armoury, with heavy military magazine, standard muzzle, extended barrel, 19 Megathule lasing chamber, mars pattern discharge generator, standard grip, and standard frame.

Rector-7 tunnel revolver- Tunnnel revolver from Revised Inquisitor Armoury.

[MarcoSkoll]

Reading about Melissa, other than seeing a couple more things that suggest that you really have been quite thorough in finding many of my old character backgrounds, she seems to be fine to be in both background and stats.

I'm afraid I've not got much more to add on that front, but what's come back to me is a question I think I forgot to ask before -  what have you got in mind for modelling them?

[Raghnall]

Reading about Melissa, other than seeing a couple more things that suggest that you really have been quite thorough in finding many of my old character backgrounds, she seems to be fine to be in both background and stats.

I honestly can't recall intentionally taking anything from your characters for Melissa, but your work is some of the best I have seen on the topic and it has really shaped my view of Inquisitor, so there should be no surprise that I may subconsciously have taken inspiration to some degree. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I'm afraid I've not got much more to add on that front, but what's come back to me is a question I think I forgot to ask before -  what have you got in mind for modelling them?

I wouldn't expect much with regards to that, to be honest. My modelling and painting skills are practically non-existent, the first models are likely to be in 28mm, although I may make 54mm versions at a later date, and when I designed the characters, practicality of modelling them was never at the front of my mind. I have some old high elf models which seem appropriate as the base model for Melissa. Light, medieval-style armour, long cloaks/coats and ornate swords. Raghnall may be slightly harder, but a Catachan officer may form a decent base for him, with the right sort of trousers and a pistol. I would just have to sculpt a jacket on top of that, remove any melee weapon, and maybe do something to emphasise his psychic nature, perhaps with some sort of pose to suggest he is in mid power.

[MarcoSkoll]

I honestly can't recall intentionally taking anything from your characters for Melissa

Well, things like the diminutive were reminiscent for me (Silva's background talks about being one of the few people who calls Giovanna "Gianna" rather than "Gio" or "Gia"), but I wouldn't want to insinuate that you're not coming up with your own concepts!

Everyone borrows and steals here or there - it's the good writers who do new and different things, making what they take their own. (To rephrase T.S. Eliot's "Immature poets imitate, Mature poets steal" quote into the context he actually meant).

I wouldn't expect much with regards to that, to be honest. My modelling and painting skills are practically non-existent

Well, if you should want advice, do feel free to ask. Even if they're a little quiet much of the time, we have got some talents around here. (As you probably already know, I specialise in sculpting).

when I designed the characters, practicality of modelling them was never at the front of my mind.

That's the fun type of character writing!