FoxPhoenix's Warbands Development

[FoxPhoenix135]

Hello again,

   After reading some very sound advice from the long-timers around here, I'm ready to begin designing my own characters for my warbands.

   First up is the lead Inquisitor for my first warband, a staunch Amalathian Ordos Hereticus renegade-tracker! He's a psyker too, so that's an interesting choice for the Witch-hunting Ordos! Here's his background:

Inquisitor Castillon de Quitano

   Castillon was born into the noble Quitano House on a formerly-Fortress World known as Alascadia, residing in the Calixis Sector. For much of his youth, he displayed amazing intuitive skills and a quick learning curve, which most attributed to his professional tutors. However, as he progressed in his childhood, it became apparent that it was not just a quick mind that attributed to his impressive learning abilities. When tested, he was found to have a minor amount psychic talent, allowing him to pick up on subtle hints and read the most basic thoughts at the foremost of minds around him. His parents were at first in denial, but when the Black Ships came to collect him, they had no choice but to accept that their son was a shameful psyker.

   The Rites of Sanctioning were arduous for one so few in years, but his young body was resilient and he recovered from his Sanctioning with his sanity. All that remains of those years are thousands of tiny scars from needles placed all over his body.  Even to the present day, Castillon abhors needles of any type. He refuses to talk of his ordeal to anybody.

   Upon completion of his Sanctioning, he was returned to Alascadia at the request of his cousin, the local head of the planetary Adeptus Arbites precinct, who had considerable influence. Castillon served in the Arbites for quite some time where his minor psychic talents proved to be invaluable in tracking down suspects. During one of his later investigations, Castillon discovered a Chaos Cult and their plan to open a rift in reality leading to the Immaterium. Castillon was able to alert the planetary defense force in time to lead an assault on the coven, but the ritual was in the final stages of completion by the time the planetary guard broke through the cultist defenses.

   It was pure luck for the inhabitants of the planet that a powerful Inquisitor lord was present who was also a psyker. This Inquisitor had been using his informants to track the actions of the Chaos cult for months, but had been caught unprepared by the speed in which the cultists had been able to arrange the ritual. He arrived with his own security forces just after the rift was open. Using his psychic powers, the Inquisitor was able to seal the rift enough to stop any daemonic forces from coming through while a choir of Astropaths alerted the planet for evacuation. Castillon fought by his side, keeping him from harm while his concentration was focused on the rift. Eventually, enough of the planet had been evacuated that the Inquisitor and the planetary defense forces could withdraw.

   After the incident (later known as the Alascadian Harrowing), the Inquisitor Lord was impressed sufficiently by the Arbiter Castillon de Quitano that he inducted him into the Inquisition on the spot, aboard the transport craft. He offered the young Arbiter a position within the Ordos Hereticus, which the now-homeless youth saw little reason to deny. Castillon's name was stricken from the records, so none of the former inhabitants of Alascadia know of his heroism, but the Inquisitor Lord assures Castillon that even though the planet was lost, many more lives would have been lost if Castillon had not led the assault when he had. Despite the aged Inquisitor's words, Castillon remains doubtful of his significance during the Harrowing.

   Castillon's mentor is long since passed into memory but Castillon still holds true to the Inquisitor Lord's Amalathian ideals, now an Inquisitor himself. Castillon is is sympathetic to the plight of psykers, since he is himself a psyker, and refuses to hunt them unless they have proven themselves to be particularly dangerous. This oftentimes puts him at odds with his superiors. It is clear that it has limited his advancement in the Ordos Hereticus. Despite this, the Ordos values his abilities very highly and sets him upon hard-to-track suspects and enemies of the Imperium. Castillon hunts these renegades and recidivists with passion, in order to protect the sanctity of the Imperium!

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Let me know what you think!
-FP135

[FoxPhoenix135]

Are double-posts discouraged around here? Let me know and I won't do it again... sorry!

My next character design is a Sister Hospitaller. She will be the non-combat specialist in my first warband (obviously a medic). Here is her backstory:

Sister Hospitaller Evalina Lorraine

Evalina was born the only daughter of a Battlefleet Calixis Navy Captain, though she never met the man. Shortly after her third birthday, both her parents were killed when a Chaos-influenced cultist detonated a bomb at a Naval banquet in her father's honor. With no other living relatives, the orphan was given the honor of attending a prestigious Schola Progenium. Throughout her youth, she learned that harsh discipline and concrete faith had no substitute, and upon her graduation to progena she was accepted into the Order of Serenity on Ophelia VII to undergo training as a battlefield surgeon.

During the latter part of her service in the Adepta Sororitas, she was embedded into an Imperial Guard division bound to retake Alascadia after the "Alascadian Harrowing" incident. Needless to say, against such a powerful rending of the veil between reality and the warp, the guardsmen were poorly equipped to handle such corruption. After a few short days of fighting the most horrendous of daemons spawned forth from warp rifts, the bloodied division was ordered to withdraw from Alascadia. During those short few days, Evalina was attributed with saving over two hundred guardsmen's lives, all under battlefield conditions. Though the event left her mentally troubled by what she had seen, she accepted the praise she garnered with her usual passiveness. She received a special commendation for her exceptional service and sense of duty.

A few months after the Alascadia disaster (dubbed "Sewaerd's Folly" due to the lack of foresight exhibited by the Imperial Commander Octavian Sewaerd), Evelina received a mysterious visit from an Inquisitor from the Ordos Hereticus. The man was obviously a psyker, and she could only scarcely conceal the discomfort she felt in his presence. If not for her Schola Progena upbringing, it is likely she wouldn't have.

Despite her misgivings, the aged Inquisitor was not as fearsome as she had heard. In fact, she was offered a job. This Inquisitor, a Castillon de Quitano, had been tracking the cultist that killed her parents. When her commendation was put in, he was finally able to locate her. He offered her a deal: If she would pledge loyalty to him, he would help her find her retribution. The Schola had instilled much discipline in her, and that carried into her life still. However, even that discipline could not quell the desire to see her parent's avenged in the name of the Emperor!





A bit rough around the edges, especially about how she was inducted. Any other ideas on her recruitment into Castillon's retinue?

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

For a start, welcome.

With regard to Castillon:

For a start it's rather unusual IMO for him to have been found by someone other than the Black Ships and survive the experience - the Black Ships would educate him in the control of his power where few others could afford the time...
I tend to think that the Black Ships specialised role also allows them to detect the first budding of the psychic talent before it truly manifests which means that they should be able to pick out most before anything of real significance happens.

Remember that to many psychic powers are a gift of The Emperor, that Astropaths and Sanctioned Psykers are good psykers (from the perspective of many) and it's very difficult to think of a child you've watched grow up as anything other than one of the good ones unless they really are a diabolical little git.

As far as I know the ranks of the Adeptus Arbites are closed to Psykers - the two being in different arms of the Adeptus Administorium - so perhaps having him assigned to support the Arbites might be a better approach.

[FoxPhoenix135]

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the black ships... He eventually need up on one, so is that too far of a stretch?

Anyway, I'm finished painting my models I plan to use (28mm is what we decided on, so that we don't have to buy any new models until we are sure of the game). I used two of the models from 40k Inquisitors and their retinues, to keep it simple. I kitbashed the heavy-stubber wielding fellow out of bits from my bits box... Still need to come up with a background for him!

[Ulgavitch]

A few months after the Alascadia disaster (dubbed "Sewaerd's Folly" due to the lack of foresight exhibited by the Imperial Commander Octavian Sewaerd), Evelina received a mysterious visit from an Inquisitor from the Ordos Hereticus. The man was obviously a psyker, and she could only scarcely conceal the discomfort she felt in his presence. If not for her Schola Progena upbringing, it is likely she wouldn't have.

Despite her misgivings, the aged Inquisitor was not as fearsome as she had heard. In fact, she was offered a job. This Inquisitor, a Castillon de Quitano, had been tracking the cultist that killed her parents. When her commendation was put in, he was finally able to locate her. He offered her a deal: If she would pledge loyalty to him, he would help her find her retribution. The Schola had instilled much discipline in her, and that carried into her life still. However, even that discipline could not quell the desire to see her parent's avenged in the name of the Emperor!

Three points for you here: Schola Progenium students are all orphans, but I think it's probably fair to say that if she never knew her parents and they both died when she was three, then she'd have little memory of them. I'm not sure why she'd avenge them, as those who brought her up in the Schola would have had much more effect (and lasting memory) than her parents. You could say she's avenging her imagined perfect childhood, because that's much more selfish and hard to reach. With that, you can have a vengeance which stretches out for an entire life.

Second point: Inquisitor traditionally don't ask. The little rosette they carry means they can do anything they like, so asking is totally redundant as a job offer from The Emperors Finest (tm) is traditionally non negotiable. You can refuse, but as a good student of both the Schola and continued living, you'd say yes. No is not a word Inquisitors like to hear. She would definitely know this.

Thirdly, and finally: A psyker only affects people when they try to, unless the other person is also a psyker as well. A non-psyker cannot sense a psyker. If they were, say, a psychic null, then that would be detectable. The other thing to say is that she's a Adeptus Soritias first, Schola student second. Even though she's a hospitillar, she would still not 'suffer the witch to live' and I think this would cause real friction. She believes in the Imperial cult, and that is totally opposed to any witchcraft or wizardry.

Unless her battlefield experiences have changed that....

[FoxPhoenix135]

Wow, you guys sure do know your canon!

Ok, so maybe I'll bump up her age a bit. Does anybody know the cutoff age for the schola?

As for the inquisitor asking her to join: just because an inquisitor CAN conscript someone without asking, I think the more laid-back or compassionate of inquisitors would ask as a courtesy, not a neccessity. Do you think this assumption is way off base?

When I said "obviously a psyker" I chose my words poorly. I envisioned this "social call" -like interview, in which the inquisitor would see her for himself as opposed to reading a report on her. In this interview, I imagined him using his abilities either passively or intuitively, leading to him garnering knowledge he shouldn't know any other way. Being mostly a telepathic psyker, she would be able to tell if he lifted any info from her thoughts. Sorry for the confusion caused by my lack of detail!

The potential friction between her and the inquisitor is completely intentional! It adds a bit of begrudging respect (maybe even reluctant loyalty) to her relationship with the psyker.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the black ships... He eventually need up on one, so is that too far of a stretch?

Oh he'd definitely have ended up on one - no psyker who is a part of 'mainstream' society slips beneath their notice - only in outlaw society, places like the Underhive...etc is there a chance to slip through the cracks.

What I mean is that, as his psychic talent initially expresses itself it is unpredictable and ungoverned, things far beyond what mature powers may be capable of happen around him. If he's recognised as a psyker and the Black Ships aren't in the area (for whatever reason) then most likely he'll simply be shot because the dangers of allowing him to continue walking around are too great. Given his family connections it's possible that he'd be placed in a stasis field as soon as there's a suspicion but training or continuing to walk around as an uncontrolled psyker are mutually exclusive with that sort of background 

Most likely the Black Ships' surveys will be what found him - his parents won't have had time for denial.
Though whether they would feel that is dependent on their view - after all, he's blessed by the Emperor.