Main Menu

News:

If you are having problems registering, please e-mail theconclaveforum at gmail.com

Death-cultist, but with a twist...

Started by Vladimir, June 27, 2010, 09:08:01 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Vladimir

+++enter validation+++
rosarius detected... registered... confirmed

+++Proceed, mistress Inquisitor+++
opening...

+++the following is a vid-log taken from the site of the Vermisii Masacre. All footage was recorded by a single pict-skull... the remaining five pict-skulls present were irrepairably damaged.+++

0:00 picture regains focus. Scene appears to be some form of laboratory. Camera is pointed down, over the shoulder of an inquisitoral storm trooper. The storm trooper appears to be looking down at the body of a lab technician on the floor. Throat has been slashed open, bionics appear to have been surgically removed.
0:51 low thud heard of-camera. Storm trooper glances left and readies helgun.
1:12 storm trooper's arm pierced by metallic crossbow bolt, estimated length 15 centimetres.
1:15 storm trooper drops helgun, clutches at arm.
1:16 movement to rapid for camera to capture. Dark shape drops down infront of storm trooper. Storm trooper's stomach appears to be slashed open: blood-splatter analysis identifies weapon used as short combat knife.
1:19 Camera shaky-image distorted. Female figure, clad in black bodyglove with many augmetics, sat crouched on chest of storm trooper. Storm trooper not breathing, confirmed deceased.
1:25 picture regains clarity. Storm trooper has had bionic eye removed. Female jumps away from deceased storm trooper- camera does not track her.
1:26 Sound of running feet: identified as 6 men, all clad in carapace armour. Shouting heard- words indistinct.

2:02 camera pans around to show five more storm troopers running into laboratory.
2:05 storm troopers assume firing positions by doorway
2:80 storm trooper- insignia identifies as leader- steps forward into centre of laboratory, helgun held ready.
2:83 Female figure drops behind storm trooper leader from above camera view.
2:84 female figure thrusts knife between shoulder-plates of storm trooper leaders armour. Leader drops to floor, presumably dead.
2:85 sound of sporadic gunfire- sound consistant with that of four pattern 420 helguns.  Female figuredrops int crouch and jumps. Movement to fast for camera to follow.

2:90 sound of gunfire, screams.
3:02 sound of gunfire stops.
3:10 camera pans around. All four storm troopers dispatched by knife-wounds to face, neck and chest. Female figure stood, observing camera. Clear image of female's face- mostly obscured by mask, but possible identification as Morwyn Elthius, a wanted assassin known to the Ordo Hereticus.
3:14 female figure raises right arm, aiming wrist-mounted crossbow at camera.
3:17 wrist mounted crossbow fired. Camera shakes on impact, lens visibly cracked.
3:18 Static for a further 32:07, until pict-skulls motor dies.

+++The following is taken from a treatise on sub-cults of the Adaptes Mechanicus, penned by Adept Lucius Crayn+++
The Teeth of the Machine
Beliefs: The Teeth of the Machineare an interesting cult of the machine cult in that they appear to be analogous to the various death-cults of the Emperor. The Teeth believe that the machine-god represents perfection, and that his creations and servants (machinery and the Adaptes Mechanicus) are reflections of this perfection. As such, as servant of the machine god who turns away from its perfect nature is not only impure, but a direct insult to their god. They thus believe that it is their duty to remove all who would insult the machine god through deviation or heresy. Aside from this, they also believe that it is their duty to protect the most holy machines from those who do not show them proper veneration, that is those outside the cult mechanicus.
Practices: The Teeth are a hidden cult within the Adaptes Mechanicus. They are believed to have cells on many forge-worlds, vessels and hives throughout the Segmentum Solar. Each cell will consist of a few dozen individuals, all highly trained to work as assassins, as well as maybe a few hundred supporters who provide supplies, cover, and information for the cult's assassins. Every cell has the express mission of removing all those who blaspheme against the machine god, typically hereteks, rogue tech-priests and those who pursue forbidden knowledge. The way each victim is killed varies from target to target, but is usually unceremonious- the cult has used poison, bombs and similar methods to kill particularly well protected targets.  Each cell works on its own, with little contact with the remainder of the cult, so each defines blasphemy against the machine god slightly differently, and their training and methodology vary from world to world.

Organisation: The cult is divided into thousands of small cells, each of them existing to support a group of up to 30 assassins. These assassins are trained since early childhood as killers- they have little to know knowledge of matters outside of killing, faith and the mysteries of technology. As has already been noted, most of the cult are 'lay' members who's only duty is to support assassins with supplies and information. The children trained as assassins are selected from the offspring of these 'lay' members- upon reaching adolescence they are skilled enough to be assigned their first victim, and by the time they reach adulthood they are amongst the most deadly individuals within the cult mechanicus. An assassin who reaches middle age will typically take less kills, spending more time training the next generation of assassins, although some have been known to carry on accepting targets well into their second century.

Official Stance: The Teeth are little known outside the Cult Mechanicus. Within it, they are not officially recognised by the mechanicus, except on a rare few forge worlds, due to their secretive nature. Many inquisitors and secutors have investigated the Teeth of the Machine, and all so far have found them to be without taint. As their actions mainly target hereteks and those that the Mechanicus (and wider imperium) would be rather see removed anyway, they are unofficially tolerated.

Morwyn Elthius, death cult assassin
Age: 29
Homeworld: Voidborn, exploratory fleet Omnisiah's Gaze
Status: Active, wanted by Arbites. Wanted by some members of the Inquisition.
Threat Level: High.

Ws 84. Bs 66. S 62. T 51. I 82. Wp 44. Sg 38. Nv 62. Ld 33.
Skills: Acrobatic, Catfall, Dodge, First Strike, Furious Assault
Armour: 2 points to arms and legs, 3 to groin, abdomen, chest and head
Weaponry: Dagger, Handbow (3 shots)
Bionics/Gear: Gasmask with psycho inhaler, Advanced Bionic Brain, Advanced Bionic Eye, Auspex (with motion tracker and rangefinder),
But what if the Emperor could be granted a body that does not wither and die, that could be his vessel for all eternity to come? I believe that such a thing is possible, that the Emperor yet waits for his new body to be found or created. In essence, a new Emperor will be created to lead Mankind to i

dumdeedum

It may be that I just havn't understodd the background fully, but having a member of a cult within the mechanicus with such low SG and such low-tech weapons seems odd. If they have access to advanced bionics then surely some advanced weaponry is possible. Maybe just a digital weapon or something? I can see that being quite fitting for the cult.

Just a thought though

James

Shannow

Have to agree with James, that given the cults origin a hand bow seems a little too low tech. Perhaps something like a wrist integrated needle pistol would be more suiting? Seems suitably stealthy, not overpowered and tricky to make for an admech to have fun fiddling with.

Also I really like the accompanying writing, I think it is quite hard to make that list style interesting, but you certainly managed it :)

Rob
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Time to die.

Vladimir

The low sagicity is deliberate: She's been trained exclusively as an assassin- she knows how to kill, and nothing else. She has absolutely no knowledge of imperial culture, and is probably iliterate and highly superstitious.

The handbow was chosen for a few reasons- firstly it's almost silent, very reliable and somewhat flexible. Secondly, I figured an death-cultist would be using somewhat esotoric traditional weapons, rather than a huge sniper rifle or power-sword. Thirdly, the figure looks neat. The arguament that a bow is automatically 'low tech' is not entirely valid- This link is a bow I shoot with regularly. A digi-weapon is a neat possibility, but I'm debating wether it's entirely necessary.
As for the knife, I could have used a power-knife instead, but I didn't see much point.

The bionics/combat stims were certainly *not* applied by Morwyn herself- they will have been provided by a higher ranking 'lay' cultist, much like the rest of her kit.

But what if the Emperor could be granted a body that does not wither and die, that could be his vessel for all eternity to come? I believe that such a thing is possible, that the Emperor yet waits for his new body to be found or created. In essence, a new Emperor will be created to lead Mankind to i

dumdeedum

I realise that a bow can be quite a complicated thing but in my mind I see the mechanicus as liking lasers and things, which admittedly is just how I think in the sense that lasers = high tech and bows = low tech regardless of the reality.

I think it was partly me misunderstanding what you intended with the character aswell when I made my comment, i thought your character was more than just an assassin but a member of the cult who did other things (not sure what these things are, but  they were doing it)

My point on lack of lack of weaponry still stands though, you can barely hurt someone wearing carapace armour, which is where the description of the handbow comes in. It mentions that the quarrels are often explosive tipped or poison coated. I think you could come up with a variety of different quarrels for different situations, armour piercing, explosives, poisons, maybe incorporate effects from grenades such as smoke etc. but at a slightly smaller scale for distractions or a haywire quarrel. I think it would make it seem more high-tech and also make a much more effective assassin.

Don't know if that helps or not but I think it would be some interesting rules to come up with.

James

Shannow

I have to say that I agree with dumdeedum on the bow still, though they are not simple things (which I was not implying though I see how it seems like that), its just that relative to the style and ethos of the Mechanicus, a hand bow seems awkward and out of place with little real justification in the background.

Perhaps if you just wrote up an extra segment about the cult and made a point of this being their especially favoured weapon or something? Or beef it up with gas power :P

I apologise if I come across as attacking; I do really like the character :)

Rob
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Time to die.

Flinty

Personally, I like the idea of a cultist with a hand bow. I dont think it has to be about tech level, dont forget the Ad Mech guard access to technology very jealously and have a very hierarchical view of who is allowed access to what; she's not a servitor, but a tool of a cult (if Ive read the fluff right).

As Vladimir knows, bows are quick, quiet and difficult to break - I assume she is unleashed to do a job, not spend her time tweaking kit - look at her Sg...shes a one trick pony.

I dont know what the stat line for the hand bow is - perhaps its a slightly beefed up version due to the use of specially advanced composite materials in the arms perhaps, but her WS should see her hitting most of her targets.

Thats no reason why she couldn'y have a couple of situation specific bolts as dumdeedum suggests (''electro bolts'' would deal with carapace armour quite effectively ) and perhaps a few more reloads...3 or 4 bolts aren't go to last long if she gets  cornered as I imagine she wont have much back up...

I like it. Especially as there is plenty of scope of wierdness if anything should happen to her cranial curcuitry....
Neanderthal and Proud!

Kaled

My feeling is that this character is something of a missed opportunity, the idea of a Mechanicum death cult is very cool but the execution is disappointing. The AdMech have access to all manner of cool stuff, but this character just has a knife and handbow - even if you don't want to give her more 'high tech' weapons, how about some fancy gizmos? Sensor scramblers, code breakers, comm-spies etc...

Do you have a model (planned) for the character? A cool model makes up for many sins IMHO...
I like to remember things my own way... Not necessarily the way they happened.

Inquisitor - Blood Bowl - Malifaux - Fairy Meat

Vladimir

I have a model finished for the character- unfortunately I don't have a working camera at the moment.

Remember, the character only *needs* a knife and handbow much of the time- she's going to be killing of isolated tech-priests in their labs, not fully equipped military targets. If you can catch a sleeping oponent, you don't *need* powerful weapons.
Personally, I don't see why a lowly cultist would be given the Mechanicus's various arcane do-wots.  Remember, part of the cult's mission is to keep technology in the right hands- actual *access* to hi-tech stuff will be restricted to those who deserve it. Her reaction to (say) a powerfist will be 'I must worship this' not 'I can use this!'.

Although, as kaled says- sensor scramblers etc would be cool. The figure has enough shoulder-mounted sensors (wired directly into her brain) to justify some. Now all I need is rules...
But what if the Emperor could be granted a body that does not wither and die, that could be his vessel for all eternity to come? I believe that such a thing is possible, that the Emperor yet waits for his new body to be found or created. In essence, a new Emperor will be created to lead Mankind to i

Kaled

Given that sleeping Tech-Priests, especially high ranking ones, are going to have all manner of augmented and extra senses she's likely to need more than simple stealth to catch one unawares. And most Tech-Priests have plenty of augmentations that can be used as improvised weapons (and many will have actual weapons, possibly hidden ones) - so I still question whether a knife and handbow will be sufficient...

I've written an article for DM that greatly expands the rules for Tech-Priests - there may be some stuff in there that you could use for this character. Not sure when it'll be published, but keep an eye out for it.

Maybe you could describe the model if you can't get a photo? It'd help to have at least a proper mental image of the character...
I like to remember things my own way... Not necessarily the way they happened.

Inquisitor - Blood Bowl - Malifaux - Fairy Meat

Shannow

I still think that to include the bow that it needs a decent bit of elaboration in background, not that you shouldn't use it, just that its sufficiently an odd item to need that extra bit of justification. Description would be cool :)

Rob
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Time to die.

MarcoSkoll

I have to share Kaled's viewpoint.

Techpriests are not easy targets. Most of them are armoured, armed, augmented and nowhere near as vulnerable as a human.
If you shove a knife into a techpriest's back, it has a high chance of finding metal plating, and even if it should find his heart or lungs, there's a good bet they're bionic too. And you can't count on him bleeding to death - his blood may not even be blood any more, but some fast clotting chemical concoction. And if you try shooting him... it's likely enough that he has a forcefield of some sort. Should they attack back, they're probably rather better equipped than you.

Not something that I'd think a knife and handbow would be enough to handle.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Vladimir

These are relevent points.

I'm thinking of putting the equivalent of a haywire grenade into each of her crossbow bolts- rather than being delt damage, the target is affected by the same result as a haywire grenade so long as the bolt is sticking into/onto them. And the knife probably ought to be a power-knife, actually.
But what if the Emperor could be granted a body that does not wither and die, that could be his vessel for all eternity to come? I believe that such a thing is possible, that the Emperor yet waits for his new body to be found or created. In essence, a new Emperor will be created to lead Mankind to i

Shannow

Ahhh thats a very nice touch, very specific and adds oodles of extra character without making it very powerful in general, and the power knife is more than deserved also :)

Rob
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Time to die.

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Vladimir on June 29, 2010, 07:18:47 PMrather than being delt damage, the target is affected by the same result as a haywire grenade so long as the bolt is sticking into/onto them.
Uh... possibly a bit much. Haywire grenades are actually very powerful pieces of equipment. Absolute death to techpriests.

I also very much doubt anyone in the Mechanicus would issue such equipment - quite aside from their rarity, they revere machinery to the extent that to use such a thing is nigh on unthinkable.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles