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Inquisitor Jamas Orian

Started by Jamas Orian, August 21, 2010, 03:01:47 PM

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Jamas Orian

Needing thoughts and critique on this background if I may.

Please could you give me feedback not only on his background, but on his equipment and statline too? Thanks =]

Warning! This whole thing is about 6000 words in length

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NAME: Jamas Eresmas Orian

KNOWN ALIASES: None known

RANK / AFFILIATION: Inquisitor

AGE [since birth]: 127 standard terran years
AGE [physical]: 39 standard terran years
GENDER: Male
Species: Human
Height: 5' 11" / Weight: 14st 4lbs
Eyes: Blue/Green
Hair: Dark brown.
Left handed, although dexterous enough to write with his right hand legibly.



Jamas' homeworld is Eritan IV, although his youth was spent in the solitary hive city on the cold world of Verlaine Magna. Whether or not he was an Eritanian native is unknown, as his parents never discussed the subject.

Jamas is a deliberate and occasionally sprightly man, of medium stature and unremarkable gait. He does have a couple of insignificant bionics implanted – a couple to replace a dodgy joint and tendon in his right hand and a vox link that he requisitioned after a stay in a hospital.

ATTIRE:

Jamas is capable of adapting his wardrobe to a particular task at hand – usually infiltration. He often stops by clothing merchants on the planets that he visits to browse, both for work and a growing collection of other attire. Having a wide wardrobe is very handy for blending in or standing out as necessary.

When doing most fieldwork however, he has a favoured few notable survival jackets. These jackets he picked up at a market on Bariyal Waystation, and are designed to keep the elements out and the wearer's body temperature constant, although admittedly he did initially purchase them because he liked the colour and neutral look.  They're not particularly high-tech garments, but are water- and wind-proof and can survive temperatures from -30 to 50 comfortably, and a little ways out of those boundaries with increasing discomfort the further out the temperature is.

In fieldwork, and when interrogating, he always wears a carapace chest piece and standard issue flak armour. The chest piece is as a result of getting shot in the chest at inopportune moments when he lived in the hive of Verlaine Magna.


HISTORY:

Jamas' mother was a merchant of minor wealth, running a couple of ships on trade runs between the hive and both the rest of the planet and the sub sector – and specialised in the transportation of foodstuffs. She owned a few estates on a few different worlds. She had several run ins with the law in the past, mostly for minor infractions, but sometimes accused of cavorting with mutants or aliens and/or smuggling. Not all of the infractions held to her were proven.

Jamas' father was officially under the employ of his mother, acting as something like a pilot and maintenance person on one of her ships.

His family were known for breaking agreements and contracts on several occasions with little remorse for the outcome if it meant that they benefited. Certain wealthies in the upper-community of the hive treated them with open hostility because of this – whilst others with big enough pay packets were quick to employ them against their rivals. Both of them were assumed to be disreputable and dishonest regardless of their true morals, and this brush tarred Jamas as he grew.

His maternal great grandmother was a military officer in the Imperial guard, who was defeated in a large important battle. Quite which Jamas doesn't know, again because he was never told. It could well be that this brought great shame to the family, and might well be the reason that they were so untrustworthy.

Jamas does not know the current whereabouts or state of his parents. He adopted his current name name upon leaving Verlaine Magna. Jamas is a traditional Eritanian name, and Orian being a deliberate corruption of the Orion arm of the galaxy where both Eritan and Verlaine Magna are located.

Jamas, in his early teens, was very unhappy with his family's continued cloak and dagger treachery with their business contacts as well as being in the crossfire due to his parentage. Although he still felt enough loyalty to his family not to report them any time they did something illegal – he did find the need to vent his frustration at those who acted similarly dishonestly.

Jamas conscripted the assistance of a couple of low-hive thugs, paying them small amounts from the family wealth (although to them the wages were beyond anything that they could get their hands on easily), and began a vigilante crusade through the hive. To most who found out however, this vigilantism just reinforced his family reputation – they saw it as elimination of enemies rather than cleaning up wayward morals.

Jamas was initially quite useless at combat, much to the chagrin of those he hired, but eventually began growing competent through practice and some occasional training from some others. Jamas was, however, quite driven in his hunt for scum to eliminate. Initially, as was wont to happen with thugs from the low-hive, these hunts usually ended up in punishment beatings or crude torture for  those at guilt. Over the course of the next decade though, Jamas had refined both the thugs that he had initially hired into disciplined fighters and his own skills from a hunter into an investigator – and he more willingly led his targets into the hands of law enforcement.

The law caught up with them a few times - Jamas having done some time for being a public nuisance and fighting in public. As he got older and wiser, he got caught less and less. Again, all getting banged up did was help reinforce his untrustworthy image, and although those close to him knew better it was a difficult image to shake.

Whilst away from the hive on family business, he let one of his original entourage, Giáil Ghlas, lead in his stead. He used the trips that his family dragged him on to procure weaponry and other usefulness for his cause. As not to arouse suspicion from his family, Jamas made sure that he was properly educated, and attended some of the best schools in the hive. He had been schooled from about the age of 6, but kept his education up as he started to become a vigilante.

When he was in his mid twenties, Jamas had his first run in with the Inquisition. By now, Jamas was a competent fighter, pretty quick witted and quite good at his task of leading former (and current) low-lifes and meting out justice to those that would otherwise escape it. The encounter was not a pretty one – he assaulted a hive lord, known to him to have been perverting justice for a long while, who was unfortunately in the company of an experienced Inquisitor and her own warband. Although successful in his attempt to assassinate the lord and bring his crimes of extortion, murder and kidnap to the public eye, he lost 2 comrades - and he and another were captured by the inquisitor.

At first the inquisitor suspected him of being some nefarious agent, and subjected him to a good degree of pain and torture whilst trying to extract the truth. His first confession wasn't believed, but she began to see him as the frustrated vigilante that he was the more she discovered. Eventually she released both him and his cohort, under the agreement that he would assist her in her investigations on the world.

That he did, and did very well. Inquisitor Carrow, as she was named, looked upon him favourably. She was a staunch Amalathian and lent occasional support to his policing efforts with further training, education and materials for all of them. He was somewhat torn between his vigilantism and the new tasks he was ordered to do, and had the occasional run in with Carrow over it at times, but generally the two got along very professionally.

With her current investigation on the planet finished unfruitfully, she left for more pressing matters elsewhere in the sector. Jamas was her go-to on Verlaine Magna, and provided her with regular intelligence updates. In the 3 years since she had left, Jamas now led a capable force of 50 or so vigilantes, all of whom started as thugs for hire from the low-hive. His group was nameless, and was still hgihly illegal, although he was now afforded some protection from the law due to his sporadic contact with Carrow.

About 3 years after they first met, Carrow returned to Verlaine Magna and immediately sequestered Jamas and 9 of his best fighters. Jamas had been gathering a lot of seemingly disjointed information for her, the significance of it all was only brought to bear when she stated why: She had uncovered a Genestealer infestation in the hive. Not wanting to arouse panic, she would use and lead the group of vigilantes to clean the infestation from the hive before it got out of control, if it had not already.

Jamas' fighters were luckily all clean humans, probably because of his policy of recruiting vagrants with a conscience. No one with much political weight, and thus not a good target for a Genestealer takeover. They were all briefed, and although a couple stated that they would rather defend key points and key people rather than take the aliens on directly, they were all enthusiastic about helping their planet.

Their mission took them about half a year to complete, and many of Jamas and Carrow's men died doing it. As Carrow knew now the locations of almost the entire infestation, the fighting was constant as they moved from target to target. Thankfully, no 4th generation Genestealers had been born yet, but all of the encounters they had were bloody and messy. Not only did they limit themselves to the hive, they travelled the whole of the land surface of Verlaine Magna scouring the Genestealers. Verlaine Magna is a relatively normal world, with its solitary hive city and many other towns and dwellings - but all of its landmass located at the southern pole, making it uncomfortably-cold to deadly-cold in temperature.

With the infestation successfully dealt with, the knowledge of it needed to be suppressed. But so impressed was Carrow of Jamas and his men that she recruited all of them into either her personal retinue or sent them to become inquisitional shock troops, rather than just simply kill them or move them off world. Jamas took his current name upon the offer.

Over the next decade, Jamas (and his aging former 2nd in command Giáil Ghlas) accompanied Carrow on her alien hunting. With the same fervour that he had leapt into his vigilantism when he was a boy, he leapt into the role of defender of the Imperium. He honed his combat skill further on the training bay of Carrow's ship, and relentlessly read on the aliens that he encountered.

More often than not, it was Orks and Eldar that they had to deal with. The Eldar being especially tricky foes, Jamas learnt all he could of them. It was during this time that he was formalised as Carrow's acolyte, and that Giáil passed away from old age (Something neither would have guessed given their frequently dangerous work).


Jamas and Carrow came to head though, a decade or so after. Jamas had been investigating an Eldar sighting for her on an Ecclesiarchy world when he had found about the gruesome discovery what was essentially a human abattoir on the planet. Knowing that craftworld Eldar were not wont to commit such acts, he started concentrating on webway Eldar as an explianation. As he investigated, many more of these chambers had been uncovered.

Eventually though, he discovered that this was the result of some debaucherous sect from the Ecclesiarchy themselves. He wasted no time in sending a call to the Ordo Hereticus, fearful of some immediate threat of heresy and insurrection. 2 Inquisitors answered his call.

A few survivors were found, most died within hours or days because of their horrific injuries. One, who called herself Eleanor, was out-of-the-ordinary in that she did survive, and was in remarkably good condition. It was established that she was a psycker with a remarkable talent over micro-telekinesis.

Conventional interrogation techniques from the Ordo Hereticus proved pretty useless on her, so Jamas adopted to sit in the interrogation room with her until she volunteered information.  3 days passed, but she did eventually speak – in simple, child-like sentences – in return for some water. Jamas was quite outraged at the information that he got from her.

With the moral backing of the 2 other inquisitors (themselves busy with mopping up the taint of debauchery and insurrection from the planet), he confronted Carrow – who had known about this for long time and had even gone as far as to hinder any findings of guilt.

Carrow, as an Amalathian, had used her Inquisitional authority to ensure that the Primate of the Ecclesiarchy continued to hold his post in the unstable subsector. A loss of such an important religious site to a conspiracy as grand in magnitude as this would have sent shockwaves through the nearby systems.

She had shielded him from abuse charges laid at him. Something petty such as theft or smuggling, Jamas would have no issue with – after all, things as every day as those are not really his charge. But this wanton revelling in others' unimaginable pain did not sit well with Jamas' morals or conscience. The two exchanged a bitter row of words, levelling accusations of betrayal at each other before long fighting through the corridors of their ship. Carrow was killed in the encounter before she could be captured and interrogated for assisting this heresy, along with some of her entourage who had opted to defend her: her bodyguard, her engineer, some of the ship's crew, and her scribe.

Jamas spared those who had opted to defend her when he was convinced that they were unaware of the situation enough to make what he thought as the correct decision – their souls were not full of desire to insurrect, only to protect what they thought was a noble person against an aggressor.

With the blessing of 1 of the Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors, he continued on to operate the remaining cases of Carrow's. He took Eleanor into his care when he left the planet. The other Inquisitor was much less forgiving of him, levelling charge of deviancy for not capturing Carrow alive and for sparing some of the crew that fought him. Jamas fought off this inquisitor not long after leaving the system at a nearby waystation.

Within a few months however, with Carrow's previous exemplary reports of him plus this latest event, he was ordained as a full inquisitor in his own right. He was issued with his own seal, but returned it and to this day uses Carrow's old seal instead.

EXPERTISE:

His primary fields of knowledge are the Eldar, and to a lesser extent the Orks and Tyranids (namely Genestealers). He is a mediocre huntsman, having spent some time on Eritan learning; and under the charge of Caitlín. He is quite studious, and has conditioned himself to a polyphasic sleep regime so that he needs less sleep to function, allowing him more time to train and to investigate.

CURRENT LOCATION:

Jamas currently lives onboard the transport ship Archangel with his personal entourage.

KNOWN ASSOCIATES:

Jamas usually gets his gear from a variety of sources, but does know a few good contacts for more exotic items. He doesn't like being wantonly open in his operation, so usually has his goods transported in civilian ships. His main source of more specialised anti-alien ammunition is the Ordos Xenos (of which he became a member shortly after being ordained), and again he prefers these being sent to him without fuss.

He mostly confides in his warband – a select group of a few very trusted individuals. None of his original vigilante group have survived to this time.


Eleanor
he has 'adopted' so to say. She doesn't have much imputus to do things on her own, and he  keeps her busy by honing her psychic skills and taking some time to talk with her each day if he can. Eleanor's withdrawn demeanour means she doesn't communicate much with the others of the ship, and she rarely follows orders given by anyone aside from Jamas.


Rubens McPherson, from the world of Tathainear, is essentially Jamas' second in command, having been with him the longest after Eleanor. Both of the his parents died and he was raised by relatives, although he disliked his relatives thoroughly. He's one of the middle children in a large family who used to bully and harass him.

Rubens was picked up by Jamas from the Imperial Guard after Jamas had dealt with a rogue Eldar Ranger on a nameless agri-world. Rubens had managed to survive the Ranger's attacks, unlike most of his squad – although he was called a coward for refusing to fight it by the others that survived – a grave accusation for a Tathainearaí. His former sergeant has since hired mercenaries to kill him for this infraction. He is loyal and devoted to Jamas not only for the protection it brings, but also because he shares much of Jamas' moral compass.

Rubens was stricken with a grave illness that nearly cost him his life during service in the Imperial Guard. After an extended period of convalescence, he recovered. This brush with death has left him with a very real sense of his own mortality and the value of life, resulting in an element of deep caring for others who are ill – sometimes even bandaging a foe after defeating them.

After living well for many years before his Imperial Guard duties, Rubens often wishes for things he can't afford. He can yearn fruitlessly for these luxuries – or try to acquire them through Jamas. Jamas is usually not concerned with these materialistic wants, and has sometimes even rewarded Rubens with rare gems, attire or weapons. Equally, Rubens and Jamas have come to blows in the past over this desire.

Rubens has stepped down from a position of authority over others – he was once a Lieutenant. He can be very reluctant to accept the role of leader, even among his closest friends. He doesn't get on well with Lucia, but puts his personal feelings aside as much as possible. He gets on very well with Caitlín, as they are both adept ranged combatants and practice with (and against) each other frequently.


Enforcer Lucia McRuar is one of Jamas' more recent additions to his warband. She is a short-tempered but generally pragmatic Tathainearaí security enforcer from the city of Shroneglass. Her family were a particularly devout lot, and it is she that tends daily to the small chapel of the Emperor on the Archangel.

She was attacked as a child by a pack of wild wolves, and has since been weary around canines. This attack resulted in some very severe scarring over her body, and is very uptight about it. She has both of her eyes still, but commonly wears a detachable augmentation monocle on one of them to hide further scarring.

She has a habit of getting other members into fits of laughter by genuinely using odd expletives, such as 'Spoon!', something that can annoy her greatly if she is trying to be serious. She also has a strange allergic reaction to alcohol – giving her an uncomfortable rash.

She joined Jamas by request, much to the protest of Rubens, after she was assigned as protection to him during a stopover on Tathainear. Tathainear had a large undercurrent of unrest beneath its sparking towers, and the governor wished nothing to happen to the Inquisitor during his stay. It was a good thing that he did, as she successfully protected him against 2 assassination attempts and managed to even capture one of the perpetrators and make them talk – something notoriously difficult to do.

Rubens and her do not get on, for much the same reasons that his former sergeant put a hit out on him. She is just as loyal to Jamas as Rubens is however, although this can sometimes cause more friction between the two. She can find Caitlín annoying at times, as well as Robert – although often Robert is able to successfully calm her down.


Caitlín Níneia is a red haired, quiet, Eritan native – who is a remarkable huntsman and tracker. She was born in a tiny, nameless collection of shacks about 100 miles from Ishmal and its mountain, deep in the forests off the beaten track. Born homeless, she eked a living as a slave for much of her early years. She used to be quite devout - raised as a part of a religious community. Her family did not have an excess in income, and she had little in the desire for food, clothing, and learning.

Most of her job as acting as a runner for her owner – a petty thug from Ishmal – and often times as an armed escort whilst taking someone through the forests to her owner's holdings. During one run, she was intercepted by a rival gang and was betrayed by a trusted ally at a critical moment, leaving her missing three fingers and suffering a horrendous beating. She now has a deep suspicion of those who have not proven themselves trustworthy – at times she can be openly suspicious of others, or just quiet around them.

This event also caused her to become decidedly less pious. She still believes in the god Emperor, but no longer believes that He can protect her from all of her potential ills – He has more important things to be doing than listening to some nobody from a far flung backwater on the fringes of space.

After many years as a slave worker to this Ishmal thug, she had saved (or stole) enough money to buy her freedom. Escorting people about the forests had taught her a lot about them, and survivability in general. She could also educate others to the forests as well. She stowed away on a train and became a hunting guide based out of A'an.

Jamas, visiting Eritan to do some contemplative research, came to A'an and hired her, quite by accident in fact. She accompanied him to a suitable meditation spot on the mountains of A'anor. It was, however, her quick thinking that saved Jamas from a very severe weather storm whilst he was deep in trance – she had successfully taken  him, unconscious and very ill, from the top of the mesa back the 300 mile journey in less than a week. She has never entirely explained how she managed it, but for only the last 50 miles did she have transportation. This event prompted Jamas to get his implanted vox link.

Her former owner has something of an obsession with her, and has actively pursued her more than once. She is also a habitual opportunistic thief, which although is a useful survival trait, has gotten her and Jamas into trouble before.

Oddly, she seems to treat any and all objects as sentient, murmuring aloud at things quite often. Occasionally she makes rapid moves or something a bit unexpected, only to say: 'Now that was a surprise, huh?'. Lucia and Jamas both find this particularly annoying, although Rubens, Robert and Grigori are quite light hearted about it.


Robert Carley is the primary pilot of the Archangel. Oddly amongst most of Jamas' warband, Robert was not sequestered because he impressed the inquisitor, but rather was found out of necessity and has stayed since – saying that it is 'A little bit exciting'.

Originally (and technically still) a Navy patrol ship pilot, Robert had joined the Navy under a false name when he discovered extensive corruption in the government of his homeland, Agam. His religious faith was tested when he discovered high levels of corruption in the church too. After speaking out against the wrongdoers, he found himself ostracised and forced to leave the planet, whence he enlisted. He now doubts the integrity of any organized religion or its followers.

He now lives with strong shame of his heritage. He came clean about his false name when the Inquisitor first used him as a pilot, and the reasons for it. Jamas gave him a hard swat to the back of the head for his infraction of Navy doctrine, but has not picked up the issue since.

In his tutoring at the naval yards of Bakka, he was quite an outstanding pilot. However, once he left that environment, he found out to his dismay that many other people are indeed much better than he is at that pursuit. This experience has both humbled him and led him to become a sarcastic nay-sayer.

Whilst out on patrol many years later, his ship was ambushed and boarded. Robert was on the receiving end of a plasma gun shot during that action, annihilating much of his right face and right chest. He received enough medical attention to survive, but was captured by the pirates who jumped them.

Robert, despite his injuries, waited patiently – studying the enemy's weaknesses and taking advantage of them to escape on a life raft. His information was crucial in bringing the pirates to the justice of the Emperor. He has an appreciation for knowing when to fight and when not to – At times, he counsels others to step away from a tough battle and use guile to win through it. He is the primary agent to keep Lucia calm when she would otherwise react angrily.

To recover from his wounds, he was granted an outfit of reasonable bionics as a reward for his crucial information, bringing said corsairs to justice. Initially these were enough to make his job as a pilot doable again, but Jamas had them reoutfitted to enhance his senses somewhat and to provide him with some added protection, as well as making him look a little more human again.

He is now the pilot and captain of the Archangel, and he oversees the running of the ship and the small crew that it has.

Robert still fears plasma weaponry though, and can provide graphic descriptions of what it is like to have ones brain hanging out of ones skull on request. He is constantly fiddling with something; and as his bionics have messed with his sense of smell somewhat, he is often suggesting that others need to wash, irregardless of whether or not they're actually dirty. Grigori takes particular offence to it.


Edison Haines is another relatively new member to Jamas' warband, and is also like Rubens, an ex-guardsman. Haines (as he prefers to be called, he isn't fond of his given name) hails from Eritan, and was a former tank mechanic and gunner, loaned and then transferred to Jamas when Jamas needed someone good with super-high-powered explosives to blast a particularly solid door apart during the recent schism on Secular IX.

Although he is nowhere near the huntsman that Caitlín is, he can still comfortably find his way about a forest. He was born and raised in a small village near Ascention, and worked the farms for much of his youth. His teen years were relatively unremarkable, but it was around this time that he began to exploit his talents with machinery – fixing the farm's machines as well as making some money from fixings others' as well. Not content with just the farm, he enlisted at 19 and became a Chimera gunner after training.

Whilst conducting training, he was travelling with his party when it was attacked by a rabid bear. This attack knocked out several of those who would ordinarily take charge and defend, changing his fear to determination to protect the downed ones. With the help of another member of the group, he brought down the thing. This exposure to possible death left him very aware of most people's tenuous link to life. He always seems to prepare for every eventuality, and regularly carries a couple of grenades, some tools, and a few small power sources with him.

It was this preparedness the made Jamas request his permanent services.

Whilst in Jamas' service, he was exposed to the deadly acids and toxins of Hellfire rounds when he took a bullet for Lucia on Secular IX. This left his physical health shattered, although thankfully he lost none of his wit. He does try to keep in excellent shape through lots of physical training after the incident, but he is still weaker than his physique would otherwise suggest.

He is very much the joker of Jamas' warband, and is notorious for making the inquisitor chuckle at embarrassing moments. He does not like physical contact with others, and has a pervading belief that he is cursed with bad luck.

Lucia is particularly indebted to him, and tries to help him out when he is physically incapable of doing something. He gets on well with Rubens and Grigori also, as they all appreciate military humour. He can get rather perturbed by Eleanor at times, finding her 'pretty damned creepy'.


Grigori Yakolev is a bulky, bald man from the planetary defence force on Svіtlo. Born in a 'Structured Community' (a civilian and military compound), this was a close knit and well organized community that occupied an important anti-Ork outpost. Despite his slightly broken gothic and monotone voice, he is quite learned in all kinds of useful facts. As a result, he can relate some obscure fact about almost every subject. He is usually quite eager to impart the information that he knows, whether or not the other person wishes to hear it.

Like Haines, Grigori had a pretty unremarkable training regime. We wasn't particularly quick, but did turn out to be quite strong. During the 2nd fall of Svilto, Jamas had landed with Eleanor at Grigori's outpost for a briefing from the colonel about the state of the Ork menace there abouts. As it turned out, Jamas didn't need the breifing – the Orks came to them. Grigory, being the ox of a man he was, was lugging around a support bolter on a tripod – shooting Orks left and right whilst proudly singing a rather coarse song in his native language. Orian and Eleanor holed up with the Colonel in the bunker initially, but that was soon overrun.

As the Imperial forces dwindled under the Ork assault, Grigori was merrily gunning the Orks down from the rampart with a few other soldiers. Jamas and Eleanor joined him, with Jamas acting as a reloader when the bolter was out of ammunition, and Grigori using a pair of laspistols whilst waiting for his bolter back.

Thankfully, the Ork attack was not a complete overrun, although many more places on the planet it had been. Only about 40% of the garrison and civilians (a loose term, they were all armed) survived. After learning of his parents' and brother's death, Grigori requested to be allowed to fight by Jamas' side.

Grigori, unsurprisingly, takes on the role of fire support should Jamas need it. Despite his slowness, he is also relatively laterally thinking, and will often offer daft (but plausible) suggestions that no-one else has thought about. Both Caitlín and Lucia are wary around him, primarily because he tends to speak his mind without thinking, and usually offending one of them: 'Cach-leen, your hair is nice like exploding bolt – I like!'



KNOWN ENEMIES:

Jamas is pursued by the Ordo Hereticus inquisitor that disapproved of his dealings with Carrow during her death. He is also haunted to a small degree by his memories of inquisitor Callow. She appears to him sometimes whilst asleep or when he is under the effect of psycho-active drugs. No doubt he still has some enemies with a long memory on Verlaine Magna.

His primary enemies are the Eldar, Orks and Tyranids.

PERSONALITY & BELIEFS:

Jamas moral code is pretty set, but it is certainly not black and white. His charge is not to deal with petty criminals (thuggery, theft, etc.) – in fact he can (and has) used the threat of turning into authority as a means to get what he needs from less scrupulous sorts. Moreover, he is primarily concerned about keeping humanity safe from its more potent enemies. Anything that he deems as wrong will be met by a proportional action of retribution.

He has no qualms in sacrificing the few to save the many, but will go out of his way to ensure that 'the few' number as few as possible.

He is not really a follower of any particular faction within the inquisition. He prefers much more to stay out of politics and deal with aliens before they can become a serious threat to humanity.

HABITS

Jamas makes sure to have some time to seek the Emperor's blessing each day, whereby he drinks some blessed water from a silver chalice and offers an incantation in the shrine on the Archangel.

Eventually, once his usefulness as a field Inquisitor is spent, he hopes to purchase an estate land and semi-retire, continuing to do research work and other more scholarly pursuits. Jamas can, if needed, appear very sprightly and energetic, he has a habit of infecting people with enthusiasm. But most of the time, he is pretty reserved, keeping his cards close to his chest.

Jamas has a known habit of chewing his nails when thinking or nervous, as well as cracking his fingers, much to the annoyance of some of his entourage.

He tends to actually pay merchants and traders who he deals with, rather than simply show his seal and demand what he needs. This is mostly for stealth reasons, although he doesn't wish to leave smaller traders broke by sequestering all of their materials.

NOTES

Jamas is fond of fruit, and oddly he does quite like standard issue Guard rations, at least from the sectors around Bakka, having lived off them during his assistance with Inquisitor Carrow. Although looked upon with a slight disgust by the other members of his warband, he does volunteer to eat the rations first so that everyone else can get a day or 2 more of fresher foods.

He likes amassing outfits and clothing, most often to help with his undercover work, but sometimes for survival or utility value. He appreciates choir, string and some electric music. He is also very fond of Eritan, the planet he was born on, although he stays out of planetary politics. He visits if he is passing by.

QUOTES

"For the love of all that is holy and sacred, will you please cease that... that!" To Caitlín, after shooting at her when she took him by surprise.

"Both of you, I swear by the Emperor that I will put you both in the excruciator for the entire 666 seconds if you do not desist your silly prattling" To Lucia and Rubens, during one of their many tiffs.

"You know... I think his friend just saw me..." Comment whilst aiming at a Genestealer Magus

"Yes, yes he did!" Comment whilst diving from incoming fire.

"You there! Lucia! Rubens! Grigori! Today is a fabulous day! Why? Because today we get to shoot through Imperial space making sure that humanity is safe, annihilating any taint that will cause danger! Also, I have managed to procure some talarari-fruit-cakes from our last stop!" Jamas giving a light-hearted motivational speech to his warband.

"Honestly Jamas, you're worse than me when it comes to shopping." Caitlín Níneia on Jamas being attracted to the outfitters whilst procuring supplies.


EQUIPMENT

His biggest possession is the fast transport ship Archangel, formerly Inquisitor Carrow's vessel.

Jamas has a stock of equipment in the armoury on the Archangel. As a Xenos hunter, he has a few specialised pieces of kit and ammunition he can utilise against specific foes, such as flamers and flame grenades against Orcs, Hellfire rounds for Genestealers and some anti-psyker rounds for Eldar.

This is his usual deck-out against non-specific threats:

WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
65   65   55   55   70   75   65   70   80
65   65   60   60   75   75   75   75   80

[these stats are yet to be subject to randomisation]

Jamas is left handed.

Weapons: Rifle, Autopistol, Amethyst Sword
[Rifle uses the stats for an Autogun, but has 15 Shots, can only fire Single, and can be reloaded (1) when empty or with the magazine removed.]

Armour: Carapace armour on chest and abdomen. Flak Armour on all other locations except head.

Equipment:
Rifle is equipped with a full magazine of Hellfire rounds :: 2 Hellfire Rlds.Rifle :: Laser and Telescopic Sight Rifle :: 15 Inferno Rounds Rifle

Auspex Bioscanner [Often strapped to his rifle. Takes an action to untie it if needed.]

Rld. Autopistol

Hexagramic Wards [for use against tricksy Eldar psyckers.]

2x Location Incineration Bombs [High tech molotovs, used for bathing an area in flame for cleansing an Ork or Genestealer taint]
[These use the statline of a frag grenade, but bathes an area 2D6 in size with fire. Has a 25% chance to set anyone standing in the radius on fire. Radius decreases by one yard at the end of each turn.]

Utility Knife, with an small assortment of small tools on it
[A blade that Jamas keeps hidden on his person. Can be used in close combat as an improvised weapon. Gives some advantage to cutting things and opening mechanical locks]


Medkit   

Implanted Vox Link

Skills: Leader, Dodge, First Strike, True Grit



               

Koval

A rifle, an autopistol and a sword? Is he a civilian in disguise? He needs more upmarket kit.

Unless the Amethyst Sword is in fact a power sword rather than a sword with amethysts in it (Ctrl+F "sword" reveals nothing in his background about it. I will say it's extensive, and probably needs a free half-hour to read through it and absorb it all.)

Jamas Orian

#2
Quote from: Koval on August 21, 2010, 04:08:11 PM
A rifle, an autopistol and a sword? Is he a civilian in disguise? He needs more upmarket kit.

Unless the Amethyst Sword is in fact a power sword rather than a sword with amethysts in it (Ctrl+F "sword" reveals nothing in his background about it. I will say it's extensive, and probably needs a free half-hour to read through it and absorb it all.)

Do you think so? I wanted to keep him relatively not-too-overpowered, but if he requires up-gunning I have no qualms though.

His gear I sort-of overlooked in his history. I'll get to making some historic notes on his weaponry once it's finalised.

The sword itself I had a painting experiment with, and it came out looking a bit like a chunk of crystal. I picked amethyst only because amethyst sounds cool.

I hope it wasn't too overwhelming to read - I had a pretty much blank sheet to go on, so I ran a basic random character generator and elaborated from that.

Is there anything in his story that needs touching up? Or anything that is really good as it is?

Cheers! :)

Edit: Added some changes.

Jamas Orian

#3
I thought I'd make a new post for Jamas' Associates:

Eleanor

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
55   55   50   50   65   80   55   50   60
[stats haven't been randomised yet]
Right handed

Skills: Placid advance
Psychic Powers: Phantom Weapon (Wyrd), Telekinetic Agility, Psychic Barrier, Psychic Impel, Telekinesis, Regenerate

Equipment: None

Notes:

Placid Advance - Eleanor is somewhat detached from the notion of haste. She may not move at a Run or a Sprint normally, unless ordered to do so by Inquisitor Orian. If she fails a Nerve test that would cause her to    
retreat, she may do so at these speeds. She purposeful, not suicidal! She may also walk up to 3 yards an action and use her Phantom Weapon ability without penalty as a combined action (Similar to Hipshooting)                                    

Phantom Weapon – Difficulty 10      

Phantom Weapon            
Psychic      
Rnage C   
Semi(4)/Full (10)
Damage 2D6+2
Shots 30
Reload 2

                              
Eleanor is very adept at micro-telekinesis – she can create projectiles and blades from any air that is around her.   Her ranged attack is described above. Although she doesn't have a physical weapon to reload, after she has used 30 shots, she must spend 2 actions doing something else before using the power again. The attack is quiet, but hardly inaudible, and thus counts as a pistol for awareness tests.   

Her close combat attack is as if she is armed with a pair of knives. These cannot be destroyed by Power Weapons, cannot be dropped, and don't stop her from carrying anything in her hands. Both forms of attack can be nullified by any psykers who are targeted by them. Obviously this power needs either gas or fluid to work, and will be very visible when the ranged attack is fired through clouds of smoke. Her close combat attack is persistent, but she must roll separately for her ranged attack.

Psychic Barrier – Difficulty 5                                    
This power is persistent. Eleanor counts as having an extra D3 force field armour on all hit locations.

Telekinetic Agility – Difficulty 0                                    
Eleanor can use her psychic powers to augment her already agile frame.
This power is persistent. If she succeed in casting it, she gains the Catfall and Acrobatic abilities.

Rubens McPherson

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
50   67   45   55   60   60   50   80   60
Right handed

Weapons: Hunting Rifle, Laspistol and Knife

Armour: Flak armour on all locations except head

Equipment
Reload Rifle :: Telescopic Infrascope Rifle
Reload Laspistol
Goggles incorporating a vox link
2 smoke grenades
Urban camoflauge clothing
Forest / Jungle camouflaged tarpaulin [big enough for 2 people, takes 3 actions to set up, and has a hole in the middle for Rubens to peer and shoot from.]
Binoculars [Confers an extra 10% bonus to spot other characters when looking specifically in terrain, giving a total of 30%]
Medkit

Skills
Medic

Lucia McRuar

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
55   55   50   50   55   60   50   60   65
Right Handed

Weapons: Pump action combat shotgun

Armour: Carapace armour on chest, legs and arms, Flak armour on all other locations except head

Equipment
12 rounds Shotgun :: 4 Hellfire rounds shotgun
Reload Laspistol
Advanced monocle incorporating a vox link and nightsight [same rules for a bionic eye, but can be removed]
2 smoke grenades
Cyber Mastiff [called Butch]

Skills:Subdue, Quickload

Caitlín Níneia

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
35   67   40   45   55   35   50   70   45
Right Handed

Weapons: Hunting Rifle, Knife

Armour: Flak armour on all locations except head

Equipment
2 reloads rifle :: Telescopic scope rifle
Average monocle incorporating a vox link [same rules for a bionic eye, but can be removed]

Skills:
Booby traps, Scale Terrain, Heroic

Robert Carley

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
45   55   50   60   55   55   55   45   70
Right handed

Weapons: Laspistol, Revolver, Short Sword

Armour: Flak armour on all locations except head, 4 armour on head

Equipment
2 reloads laspistol
2 reloads revolver
Advanced Bionic Brain [Not really 'advanced' per se, but moreover only a small amount of his brain has been repoaced] - Gives a bonus to piloting/driving vehicles
Advanced Bionic Skull - +4 armour and built in Vox link.
Poor Bionic Nose - -30% to smell things
Forest / Jungle camouflaged tarpaulin – big enough for himself, takes 3 actions to set up, and has a hole in the middle for Josef to peer and shoot from.

Skills:
Fast Draw

Notes:
Finds anyone armed with a plasma weapon fearsome.

Edison Haines

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
60   65   40   40   50   60   50   75   60
Right handed

Weapons: Laspistol, Short Sword, 6xThrowing Knives, 3xFrag Grenades, 2x Krak Grenades

Armour: Flak armour on all locations except head

Equipment
2 reloads laspistol
Vox link
Jungle / forest camouflaged clothing
Detox inhaler with 5 doses

Skills:
Booby Traps                                    
Fast Draw


Grigori Yakolev

WS   BS   S   T   I   WP   SG   NV   LD
50   60   60   60   37   50   60   75   50
Right handed

Weapons: Bolter MKIV on Quadpod with scope, 2x Laspistols, Knife, 2x Frag Grenades

Armour: Flak armour on all locations except head

Equipment
2 reloads laspistol
Vox link
Jungle / forest camouflaged clothing

Skills:
None of note

Notes: Grigori's scope confers a +5% modifier to the weapon's accuracy at ranges over 15 yards.

Zakkeg

Placid Advance seems pointless, or at least overly complicated. Apart from the small bonus to Phantom Weapon, wouldn't it be simpler just to RP it?
Only the insane have strength enough to prosper; only those who prosper may truly judge what is sane.

Jamas Orian

Well - the rule is a direct result of an image I drew (and have since lost :() of her strolling along amiably whilst using her phantom weapon to mow down some distant enemies. And I thought it would be cool also :D

Do you have any other comments on the statlines? (Jamas and/or his groupies)

Zakkeg

It still seems superfluous. Why not just give her Rock Steady Aim with Phantom Weapons only?

Stats and equipment for most of the warband seem fine (subject to randomisation). Orian could arguably use a boost in both departments. Inquisitors are the very best and brightest, after all, and have (in theory at least) all the resources of the Imperium to draw upon.

Incidentally, while "amethyst sword" does sound vaguely cool in a high fantasy sort of way, it would be fantastically stupid to make a weapon out of a chunk of the stuff. Given Orian's Ordo, you could make the sword something of Xenos origin - Galthite, maybe? Their technology has a distinctly crystalline look to it, going by Khibala Yusra's lacerator. In any case, there are surely some interesting special rules to be had - perhaps even a plot hook or two.
Only the insane have strength enough to prosper; only those who prosper may truly judge what is sane.

Jamas Orian

Quote from: Zakkeg on August 23, 2010, 10:51:26 AM
It still seems superfluous. Why not just give her Rock Steady Aim with Phantom Weapons only?

Stats and equipment for most of the warband seem fine (subject to randomisation). Orian could arguably use a boost in both departments. Inquisitors are the very best and brightest, after all, and have (in theory at least) all the resources of the Imperium to draw upon.

Incidentally, while "amethyst sword" does sound vaguely cool in a high fantasy sort of way, it would be fantastically stupid to make a weapon out of a chunk of the stuff. Given Orian's Ordo, you could make the sword something of Xenos origin - Galthite, maybe? Their technology has a distinctly crystalline look to it, going by Khibala Yusra's lacerator. In any case, there are surely some interesting special rules to be had - perhaps even a plot hook or two.

I wonder how many times people are told that their characters aren't powerful enough on here? xD

I wished to avoid rock steady aim for her because I felt it could be too powerful with a weapon that must fire at least 4 shots a go - that and I think her projectiles might be a little scattered.

How does treating it a bit like a force sword for non-psyckers sound? Not as destrutive as a power weapon (and I don't wish to godmode) but still potent enough to cause issues? I could well rename it, keeping the crystalline theme, and state that it was a shard of some very sturdy looking stuff found in a xenos mine that had been purged, and was subsequently mounted to a hilt or something.

I'll increase Jamas stats too.

Have you managed to have a look through the background as well? :)

MarcoSkoll

#8
Personally, I'd say shot count and reload should be ignored for psychic weapons - after all, the psyker has to:
A) Risk the power not working at all, unlike a gun.
B) Risk psychic feedback, again, unlike a gun. (Although of course, as this is a Wyrd power for Eleanor, this one doesn't apply to her, but it does to most characters)

So, I'd probably scrap the shot count, but instead add a +5% or +10% to the difficulty for if she wants to go "full-auto".

I'd also note that Semi (4) is a big penalty for a character with only BS 50. What I often do is let my psychic characters use their WP (plus any concentration bonus as if it were "aiming") in place of their BS when rolling to hit with psychic attacks. However, if you do that, I would recommend dropping the Wyrd ability, else it runs the risk of being far too formidable.
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

Zakkeg

#9
Have you seen the version of Phantom Weapons in Robey's Power of the Mind? It could serve your purposes. If you like yours better, of course, that's your prerogative. Either way, Marco's right about Shots and Reload.

As far as background: not really an adherent to the "less is more" school of thought, I see. ;)

More seriously, there are a few problems with spelling and one recurring issue with homophones ("want" =/= "wont"). The grammar and syntax are a bit scattershot as well. But those are presentation, not content.

It's a bit puzzling trying to work out why you've chosen to include certain details while omitting others. I'm sure we don't really need to know about Orian's great grandmother. On the other hand, I'm very curious about exactly why Carrow was shielding the Primate.

Finally, the Orion's Belt bit doesn't work. Firstly, constellations are meaningless if you're not looking at them from a fairly specific vantage point (in this case, the Sol system); anyone from elsewhere in the galaxy most likely isn't going to have a clue what Orion is unless they happen to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient Terran astronomy. Secondly, the stars on the Belt are actually many hundreds of light years away from each other, so saying that a planet is located within it is effectively meaningless. You could invent an "Orion subsector" (or something) to achieve the same end, though.

Was that too harsh? It sounded harsh. What can I say; I'm a pedant. It's not really as bad as all that - but it could certainly use some work.
Only the insane have strength enough to prosper; only those who prosper may truly judge what is sane.

Jamas Orian

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 23, 2010, 06:36:24 PM
Personally, I'd say shot count and reload should be ignored for psychic weapons - after all, the psyker has to:
A) Risk the power not working at all, unlike a gun.
B) Risk psychic feedback, again, unlike a gun. (Although of course, as this is a Wyrd power for Eleanor, this one doesn't apply to her, but it does to most characters)

So, I'd probably scrap the shot count, but instead add a +5% to the difficulty for if she wants to go "full-auto".

I'd also note that Semi (4) is a big penalty for a character with only BS 50. What I often do is let my psychic characters use their WP (plus any concentration bonus as if it were "aiming") in place of their BS when rolling to hit with psychic attacks. However, if you do that, I would recommend dropping the Wyrd ability, else it runs the risk of being far too formidable.

Well - the reason the reload there is because initially I used an autogun as the base for this power. I didn't actually think to remove the need reload. But now that you've mentioned that I think that I may. I like the idea of the extra penalty for full automatic - I'll roll with that!

The power itself I imagined wouldn't be too accurate. It's definately more of a covering fire thing than an aimed snipery sort of thing. I think to counter I may up her BS a little.

For psychic powers that actually involve 'shooting' (like fireball), personally I've always.

Quote from: Zakkeg on August 24, 2010, 12:14:10 AM
Have you seen the version of Phantom Weapons in Robey's Power of the Mind? It could serve your purposes. If you like yours better, of course, that's your prerogative. Either way, Marco's right about Shots and Reload.

As far as background: not really an adherent to the "less is more" school of thought, I see. ;)

More seriously, there are few problems with spelling and one recurring issue with homophones ("want" =/= "wont"). The grammar and syntax are a bit scattershot as well. But those are presentation, not content.

It's a bit puzzling trying to work out why you've chosen to include certain details while omitting others. I'm sure we don't really need to know about Orian's great grandmother. On the other hand, I'm very curious about exactly why Carrow was shielding the Primate.

Finally, the Orion's Belt bit doesn't work. Firstly, constellations are meaningless if you're not looking at them from a fairly specific vantage point (in this case, the Sol system); anyone from elsewhere in the galaxy most likely isn't going to have a clue what Orion is unless they happen to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient Terran astronomy. Secondly, the stars on the Belt are actually many hundreds of light years away from each other, so saying that a planet is located within it is effectively meaningless. You could invent an "Orion subsector" (or something) to achieve the same end, though.

Was that too harsh? It sounded harsh. What can I say; I'm a pedant. It's not really as bad as all that - but it could certainly use some work.

Doesn't sound harsh at all! I appreciate the feedback greatly! :D

Well - I think I just had a flood of epic ideas all at once that neatly came together as a whole - that and I'm a very verbose writer at times >.<. My very first university assignment was over 6000 words in length.

I'd consider myself having a very firm grasp of the English language, but I have never known that Want != Wont. I didn't even know that Wont was a word unto itself even!

That article was in fact the original inspiration for the power. I

Again, about his forebearers, I had an epic set of ideas all at once (with the help of some online ideas factories). I added those few bits in with the view to elaborate on them a little further, but seemed to have overlooked them because I'm a bit scatterbrained like that. I was going to tie in the family's prior misfortune as to the reason they were so unreliable.

Carrow was an Amalathian (I should have said, I realised that I deleted that sentence as part of a wider purge)

I meant the Orion Arm(!) rather than the belt in the constellation. The one that straddles the border between Ultima and Tempestus. *fixes*

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Jamas Orian on August 24, 2010, 12:45:52 AMFor psychic powers that actually involve 'shooting' (like fireball), personally I've always.
Always what, exactly?
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

Jamas Orian

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 24, 2010, 12:47:26 AM
Quote from: Jamas Orian on August 24, 2010, 12:45:52 AMFor psychic powers that actually involve 'shooting' (like fireball), personally I've always.
Always what, exactly?

*insert generic grumble about having a poor memory here*

...always used the BS rating for actually 'aiming' the thing.

Koval

Quote from: Jamas Orian on August 24, 2010, 01:07:24 AM
Quote from: MarcoSkoll on August 24, 2010, 12:47:26 AM
Quote from: Jamas Orian on August 24, 2010, 12:45:52 AMFor psychic powers that actually involve 'shooting' (like fireball), personally I've always.
Always what, exactly?

*insert generic grumble about having a poor memory here*

...always used the BS rating for actually 'aiming' the thing.
As Marco's WP suggestion goes, that's actually how psychic shooting attacks work in Dark Heresy -- you manifest your power, you fire it, and even if you're a blind Astropath you'll probably hit something because of how WP works in that game.

Personally, I'd take a few hints because the psychic power system in Dark Heresy is just better.

Jamas Orian

I haven't played Dark Heresy before ;_;