Inquisitor!
Dramatis PC Personae -
Commissar Cadet Calpurnia Jemadar (played by mechanteanemone ) - raised by the Schola Progenium, inducted into the Imperial Guard, Commissar Cadet Jemadar brings to the party a stern sense of justice and a fearless leadership style.
Adeptus Arbites Trooper Eenid Frall (played by Laura) - trained in law enforcement on the mean streets and hab blocks of Scintilla's main hive, Trooper Frall is a stone-eyed killer who has seen (and made) more corpses in her career than most see in a lifetime.
Imperial Psyker Sanctionite Xanthia (played by Noel) - sanctioned Imperial Psyker who's mind has been wiped, Xanthia is a woman without a past, haunted by fragments of memory she cannot control and harassed by a demon who may or may not be only in her mind.
Novice Atellus of the Ecclesiarchy (played bymarkwalt ) - raised in the Schola Progenium and a classmate of Cadet Jemadar, Novice Atellus provides the moral and spiritual guidance of the group. Sadly, Novice Atellus disappeared into the interior of a strange Xenos vehicle, and has vanished.
Lt. Sir Rollando Hernandez (played by johnreiher ) - from the harsh, feudal world of Sepherus Secundus, Sir Hernandez was levied to the Inquisition following a scandal among the nobility. He is skilled in every type of weapon imaginable, and a formidable fighter.
Technographer Transverse Air Manifold Support Framework (played by paulvf ) - a void born priest of the Machine God, who assisted the agents during their travels to Ysai Ydumi. (He only played in one game, but the name was so neat I had to include him).
Dramitis NPC Personae -
Inquisitor Astrid Skane - a member of the most Holy Inquisition, a former member of the Adeptus Arbites. The PCs boss.
Sage Logister Narthax - a high ranking member of Inquisitor Skane's entourage, and nominal overseer of the party of new agents. Narthax Seems to find both the task, and the agents, to be little more than an annoyance.
Cherubael - either a terrible demon who haunts the mind of Xanthia, or a figment of Xanthia's imagnation.
What has gone before...
After being inducted into the Inquisition and briefly meeting with Inquisitor Skane, Jamadar, Frall, Xanthia, & Atellus are dispatched to the pleasure planet of Ysai Ydumi to investigate a number of discrepencies between the size of noble entourages arriving on the planet and the size of the entourages leaving. Upon arrival they discover that the surface of Ysai Ydumi is being used as a dumping ground for unwanted members of noble entourages, who are put to work looting ancient Xenos cities for artifacts. After surviving an assassination attempt and destroying one of the local gangs, they gain the trust of a different gang which agrees to smuggle them up to the orbiting space station in a shipment of Xenos artifacts. The group nearly meets with disaster when the vehicle they are shipped up in proves to be semi-sentient and attempts to consume their souls. Most manage to escape, but Novice Antellus vanishes.
Meanwhile, Lt. Hernandez wakes up from a cold sleep that has lasted 150 years to find himself not where he thought he would be.
On Ysai Ydumi Jamadar, Frall, and Xanthia have been inducted into a local crime syndicate because of their useful skills, and have spent the last six months assisting in various minor shady dealings while continuing to investigate the export of Xenos artifacts from the planet. It appears that at least some of the exports are legitimate, as there is a contingent of Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priest aboard the station who are supposed to examine the artifacts and declare them pure before they are exported. However, there is a thriving smuggling business aimed at moving Xenos artifacts off planet without inspection, and some dangerous artifacts are being moved. Thusfar, however, they have been unable to continue their investigations in the upper levels of the station, which they cannot gain access to.
Lt. Hernandez is inducted into the Inquisition by Inquisitor Skane, and taken to Ysai Ydumi by Narthax, who tells him to make contact with the agents already there and to wrap up their investigation within a month. Narthax then points out Xanthia to Hernandez and departs, leaving him to initiate contact. After some mutual suspicion, the agents decide to use their new aquaintance to gain access to the upper levels of the station, which are a vacation spot for noble, and convince the syndicate they have been working for to smuggle them into the spaceport.
Once there Lt. Hernandez becomes Sir Hernandez and secures a suite for himself and his "entourage", then the agents begin their investigation on the noble levels, with Hernandez circulating among the nobles and the rest circulating among the servents.
It is soon discovered that the staffs of nobles visiting Ysai Ydumi live in a state of constant fear due to the number of "disappearances" that go on. The agents take this as an indication that nobles are offloading a portion of their entourage on Ysai Ydumi as a labor force on the planet below.
Sir Hernandez, meanwhile is contacted by some nobles who are interested in discussing with him some "investment opportunities" that could bring him a great deal of wealth and power. He is taken to a clandestine meeting, but before divulging any details to him, his new associated demand that he dessectrate an Imperial Aquila - one of the Eagle standards of the Imperial guard, a symbol of the Imperium, and of the Emperor Himself!
Will Sir Hernandez comit a blasphemous act in order to help with the investigation? What else will the agents learn from the staff of Ysai Ydumi? And what happens in a month?
By the Grace of the Ever Living Emperor, tune in next time to find out!
***
Tonight's game was a blast! I was very pleased to start the campaign up again, and very pleased at how things went, despite the fact that I had not prepared as well as I would have liked owing to my cold. Xanthia's simultaneous conversations with Hernandez and Cherubael were side-splittingly funny, and the new character seemed to integrate well into the group. I am already looking forward to the next game in two weeks!
Hernandez (looking at the stacked packing crates where the agents are currently living): "These are your quarters?"
Xanthia: "Oh yeah, they're quite nice. All the comforts of home. Oh, and if you see any particularly big rats or cockroaches - grab 'em and we'll cook 'em up. They're good!"
P.S. Seeking one, possibly 2 players. Alternate Monday nights, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm PST via Skype. The Emperor Commands you to join, and you don't want to disappoint the Emperor!