Experience:

Base XP 500 (highly successful completion of adventure)

Bonus XP 200 (for defeating Theodosia)

Bonus XP Maxi 75 (role-play + general contribution)

Bonus XP Haxtes 150 (role-play + general contribution)

Maxi: 775 XP

Haxtes: 850 XP

Other benefits:

Haxtes: +1 Fate Point (defeating the warp spawn + saving the hive spire from nuclear death), +50 XP for almost cooperating with Maxi druing the final Theodosia showdown.

Maxi: +100 XP (uncovered information about his past; created using Adranti heretech that came to Calixis following the Ixanid purges).

New contacts:

Inquisitior Globus Varak (well-resepcted senior Inqusitior of Ordo Hereticus, favorably disposed, rarely available)

House of Strophes (powerful noble House of Scintilla, very favorably disposed, rarely available)

New enemies:

The Serrated Query...

Timestamp: 5.380.997.M41

Location: Hive Sibellus, Scintilla

Situation: Back undercover, tying off a few loose ends

Body: Globus doesn't share all of this with you directly of course, but he passes some of it on to the Haegum - and Xerza makes sure you are properly debriefed before returning you to your cover identities.

Although you didn't manage to rescue the lost Strophes - no one really believed she was alive anyway - you have done  quite well. Not only have you discovered what happened to poor Sia Strophes, but you've uncovered an insidious plot by a group of heretical criminals who call themselves the Serrated Query (and given how secretive this group normally is the discovery of their direct involvement may be as important as the actual plot itself). In the process you saved an Imperial cult from infiltration and corruption by the same malevolent forces that you encountered on the Maiden and in the tunnels beneath Sepheris Secundus (with Haxtes bravely confronting and banishing the thing possessing Siprit Daneen).

The plot was a truly unique one - the Serrated Query had managed to recreate a drug - farcosia - of Adranti origins. A drug that could awaken even the weakest latent psykers. This would not only allow the creation of rogue psykers, but more importantly it could be done without ever arousing the suspicion of the Holy Ordos. For why would the Inquisition look for witches when it had already been proven there were none left? To administer the drug through a religious cult was truly a masterful move - it allowed the Serrated Query to potentially reach many millions of subjects and to set up Harmony Meters (disguised psi-scanners, also utilizing the Adranti heretech) to actually located the awakening ones. Moreover it allowed the removal of these people under the guise of sending them to the Alabaster Court to become 'true'. A brilliant setup  - who knows how far they could have taken it - had it not been for the fact that Sia Strophes was one of the 'true' and that her uncle had connections all the way into the Inquisition...

The Ambulon factory/lab was set up because Ambulon is a place where a lot of the other ingredients of farcosia are available; the craftsmen of the Walking City regularly take on work that involves all manner of xenos substances (and farcosia requires a most particular mix of such substances). And so it was that a lab was set up (again using Adranti tech, there is a pattern here) to create the drug. You see, the drug requires the souls of psykers to work...so those psykers groomed, the lucky 'True'  were taken to Ambulon and...processed...their brains scooped out using a heretical technique...to make the drug infused with their spiritual energy. Death without any chance of standing before the Golden Throne! What foul fate ..their bodily remains were processed and sold to meat-vendors, in case you wondered, but that's trivial. Then the newly created farcosia would be sent back to Sibellus to make even more psykers...and so on...with each new cycle producing more than the last one.

Globus doesn't believe that any rogue psykers were actually sent off-world. He thinks the entire enterprise was a sort of large-scale field test (and a rather successful one at that - baring your interference of course). Perhaps the files and documents found will fill in some more holes in the story once they are processed by the Tricorn's experts.

Oh and there was the defusing of a rather explosive situation in the hive spire -  the removal of an atomic charge that would have killed countless citizens, most of them high-born. Something to be more proud of than the 'saving' of Coscarla division...

---

There are a few additional matters that warrant mentions:

Venus is not well. Not at all. She's in a sort of coma and the prognosis isn't good. Not good at all. The others, however, are making full recoveries.

The Churgeon was mentioned by the Oracle Ocular. The mad tech-priest hinted that the key to finding the villan would be through another - the former overseer of the Coscarla Alms house. Perhaps this clue will lead to her arrest or elimination.

Speaking of the Churgeon - there are indications that the xenobiological construct implanted into the Churgeon's Coscarla victims may have been Adranti in origin. And the Oracle claimed she had come bearing this heretech from Ixanid sector, fleeing the Inquisition purges there.

And the Maiden of Golgenna has an Adranti null-room installed...could some or all of it be connected? Perhaps. It is best not to draw conclusions from incomplete data...but that there is something more worthy of looking into...definitely. The future will undoubtedly reveal more...

---

Several weeks later...Caros Shoal has wormed his way out of the Tricorn. He's probaby working for Globus right now. He could be a very useful man in terms of income generation and contacts. The future looks brighter than ever. He feels that he has a lot to thank young Haxtes for. Without him none of this would have come to pass...the Emperor provides!

Not long after his headless corpse is found in his new office. No trace of the murderer is ever found. Nor is the head located.

Timestamp: 5.323.997.M41

Location: Workshop of Kronis Estrun, Jeweler extraordinaire, Red-Gold Quadrant, Headward Sector, Ambulon, Scintilla

Situation: Awaiting confirmation of location of farcosia production facility

Body: Globus master plan is rather simple - he stays aboard the lighter for the time being, coordinating the strike. He's not exactly a low-profile person and given his disabilities he's not really combat-worthy either. The replacement pilot will stay with him as well - since space is so precious aboard Ambulon it would draw unwanted attention if she parked you hopper on the Walking City. Instead it will remain within the lighter's landing bay. That leaves Vern, Jarra, Maxi and Haxtes for the actual team. Venus is still in critical condition, and Odessa, Ignace and Silon are all spending time in a hospital somewhere. Your team is also augmented by Azhmut the tech-priest; presumably you might need his demolition expertise later on if you enemies continue to play with explosives.

You have also been briefed a little more about your quarry. You are now hunting a group of heretical criminals known as the Serrated Querry, who are now believed to be Caros Shoal's backers and the agency responsible for the production of farcosia. Globus isn't very forthcoming - either because he doesn't trust your or because he doesn't know, or both - except to let you know that the Querry is dangerous in the extreme. They have no respect of the Imperium, the Inquisition, not even the God-Emperor of Mankind. Such people must be treated with caution and dealt with most harshly.

Since there are no Arbites on Ambulon and because Globus doesn't trust any of the local adepts you will have to do this without any real support (no shocker there). He is in the process of activating more assets within the city and preparing for external back-up, but it will take several days for it all to be ready. Time you do not have - the Querry must know you are on to them and they are probably busy clearing house and making ready to depart their assets.

So right now you are inside the city where you are supposedly conducting an investigation into the local templums of the Joyous Choir. There are a couple of small ones, but somehow it doesn't fit - for one Haxtes and Maxi are in agreement; there is no way this Serrated Querry group is using the Choir as a front on Ambulon. That would be a dead giveaway. So you have kicked Globus' idea out the window and instead followed another line of inquiry:

Before you headed out old Strophes took the two of you to the side and told you of an old contact of his, the jewler Kronis Estrun, the resided on Ambulon. What the old man didn't know about Ambulon was not worth knowing he said, and even if he didn't know he would know who knew...remember the old axiom; someone always knows.

So here you are, listening to a wizened old man with hi-grade augmentic eyes and manipulators instead of fingers. He's served you some damn fine tea and biscuits, but for the last two hours he's chatted away with Vern like they were long-lost siblings or something. How long will it take for him to say anything useful? Like where does the Serrated Querry take the psykers? Or where is the facosia produced? Or where is freaking Theodosia?

Timestamp: 5.322.997.M41

Location: Airborne over the fringes of Sibellus' eastern urban spawl

Situation: Aboard a chartered lighter, heading for the Walking City of Ambulon; Maxi, Haxtes, Jarra, Vern, the replacement pilot and tech-priest - and Globus Vaarak, Inquisitor.

Body: No sooner than the situation over at the Alabaster Court had been resolved and Haxtes had arrived back the the House of Strophes did you set out for Ambulon, the fable Walking City. No time for rest or recovery. No time for Vern's brief. Everything would have to wait. Theodosia's head was still unaccounted for, and old Globus seemed convinced that this meant time was of the essence. Time - with a secondary clause for secrecy.

Soon you were headed for a chartered lighter - a huge flier with powerful contra-gravs. One of the few craft that could both move enough cargo to be worthwhile and actually dock with the Walking City. That's right - the Walking City actually does walk. Constantly. Some sort of mobile resource extraction platform left over from the Dark Age - according to Vern that is. Like the offshore drilling platforms you had on Protasia...only the Scintillan version has like a hundred legs or something. At any rate there had been hundreds of the things back in the day - their stripped skeletons could still be found across Scintilla - but now only one remained. Ambulon. The city that they claimed would die the day it stopped. So it never did stop, just kept on moving. Left the resource extraction to others, just picked up and deposited using these lighters - and other craft. A walking city filled with artisans and specialist craftsmen. That's Ambulon today. Walking skill. More than a hundred million pairs of skilled hands - crammed together in a space that should never have held more than a million at the very best.

Because of the distance it would be dawn again before you reached the city, so better get some rest while you can. eat, sleep...a precious few hours before battered bodies much once again go into the breech.

---

Sleep - and for some of you that means dreams. Psyker dreams made from farcosia and madness...in the dream you stand upon a great mountain...

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and unto the guardian was given the key of the bottomless pit.

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was blotted out and and the air turned foul and dark by reason of the smoke of the pit.

And there came out of the smoke creatures, like locusts upon the earth they were: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power over mortal flesh.

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God upon their souls.

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto knights prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men.

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name among men is Abaddon, but in the company of angels his name is Apollo.

One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

They find Haxtes on the floor after the rest period is over - he is naked and the walls of his cabin are covered by writings in archaich High Gothic - the very words above. He has written it using his own blood - his right hand has been cut seven times and the wounds will not stop bleeding.

...when they moved the blog files and swapped the URLs the new management (read: that DM Bjorn fellow) forgot to port over the images folder...and then went on to DELETE it. Tancred would never have done something like that, but what can he do now that he's down yonder in Segmentum Tempestus? Zip. Nothing. Nada.

The images will re-appear at some point in the future...but DM Bjorn is lazy so I don't know when it will happen.

I got a tip for this site: http://www.ultinomicon.com/ImmortalEnemies/

It's a fan-made graphic novel. If you can ignore the sometimes rather poor spelling it's a great story and good artwork.

Check it out.

Timestamp: 5.319.997.M41

Location: Aquila Superior Spire, Upper Levels, Southern Quadrant, Metropolitan Area, Hive Sibellus, Scintilla, Golgenna Reach

Situation: Urgent call from Vorlin Orday received

Body: You've had another call from Orday. This one being more urgent. You must meet sooner than expected. Come to the Hustle as soon as you are able. He will be there until midnight. After that he'll leave the area and get rid of the slate. Reason; he's sure that he's being tracked by hired assassins.

Julia is ready to go - even though her presence is hardly required this time. Not really. You're starting to suspect that she doesn't take this seriously enough - its more of an exiting pastime to her.

At any rate you have to go quickly; taking a hopper would be the quickest way. You could fly it directly from the spire and just head out to sea, turn about and enter the Hustle by air, coming in under the shield-roof. Pretty high-rpofile through.

Maxi must also decide who to bring with him - if any. If he's going at all.

Scintillan Departmento Magistratum Rapid Response Unit hopper, here seen on patrol outside the perimiter of Hive Tarsus, looking for illegal courier activity.

This is NOT the final skin for this blog! We did not just become happy happy treehuggers. Have patience. I'm not that good at CSS, but I'm improving.

Timestamp: 5.319.997.M41

Location: Aquila Superior Spire, Upper Levels, Southern Quadrant, Metropolitan Area, Hive Sibellus, Scintilla, Golgenna Reach

Situation: Continuing investigations into the disappearance of Sia Strophes

Body: Last night was quite the party. It started innocently enough. Haxtes headed up-spire to the Alabaster Court. It was dark outside the massive panorama windows, save for the sparking lights of the hive. Inside it was also dark, save a few artfully emplaced light-points. And the clothes of the attendees - each one a subtle play of light, color and form. Together it formed a cacophony that made it hard to see where the inside ended and the outside began, or if the starry skies above the hive have truly descended and take up residence within the Alabaster court.

Haxtes is quickly swept up by Counselor Colva, his mentor in the Choir. She makes a point of introducing him to some choice people. So here Haxtes gets to see the Choir acting as matchmaker. Colva doesn't know who or what Haxtes is of course - she only knows that Caros Shoal considers him important. And that's enough for her. There is a welcoming drink - served in a glass made of spun glass tubes. Haxtes can't figure out how it was made, but takes a guess at zero-gravity and a very skilled glass-blower. Normally he would not care, but Vern/Venus must be getting to him.

Haxtes gets to meet the aging Lady Tanae Borella, an influential noblewoman, and the 'host' this evening. That means she gets to pay for the party, in return for the good press it undoubtedly generates for her. Even rejuvenation treatments are starting to fail her - maybe that's why she's found her faith. She's pleasant enough, but Haxtes sees right through her. She's afraid. Of death. It gnaws at her soul ever waking moment and haunts her dreams. If anything it will only put her in the grave the faster.

You see some other semi-familiar faces. Malene Trun, Sia's 'friend' at the Choir. A low-born brought up to Court only to keep up appearances. She's standing around with her Counselor, a man called Thiery. Haxtes immediately has one of his moments; like the time what he touched the dead Astarte's armor. The man Thiery is destined to die in a spectacular fashion - he will still be alive as his burning body is hurled clear of the spire, but he won't survive the thousand metre drop. The moment passes without anyone noticing, but Haxtes feels unwell afterwards.

There is no rest for the wicked though. He's brought over to see Senior Counselor Cort Abroag. The man has a key role in that he oversees many of the most prominent members of the Choir. In effect he's the key account manager of some of the richest people in attendance. The veil that shrouds the future parts once more to reveal Cort burning up from within, his organs scorched by the unseen heat of atomic fire. One moment he looks fine, the next he opens his mouth to speak and sparks pour forth even as his eyes combust.

Haxtes recoils from him, only to smash into an effete nobleman.He cries out in fear and anger as Haxtes' reflexes take over, coming within a hairs breath of killing the man. The crowd quickly parts. Haxtes is clearly acting oddly, he can hardly retain his balance, like a man drunk. Elsergi Krin is crying foul and bloody murder and is demanding satisfaction...from somewhere a robed woman appears to offer to be his second. No, wait, its not a woman. It's a man, but dressed almost like a girl, and with very feminine traits.

A thickly accented voice, belonging to someone from the upper-caste of Gunmetal City addresses Haxtes: "You be all right good sir? If you be in need of catching you breath I, Sorkat Authwaite, will stand guard over you. Do not listen to these blood-hungry fools, they know not what they ask for."

If you look up in the top right corner there are two buttons; one is the DHBlog and the other is labeled TPNews.

Try pressing it and see what happens...

Just a notification about a change in URL; use this one instead.

I've recently tried to set up my forum software so that I'll have one forum for the entire TP.net.

There is even a board for Dark heresy - Maiden of Golgenna.

Not sure if we'll use it for anything...some things doesn't really fit well with the blog form of communication...but I'm not sure it will be better by splitting things in two...maybe for game rules and such...maybe OOC chatter...keep the blog focused on the advntures...we'll see.

At any rate I've set up a mailbox for each of you that will forward to your usual e-mails...so you should have gotten a forum passord sent to you by now. Usernames are, unsurprisingly, maxi and haxtes. Have a look if you want to.

Timestamp: 5.305.997.M41

Location: Aquila Superior Spire, Upper Levels, Southern Quadrant, Metropolitan Area, Hive Sibellus, Scintilla, Golgenna Reach

Situation: Investigating the Joyous Choir

Body: The trip uptown was by auto-carriage. Quite educating. We got to see every type of urban terrain in just a few hours of travel, from the sad and abandoned regions around the templum and all they way up to the Wall - the Magistratum checkpoint that controlled all traffic in and out of the upper levels of the Aquila Superior Spire. They seemed competent enough; Sia's disappearance made even less sense after seeing it. She could not have come this way without being genescanned and put on file. Well, maybe someone had altered the records, but if so Venus would surely find out. But that would come later. For now we enjoyed the ride.

The Strophes home was located in a dome-like complex, not unlike the ones we had seen on Corax. Probably STC template structures the both of them. We headed up to the mansion's access-point - that gave us a clue as their importance and wealth, they had their very own ground-level access to the dome, and inward-facing viewing surfaces. One of perhaps a score such mansions. An educated guess would place them in the top ten percent of this dome's inhabitants. Not sure how that equated into the bigger picture, but clearly they were upper-upper class.

We were expected. A fiery red-headed girl in her late teens/early twenties opened the door. She was impossibly good-looking, very tall and very slender, yet fully curved. She wore some sort of dress made out of a semi-transparent crystalline weave. When she moved it billowed, but when she stood still it clung to her body in suggestive ways. The crystal was interwoven with light fibers that displayed a swirling starry sky. It was almost a work of art (and as we would learn, all the rage this year). Her eyes were playful, mischievous even, and she could perhaps have passed for a girl had she not spoken (the eyes nearly always give people away, it's damned hard to hide wisdom and cynicism - but this woman clearly had retain a wild streak and never calcified). But her voice was too smooth, too controlled for her to be a girl of 19 or so - no mere girl, no matter her pedigree, greets agents of the Inquisition so casually!

Her name was Julia. She was Laurent's only child by his late wife. She was 120 Terran years old. The wonders that the magi biologis can work - if the Thrones are right. Not even Xerza had skin that smooth (but perhaps that was intentional). Haxtes found himself thinking he'd never seen someone so silky white, except Venus. But she was hardly fully human - anything which could grow four metal arms out its spine could damn well have whatever skin it wanted. Julia flirted shamelessly in return. A chord was struck and it vibrated in resonance; Haxtes and Juila, unlike though they are, were made from the same mold. We chatted a bit with her. We got her version - Sia would never have run away, something must have happened to her. And the Joious Choir was at the heart of it. Then she showed us into her father's study and bade us wait.

Laurent was as tall as his daughter, though he lacked her luxurious hair and her soft skin. Actually there was nothing soft about him at all. Here was a man who had served the God-Emperor with distinction for more than two centuries. More than fifty of them as Master and Commander of the Victory-class battleship Agrippa Augustus, a ship that had served with distinction during no less than three major campaigns during his tenure. Now he was retired. Or maybe only semi-retired. We learned later that he had the ear of Lord Commander Sector Marius Hax, and that he in turn relied on Laurent for impartial advice on naval matters. No wonder the Holy Ordos were eager to help.

He was surprisingly likeable, however, even as he laid out his stroy in no nosense manner. He told us about Sia, how she had spent her life in the household, always somewhat lost. That she'd both moved out and found her faith - in the form of the Joyous Choir (for which Laurent has nothing but contempt, the Emperor demands obedience and sacrifice, not happiness). He was also damned sure she was dead, but felt obliged to continue to search. He'd first put pressure on the Magistratum. Then he'd hired men of his own. Before finally turning to his old friend Vaarak. He also gave you full access to his House systems and promised any aid.

---

Leaving Venus and Vern to snoop around the mansion Maxi and Haxtes went down-level to have a look at Sia's apartment. It was located further down the spire, but still above the Wall, in a layer that seemed mostly dedicated to the idle rich (most of them young and good-looking, although for many that youth and those looks were not natural, but paid for with old money). The investigation revealed very little. Except for a chat with Julianna, Sia's next-door neighbor. Haxtes made her out to be another 100-year old in a twenty-something's body. She invited him to drop by later...which Haxtes had every intention of taking her up on, time permitting.

She also provided something Sia had lent her - a harmony-meter. It was part of the Choir programme - Sia was always trying to recruit more people, with little success - and she'd handed it to Julianna to try to teach her how to be 'joyous'. Only Julianna was busy screwing and partying - in fact she was feeling quite joyous already. Oddly enough the meter spiked a little in the presence of Haxtes; hardly the most 'joyous' of persons.

Leaving Maxi to go over the apartment in detail Haxtes headed to the local Choir templum. It looked like an old mall turned into a conference center, only with a little extra in the way of religious panoply. The local leader was one Brother Jastilus. He told of how Sia had come to the temple and how she'd grown as a person, finding her faith and her joy. But it had been months since last he'd seen her; she was well on way to becoming 'True', so promising in fact that he'd sent her on to the main templum up-spire. Haxtes didn't like him much, but he was hardly a prime suspect. Still, his story would be cross-referenced by Vern and Venus. If there were holes, they would be found.

---

Although a little orgy with Julianna seemed attractive Haxtes put it to the side - she'd be there whenever he felt like it. So better concentrate on the task at hand. And rather than screwing about he decided to go right to the source; the Joyous Choir main templum. Way up in the spire it occupied a slice of a very posh level. The Choir was either very wealthy or had serious patronage. Or both. Getting in was by invitation only. Of course. But then again you make exceptions. Knock knock. Who's there? Imperial Inquisition. Oh, do come in! There was a harmony meter in the entrance hall as well...but it did not react in the same fashion to Haxtes as Sia's version had. Significant or fluke?

Caros Shoal was the self-made leader of the Joyous Choir. He turned out to be one of those people you can't really dislike. He had the sort of charisma that made you want to listen to him. Or buy used speeders from. When he explained it the Joyous Choir made a lot more sense. Haxtes could suddenly see how it could grow so big (it wasn't THAT big really, only a few million attendees, mostly is this one spire), become so wealthy, and attract such patronage. Of course Vern and Cenus would later find out that the man had a past - apparently he was also good at selling antiques to wealthy buyers as greatly inflated prices. Which had forced him into exile years ago - only he had returned to Sibellus half a decade ago with enough money to clear his name and start fresh. As a preacher this time. Try as he might Haxtes could not bring himself to believe this man was the culprit. Call it gut feeling.

Elman Voight had been Sia's mentor while she was at the templum. He was more pragmatic than his superior. As a former insurance agent he had the skills needed to push increasingly expensive self-awareness classes and stuff at his pupils. Sia had swallowed it hook, line, and sink. Good think she was ridiculously rich. But no, he was not behind her disappearance. In fact, he took it as a personal blow, for had he not been working on her to one day position himself for marriage to her? Quite a disgusting fellow. But his story rang true.

Malene Trun - Sia's Choir friend - had little further to add. other than that Sia had had few real friends in the Choir. Mostly Malene. And she hardly confided in her. No one did. Malaene was down-hive you see, while most of the others were rich up-hivers. They only took on some 'unfortunates' like her to show how good they were; but the main reason peopel got called to the main temple was because they needed speacial attention to mmilk them of their riches. Not that she said as much, she was a firm believer, but Haxtes read it between the lines. Oh, and Malene thinks Sia migth have gone underhive slumming or soemthing, to spread the faith...but Haxtes thinks Malene is a daft twat and her theory even more silly.

---

A couple of hours later you all met back at the house of Strophes to look at what you had learned so far:

Sia gone, without a single trace. She had left her appartment one day, made her way to the Choir templum, but never arrived. Venus and Vern had looked at the House Strophes and Magistratum systems and found nothing. Now she needed to look at the Choir. Maxi had found nothing at the appartment; except that he lacked any finds that would support a Sia-ran-away theory. From past experience he's say that she's the victim of a planned abduction and that she is no longer alive (he puts abduction at about 90% and dead at 95%).

---

OK, the stage is yours...

The Adeptus Astartes – the Space Marines – is an ancient warrior brotherhood created by the Emperor more than ten thousand years ago to help him reclaim the galaxy for Man. In the 41^st Millennium they are humanity's champions in the unending struggle for survival. A space Marine is not born, he is made. Made in the image of the Emperor. To make a Marine you recruit at an early age the most dangerous killers humanity has to offer, transform them into superhuman giants, teach them nothing but killing, and instil in them an unflinching loyalty to the Golden Throne and a willingness to die in service of the God-Emperor. Then you encase him in a suit of armour without equal and equip him with the deadliest weapons the Machine God has to offer. The end result is aptly called the Angels of Death; they descend from the heavens to smite the foes of Man with divine wrath.

CHAPTER ORGANIZATION

The Chapter is the largest Marine organizational unit commonly used in M41. During the Great Crusade the Marine Legions would each be composed of many Chapters. A Chapter was the Legion's smallest unit capable of sustained independent operations. It is a popular misconception that Chapters number 1.000 Marines. It is true that newly formed Chapters are made up of a cadre of only 1.000 Marines, plus a command staff taken from their progenitor Chapter, but that is probably the only time a Chapter will number exactly a thousand. In reality the number of Marines available to a Chapter varies quite a bit, as battle deaths and recruitment causes troop numbers to fluctuate. Each Chapter of Astartes has per the Codex Astartes a nominal fighting strength of 1.000 Space Marines, but that is 1.000 battle-ready Space Marines. To be able to field such a force, even for an organization as lean as the Marines, you need 2-3 warriors per position. Then there is an increasingly large command and support staff, plus a number of semi-retired Marines filling semi-honorary position (though most could fight if need be).

Although no Chapter is anywhere near in size to the massive million-strong Legions of old, there are some fairly big Chapters out there. The Black Templars, for example, are known to field at least 5.000 Battle-Brothers at any one time, which could mean that there are as many as 15-20 thousand Black Templars out there, not counting command and support or retirees. The Space Wolves remains the only non-traitor legion not to have complied with the Adeptus Terra with regards to the dissolution of the Legions. They still retain their original thirteen Chapters (though the 13^th has been lost in the Eye of Terror for quite some time), although some Administratum scribes have deftly evaded the truth by labelling the Chapters 'Cohortes Maximus' (i.e. Great Companies). The Space Wolves M41 Chapters are not, however, at their maximum Great Crusade size. Instead they are comparable to other marine Chapters of the present day and age. The Ultramarines are Codex-bound, but control a number of 'vassal' Chapters in and around the 'Kingdoms of Ultramar', thus easily outnumbering all other Chapters in terms of fighting men. Losses against Hive Fleet Behemoth and Hive Fleet Kraken have been considerable, with several vassal Chapters having been completely destroyed and others reduced to just a small cadre.

The Squad is the basic Marine tactical unit. It comprises 10 Battle-Brothers, one of which is a Sergeant. The Sergeant is invariably a battle-hardened marine that has displayed both leadership skill and unusual initiative. The rest of the squad's members are ranked according to seniority, although some awards, commendations and/or disciplinary black marks can cause changes in effective seniority. Regardless of battle deaths or incapacitations there will always be someone in command of the squad. Squad members are typically armed with bolters, except for two heavy weapons (frequently a heavy bolter and a missile launcher) and possibly up to two specialist weapons (such as a flamer or melta gun). Squads are very flexible can be broken down into smaller units, typically two five-man Battle-Squads led by either the Sergeant or a Veteran Brother (some Chapters name this marine Corporal, others have a second junior Sergeant per squad; both are fairly rare). One Battle-Squad might be assigned the heavy weapons while the other one takes the assault weapons; or each could have one heavy weapon assigned. Or one or both Battle-Squads can be split into two-Marine fire-teams as the situation warrants. Options are nearly endless; squads can quickly be made to match any situation.

Ten squads make a Company, led by a Captain. Some Chapters also have a separate position for a company Lieutenant. Those Chapters that do not have lieutenants lists the senior squad Sergeant as the company second-in-command. Companies are sometimes split into two 50-Marine Battle-Companies, led by the Captain and Lieutenant/Veteran Sergeant respectively. Companies can be further subdivided into any combination of squads as warranted by the battlefield situation. The Company (or Battle-Company) is the smallest tactical unit that is commonly deployed in an independent role; one Marine Company and supporting assets are considered sufficient to deal with most targets. This Marine Company Strike Force can easily be fitted into a single Strike Cruiser (most crusier models allow for even bigger forces, usually a maximum of 2-3 Companies worth of troops).

The number of companies to a Chapter will vary; but the basic 1.000 Marine line-up calls for ten companies, one of which is the Veteran/Terminator Assault Company and another which will be a Training/Scout Company. The remaining companies are Tactical Companies, although some Chapters operate with specialized companies – Jump Assault, Heavy/Devastator, Mobile Response, Urban Infiltrators, etc. These are roles that a normal Tactical Battle-Brother can fill, but within the ranks of the specialist companies each Marines focuses on that role to the exclusion of anything but basic Marine skills. Some Chapters wholeheartedly approve of such specialization as a means of pursuing perfection, while other Chapters frown upon it, claiming instead that each Marine should always be ready to face any challenge. Most Chapters are somewhere in between, maintaining just a few specialist companies and/or rotating Marines on a regular basis to avoid calcification within one narrow role. A Chapter is commanded by a Chapter Master. The Master is attended by a senior Commander (sometimes called a Praetor) who is the Chapter's second-in-command. Some Chapters lack a specific position for the Praetor and instead has the senior company Captain hold the honour.

It is very rare for an entire Chapter's battle-ready forces to be deployed at any one time. Instead a Chapter can be divided into two Cohorts, commanded by the Chapter Master and Praetor respectively (one would normally be in the field while the other remains at base and attends to other duties, including permanent garrisons and patrols). For larger Chapters the Cohort formation can become permanent and there may be multiple Cohorts (usually of 5 companies each), each led by a Commander (one of which may also be the Praetor, unless that is a separate position). Some large Chapters, such as the Crimson Dawn Chapter, also maintain a position of Lieutenant-Commander for the Cohort second-in-command. A Space Marine Battle Barge can accommodate one five-company Cohort, support elements, and logistics train (it would e very rare, however, for a Barge to operate alone, without the benefit of support vessels).

All Chapters also have several supporting branches; the Librarium provides both astropaths and battlefield psykers, while Mechanicus-trained Tech-Marines take care of advanced maintenance rites (line personnel are expected to do undertake ordinary maintenance rites of personal and unit gear). Chaplains are tasked with caring for the spiritual well-being of the Battle-Brothers, while Marine Apothecaries are highly skilled in both first aid and advanced medical procedures. Lastly are the Battle-Brothers that are not assigned to any ready-unit, for whatever reason – they could be recuperating, receiving specialist training, be assigned as starship crew, or be semi-retired.

Most Chapters will also have extensive (non-Marine) non-combatant support staffs, offering additional logistical support. After all, someone must take care of the mundane affairs of a Chapters, be if distribution of supplies, refuelling drop-ships, acting as medical orderlies, preparing and serving meals, and so on. Some Chapters rely on serfs, others heavily on servitors, while a few even have free-men retainers who are paid for their services.

A Chapter's non-personnel assets also vary considerably. A new Chapter will be given a homeworld and recruitment rights there, as well as support staff, vehicles and a small fleet of ships, but after that they are expected to fund and fend for themselves. Old and successful Chapters can amass huge fiefs and the resources that go along with them (though they must be wary of gaining too much power, lest the Adeptus Terra become concerned.

Timestamp: 5.301.997.M41

Location: Aquila Superior Spire, Upper Levels, Southern Quadrant, Metropolitan Area, Hive Sibellus, Scintilla, Golgenna Reach

Situation: In the House of Strophes

Body: The call came down from the Big I we responded. In this case 'we' didn't just include Haxtes and Maxi, but also Vern and Venus (which came as a pleasant surprise). At any rate each acolyte received the assignment separately through channels - of course. So it was not before we all met out outside a small templum in a distant hab-zone that we learned of the involvement of the others.

After some heartfelt greetings (even haxtes seemed pleased to see the others - relatively speaking of course) we headed inside. There we found a lone figure; a massively overweight man of middling age, suspended by an intricate anti-grav harness, so that he appeared to be standing when he was really hovering. The scarred face that protruded from a fleshy neck confirmed our suspicions; the man was not just obese, but a cripple.

Well, a cripple in body at least. His mind worked just fine and his tongue was both sharp and smooth at the same time. Besides his name turned out to be Inquisitor Globus Vaarak, Ordo Hereticus.  So that made us pay attention. He was in something of a pinch, having very few field operatives to his name, and now he found himself in need of some. Which is why he had called in a favor with his old acquaintance, Inquisitor Tancred.

The case he wanted investigating was as follows; an old friends of his, a staunch supporter of the Inquisition throughout a lifetime, had made a call to him. His niece had gone missing under mysterious circumstances. Nothing odd there perhaps, until you learned that his friend was Laurent Strophes - a respected former Navy Captain (now retired) and a nobleman (House Strophes is part of the Maechenko clan, which is counted among the finest of lineages on Scintilla).

But in addition to being well connected there is one more thing that has aroused the interest of Mr. Vaarak. Sia Strophes, the missing girl, was not a body likely to disappear. High nobility simply doesn't do that - it happens to dregs, but not to the upper classes. Even the Magistratum, incompetent and corrupt as they are, should have been able to find out what had happened. But the Magistratum had found nothing, nothing at all. It was like she'd vanished into thin air - right in the middle of a posh hive spire.

The only thing out of the ordinary was Sia's semi-recent conversion to a relatively new cult; the Joyous Choir. The cult had been cleared by the Ministorum and had done nothing thus far to attract the attention of the Inquisition (almost suspicious in it's own right ;-). An apparently harmless fad that preached that the God-Emperor wanted his subjects to be 'joyous' - a feat accomplished by taking courses aimed at making the student accept his place in the Imperium of Man. Idealistic and naive, but not very original.

Regardless Vaarak directed you to proceed to meet with Laurent and find out what had happened to Sia Strophes...