The War of the Shadow IC

[Riddick]

The Southlows

As the acolytes approached flight pad seven, the military craft hummed with power. The nose depicted an embossed -9- with the wings of an Aquila on either side. An Inquisitorial pilot, glanced up as you all approached, he hopped from the cockpit and jogged past with an “all yours!”

The skies remained dark, heavy with pollution. The clouds were a deep blue, verging on black in some areas. The Tricorn was the tallest structure as far as the eye could see and the Acolytes were standing on top of it. This is where the flight pads were located. As if to send the cell off, the skies cracked open. Lightning struck the tallest vox-mast nearby. The mast rose far above the acolytes but the sound was ear shattering. Moments later the skies wept on Sibellus, perhaps for Father Herstromm.

Perhaps for you.

The cell soared over hive Sibellus. The Valkyrie roared through the thick precipitation with Fenria at the helm. In the closed troop compartment, the cell had time to dig into the mission slate’s contents more thoroughly and to discuss amongst themselves their theories and ideas.

The mission slate, now copied several times to most of the acolytes, held a very accurate map of all of Sibellus. The map was capable of displaying an area down to the block level or the region and anywhere in between. The sprawl of the underhive below was, of course, uncharted.

The slate detailed Father Herstromm’s tenure at that cathedral and continued on to list the identities and pertinent facts of the other five grisly scenes. While Father Helstromm was the most senior among the victoms, the others, ten in addition to Herstromm, were a part of the Ecclesiarchy just as Inquisitor Wroth had stated.

Several of the men were Preachers of the faith and the heads of their respective parishes. A few among the fallen were Frateris Militia who had devoted their lives to protecting the Preachers, and the faith. Hive life could often run violent. Unfortunately, no one is safe, not even a Preacher. The last among the deceased appeared to be a Drill Abbot for the local Frateris chapter. Of those killed, this man and Herstromm were the only to die alone. The others were in pairs or a trio when the “beasts” arrived. The Abbot’s name was Marshal Stone.

The Cathedral has supposedly been on lockdown by Storm Troopers since the attack was reported. There is no listed details on the witnesses, if any, or clues left at the holy temple.

The flight takes a little over an hour, the weather slowing down the Valkyrie. The storm had not abated any by a change of location of the passage of time. As the craft set down on the landing pad, the engines pushed gathered water from the pad with its downdraft. Far to the north, the silhouette of the Lucid Palace was barely visible through the storm. The palace housed the Sector Governor Marius Hax and his court.

Below the landing pad, the ocean stirred as it crashed endlessly into the hive and cliff walls. This far up, the hive’s height was more apparent. The water was hundred of meters below which indicated that the hive itself must delve down just as deeply if not deeper. Here, at the top of the local hive, it was easy to feel free and unconstrained. The same couldn’t be said in the depths of the mid-hive below or even lower.

Father Herstromm’s temple, the Cathedral of his Holy Wrath, lay just a kilometer to the southwest. Its lofty heights visible over the surrounding hive-sprawl.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed again. Farther away this time.

Welcome to sector 619 – the Southlows.

Calimos:

Spoiler

Show

Marcus’ keen eye for investigation caught on a tiny detail as the projector showed Father Herstromm’s grisly scene. As noted, there were several winged figures making up a significant portion of the stained glass behind the altar. As the light poured in from outside, illuminating the interior, the projector pans across the scene as if the individual taking the footage stepped back to show everything of this horrific event. A necessity for the investigation, but likely a gut wrenching task.

Reinhart’s eye catches something in the light coming through the glass. As his eye is drawn to the background of the projection, he sees a minute detail in the glass itself. It would be hard to notice if you were in the Cathedral itself, let alone watching a projected scene from there.

One of the winged figures, its weeping eye was off-colored. It was different than the rest somehow. Stained glass depictions feature a collection of fitted, specially colored pieces to make up the whole of the image. The eye of this winged figure was different and required closer inspection.

Your Lore & Intelligence tests reveal only that this style of killing is different from the Pattern Killings -just as heinous, but different.