Idyll Heresies [IC]

[Saldre]

Cipher`s warning comes a fraction of a second too late.

Xanthia:

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You reach under the pillow and pull out a small doll. You can examine it, but you hear Cipher Saying : EVERYBODY STOP

Everybody inside the room except Quint (Includes you too Xanthia):

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As Quint's back is turned to it, suddenly Prim's body seizes, heaving up as though trying to rise to his lifeless feet. The head lolls awkwardly backward, revealing the spine in the corpse's throat, and waves of decay-stink roll off him, bathing Quint and Hack in unclean vapors. With the tearing of a dozen separate sheets of parchment being simultaneously shredded, his body comes apart. The boils on his face open like flowers and his swollen belly bursts, releasing streams of crawling carrion. Swarming insectile creatures, each as wide as a thumb's tip, scamper free, dragging ribbons of flesh with them. Their bodies are predominantly green, though speckled with dull red spots. Then, the globules in Prim's bloody trail reveal hidden legs and scamper to creeping life, as well, most taking flight: forming a gory cloud of red death.



(OOC: Cipher's warning has given you a chance to brace yourselves, but guys, this is still (for the vast majority of you) the very first daemonic entity you have ever encountered, and you feel it: Fear 2 Test! +5 bonus to your roll)

Quint:

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Your attention focused on Loken, you feel a warm gust of rotten air on your back and hear the ripping and rending of flesh, quickly followed by the buzzing of a swarm of insects... You know something horrible is behind you. To even bring yourself to turn around and face it, you need to muster your entire strength of will. (OOC: Instead of a fear test, roll Willpower +10!)

Loken and Pius:

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Before you finish your sentence, the creatures gather at your feet. They are horrid creatures: roughly the size of toddlers, their bodies are covered in puss and ichor: an abomination unto man. They stare at you with hungry eyes, fangs and claws ready to suck down your blood!


[OOC: Fear 1 Guys, as these little daemons are your first exposure to the warp's unnatural inhabitants! count yourselves lucky!]

[Equis]

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WP - (1d100)[17] (Target: 32 + 10, will edit with more depending on reaction)

[Bowerbird]

Having started towards the panel after glancing at the corpse, Hack recoils at the eruption of daemonic entities pouring forth from Prim's corpse.

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(1d100)[14] TN: 36

Hack, having seen some terrible things in his time in Volg, is nonetheless horrified, but not cripplingly so, he responds by firing his Shotgun, which is still pointed at the corpse.

[LCP]

Seeing the unclean things scurrying towards him, Pius reached for his chainsword.

"Fotens terribilitas, adjuva me in extremis..."

[Saldre]

ROUND I


Pius:

Two Pest-Tics scurry on from the end of room, climbing onto boxes and crates with unholy speedy, leaving a thick path of slime behind them as they charge Pius.

Quick to react, he brings down his chain-sword on the daemons but misses, slicing a crate in half sending sparks and shrapnel flying!

The Tics step aside, avoiding the chain-sword, then leap onto him and attach themselves to his Greatcoat!

They gnaw at it with their toxic dripping fangs and slash it with their dirty claws, but are a kept a hair's width away from the Commissar's skin as his free hand comes crashing down on them in an attempt to shove them to the ground!

Green vapors slowly surround him, rising from the Tics infested bodies as the rage of battle consumes them, and their need to bestow Grandfather's Nurgle's gifts drives them to redouble their efforts!

Loken:

Another two stare hungrily at Loken, a third one watching them from behind. They lunge at him, eager for a taste of his flesh.

Loken quickly ducks behind a crate to avoid the ravenous jaws of the Pest Tics. One, quicker then the other, Jumps over to finish him off! It is sent flying as Loken delivers a powerful rising kick.

He quickly jumps to feet his feet and instantly points his long las at it's mucus underbelly, then fires!

It lets out an abominable scream as the laser beam pierces trough its body... then lifts its head up, grinning evilly: chattering its teeth as if mocking the assassin and his ineffective weapon.

Xanthia

Though she had seen quite a few things in her short relatively lifetime, the sight of the swarm was unnerving. Holstering her weapon, she gathers her will in an attempt to get a hold of herself.

Cipher

After he had looked into the Warp-addled reflection of the creature, its physical sight could not cause his will to falter. He fires at it with his Las-pistol, but the shot simply goes trough the swarm, unable to inflict any damage.

Quint

As he slowly turned out to face the source of the buzzing, Quint's nerves of steel kept him from loosing his cool. He would need, as he looked up a cloud of red-death, which in less then a few seconds swarms him, wrapping itself around him in a cyclone of death before he even gets a chance to react.

Hack

The Tech-priest is unfazed as the swarm attacks him. A throng of insects attempt, in vain, to pierce trough his robes, and the hardened mutated skin beneath. The few who are successful drop dead, having ingested his poisonous blood. His time spent in the darkness on Volg has pit him face to face with conditions much worse then this: the swarm was a mild-inconvenience at best. He does not hesitate, and pulls the trigger. A thunderous blow rattles Prim's room, as if the Emperor himself had dropped down his hammer on its inhabitants.

The swarm, hit by the Meat-hammer, explodes in a spray of gore and mucus as Prim's corpse is sent flying, splattering against the back wall.

[Chucho108]

Cipher

Kneeling back by the generator Cipher attempts to take a pot shot against the swarm while it is preoccupied with Quint and Hack.

[AssassinKing]

As the tics come towards me, I kick them and shoot once they are far enough back.

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(1d100)[3] to kick needing 34
(1d100)[49] 37 for hitting +10 for laser sight +30 for point blank total:77
(2d10+3)[11] The Emperor protects

[AssassinKing]

Loken helps Pius get up or carry him towards the entrance of the building. Sprinting as fast as he can trying to out run the tics to get to the first door to to set Pius down by the wall so they both can hold off while waiting for the rest of the squad. After Pius is put down and ready to fight Loken draws his throwing knives to throw at one of the tics, hoping that they weren't right behind him. We should probably get out guys, There could be more coming. If we stay in the building we might never get out.

[Wiz]

Xanthia is shaking in fear and shock. Her shaking hand holsters her Consecrator under her robe as she realizes that firing a single shot every round is not going to stop so many, albeit tiny, foes. She gulps and musters her will to try to master her fear, but can't stop shaking.

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Half-round: holster weapon.
Half-round: willpower test - fails. Does failing a test by 5 failures carry an additional penalty here?

[Saldre]

Round II

Pius:

Pius struggles with the Tics around him, slamming his roaring sword down on the twitching things, attempting to rend them apart! but they are too quick, they climb onto him and run all over his cloak, their nails rip trough it and pierce his skin: the wound burns as he feels his body fighting the onslaught of disease.

His hand jerks in pain, flinging the tics on the ground, granting him a moment's reprieve and a perfect chance to counter-attack. As the chain-sword roars above his head, he hears faint gurgling... and realizes the tic is laughing.

Loken:

You grab unto Pius's arm before he has a chance to swing down his sword and pull him abruptly towards the door, away from the Tic. Focused on his next attack, and no doubt tired out by his Injury, he is caught off guard and turns abruptly towards you.

Three Pests stand between you and the door, crawling with the ease on the crates that hinder your movements. They seem quite visibly readying to pounce on you and the commissar, their fangs dripping with anticipation of an easy meal.

Quint:

Quint quickly moves to the door and aims his trusty gun at the one of the Tics!

Xanthia:

Xanthia blinks in surprise, with a single blast of a shotgun - what terrorized her is practically vaporized. She turns to Hack and nods, smiling (though he cannot see the latter through her mask). Her shaking gone, she draws forth the consecrator again and moves to the entrance where she hears more combat.

Cipher:

With the Swarm dead, the Psyker turns his attention to the door: providing cover fire for those who would want to enter.

Hack:

Hack nods almost imperceptibly to Xanthia as he reholsters his still-smoking shotgun. Getting a two-handed grip on his sword he rushes out into the other room, leaping and angling his sword down to impale the fallen tick.

[Wiz]

Xanthia blinks in surprise, with a single blast of a shotgun - what terrorized her is practically vaporized. She turns to Hack and nods, smiling (though he cannot see the latter through her mask). Her shaking gone, she draws forth the consecrator again and moves to the entrance where she hears more combat.

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Half-action: draw weapon; Half-action: move to doorway.

[Bowerbird]

Hack nods almost imperceptibly to Xanthia as he reholsters his still-smoking shotgun. Getting a two-handed grip on his sword he rushes out into the other room, leaping and angling his sword down to impale the fallen tick.

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(1d100)[73] I get +10 WS for a charge action.
Can't remember the damage on a Bastard Sword, it's 1d10+something..
(1d10)[8]

[Saldre]

Round III:

Pius:

A Tic Jumps on you as you struggle with Loken's grip, but its fangs close on air as it misses you.

You see two others launch themselves on the assassin, clawing at his arm. He releases his grip, allowing you to pull away just in time to deliver a swift kick on a tic nearby! It, however, resists the blow! Wasting no time, you bring down your chain sword over its head, but it moves out of the way... only to find itself trapped between you and the massive Tech-priest, who had charged out of Prim's room mere moments ago! Surrounded, the pest was surely living on borrowed time.

Loken:

Two Tics lunge towards you, clawing at your legs! One succeeds in driving its fangs deep into your skin! You feel the wound burn, but adrenaline keeps you moving forward! Having let go of Pius, you attempt to breakthrough the Pests. As you escape them, a final swipe of their calls scratches your back, it too sending shivers down your spine and ripples of pain throughout your body!

Hack:

The Pest Tic lets out a horrid scream as your sword strikes true and pierces its hide with ease! You pull out your weapon from its broken hide, the blade coated with the creature's blood. The monster twists in pain at your feet, its toxic blood oozes from its wound onto the floor: slowly burning trough it. Its fiery eyes glare at you as it readies itself to jump on you and the toxic fluids that flow freely from its body!

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This pest Tic(#4)'s weapons now count as Toxic, this replaces its pestilent bite attack: When it attacks you, pass a Toughness test or Suffer 1d10 damage that's unaffected by armor [Reduced by TB]. It carries the same infectious diseases as its Pestilent bite attack

Xanthia:

Xanthia lowers her Trinity, the red dot laser sight marking the pest tic's temple and presses the trigger. In less then a fraction of a second, the Tic is splattered! It explodes, sending chunks of gore and slime flying against the crates around it!

Cipher:

Makes his way to the door and joins the fray! Seeing a lone Tic turn to bite a fleeing Loken, he pulls the trigger! The beam of light, as if Guided by the Emperor, pierces the creature's outer-shell! It squeals in terrible agony as chunks of rotten meat fall off its back.

Quint:

Quint growls through his teeth as he draws a bead on the festering tick.

"Filthy critters... Say hullo ta yer friends on yer way back home!"

Quint then takes his shot.

ROUND IV:

Hack:

Your sword comes down on the bleeding Tic and cuts trough it, rending it apart! It drops to the floor, twitching slightly. Though split it half, laying across the floor, it still drags itself forward, attempting in vain to bite at your ankles.

Cipher:

Cipher fires at the Tic that's on Loken's tracks but misses as it crawls around boxes, effectively dodging the beams from his pistol. He keeps his sight on it, attempting to anticipate its movements.

Pius:

The Ticks are seemingly allergic to the Chainsword, and actively avoid it! Pius seems unable to hit the critters as they run around him. A quick stomp changes things and knocks a Tic down: this time, its sure to fall.

Loken:

Loken pulls out his knife and throws it at the tic that's right on his heels. It bounces off its carapace, his desperate attack had no effect and could not hinder the ravenous creature.

Quint: Steadies his aim, and like Cipher, fires at the Tic chasing after Loken.

Xanthia: Like her two squad-mates, she turns her gun at the fleeing Tic and fires. Bombarded by three different weapons, the Tic is ripped apart as bullets and lasers pierce trough its skin and leave it in shambles at Loken's feet.

Only two Tics are left now... well, two and one fifth of a Tic.

[AssassinKing]

Loken obviously looking hurt, drops Pius. He then draws out a throwing knife and stabs the one that just hurt him.

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Toughness (1d100)[62]
to hit(1d100)[77]
damage(1d5)[5]

[Saldre]

Round V:

Pius:

Finally Pius strikes true! His Chain-sword comes down on the pest Tic and it howls in agony as the sword's teeth spin over its flesh, rending it from its body! The Tic, heavily wounded, attempts to swipe at you as it bleeds profusely: it misses, and looks like it's about to collapse.

Hack:

Hack turns his attention to the remaining "Healthy" Tic slashes at it with his blade. Blinded by fury, as it was unable to get trough the giant, the Tic is too slow to avoid the swing and is cut deeply. Its arm is sent flying. It staggers to retain its balance and seems to realize that the battle is lost: only one other is left, and they are both badly wounded. It turns, attempting to escape, so as to spread grand father nurgle's gifts to more deserving people.

Xanthia:

Xanthia fires and hits the Tic Pius had torn apart before it could collapse. The critter staggers backwards, losing chunks of skin, before deciding (much like its friend) It would rather spread its gifts elsewhere.

Quint:

Quint fires at the The Tic: kept in check by Hack, its back turned to Quint, it is almost a perfect target. Unfortunately, he misses!

The bullet scratches the Tic as it passes by it and strikes a tower of crates nearby. The Tic grins as it bounces away with eerie glee! When the crate disturbed by the bullet comes toppling down and crashes onto it, squashing it into fine slimy paste.

Cipher:

Cipher's Lasgun remains ineffective, despite his good aim. The Laser hits the tic head on, but it does not react: no doubt hindered far more by the rest of its injuries.

Loken:

Moves towards the agonizing Tic besides Hack and drops his boot down over its head, crushing it. It lays motionless, then dissolves in the same slime puddle as the rest of them (Except that one that's escaping that is).

Round VI: The Final Tic Turns to Escape!

Almost the entire team: Under a relentless shower of bullets and laser beams, the final tic is hit as it attempts to escape, exploding in a final puff of rotting flesh and smoke.

[Bowerbird]

Hack straightens, plants his sword in the floor, and casts about for a cloth to wipe the filth from his blade with. As he does so he draws his shotgun and absent-mindedly starts to reload it.

[Equis]

Quint straightens up and stretches, his back making a barely audible cracking sound.

The Arbitrator then reaches into his greatcoat and takes out a Lho stick, lighting it and placing it in a corner of his mouth before turning to the group and grinning widely.

"Well now... Wasn't exactly what we were expectin', but anythin' you can walk away from, eh?"

Quint begins reloading his revolver, keeping his focus on the revolver as he speaks to the acolytes.

"Now, we've got a bit o' time t'patch up our hurt an' evaluate where we stand now, but I suggest we keep movin' for'ard; sittin' around ain't gonna catch whoever or WHATever done this, an' I aim to bag the son of a whore 'afore he does anythin' else like this to the rest o' the Hive."

Quint then snaps his gun shut points it loosely at the door.

"Now... Good a place as any t'check is in there, with Prim's body an' all o' that Idyll layin' about. I ain't objectin' t'him bein' corpsified, but I don't want somethin' like that happenin' t'any law-abidin' Imperial citizens."

[Bowerbird]

Having finished reloadig his shotgun, Hack reholsters it, "Affirmative, I will investigate the electronic equipment here. Perhaps there is a recording device of some sort that escaped whatever fate befell our quarry." With that he moves into the room with what's left of Prim's corpse, collecting his sword on the way, and wiping off what filth he can with the sheet from the sleeping cot before reholstering it. "I require no medical attention, I shall inform you of anything I find while you patch up."
There are many ragged holes in the Priest's voluminous robes,now stained with the ichor of many demons, you can just make out flak armour underneath.

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Tech Use check: (1d100)[52]

[Wiz]

Xanthia nods, "I am going to do a quick sweep around the building to see if I pick up any more of those heat signatures I mistook for rats which were obviously those pest ticks. Shouldn't take but a minute or two, I'll check back with you right away." She heads through the second room.

[LCP]

Switching his chainsword off with a dying whirr, Pius holstered his pistol, producing a cloth from the pocket of his coat and beginning to clean the weapon's teeth of the creature's ichor.

"First," he said, looking round at Loken, "I want an explanation."

Wiping the cloth itself on a nearby crate, he pointed the chainsword's tip at the assassin.

"When the creatures attacked, this man, of all things, attempted to incapacitate me, in the midst of fighting them off myself. Then he fled. Perhaps he was not counting on you besting the swarm so quickly." He lowered the sword. "The taint of Chaos can be found in the most unlikely places. I was brought here by a letter with the seal of the Inquisition, as I'm sure you all were. Can this man show us his?"

He looked Gavriel in the eye.

"If you were in the Guard, and in my charge, you would already be dead. If you are not a traitor, you are a coward. Cowards die in shame."

[Saldre]

When you return to Prim's room, Cipher informs the group of the hidden cache he located before the swarm attacked.

Opening it, you find it has been poorly closed and a residue of slime lingers on the handle.

Inside, you see the receiving equipment for the Pict record along with a relatively large safe underneath: you could attempt to work your way around the lock, or directly manipulate it: but that could be dangerous.

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[OOC: A security Test will open it without repercussions, a successful tech-use test will also open it, but failure will probably have repercussions].

Xanthia:

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A quick sweep of the building reveals nothing out of the ordinary and no heat signatures.

the doll in question is an effigy of a young girl, with large brown eyes and a grime crusted macaroni mouth. The stitch work is poor: stuffing bulges through gaping holes along the doll's throat and sides. It does not seem to be infected.

Hack:

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Examining the Pict-recorders, you determine that they have been shorted out not too long ago: the timing is rather unfortunate, as you estimate it has taken place a mere hour at the latest before your group arrived.

You are able to recover enough of the recording to see a few things: First, a fragment showing Prim handing over a (relatively large) bag of what you suspect to be Idyll to a scrawny man standing at the doorway. You make out a few words in between the static: the man's name is Srinivasan. He takes the bag and leaves the building, heading south down the street: it is as far as the camera outside is able to follow him.

Shortly after he leaves, a cloaked figure arrives from this direction. This new figure opens the front door with a key then stares directly at the camera overhead: his eyes are clouded with lesions and covered with pustules.They gaze as though into the viewer before a flash of energy wash over the image ruining the rest of the recordings.

[Bowerbird]

Hack plays the Pict recording back for everyone, once they've assembled. "It seems best if we find out just who this man was, and who the sorceror who summoned up those foul things is. Also, is anyone here able to open locks? I can try myself, but it may lead to unfortunate repercussions."

[Equis]

"First I want an explanation.

When the creatures attacked, this man, of all things, attempted to incapacitate me, in the midst of fighting them off myself. Then he fled. Perhaps he was not counting on you besting the swarm so quickly.

The taint of Chaos can be found in the most unlikely places. I was brought here by a letter with the seal of the Inquisition, as I'm sure you all were. Can this man show us his?

If you were in the Guard, and in my charge, you would already be dead. If you are not a traitor, you are a coward. Cowards die in shame."

Quint steps between the two, holding his hands up in appeal.

"Now hold on there, hoss. Ain't all of us seen taint firs' hand, an I won't have us fightin' amongst ourselves when we don't know jus' how deep this thing goes. Garviel here ain't the firs' person to want t'bug out when he's firs' gotten a taste o' the big C, an' that ain't an excuse ta shoot 'im.

I ain't sayin' he'll get off that easy once we've done our service to th'inquisition, but remember: we've still GOT a duty to th'inquisition, an' it ain't exactly servin' our cause if'n we're shootin' up our own selves instead o' gettin' to the bottom o' this."

Quint looks Pius levelly in the eyes, his gaze unwavering.

"Are we clear?"

[Wiz]

Xanthia returns to the room to hear the various reports. "Nothing else seems to be moving in here... I found this doll on the bed just before the swarm erupted, but it seems to be just a crude doll. I had wondered if it might have carried some infection that led to the swarm, but it seems that that infection came directly from this sorcerer." She looks at the safe, "I don't have skills to deal with that... unless you just want me to slice it open, in which case I don't know what kind of security might be activated."

[AssassinKing]

Loken stares in the what seems like to him in the crazy commisar's eyes. He waits for a few seconds and replies.I'm....I'm sorry sir but you looked hurt and to me it looked like our weapons were ineffective until the end, shoot me if you must but I will say this, I didn't run cause I'm a coward, I was trying to make sure you didn't die. Obviously it didn't work but what else could I do. His eyes look darker as if his body was full of shame. Loken collects his throwing knife then turns around and starts to work on the lock.

[LCP]

Quint steps between the two, holding his hands up in appeal.

"Now hold on there, hoss. Ain't all of us seen taint firs' hand, an I won't have us fightin' amongst ourselves when we don't know jus' how deep this thing goes. Garviel here ain't the firs' person to want t'bug out when he's firs' gotten a taste o' the big C, an' that ain't an excuse ta shoot 'im.

I ain't sayin' he'll get off that easy once we've done our service to th'inquisition, but remember: we've still GOT a duty to th'inquisition, an' it ain't exactly servin' our cause if'n we're shootin' up our own selves instead o' gettin' to the bottom o' this."

Quint looks Pius levelly in the eyes, his gaze unwavering.

"Are we clear?"

Pius met Quint's eyes.

"If he was only running? Yes. I know I am not here to pass judgement on cowardice, however base it might be. But it serves our cause less if we let a traitor in our midst go unchallenged. I say again - he turned on me."

He turned to Garviel.

"Deny it."

EDIT (ack! simu-post)

Loken stares in the what seems like to him in the crazy commisar's eyes. He waits for a few seconds and replies.I'm....I'm sorry sir but you looked hurt and to me it looked like our weapons were ineffective until the end, shoot me if you must but I will say this, I didn't run cause I'm a coward, I was trying to make sure you didn't die. Obviously it didn't work but what else could I do. His eyes look darker as if his body was full of shame. Loken collects his throwing knife then turns around and starts to work on the lock.

"Trying to make sure I didn't die?"

Pius turned to Quint in appeal.

"Arbitrator, I was on my feet, armed and fighting when this man saw fit to pin my arms from behind and try and drag me away from the rest of you. He is either lying, or insane."

[AssassinKing]

Loken reaches into one of his pockets. $#!% I must have dropped it somewhere or somthing. he spends a few minutes looking, he opens a part of the butt of the hunting rifle and takes out a crumpled piece of paper. Ah here it is. Loken throws it to the commisar to prove that he isn't a baddy. Then he goes back to work.

[Saldre]

Loken, Xanthia & Quint

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The three working at the Vault finally manage to get it open.

You find it holds an attaché case containing 1500 Thrones and a what seems to be a piece of paper with notes scrawled all over it.

[OOC: Literacy check to get more Information about it.]

On the bottom of the vault, several (You estimate at least 20Kg) packets are neatly organized. Hack finds them oddly familiar.

[Wiz]

Xanthia takes the paper and looks it over.

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Literacy: (1d100)[52] vs. 60

[Saldre]

Xanthia:

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You find it is a simple cypher that you are able to quickly resolve. It seems to be a catalog of Prim's personal customers. The last entry identifies 10k Gland, Dispatched to K, 1200 Terrac, 5000thrones.

[OOC: Peer (nobility) to see if you recognize something.]