Black Crusade IC

[watupwithdat]

Despite him telling them to wait outside, the berserker seemed to have ignored that request. Oh, how surprising. he thought as he felt that annoying feeling being close to the khornate who had entered the room behind him.

"Appearances deceive." was all he replied with, and as soon as he had he noticed some kind of thin outline at the summoning circle. "Not yet." The sorcerer approached it with geniune curiousness and tried to open it, for now assuming it was some kind of sacrificial space.

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Is it a big or a small one? Probably not another secret tunnel.

[Henry the 57th]

The summoning circle flashes brightly the moment Setesh sets foot inside it. He can feel a pulse in the Warp coming from it.

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About the size of Setesh's head.

[Elurindel]

The Night Lord turns to look inside as the bright flash catches his attention.
"What manner of sorcery are you unleashing in there? Or did you find some manner of surprise for us?" he tightens his fists in preparation.

[watupwithdat]

Setesh was not sure himself what it was. It may have become a little active, but some daemon wouldn't just pop out of the thin air without being summoned by someone.

"Hmm. Perhaps." he said before he attempted to open the little door to see if there was something within already, still alert in case of something more happening with the circle.

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Forbidden lore (daemonology or warp, whichever is applicable to figure out if there's something he recognizes/figures out about the summoning circle / door) (1d100)[87] vs 52

[Henry the 57th]

Setesh does not recognize what just happened.

The door has the slightest gap near one edge, and Setesh opens it slightly. He can see the edge of what looks like a small disk, but not much more.

[watupwithdat]

Setesh could not determine what it was, but he had a bad feeling. He released the door and let it fall down and shut itself, and walked out of the circle to see if it would become inactive without anyone within it.

[Henry the 57th]

The circle seems to continue its pulsing, though at a dimmer level than before.

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Make another Psyniscience test.

[watupwithdat]

"I am unsure why the summoning circle has gone active. Likely some kind of proximity effect." he said. Though he considered the fact that it could have been the mirror he was now carrying that it had reacted to.

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Psyniscience: (1d100)[68] vs 55

[Henry the 57th]

Setesh receives a vague feeling of unease from the Warp emissions, but doesn't detect exactly what is going on.

[watupwithdat]

The previous bad feeling and now an uneasiness had come over him. He was not in a condition to deal with some kind of warp spawn on the off-chance that something might come forth from the circle or was bound beneath it. It was safer to leave as he was unable to detect just what was happening exactly, his warpsight and sense of the great ocean failing him.

"I do not know what is going on, but I would suggest leaving. Unless of course you would rather like to stay here." Setesh said and promptly walked out, intent on leaving before his unease grew even more. It was time to find an exit and rendezvous with the command structure of the assault so he could leave the world and recieve the reward he had been promised upon completion. And consider how and whether to act upon his knowledge of the Alpha Legion's infiltration of the Word Bearers.

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Time to find an exit and get out of here.

[Elurindel]

"Let the Word Bearers deal with it. We have done our part." Slathissin agrees, heading for the surface with Setesh.

[Henry the 57th]

The small group works its way back the way it came without significant difficulty. Notably, however, Malek has disappeared completely, and the party sees nothing more of him.

The group retraces its steps back up to the chapel. They find the the building has been smashed, ransacked, and is now nearly deserted. Verateka is nowhere to be seen.

[Elurindel]

Slathissin makes one last sweep of the chapel, in case he could find anything previously missed. Particularly he looks over the dead Word Bearer renegades for anything noticeable that he could scavenge from their armour that did not function in his own.

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(1d100)[99] vs 50

Bloody Warp, I'm blind right now.

[watupwithdat]

As they came up to the temple again the sorcerer had the Night Lord show him where Katria had fallen, wanting to see how she finally met her demise. He had previously felt an inkling of responsibility for her life, or atleast had it appear as such, but not anymore though.

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For speed I'm assuming he shows where she died.

It was as he had said, dead with a few splintered Word Bearers. She did not seem to have much of value on her still. There was one thing he had forgotten though, that he had realized when tearing through the Alpha's mind -- the code cylinder. He knew what it was supposed to contain and Katria was the one who had been holding on to it. He knelt over her body, trying to find it. It was likely everyone had been looted, but code cylinders aren't usually high priority war spoils.

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Trying to see if she still has the code cylinder on her body. Taking it if he finds it.

Having searched her corpse, there was not much else to do but to leave the temple and get back to the vessel so they could leave the world.

[Henry the 57th]

Slathissin fails to find anything of note and in fact smacks his head on a statue while looking. It doesn't significantly damage his Astartes physiology, but it is humiliating.

Setesh finds that Katria's corpse has been stripped of absolutely everything but her clothes. Someone even ran off with her boots.

[watupwithdat]

As they did the treck towards the vessel which he assumed was waiting to take them back Setesh wondered who had taken the code cylinder, if it was one of the Alpha agents having found her body and recognized it or just someone random looter not knowing what he had in his possession. Either way, he had no way of knowing and reluctantly let it go. For now.

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Leaving the world in some way unless something of note happens or someone else want to do something I'm assuming.

[Henry the 57th]

Setesh strides over the charnel fields back towards the ship, Slathissin and Skyrar in tow. Eventually, they reach the shuttle, where they find far fewer mercenaries than when they came down. There are fewer Word Bearers as well, but they make up a larger portion of the force than they did before.

The party waits around for a time, as more stragglers and scum make their way back to the transport. Eventually, after an hour or so, the Word Bearers decide that either the remainder are dead or just have no plans to show up, and take off. The shuttle ride back to the Inevitable Damnation is just as bumpy as before, but eventually the shuttle touches down in the bay, and the mercenary groups begin heading off to collect their reward.

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Compact Complete!

All of you gain (1d5)[2] Infamy and (1d5)[2] Corruption. Slathissin and Setesh gain a further (1d5)[3] Infamy each. All involved gain 1000xp.

Each one of you may choose to receive any one item of Near Unique or up as your reward from the Word Bearers.

After the group has received their rewards from the treasure hordes of the Word Bearers, an Astartes in the armor of the Word Bearers approaches Setesh.

"The Holy Dark Apostle commands your presence."

[watupwithdat]

"Oh? Lead on then." the sorcerer said. Was it because he was the one who had defeated the commander of the splintered Word Bearers or perhaps was it due to the Alpha Legion knew that he knew about them? It could be on the advice of the Alpha infiltrator who was 2nd after the Dark Apostle. Setesh's conspiratory mind weaved multiple reasons for his summons in a short time. He was curious. But this was also an opportunity.

[Henry the 57th]

The Word Bearer leads Setesh onwards without further comment. They walk through the bowls of the ship, passing countless slaves, serfs, cultists, and mercenaries. As they go further, the halls start to grow more ornate, and less filthy. Monuments to great champions of Chaos, old and new, grow more and more frequent. Eventually, the pair reach a vast pair of double doors, guarded by a pair of fearsome-looking Terminators. Without comment, they haul open the doors.

The Word Bearer leads the way into a vast cathedral. Ornate carving of daemons and Chaos Space Marines cover the walls. Great stained glass windows show important moments in the history of the Word Bearers. One depicts the legendary Pilgrimage of Argel Tal into the Great Eye. Another depicts the Word Bearers engaging the Imperial Fists on Terra. Still another shows he conquest of Sicarus from the Iron Warriors. Finnally, the greatest scene, directly opposite the entrance, shows Lorgar Aurellian's ascension to daemonhood, complete with adoring sons kneeling at his feet, daemons singing praises, and the Dark Gods looking on with pride.

It is beneath this last, awe-inspiring work of art that Setesh spies the alter. A great red, pulsating thing, it seems to be alive, constantly oozing an odd mixture of purple-green fluids, with stunted, luminescent blue tentacles constantly grasping around, looking for a sacrifice.

Before the alter stands a Terminator-armored figure with his back to Setesh. From his back droops a surprisingly lush, clean-looking red velvet cape, topped with white fur. On his back is a trophy rack, featuring the impaled heads and helms of Astartes, humans, Tyranids, Eldar, and Rak'Ghul. In his right hand, the figure clutches a dark parody of the crozius used by Astartes Chaplains. He appears to be looking upwards, towards the stained-glass portrait of Lorgar. Around the figure stand five more Terminators, each facing Setesh. Four stand in pairs around the flank, one standa much closer to the Dark Apostle.

"Your Holiness." says the Word Bearer, dropping to one knee. "I have brought the one called Setesh."

"Excellent. Then you are dismissed." says the Dark Apostle, without turning.

"Yes, Your Holiness." The Word Bearer exits, and the doors slam shut behind him.

Dark Apostle Akaduros turns to regard Setesh as soon as the doors shut."So, now you are here. My Coryphus tells me that you were the one to single-handedly defeat the champion of the heretics. What have you to say for yourself?"

[watupwithdat]

The craftmanship involved in the art adorning the place was impressive indeed, but Setesh did not care much for such aesthetics even if he could appreciate it somewhat. The Dark Apostle seemed like an old one, most likely in a similar position at the time of the heresy, and his equipment did not disappoint.

"Now did he?" the sorcerer said, not surprised that it was the Alpha Legion infiltrator who had given him the information. "I suppose that might be correct. Though whichever of the Dark Gods he has most favour with kept him alive and whisked him away. Quite interesting." One could probably hear a slight sign of annoyance at he was unable to deliver a killing blow that was actually permanent. It was not often people survived when Setesh channeled his willpower through his blade into someone.

[Henry the 57th]

"The will of the Ruinous Ones is a fickle thing, and not for mortals to know in full." says Akaduros. "Regardless, it seems odd that you were able to best him without assistance."

[watupwithdat]

"Quite." the sorcerer said, somewhat agreeing with his sentiment. Though he disliked the Great Conspirator lumped together with the others just like that. These Word Bearers of Chaos Undivided were too accepting of some Dark Gods, the Fly Lord in particular. "It could have gone smoother. He was more adept than expected at parrying." he said, not even considering for a second that the human heretek had actually counted as a combatant in that battle — such a worthless attempt at being useful in the fight had made him and probably the commander as well amused. "As you could imagine, close-combat duels are not my forté."

[Henry the 57th]

"Oh? I'm told that you were never seen using weapons beyond a force sword and flamer. I was told that you declined to manifest any conventional offensive psychic powers - assuming you are capable of such a thing, of course."

[watupwithdat]

"I wonder." the sorcerer simply said. He had no need to tell them what they did not already know. Unless he wanted to. "But I did not expect one such as you calling me to a personal audience just to learn a trick or two regarding dueling." Setesh let out a rather short chuckle before he continued. "Now, What was the real reason?" he asked as he cast his warpsight out, trying to sense if there was any psykers in the close vicinity.

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Psyniscience: (1d100)[1] vs 55
4+ DoS which means he'll know exact locations of any psykers/daemons/psychic thingies in range.

If he did not detect any or it wasn't specific enough, he'll test again.
Psyniscience: (1d100)[16] vs 55
As it's a free action for him due to Warp Sense, he is proficient enough to make sure, as this is rather important to know.
Psyniscience: (1d100)[36] vs 55

[Henry the 57th]

Setesh senses that the Dark Apostle himself is an exceedingly powerful psyker, and the Terminator standing next to him is one, albeit less powerful. The alter also puts out psychic energies, but seems to lack the will to shape them itself.

"I wished to make you... an offer."

[DrK]

Skyrar watches with suspicion as the sorcerer walks off before going back to tending his lightning claws and his chain sword. It takes time to pick all the bits of flesh off the weapons.

He looks up at the Night Lord. "How did you come to follow the Sorcerer?" he asks quietly.

[watupwithdat]

Setesh did not expect to register the Dark Apostle himself as a psyker. Seems he does not screen his inner circle with telepathy. Or he would have noticed the Alpha Legion in his midst by now. Such a thing wasn't too hard for a powerful telepath such as Setesh, but not everyone had his talents when it came to that. Just like he was a little less proficient when it came to pure offensive power as the Apostle had touched upon before. But that was something he had the intention of redeeming in the near future, assuming he could find some interesting lore to research or something he could rememeber that he had forgotten long ago.

"An offer?" Setesh was curious. "I am listening."

[Henry the 57th]

"Several months ago, I sent an acolyte to the Q'Sal to preach the holy word of Lorgar to the misguided populace there. For a time, nothing happened. But mere weeks ago, I received the following transmission." Akaduros waves his hand, and a small data slate makes its way from him to Setesh.

The video is of crisp, clean quality expected from Q'Sal. It shows a Word Bearer, minus helmet, bound somehow to a stake. Someone off camera speaks an arcane phrase, and blue fire bursts into being at the Astartes' feet. He defiantly chants intonations to Lorgar and to the Dark Gods, but finds himself rapidly burning, as the unnatural flame consumes even ceramite. Eventually, he stops chanting and just screams as the fire consumes him. The process takes several minutes, and is recorded in exacting detail. Finally, the man is reduced to ashes, and the camera swings around to focus on a man in an elaborate mask and white robes.

"Such is the fate of all who would spread blasphemies about the lesser gods on the planet beloved by Fate's Architect." Thre video ends.

"I don't have the resources in place to hunt down this man, nor the ability to pass inconspicuously on Q'Sal. But a sorcerer of Tzeentch? You surely can. I want you to find this man, and bring him to me. Or, at the very least, his head."

[watupwithdat]

Setesh did not see an issue with what the masked man had done. Q'Sal was his master's world. Preaching the word of Lorgar there? Good riddence. But that someone from Q'Sal would openly provoke the Word Bearers was an issue. They still had massive numbers for one of the Legions. Large hosts in most chaos controlled space of note. Hmm... Perhaps it is a ploy by the Alpha Legion. Use one of the Q'Salians to provoke the Word Bearers into open conflict and pounce when they had their backs turned. It was a possibility. But Word Bearers there would also make it harder to the Alphas. He did not know what to make of it, but it was a problem. It was a threat to one of his Lord's worlds.

"Hmm.." It was barely audible for a human, but an Astartes was bound to hear it. Setesh was quiet for a little while. Thinking of how to best handle this. "Why is this one man so important? You could argue it was justified. Everyone worth their knowledge knows Q'Sal belongs to the Great Conspirator. Openly preaching the word of Lorgar there would no doubt be seen as a provocation by the locals." Setesh was curious how the Apostle would react hearing those words spoken. It was more or less the truth. "I am unsure what would be accomplished with me bringing you his head."

[Henry the 57th]

"Are you saying that I was in the wrong?" says Akaduros. His voice has gone deathly quiet, and the Terminators around him are shifting weapons menacingly.