Dark Heresy: A Dark Reign IC

[Raynn]

A Dark Reign
Chapter I:
Death In Two Parts

I remember how I met them.

I shifted my weight on the worn leather stool, waiting for them. As an Arbitrator of near two decades I'd seen a lot I wish I hadn't, most of which I'd never forget. This case was no different. I clutched a crystal tumbler of amasec in one hand and fiddled with a matchstick box in the other. By the reflection in the mirror behind the racks of spirits on the other side of the bar I could make out the two young Enforcers milling about the table in the far corner. The young enforcers glanced over at me every few minutes like they were expecting some order or divine wisdom. I doubt those ones had ever shared a case with an Arbitrator; time was Arbitrators didn't share. Enforcers used to hate us but now we're bloody rare enough they look at us like we're a cross between the walking dead and a high-lord of Terra. The Imperium gave up on this world a long time ago, I'm just one of the relics they forgot to pick up on the way out.

One of the green boys made a mistake and I coughed, loudly. He dropped the bottle he was about to lift from the scene with an unceremonious crash. I finally looked over at them directly. When I spoke my voice was dry and cold "did I tell you you could have a drink boy?"

I stressed the last word and I found the young enforcer's fear palpable. When he replied his voice was barely steady, with forced and faked confidence in every syllable "the sergeant said . . ."

I cut the boy off "this ain't your sergeant's case no more is it, boy? You're here to make sure no one steps in whenever they feel like, not so you can frak up my damn crime scene. You feel like moving so much as a matchstick without my say so again and the both of you will spend the night searching the Sinks for a pair of poor bastards who CAN follow directions. Understood?"

Awkwardly and much the way that such boys do the two young men remained silent so I urged them again "Understood?"

This time the response was a unanimous 'yes sir' so I nodded for them to wait by the door for our guests. I surveyed the scene again.

The bar was one of the most high rent of its kind on Sinophia, nestled in District VII, an area colloquially named the Shadow Manses. The bar itself was modeled on some establishment some trader had liked on Scintilla and its forced displays of opulence got on my nerves. I had never gotten used to how much Sinophia was a planet of people obsessing over its lost grandeur. The name of the place was the 'Three Sided Throne.' It was one of the few drinking dens a noble might dare step foot in and so it had a colorful history. Normally though it was body guards or gangers we pulled out of this place in body bags, not eight decorated Naval senior officers.

They waited in the Arbites Morgue for any further examination that the 'guests' might desire. The table the group had sat at was left undisturbed, as was the whole bar since the incident four weeks ago. That had caused no end of whining from its owner, which only ceased when I threatened to leak the story of the case and his bar to the public.

Four weeks and not a damn ounce of progress.

I looked towards the doorway as the quartet from Naval Internal Affairs stepped into the bar, and under the security tape warning others to stay out of the scene.

I rose and flipped over the now empty tumbler on the bar. I approached them sullenly and out stretched my hand.

"Arbites Adjunct Dorn Stirling, I'll be working with you, assuming you're the officers from Naval Internal Affairs?"

Spoiler

Show

The following files were included on data slates you were each supplied with as part of your basic mission package.

Also included in the basic mission package were:

Spoiler

Show

• 1 Micro-Bead per Acolyte.
• 1 set of Manacles per Acolyte.
• 1 Poor-Quality Pic Recorder (Images Only) per Acolyte.
• 1 Poor Quality Hardened Body Glove* per Acolyte (2 AP - Arms, Legs, Body).
• 1 Set of False Papers Identifying Acolyte as an officer of Naval Internal Affairs per Acolyte.
• 1 False Identification card, with alias, per Acolyte.

*The Poor Quality is due to the -1 AP in comparison to a typical hardened body-glove, in place of the usual -10 to Agility based tests from Poor-Quality armor.

Total Weight of the basic mission package if relevant is 8kg.


MISSION FILES:

Spoiler

Show

Planetary Data:

Spoiler

Show

Population:
No reliable estimate (estimated to be fewer than 150 Million, from a recorded previous height of 2 billion).

Tithe Grade:
Exactus Minoris (planet unable to maintain regular tithe and placed under special measures as of 017.M41)

Geography/Demography:
Temperate but unstable climate, remaining habitation centred on northern continent (Sinophia Magna: capital/starport, Karib City: lesser hive and industrial zone; population levels failing, Hive Argopolis: abandoned/unsafe). Sinophia also possesses extensive fertile wetlands and plains formerly cultivated but fallen to wilderness, lawlessness and widespread disuse. Sinophia’s southern continents are currently evidencing extensive volcanism and seismic activity, leading to a planetwide increase in precipitation over the last several centuries.

Governmental Type:
Oligarchy (Quorum of Noble Families)

Planetary Governor:
The Judiciary Evandus Idrani, Seventh of his Name

Adept Presence:
Adeptus Administratum, Adeptus Ministorum, Adeptus Arbites—All Minor (presence much reduced from former levels)

Military:
The Provost Defence Army (Organized as a PDF or Planetary Defence Force, low/medium, declining, not considered fit for purpose under most recent sector strategic review), private armed cadres of the noble houses (small/medium)

Trade/Economy/Addendum:
Legitimate off-world trade with Sinophia is limited. There is a long-standing boycott of the world by the Calixis Chartist Captains, although dealings with minor cartels and independents are frequent, if erratic. Thanks in part to its dwindling population, Sinophia is largely self-sufficient in terms of food and industry, particularly in scavenging resources of its former sizable infrastructure, although the heavy tax burden imposed on the population by the local government has led to rampant criminality and corruption, further undermining civil and economic stability.

Planetary History:
Sinophia was once a world of pivotal destiny and economic power, but now is little more than forlorn and forgotten relic of the past. Situated on the furthest reaches of the Ixaniad Sector and founded in elder days as the personal fief of the Rogue Trader Teresa Sinos at the end of her journeys, the world would (a millennium later) serve as a primary staging post of the Angevin Crusade that carved the Calixis Sector into being. In that legendary time, Sinophia was transformed into a vital way-station and a bastion of civilisation on the Imperium’s then-frontier, its coffers swollen in the fulfilment of the crusade’s needs and the booty of conquest, whilst men who would one day be cast as saints walked its gilded forums and warships swarmed its night sky.

But as the centuries passed and the Calixis Sector coalesced into its own sovereignty and self-sufficiency, Sinophia’s prominence began to wane as its purpose faded. Increasingly sidelined and marginalised, much of its population—sickened by the excesses of the nobility—began to leave. Lured by the perceived freedoms of life on new worlds, they took up lawful passage as colonists. It was an exodus the rulers of Sinophia were powerless to stop, and as their world’s decline accelerated, they fought back with the only means
they had: money. They sought to set up merchant cartels, buy influence on other worlds through bribery, and out-bid competitors in lucrative markets. However, their struggle was ultimately futile. By taking on the new-founded economic and political powerhouses of Scintilla and the Chartist Captains, the Sinophian nobles had engaged in a costly struggle they could not hope to win, and in losing their trade war, they lost all.

Major shipping routes were re-routed to bypass Sinophia, the sector governorship grew blind and deaf as far as the world was concerned, and its once-vaunted nobility found themselves burdened by crushing debts and bankruptcy. Sinophia was bought and sold; its cities slowly emptied and such recoverable assets it did have were carried off-world by rapacious creditors. Sinophia today is a world suffering the final throes of a long-drawn-out death by economic starvation and slow civil collapse. Criminality and corruption are utterly ingrained, and what little off-world contact it has is with smugglers, independent cartels (themselves skirting the fringes of the law), and a few hardy pilgrims. Whole cities lay deserted, and where Imperial civilisation does exist, it does so in twilight, clinging desperately to the faded glories of the past amidst the crumbling decay of the present.

Map of Sinophia Magna:

Spoiler

Show

Mission Brief:

Spoiler

Show

[ChronicLunacy]

Cyrine
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 3/3
Autogun: 30/30; 2 Clips
Laspistol: 15/15; 1 Clip

There was a girl in the naval retinue who couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen in standard Earth years. Her black hair was tied up in a neat bun and she wore a regulation uniform, but there was something uncomfortable about her that defied normal explanation. By most accounts she was actually cute, but there was a blank coldness to her green eyes and a stillness in her posture that put people on edge. She had a small laspistol holstered at her side but that was the only weapon visible.

She didn't answer Adjunct Stirling's question directly, seeming rather more interested in the surroundings and the floor where the slain officers had previous rested. "There is no blood anymore. And I would have liked to see the bodies in their original places...do you have pictures?" she asked in a soft but cold voice that belied her childlike appearance.

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Dorn Stirling grabs a file from a nearby seat and with a curious, if haggard, glance at Cyrine grabs a few small pic-prints and slides them across the bar to her

"Sugar, there was no blood to begin with. Somebody has been pressing a story a scuffle led to this but there was no such klybo. The eight of these poor suckers slumped over dead in their seats . . . well seven,"

Detective Stirling taps one of the pic-prints on the bar

"Senior Officer Teague had a few more than his friends so they made him leave early so he'd sober up by morning. We found him on the side of street, cold, between here and the hotel these folks were all staying at in the Commercia. I had the verispex make these pic-prints and more of the body and the scenes before they were moved, per protocol."

Spoiler

Show

Evidence Ia. : Pic-prints of the bodies

Spoiler

Show

Victim names; At bottom of images;
Died in the bar:
Maria Alia
Jon Husiaxypo
Lion Seont
Pierre Naich
Alexandrous Paish
Zelleru Xhi
Adam Umberson

Died in the street:
Vincent Teague

Images of the bar:
The seven figures are arrayed around a table in the middle of a game of cards, Calixian Bones most likely. They look as if they have all fallen asleep, though the posture of some are so slumped as to suggest their inanimate condition. Their food and drink are left half finished scattered over the table. There are no signs of a struggle.

Images of the street:
The figure has clearly been turned over, stripped of outer garments and any other obvious indications of wealth. The body lies, eyes open, facing the sky lying on rain-slick, cracked plasti-crete pavement. There are, again, no signs of struggle.

[ChronicLunacy]

Cyrine
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 3/3
Autogun: 30/30; 2 Clips
Laspistol: 15/15; 1 Clip

There was a silence that stretched out as the odd, young woman studied the Adjunct's face like she was looking at a particularly strange piece of art.

"No blood..." she said with what might have been disappointment. "Do you have the coroner's report from the medicae in charge of the autopsies? And the tox screen of the food and drink located around the bodies in this picture?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head, seeing him from a different angle with that same analyzing look.

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Stirling flicks through the file as he tries to avoid locking glances with Cyrine, her intense stare clearly making him uncomfortable, though the truth of it most likely lies in her aberrant nature

"Seems like I haven't got a copy, but the bodies are on ice at Haarlock's Folly in District VII. The Arbites have been operating out of there for the last year or so and we've got a morgue set up. The verispex I mentioned should have the info you need, and be able to show you the bodies if you need to examine them.

[SuperMuldoon]

Malakai Cross
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 1/1
Shotgun: 12 shells

Malakai took one last drag from his lho-stick and lets it fall, grinding it into the pavement with his boot before entering the crime scene. Brushing his naval uniform, making sure it looked somewhat presentable, he entered the bar, shaking Stirling's hand. "Agent Blaine." he said as way of introduction. "And yes, we are Internal Affairs."

He lets the somewhat odd girl take the lead in a few questions, and checks over the documents that Dorn provides. "Interesting the one body outside the bar. All of them seem to have been ignored, but this one outside has been stripped and searched. Possible it was looters passing by, but this is something that stands out."

"Going to have to run background checks now that we have the names." he says to himself.

[padraig]

Eligia
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 2/2
Mars Pattern Mark IV Command Laspistol: 15/15, 3 Clips


Eligia, the oldest of the group, took the outstretched hand for a firm but brief shake, conscious of the electro-graft attachments in her fingers.

"First Lieutenant Febe Kartal. Pleased to see the Arbites are treating this with the appropriate gravity.

You mentioned new facilities? It would seem wise for us to head there once we complete our observations. Team, let's make sure we get picts of the whole place. In the meantime, Stirling, can you give me your impression of the case so far? It's been my experience that the hunch of an experienced lawman can be almost as valuable as the analysis of a Verispex."

Pulling out her dataslate, she tapped notes while circling the room, paying close attention for any technology that would seem out of place for an establishment of this sort.

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Stirling motions back to the table where the victims were seated

"It could have been looters yeah, but if it was they might have seen something. I doubt anyone who would do this to eight men would just let Teague walk out and not follow. Could be a dead end, or a break."

Dorn nods to Eligia and answers her

"Slow Lieutenant. Most of the witnesses either saw little or are being uncooperative and someone with friends higher up on the food chain than little old me is trying to downplay this case.

It's strange as well. A poisoning seems the obvious explanation, but I can't seem to figure out a motivation, and I spoke to the staff. No one saw anyone tamper with the groups food specifically. With them ordering drinks separately, different chefs preparing different dishes, someone should have caught something. I asked the Verispex to run up a tox-report, I hope it will be interesting reading.

I do have one lead left, I've been told a Noble, a Lord Girshom of the Quorum, entertained the Senior Officers and their Captain, but I don't know when or where. If it's true it may be the last time all eight officers were together before the night they died. The noble house has been resistant to questions but you may have a tad better luck if you approach it with a little diplomacy."

Spoiler

Show

Eligia; Give me a Easy (+30) Search (Per) Test, Eligia has it at basic so your target number is 45.

[ChronicLunacy]

Cyrine
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 3/3
Autogun: 30/30; 2 Clips
Laspistol: 15/15; 1 Clip

When the others began adding to the conversation, Cyrine lapsed into silence -- listening while moving about the room. She wanted to see the bodies and question the coroner, as well as see those tox-screens, but it would have to wait for the moment.

Poison did seem like the obvious explanation for these deaths...it's certainly how she would choose to kill them if she'd been planning it, but there didn't seem to be a common food source between them. Either the poisoner (if indeed it was poison) had been around to taint many different dishes or drinks over the course of the evening or it was some other explanation. The poisoner would have had to carefully measure out the poison doses to make them all drop dead at the same time like that, however, which was the biggest clue that led Cyrine to dismiss poison as a murder weapon... She'd wait for the tox-screen results just to be sure.

She wandered around the room, ducking behind the bar as well as checking the other tables, scanning the floor, giving everything a once-over. It wasn't very likely that the local investigators had missed anything, but it was always good to double-check.

Spoiler

Show

Search: (1d100)[69]
Will probably not find anything, but what the hell. If it's an Easy check like padraig's I'm shooting for a 46. If not...

EDIT: Yup. Also blind.

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Cyrine and Eligia begin to case the area, searching for anything that even remotely stands out that could have been missed. In the end Eligia doesn't pick out anything mechanical that might be a miss but she does find find a Lho-stick book, marked on its front by the silhouette of a blind folded woman with four arms and the words 'A Twist of Fate'. It is clearly from a twist-bar of some sort, something odd to find in a high rent establishment like 'The Three Sided Throne'.

Spoiler

Show

Evidence Ib. : Lho-stick box from a Twist Bar

Spoiler

Show

A Lho-stick book, marked on its front by the silhouette of a blind folded woman with four arms and the words 'A Twist of Fate'. It is clearly from a twist-bar of some sort, something odd to find in a high rent establishment like 'The Three Sided Throne'.

[SuperMuldoon]

Malakai Cross
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 1/1
Shotgun: 32 shells
Stub Repeater: 40 bullets

"Will be worth looking into Teague then." he says, and strolls around the room, looking it up and down for anything the others might have missed. Grunting as he squats down to look at every little corner of the bar, behind every bottle, underneath every glass.

Spoiler

Show

search - (1d100)[14]

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

On a whim Malakai checks the kitchen equipment and see something odd jutting out from under the main sink. He pulls it free and sees its been attached to the water pipe as water begins to slowly run across the floor of the kitchen. The device seems to be at odds with the stainless-plastisteel furnishings of the kitchen, and even the rest of the inner workings of the sink.

Spoiler

Show

Evidence Ic. : Odd device connnected to the water system.

Spoiler

Show

A hastily and haphazardly thrown together device that was connected to the water system. The device contains a vial which may have once contained something that was to be slowly added to the water as it passed through the device, but if it did it has either evaporated or all been filtered away. The device is clearly not of the same construction as the kitchen equipment and appears similar to some sort of water filter on closer inspection.

[SuperMuldoon]

Malakai Cross
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 1/1
Shotgun: 12 shells

Malakai frowns as he finds the device. "Over here." he calls out to the group, and waves his hand.

"This definitely does not belong here. Doesn't match any of the piping." he says, indicating the various plastisteel fixtures. "Poison is looking like it's jumped way out in front for our murder weapon hunt. Hopefully there is some trace of whatever substance was in that vial."

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Stirling frowns, clearly unhappy with the new lead, as he slips on his fedora then his crime scene gloves. He takes the device and slowly he examines the it, turning it over in his hands

"Well, I'm no servant of the Omnissiah but if this was hooked into the water supply why didn't it poison everybody here that night? I mean, washing glasses, food, components of meals, on a busy night? It's been four weeks, even if these grunts got the worst dose some the other patrons that night should have shown symptoms, but they ain't."

He gives Cross a nod of approval

"Good catch all the same though, Agent Blaine."

[ChronicLunacy]

Cyrine
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 3/3
Autogun: 30/30; 2 Clips
Laspistol: 15/15; 1 Clip

"That would be very imprecise." Cyrine said as she looked at the device. "Some poisons exist that remain completely harmless until a reactionary agent is introduced to the victim. Perhaps something otherwise mundane that only a naval officer would have in their systems?" she ruminated. "If they were indeed killed by such a poison, the other customers and employees could still be carrying trace amounts of this first part substance in their bodies."

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

"I suppose that's possible," he responds begrudgingly to the disturbing girl as she speaks again "but that's something you'll need to ask verispex about I bet."

Stirling begins to walk slowly and purposefully towards the door

"Anything else before we head over to the Folly? We done here, 'cause I've got an auto waiting downstairs?"

[padraig]

Eligia
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 2/2
Mars Pattern Mark IV Command Laspistol: 15/15, 3 Clips


How did she miss that? Getting used to pretending to be someone else was more challenging than she thought. She moved closer to examine the device.

"Hmm...definitely inexpert construction. Wouldn't be hard for anyone with a modicum of knowledge about pipe-works to throw this together. On a world like this, that scarcely narrows it down at all.

It took some restraint to not openly cringe at the sight of such a shoddily constructed machine. If they ever found the person responsible for this, she'd have to push for a charge of Misuse of Technology added on to what one would imagine is already a considerable list of offenses.

Let me see if I can get this off safely before we depart. I'd like your team to run a full tox-screen on it."

Spoiler

Show

Tech-use (if applicable): (1d100)[8]

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Eligia is easily able to repair the pipe system and remove the vial from the rest of the device for further examination. As she finishes Stirling nods to the door and asks off hand

"So where are you folks staying anyway? I doubt the Navy has an office set up for you folks? We hardly see any ships nowadays."

[GWvsJohn]

Ethan Bardo
Wounds: 14/14
Fate Points: 2/2
Stub Revolver 1: 6/6; 20 Bullets, 6 Dumdum, 6 Man-stopper
Stub Revolver 2: 6/6; 20 Bullets, 6 Dumdum, 6 Man-stopper (note: rounds are shared)
Autopistol: 20/20


Bardo had to stifle a grin as Dorn addressed the "naval" entourage. It had been years since he had been mistaken for an officer, it seemed like another lifetime. Bardo took a quick look at his companions and a thought struck him. Despite the uniforms, it was difficult to imagine this ragtag bunch as an Imperial Navy investigation unit. Either Dorn was extremely unfamiliar with Imperial agents, which was probably the case, or he was playing a role. Bardo decided on the spot not to trust the Arbite detective.

"What about a barkeep? Or a server? Someone had to serve these men their drinks. What did they have to say?"

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Stirling replies to Ethan

"As I said earlier I've already spoken to the staff and none of them saw anything of note, bar staff and waiters included."

Spoiler

Show

I'm ready to move on to Haarlock's Folly if you guys are?

[SuperMuldoon]

Malakai Cross

Malakai levels a look at Dorn that warns him not to ask too many questions. Still, he answers. "We've been put up in the Granite Collonades - District VI." he says, not telling him their exact address. Let him push for more if he really wants to know.

Satisfied with what they've found - and not found - Malakai speaks up. "Alright, so let's go check out those bodies. I'm hoping they give us some answers and not more frakking questions." he says, walking out of the bar pulling out his pack of Lho-sticks. Sliding one out of the pack, he places it in between his lips, and using one of his hands to form a protective shell around it, lights it up and takes a drag.

[Raynn]

'The Three Sided Throne.'

Detective Stirling nods in agreement and leads the cell members out of the room, down a spiral staircase and back onto the pothole ridden and cracked street outside. The two Enforcers were clearly smoking Lho outside and are still hurriedly stamping out ashes when the group passes through the doorway.

The auto, park half on the walkway, is a long worn grey eight seater, with six wheels and the stenciled word 'ARBITES' written across its side in chipped white paint. The chairs are in a formation of three in the front, two by either side door, and three in the back. The interior itself is laid out in a square so if the center component of the vehicle was much taller it would be a perfect cube. The hood and trunk of the vehicle are each half again as long as the body so that the vehicle comes of as oddly large for its purpose as a simple person carrier. Likely the size is intended to be intimidating, but in its tattered and un-maintained condition the auto just appears bulky and awkward.

Dorn turns to the Enforcers and says

"Can I see the keys to this thing for a moment?"

Then Enforcer reaches into his coat pocket worriedly and cautiously throws Dorn the keys

"How will we drive back to the precinct?"

Stirling begins as he catches the keys in the air, which appear old and almost medieval in design

"You . . ."

He pauses and waits for the cell to all get into the car before he does so himself, in the drivers seat, leading out the window space to finish speaking to the Enforcers

". . . will walk. It'll build character."

With that he slams on the accelerator and speeds away, moving rapidly and bumpily over the many roads in disrepair in the decaying city.

. . .

'Haarlock's Folly; The Morgue'

As Stirling departs the cell to report to his commanding officer, he leaves you all outside the plastisteel security doors leading to the morgue built recently in one of the larger rooms of the Folly.

The doors grind slowly open and a cold air laced with the chemical smell of preservatives wafts over all of you as a cool grey blue mist dances at your feet in the half-light.

As the Morgue opens before you a thin figure in a light red robe approaches down the walkway. He walks with an obvious hunch and both of his hands have been replaced with cybernetics which end in innumerable blades and utensils in place of fingers. One of his eyes is replaced with a blue green orb, set in a gold ring, that dominates the left hand side of his ancient, thin featured face. You presume it is some form of advanced cybernetic eye. His skin is worn and aged and his nose is pointed and large, his chin as well is an angular feature. His one human eye blinks incessantly and is a pale blue, to the point where he appears he might be half blind in that eye. His wrinkly eye lids leave only a sliver of white to either side of his iris. His large overbite lines a long thin lipped smile as he cranes his neck upwards to survey the group without adjusting his hunch-backed posture. He clasps his not-hands together and lets out a short raspy noise which might approximate to a squee of delight. He is clearly older than eighty years, maybe even a century. You notice a foot poke out from the hem of his robe and see that it too is metallic. What little of this man that remains organic is clearly ancient.

"Hello Naval Internal Affairs Officers, I am Verispex-Adjunct Abraxas Krump, I will be your Korerunner this afternoon. I had the servitors take the bodies out of cold storage as you requested. We've only got a few dozen on ice at the moment so finding room for them was no trouble. Do you have any questions before we begin the examination? Any preference as to which body is examined first?"

[padraig]

Eligia
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 2/2
Mars Pattern Mark IV Command Laspistol: 15/15, 3 Clips


Her gaze lingered on the Verispex, trying to disguise her longing.

It is the role of each servant of the Omnissiah to be Fit for the Purpose they serve, a role they are literally built to fill. While Krump was not of the Mechanicus, he certainly lived up to that ideal. For Eligia, her Purpose had required grafts of skin and bone, rather than the more dramatic overhauls customary to her kind. Her augmetics were subtle, limited. All too often her physical and sensory capabilities were constrained by their original biological limits. The role of Factor was a prestigious one, and one she was glad for, but she occasionally wished her position did not require her to kowtow to the aesthetic preferences of the lowest common denominator as, after all, the flesh is weak.

"I believe the body of Senior Officer Teague, the one found independently of the others, would be the best place to start, assuming the others have yielded no new information. Before we do, though, we would like you perform some tests on this vial, producing it for the Verispex.

This was attached to the water system at the primary crime scene. We'd like you to try and determine what it contained.

[Raynn]

'Haarlock's Folly; The Morgue'

The Verispex takes the vial with a vice like implement and examines it gleefully

"X-23A please pass this vial through the mass-spec. Bring me a read out from the cogigators on any trace elements contained within. Post haste."

He hands the vial off to a servitor, one with well preserved organic components and brass fittings, before turning back to the group

"The results should be finished by the time we have completed our examinations."

He turns and begins to click as he slowly inches towards the storage coffins for the bodies. He reaches one and rapidly types a pass-phrase into the rune-pad on the coffins front. The runes go green and beat once, and the drawer slides open on its own. The mortuary slab moves out of the drawer and hangs at waste height to the Verispex. Krump cranes over the table and slowly pulls away the sterile looking white shawl to reveal a pale human corpse beneath.

The body is that of a man in his early thirties, clearly well groomed and in decent shape. His air is a dark black, possibly died, and his eyes are a deep violet. His chest bears an old deep scar that was either delivered by sword or claw.

There are no obvious signs of struggle or in fact any obvious injuries from a first glance.

Spoiler

Show

Ask any questions you feel are relevant.

If you can think of any relevant skills or methods of examination, roll away.

[GWvsJohn]

Ethan Bardo
Wounds: 14/14
Fate Points: 2/2
Stub Revolver 1: 6/6; 20 Bullets, 6 Dumdum, 6 Man-stopper
Stub Revolver 2: 6/6; 20 Bullets, 6 Dumdum, 6 Man-stopper (note: rounds are shared)
Autopistol: 20/20


Ethan had to hide his discomfort at he situation. He had no problems with warm bodies, but cold bodies made his skin crawl. He turned to Verispex, "Where are his clothes and belongings? I'll leave examination of the body to you scientists. I might be able to learn something from what he was doing before he died."

[Raynn]

'Haarlock's Folly; The Morgue'

The Verispex nods to Brando and reaches under the slab for a rectangular metal case. He fiddles with a clasp using his many utensils and after a moment the lid pops open.

"Here are the belongings that were left on the body when he was brought in."

Within the case are casual clothing of moderate quality, a hotel key labelled with a room number, an empty wallet and an empty sidearm holster.

A servitor approaches with a data-pad and Krump taps away at with a slight twitch of a smile

"You are in luck. My servitor has brought me the records of the tox-screens preformed when the bodies were brought in."

[ChronicLunacy]

Cyrine
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 3/3
Autogun: 30/30; 2 Clips
Laspistol: 15/15; 1 Clip

"I would like to see them, please." Cyrine appeared at the coroner's mechanical elbow, waiting to be handed the dataslate. Unlike Ethan she didn't seem agitated at all. She had a detached, analyzing interest in the bodies, but no apparent discomfort. She could have been in a library for all the effect the meat locker had on her.

Spoiler

Show

Perception-related skill to look over the body?: (1d100)[67]

[Raynn]

'Haarlock's Folly; The Morgue'

As Cyrine reviews the body she doesn't notice anything of note but as she reads through the summary of the tox screen, after the Verispex transfers the files to her dataslate, she does indeed detect something that piques her interest.

Spoiler

Show

Evidence IIa. : Tox-Screen of the bodies & their food

Spoiler

Show

Tox-Screen of the bodies;
7 of the 8 bodies are positive for traces of Lho
2 of the 8 bodies are positive for traces of Obscura
4 of the 8 bodies are positive for traces of recaf
1 of the 8 bodies are positive for traces of stimm
8 of the 8 bodies are positive for traces of ethanol
8 of the 8 bodies are positive for an unrecognized complex synthetic compound, primarily concentrated in the Glial cells of the peripheral nervous system.

Tox-Screen of the food;
All tested food samples share only a single compound. A water soluble complex synthetic compound, with a smaller particle size and less complex than that of the compound found in the bodies.

Anyone who can see the wallet may make an Easy (+30) Intelligence Test, it is a Challenging (+0) Intelligence Test for feral worlders.

[padraig]

Eligia
Wounds: 11/11
Fate Points: 2/2
Mars Pattern Mark IV Command Laspistol: 15/15, 3 Clips


Though Eligia had been on the receiving end of the lavish treatments of the Magos Biologis, she was not of their order herself. No likely chemical culprits immediately came to mind.

The other intoxicants were unsurprising. Drug abuse is an ever present part of human culture, and, at least to her, one of the more disturbing failings of the organic condition. Not even once had she come across a machine spirit with an obscura addiction.

"Well, this is interesting, if less helpful than we may have wished. My colleague, gesturing at Cyrine, had discussed the possibility of a two-step poison when we were visiting the crime scene. It could explain why the other patrons appear to be unharmed. Would these results be consistent with that?

Spoiler

Show

Tests:
Easy Int to find out what's up with the wallet, need a 70: (d100)[14]
Might as well throw in a Forbidden Lore (Ad Mech) test, on the off chance I do know of some secret mech-assassin weapon perfectly innocent servitor lubricant that may be to blame. It's a basic skill, so I'd need a 20.(1d100)[28]

[Raynn]

'Haarlock's Folly; The Morgue'

Eligia is smart enough to realize that while the other articles in the container may have the finger prints of others than Teague on them only Teague would ever touch his own wallet. Meaning that if it was checked for prints and any of a second set were discovered they would belong to whoever stole from the body. These prints could be run through the Arbites data-base to see if the thief had any previous convictions, and if so the thief's identity could be discovered.