Arriving at Sephiris Secundis

As we depart from Scintilla, we get a chance to study the ill-named Pax Behemoth more closely. We have separate rooms, and although they are rather tiny, there's at least some space for the books I brought along. I intend to study up on cults in general and this Broken Chain in particular, though I fear there is scant little material given the backwards nature of Sepheris Secundis. Still, I will give it some stick and not be a doubting Thomas until all paths of discovery have been tried.

In either case, the Behemoth's crew is rather few in number with most of the menial tasks performed by servitors. This is a practice I support wholeheartedly, though I certainly see the arguments of those who believe that this practice might lead to the lower classes being put out of work. After all, they have no skills beyond the menial so whatever will they do when servitors take over their duties? Taken to the extreme conclusion this might lead to the unraveling of the Imperial way of life, though that seems like a rather absurd thought and one I will not seriously entertain beyond late hour cocktail parties.

We have about three months' journey ahead of us, and I spend a fair amount of that time philosophizing and general discussion with Ulbrexis. I find it exceedingly fascinating that he holds true to his heretical beliefs, after 16 years of being ahem, interrogated by the Inquisition. He freely shares his knowledge of Secundis, though he indubitably holds something back as well. After all, is that not in the nature of a heretic?

We discover how he managed to increase the input of his mine by tenfold, and it was all rather simple: with the help of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Apparently a delegation arrived on Secundis in Icenholm, intent on trade with the queen. She laughed them out of her court (which is quite the banana skin if you ask me), but Ulbrexis saw the wisdom in cooperating with them and made contact. The tech-priests agreed to supply technology to increase the output from the mines (and let the serfs better their station in life at the same time) in exchange for access to sensinite ore. As everyone knows, sensinite is crucial in the production of several of the Adepts' machinery, among them the much-feared/revered (depending on your point of view) Titans. Quite the deal. Either way, as we now know the queen did not approve of Ulbrexis' actions as she saw him as a threat to her own person. Quite understandable given the treacherous ground noble families must navigate on a daily basis.

We also learn that Asod Morir was one of the first serfs who Ulbrexis taught how to read, and that he always had something of a mean streak. Rather worryingly, Alpha asked the old codger to teach her how to read. I warned her that he was likely to try to fill her mind with heretical thoughts and to pay close attention to any attempts at brainwashing. Given her background I'm afraid she'd be quite suspect to any twisted genius the man might possess.

The trip itself was luckily rather uneventful (no warp phenomena either, thank the God-Emperor) and we arrived at our destination. Sephiris is a very cold planet with almost all life contained below ground. A more advanced civilization would surely have used more of the planet's surface, but given that 99% of the populace's clothing consists of raggedy pieces of fabric barely held together this is not the case.

The captain shuttles us down to the planet surface. The biggest mines are clearly visible from space, as well as the endless train of ore that is ferried up and down to the space station above. As we sweep down into the cloud belt, ice covers the shuttle's exterior and soon we are greeted by endless snow-covered forest before we fly towards the Harrow proper. We meet with Proctor Rotlan, the arbitrator who asked for the Inquisition's assistance at a place called "the Spoils", where the slag from the mining operations is deposited.

The proctor greets us and leads us back towards the Arbitrators' HQ. We start our descent into the mine, and I find myself quite fascinated by the sights. All of the dwellings are located on everything from fairly small to large shelves, with rope bridges going between. How quaint! The serfs are indeed a pitiful lot. toiling endlessly at backbreaking work, overseers whipping those who do not perform up to their standards. All of them look down and away when we pass. I am quite used to servants and other humans of lower stature of course, but these are the most downtrodden ones I've seen. Eyes kept fixed on the ground, overseers whipping them at the slightest provocation, their clothing (if you can even call it clothing) nothing but rags.I resolve to check whether Ulbrexis' actions were indeed heretical. Many do not know, but the Imperial Creed is rather, how shall I put this...malleable.

Either way, we meet the rest of the arbitrators, including the proctor's right-hand man regulator Mallier. The proctor informs us of what they have done so far. Interrogation of the serfs has yielded nothing. They either don't know anything about the Broken Chain, or they refuse to speak. A physical search of the mines have turned out to be equally fruitless. They also inform us that the more extreme attacks started occurring in the last six months. The attacks seem to follow a pattern. A group of the heretics show up wielding autoguns, killing serfs and overseers alike, then they set up the attack. A couple of minutes later, the world is turned outside in - literally. One of the serfs they interviewed described it as everything flowing together in pure chaos - people, rock, air, and then suddenly, everything is solidified into shapes born from a twisted mind. Bodies trapped in rock, mine shafts filled with mineral matter. The description leaves little doubt in my or Potter's mind that this is indeed Chaos-borne.

The arbitrators also inform us that one of the heretics most be a psyker of some kind. They had a run-in with the Broken Chain a while back, and one of their own was killed. The body had most peculiar burn marks. His neck had the burn mark of a hand, as if he had been choked by a hand made out of molten metal, and his kill wound was a big hole in the middle of his chest made by fire.

They show us a map of the mines, with both the minor and major attacks shown. I study the map along with the rest of our cadre, and after a minute or two it seems fairly obvious there's a pattern. The major attacks show a clear inward spiral pattern. I feel like I should recognize the pattern but it somehow eludes me. Either way, if the heretics continue the attacks in the vein they have done so far, I believe we should be able to predict the area where they will strike next. Apparently no one else is able to discern this, and I do not divulge the information while the arbitrators are still with us.

When we're alone, I reveal my discovery to the rest. I'm both surprised and not so surprised that no one else have been able to figure out the logic behind the attacks. Ulbrexis naturally picks up on the pattern once revealed to him, and he adds some interesting info of his own. The minor attacks seem to be tactical, allowing the Chain access to their hideouts and allowing them to move more freely.

We discuss where the Chain is likely to be holed out, and Ulbrexis tells us of a location that seems logical: The Hard Walls. This is an area deep in the mine where only the most twisted of the mutants live. Apparently there's quite a strong radiation in parts of the mine, and naturally the serfs are afforded no protection from said radiation. These mutants do surface to do trade in the Spoils at night. Ulbrexis admits that he's got contacts among these mutants, but for the nonce he refuses to divulge the identity of said contacts.

We're also informed that the Royal Scourges have dispatched a couple of squads to the Harrow. They've conducted their own "investigation", mainly consisting of beating up and torturing serfs. They seem to be brutes without much in the way of intelligence. They are, however, dangerous - armed with auto- and lasguns and carrying carapace armour. Their leader, one Captain Mouvern, has requested a meeting with us the next day.

We're shown to our quarters, which are quite appalling. Apparently the abode of one of the overseers, it's nothing more than a simple shack, barely standing. I imagine Alpha could bull rush it into rubble without much trouble. After a fairly adequate dinner with the arbitrators, we retire for the evening.

The next morning, we travel to the site of the last attack by hover car. The sight that greets us is indeed quite bizarre, though the proctor informs us they've cleared away the (parts of) bodies in the area to keep the superstitious serfs calm. I inspect the rock that appears to have simply intruded into space in the mine shaft. The auspex readings are bizarre. The rock is not recognized as any known substance, but does appear to have all the qualities of some sort of mineral. So it appears that the "bomb" does not simply mix everything together in a hodgepodge, but actually introduces a foreign element from...somewhere. Zero points awarded to anyone who guesses "the Warp" as the location of said element.

The UnBroken Chain

After solving the case, we go back to Scintilla, for a debrief. We look around Scintilla some, (Lars) has found some interesting sights for us, so we travel about the hive for a bit. After a fortnight we are summoned to the Tricorn Palace.

Outside the palace we are met by Balthazar, who takes us directly to meet Whitlock. Unusual. Either we have impressed him very much, or the next job is either something his Interrogator should not know about, or is somehow embarrasing for someone.

Whitlock shows us a pictrecording from a mine on Sepheris Secundus. The recorder first shakes, as from an explosion, and then Assod Morir shows up, running from something. Then Baron Ulbrexis shows up, the owner of the mine. They discuss something, and start fighting. Both are competent fighters, and Assod is impaled by the Baron, but this does not seem to trouble him. He is about to strangle the Baron, when the Baron uses a digilas-ring, that produces a weird purple flame on Assods face, that seems to burn most of his skull away.

At the time when the recording is made, about 20 years ago, Ulbrexis is the leader of the terrorist organization Broken Chain, that aims to turn the feudal world Sepheris Secundus into a democracy. Morir is a member of the same.

Whitlock tells us that Assod is not dead, and shows us a picture taken only 14 days ago, and also tells us that Baron Ulbrexis has not been executed either, he is held in a cell in the Tricorn Palace. The Broken Chain is again operating on Sepheris, and is using a horrible kind of enormous magical bomb in the mines. The mines on Sepheris are very important for the sector, and the Inquisition wants the terrorists stopped, and this will be done by bombing the entire mine to slag if we fail to destroy the Broken Chain.

Whitlock charges us with enlisting the Barons help, and to go to Sepheris to find the HQ of the Broken Chain and Morir, assess the local situation and come up with a working plan of how to deal with the terrorists, until he arrives himself one month after us. Quite an assignment. We are told that the Inquisition offers Ulbrexis to be crowned King of Sepheris Secundus should he help the Inquisiton in this assignment.

The estate belonging to Ulbrexis is now held by a baron Alswere.

We speak to Ulbrexis, a heavyset man with violet eyes. He knows how to appease the machine spirits, unusual for a man from a feudal world like Sepheris. He explains he cooperated with the Adeptus Mechanicus to overachieve his tithe from the mines by an order of magnitude. His cooperation is ensured by his seemingly genuine worry over the lives of his former subjects, in light of the Inquisitors plan B, and does not believe he will be made King of Sepheris. I can't blame him, inserting a man with a democratic agenda as King must be against the emperors creed, even if he can up the productivity of the world tenfold.

The Inquisitor is impressed with our progress on getting the help of Ulbrexis, we are to leave on the chartist vessel Pax Behemoth. We get 200 thrones for a war chest, gather supplies and Ulbrexis and board the vessel. Captain Aizdur is an enormous man, easily 2 meters, and has a family charter signed by saint Drusus himself. Amazing.

[Audio recording]

[White noise segues to]

“At ease, acolyte Rodriguez. The cadre has sent a report of the events leading up to 241.M41 10:00 hours. You may continue from this point. Speak freely.”

“Thank you, Sir. After discovering the body and a pile of blood at Jasmin’s apartment Potter senses something and exits the flat. I follow him out to the hallway just to see Jasmin acknowledge our presence and turn around to flee. The cadre pursues her, but she manages to escape into the nearby plant. Mallear hails the enforcers to ask for back up. We enter the building and find a trail of dead bodies leading up to the body of Jasmin herself. As we have gathered from our previous intelligence, we now know that we have a new and unidentified enemy. We track down the foreman to give us a list of workers and check who’s missing, and he finds that one Muteus is unaccounted for.  His coworkers say that he lives in the Pits, the shanty town by the toxic lake. The trail of blood from the murderer confirms that he is our guy. Enforcers stay clear of the Pits, so we proceed with just the cadre and one of the plant workers who knew where our new subject lives.

While making our way through the Pits we come across a gang of thugs. They want money for us passing through their hood. I tell their leader to step down or I’ll shoot him in the face, but Holder-Smith intervenes and pays for us all. He wouldn’t last a day in Volg. I am embarrassed to admit to the following events. As we are making our way down the road towards the subject’s house, we are taken unawares by gunmen in allies both to our right and left. This is not a reflection on my training and I assure you that it will not happen again. We dispose of the threat and continue on. We identify the subject’s house. A typical shack for these parts, walls like paper and cramped next to other shacks. We discuss how to take him out, there is a chance he will bolt through the back of the shack where we have no visual. Potter senses his presence. Me and Mallear set up on either side of the door while the other’s hang a little back. Mallear opens the door and we check out our respective halves of the room but can’t see him at first. Holder-Smith suddenly calls out that he is in the ceiling and points in the direction of Mallear’s half. We open fire. I try to shoot through the wall to get him. The subject dies. His flesh disintegrates before us and out his blood oozes, suspended in the air. The liquid starts to swirl and form a blood vortex. Some of the guys freak out, while the rest of us take on the being. The thing attacks the plant worker. Luckily Potter has the clarity to shoot the worker dead before the thing can enhance itself. We fight the thing hard, and both Holder-Smith and Potter prove to be surprisingly able with firearms. The thing tries to attack Dar next, but we manage to eliminate it before it succeeds.

We head back to the enforcer headquarters. The question of why this started still remains unanswered. Holder-Smith and Dar are badly injured and get rest and treatment for a few days. Meanwhile the rest of us go through the storage room once more to see if we can find any more clues. Potter/Mallear(?) discovers some books on archeological sites, and remembers that Jovian worked with extending the plant. We find a map of where the dig site at the plant is, and when everyone is healed up, we head over there. Behind a door warned to be closed due to safety reasons we find a major excavation site. It continues down through elaborate stairs and fortifications. In the depths of this hole there is a tight passage in which Dar finds a small, stony bed and on it the statue we have heard so much about. Blood seem to gather and hang under the weight of gravity from the ceiling above it, dripping down. Or so Dar claims when he comes back to report to us. We discuss amongst ourselves and decide we need to decimate this statue for the good of mankind. Mallear goes in to recover it in a tool box from the plant. When he brings it out the statue is bleeding. Mallear himself has blood all over his back. The blood pours out of the statue to fill a large volume of the box. I don’t know what is more disturbing, that it bleeds in the first place, or the impossible amount of blood it produces.  Holder-Smith takes it upon him to contain the box. He empties the blood in a hole in the ground, next he finds some chemicals to neutralize it. The statue is creepy and I want to shoot it. The others agree. After it’s blown to smithereens, we dissolve the remains with a strong chemical.  It feels better instantly, and according to the warpy guys the taint is gone from the cave. The bed on which the figurine rested is broken as well. There is some writing on the floor in the small passage. It seems to be incomprehensible even to the brainiacs in this group. So we take some pics of it. Supposedly it is from ancient times and the local civilization. As we leave the cave we put up some more warnings and tell the foreman to stay clear of that place.

The enforcers thank us for our efforts and we take our leave.”

[End of recording]