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.