Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25684606-20180501184035/@comment-25684606-20180509225916

"To catch a heretic, one has to understand them. The heretic unaware of his heresy is easy to find, for he takes no effort to conceal it. Those aware of their betrayal however seek to conceal themselves from the gaze of the Emperor and so we have to track them down like rabid dogs and grant them the mercy of death. Do not be foolish and assume there is salvation for them." -Interrogator Andrus Joon "The Nature Of Heresy"

The Inquisitor didn't say anything for a moment before she clapped very slowly, accompanied by a smile curling her thin lips. "Bravo. It seems I have received some mentally active aids this time. Very well. Toma, the projector." She got up energetically once more as the boy set down his tray, instead moving towards a pile of crates and packages by the windows, retrieving a flat, rectangular metal box with a circular lens on one side, and a number of buttons on the opposite one. On the top side was a circular, magazine-like feeder, filled with small, square frames holding pict-captures. He set it on the table, brushing documents, pens and files aside to make space and direct the lense on the wall opposite to the windows.

"I will answer Walton's and Brother Turis' questions first before we proceed. Toma, the lights. And get Damus to his room while I explain." He quickly moved to shut off the lights before rolling the still sleeping man out through a door towards the left. Meanwhile, Inquisitor Tenley pressed a button on the projector and it threw an enlarged version of the currently inserted pict-capture on the wall. After a bit of adjusting, the projection became sharp, showing an official looking photo of a human male, perhaps in the end of his thirties and grossly obese. Chin and neck had joined forces and thin hair barely concealed the greasy skin underneath.

"This despicable individual is Orman Karrolac, a Telepath somewhere between Gamma and Delta level. From what we learned about him, he is not very capable in terms of combat, but versed when it comes to manipulating minds and memories. After he completed his training as a Psyker, he was assigned to the comman of the 74th Derrivor Line Infantry as a liaison officer and completed about 20 years of service without anything noticable about him." She pressed a button and the image shifted to a pict of a planet, taken from orbit. It was not very well done, revealing little more than a large number of vessel in its orbit.

"That was, until 3 months ago. The planet shown here is Taiter, quite valuable for the refineries on its surface and therefore heavily guarded. Its defenses are mostly orbital though and could not stop an Ork fleet reaching the system. It broke through and the Orks started landing on the surface, forcing system command to call for aid. The 74th and several sister regiments were deployed." The picture switched again, showing endless rows of guardsmen clad in simple brown fatigues and flak armor standing at attention, large tanks and endless labyrinths of pipes and facilities in the background.

"All in all about 200.000 Soldiers, not counting artillery or tank crews, medical and logistics personnel, all the extras. The reports state that the defense was initially successful, but the command had apparently no experience with Orks. They thought it would be enough to just form a defense perimeter, dig trenches and take wave after wave." Another switch, this time of a desolated battlefield. Trenches up to the horizon, filled wtih smoking craters and the scattered remains of Guardsmen and Greenskins alike along with the crippled wracks of vehicles.

"One month and no end of the green horde in sight. The attacks got worse and worse, the defenders lost men and morale at an alarming rate. About one third casualties." She took another sip from her Recaf, refilling the cup right afterwards. "The next month was similar. It was also when Karrolac loses faith. He and a handful of soldiers," Another pict, this time displaying row after row of enlistment portraits of soldiers, men and women alike, about 20 in total, "managed to get a ride off the planet. The pilot claimed to his last breath that he didn't remember anything, probably because Karrolac wiped his mind. The deserters stowed away on board of the Lady Deponia, a merchant vessel."

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her left briefly before continuing. "Most of the guardsmen bailed on the several stops the ship took but a hard core stayed with him, all the way to Bolna Sott. The Arbites got them all either alive or dead, but Karrolac managed to escape them on this very planet. One of my agents initially heard of his cowardice so I set her on his trails and she traced him all the way here. That was about one and a half weeks ago. Toma, lights."

Silently, the boy had returned and now switched the lights back on before putting the projector away. Then, he returned to the side of his Master's chair. "After he left the city into an unknown direction, she contacted me, reporting of having lost his whereabouts and learning of the villages disappearing from the map. Which brings us to the questions of the sisters Irène and Rosalind."

She retrieved a rolled up map from the desk and pinned it, with the help of Toma, on the wall. It depicted the main continent of Bolna Sott, with the capital city in the upper right and their own position marked close to the center with a red circle. Starting from the bottom left, settlements had been crossed in black, forming a small circular cluster, from which a choppy line emerged, heading towards their position, respectively the capital. "As you can see, the disappearances first happened here" she tapped on the small cluster "before slowly developing a course. The first one occured roughly one year ago, but..." She raised a finger to emphasize the following words "...this one," she tapped on the first one breaking the from the circular cluster and aiming north-east, "...disappeared around 2 weeks ago. Around when Karrolac set foot on the planet."

She sat back down in her chair, taking a swig from her cup and leaning back. For a moment, she went quiet before straightening her back with the audible knack of bones. "Conclusion: He is not the cause of these settlments going dark, but he certainly influenced it in some way. A Xenos or Chaos influence like Walton suggested are not out of the question. Especially the latter since we are dealing with a Psyker. There is no trace of something like that, though and Damus' reading of the Tarot has not hinted to anything like that either. Still, I appreciate anything new you might bring to the table."