Ivaanov looked at the rotting remains of the dead Ashleen and muttered a prayer to the Omnisiah to protect them all.
"I think it's time we woke our guide to see if he can shed some light on this. Or perhaps our own psyker can assist? Certainly something unattural is occuring here"
"I'm afraid that there is little I can provide on this."
Deckard rises from the ground and approaches the body. Inspecting it from a distance, he makes a quizzical face and shrugs.
"I am not a diviner."
Justine goes to wake Aristarchus and informs him what happened.
"Throne of Terra!" Burgos exclaims.
"Let us bury this poor soul."
"Better to burn it. Dark powers seem to be at work here," Gaia replies to Burgos, her face set in a frown.
"Let's forage for some wood then." Burgos straps on his gear before proceeding.
Justine goes to wake Aristarchus and informs him what happened.
"Oh, what is it? What? Alright, I'll take a look." Aristarchus approaches the corpse and places a hand on his temple. "Well, if there was anything evil there before, it's gone now. Still, you're right, we should burn it, just to be safe."
"Is there a discrete way that we burn the corpse w/out alerting all the denizens of this place with a fire?"
If not, Justine will splash the corpse with a little of the vehicle's gas and light it with a match.
"Is there a discrete way that we burn the corpse w/out alerting all the denizens of this place with a fire?"
If not, Justine will splash the corpse with a little of the vehicle's gas and light it with a match.
"Shall we do this or not? If we are not going to dispose of the body, we should at least move on to some other point. Our presence may not be welcome here."
"The Emperor protects. We shall commit this poor soul's body to the flame."
Ivaanov leans over the bosy and searches it thrroughly for any other clues before the others drag it off to be burned.
Once that is done, he returns to his bedding for the remainder of teh night, muttering to himslef as he goes "What a strange place we have landed on, where the dead walk and the empire spends a fortune in lives and thrones to gather flowers. Interesting"
As the body burns and the watch changes, the rest of the night passes uneventfully. In the morning, you pile back into the truck and continue on your journey. By mid-day you begin driving through the foothills.
Burgos, Gaia, Deckard:
As the body burns and the watch changes, the rest of the night passes uneventfully. In the morning, you pile back into the truck and continue on your journey. By mid-day you begin driving through the foothills.
Burgos, Gaia, Deckard:** spoiler omitted **
"Guys, did you just see what I saw?"
"I am starting to get a feeling that this planet is touched by the supernatural more often than most."
"I fear that our faith will be tested before this mission is over."
Burgos makes the sign of the aquila and starts to pray silently.
Ivaanov turns as Burgos speaks, unslinging his las carbine as he does. "I didn't see anything friend priest. Do you think their is trouble nearby?"
He begins to cast around for signs of danger but the light catches on the metal of his las carbine and he is momentarily blinded.
Ivaanov turns as Burgos speaks, unslinging his las carbine as he does. "I didn't see anything friend priest. Do you think their is trouble nearby?"
He begins to cast around for signs of danger but the light catches on the metal of his las carbine and he is momentarily blinded.
"There was a figure over there," Burgos points at a distant rock, "then it disappeared."
Per 1d100 = 20
"Where? Where?" Bored by days of uneventful traveling, Justine is eager for a fight. "And can you put that gun away Ivaanov? You're totally blinding everyone! We're gonna crash if you keep that up."
Per 1d100 = 20
Justine:
Gaia frowns. "I saw it too. I don't like this place at all - the sooner we are done here, the better." The guard grimly sets her sights back to the path ahead of them and increases the pressure on the truck's accelerator.
"I think we should all put our hands together and pray to the Emperor of Mankind for strength in these trying times."
"Perhaps prayer is not the best use of our attention at the moment. With all due respect..."
"Perhaps prayer is not the best use of our attention at the moment. With all due respect..."
"Careful. A less considerate person may accuse you of heresy."
"My good cleric, I have stood before the Golden Throne. I was not found unworthy by the Emperor, I fear no servant of his to find me any different. That being said, you are of course right. My comment was... ill considered. I will be more reverent in the future. The Emperor protect and guide me."
"The Omnisiah guides all our paths, yet he takes care of those who watch out for themselves. I beseach you to pray for all of us great Burgos, while I remain vigilant for the presence of this elusive foe that seems to dog our steps."
Ivaanov then says a quiet prayer to the machine god himself, asking the spirit of his weapon to guide any shots he may need to make this day.
"Shall we move on?"
"Shall we move on?"
With that, the truck leaves the rock behind it, hopefully never to return.
As darkness begins to fall, the foothills rise to either side of the road and the path snakes around the increasingly mountainous terrain until at last you see lights glimmer ahead, growing brighter until you can make out some sort of settlement centered on a broad hill. You continue until your path is barred by a rough wall of crudely piled stone and black flint. Watch fires burn along the top of the wall and you see numerous guns jutting out, silhouetted against the firelight. As you get closer, a pair of wire mesh and steel gates swing open and a tall figure walks forward, wrapped in a dark cloak with a rifle slung over his back. In his hands he carries an axe. "All of you out, let's take a look at you." Aristarchus looks over to the rest of you. "Everyone, do what he says. Don't make any sudden moves"
Once you are on the ground the man walks closer and glares at each of you. He seems to consider for a time, then in one fluid movement he bows deeply, saying "Welcome Servants of the Emperor, you are free to enter. Welcome to Stern Hope."
"Stern Hope, indeed. I worthy shrine to He Who Seats Upon The Golden Throne."
Burgos smiles at the guard.
"Greetings, brother, I am Burgos. This is Ivaanov, Gaia, Deckard, Justine. And of course our senior Master Aristarchus."
"Now that you are acquainted with our names, may we know yours, hmmm?"
"Zuriel. Now, if you'd just drive that inside so we could close the gate..."
"Praise be that we have arrived. The Emperor protects."
Burgos removes the dust of the road from his Ecclesiarchy robes.
"Ok. Now that we're inside and the gate is closed, what you guys do around here aside from the obvious?"
While Burgos again acts as the diplomatic face of this little group, Ivaanov takes the time to look around the complex and note what defenses there might be and the level of Tech in the area. It is strange to the tech prist that a place built in the middle of a dangerous location would only have a wire gate for defense. He was used to the plasteel and rockcrete defenses of the Mechanicus compunds he had been trained in. Auto turrets and pulse las silos were the norm in those locations.
Of course his home planet would have used trebuchet and crossbows, but that was a long time in his past now. He expected more from the imperium on a world where a spaceport was available.
"Pss, Burgos, ask them where we can take a bath..."
"Oh, and where can we purify ourselves?"
"You know... take a bath."
It's obvious, really. The settlement is mainly composed of shacks made out of whatever scrap was handy with the occasional building made out of the same rock the wall was made of, but this seems to be more due to lack of resources rather than any lack of knowledge. The people themselves are a mix of natives and pilgrims from off-world and as far as you can tell they all seem to be proper Emperor-fearing citizens. (Note, Really, the gate did seem quite durable. The only way someone could get past it without the guards opening it would be with explosives or wire-cutters, and the only way someone would have a chance at using either without the guards shooting them is if they sent a small army... Maybe you should get away from this line of thought.)
The guard does his best to ignore Burgos now that you are all inside the gate.
"Hail, pilgrims!" A smiling heavyset man wearing the robes of a monk approaches the party, a shuttered lamp in his hands.
"Greetings pilgrims. Such faith and preparation are admirable to see. You're the help the abbot sent for, yes? Truly we are not forgotten. I'm Brother Lamark, one of the churchmen of this mission. Welcome to Stern Hope- the abbot awaits you at the priory in the morning. Unfortunately he is curantly occupied and apologizes for not greeting you himself."
Deckard softly pads his garments, knocking loose what grit he can. He casually observes the settlement and its occupants, noting their demeanor and tenor. He follows the cleric's lead and does his best to remain unobtrusive.
Ivaanov looks over the new comer, glad to see a friendly servant of the Emperor in this little settlement.
"Blessings of the Omnisiah be upon you Lamark. It is good to find a friendly face and a welcome to your home. We've had a long and....interesting journey."
He looks around at the others, noting how road weary they are nd continues on. [b]"If the Abbot is too busy to see us onight, perhaps you could show us to our accomodations. My actuators and service jacks have grit that needs removing, and I must clean the filter from my vox system or it will clog by this time tomorrow"
He waits patiently for the man to show them their lodgings, again expectin nothing but obedience since that is what would happen in the techworlds.
Burgos raises his hand and intones solemnly, "The blessing of the Emperor and all of His Saints be upon you."
Lamark shakes each of your hands. "Oh, of course. Just park your truck over there and I'll lead you to the Crying Cloata. It's the closest thing this town has to an inn, but it's better than a tent." Lamark leads you through the town, the people looking out at you expectantly from the shadows, although none seem brave enough to greet you themselves. Soon you come to a ramshackle two-story building. "Well, here we are. I'll go tell the abbot you have arrived. Sleep well." With that, Lamark leaves.
Aristarchus stops gazing up at the cathedral (he's been doing that since he got into town now that you think about it) and looks at you with a wan smile. "And here we are. I'm feeling tired. Travel isn't what it used to be for me. If Abbot Skae arrives before dawn, send him my way if you please. Some of you may want to talk with the locals, hmm? Just be wary if you decide to have a look about outside." He nods and heads up to his room.
Justine decides to take a bath first. Then she'll join her companions for dinner somewhere. She recommends that they use the meal time to ask the locals on various happenings. There is nothing like a few drinks that loosens the lips.
Burgos also takes a bath after and not with Justine, though, the God-Emperor will not forbid him if she beckoned him. After that, Burgos decides to look around the camp. He asks Gaia to accompany him so he can ask her for her comments on the overall military strength of the place.
As directed, Gaia will park the flatbed before accompanying her companions to the inn. Dropping off anything unneccessary (and not too valuable), the guard then heads back out with Burgos to look over the town. Partly out of a long-time habit, and partly out of a wariness of the area (particularly after what the party saw on the way to the town), Gaia intends to carry her weapons with her.
Justine decides to take a bath first. Then she'll join her companions for dinner somewhere. She recommends that they use the meal time to ask the locals on various happenings. There is nothing like a few drinks that loosens the lips.
Fortunately the Crying Clota is more of a bar with a few rooms for rent than a proper inn. Tonight the main room is nearly packed, but a few of the workers quickly give up their seats for you and whoever joins you
Justine:
The conversation continues, but you can't make out much else.
Burgos & Gaia:
Justine sticks around listening in on other conversation that could be of interest. She then conveys her findings with the rest of her crew.
"I say we pay this Zildan fella a visit to see if he knows anything else. Then we can either try to locate Xanthis or go check out this "bleeding alter" down at the priory ourselves. First thing, let's ask around on where best to find Zildan."
Having spent time cleaning his systems and running diagnostics on ost of his gear, Ivaanov joins the others down in the main canteen. He orders a meal, something simple, and whatever passes for wine in this area. Many of teh more advanced techs he worked with no longer required sustenacne in this way, deriving their requirements through the direct interface of teh machines they wrked with. Ivaanov had not yet reached this Nirvana of machine and man, and so he took nutrition in a more traditional sense.
Looking at Justine, he nods his ascent to her recommendatiosn.
"Certainly it would seem as good a lead as any to work with. Maybe he can tell us more about this old woman who apparently saw the miracle as well"
There is a sound like a bath tub draining as a fluid tube makes its way into the glas of alcohol and drains it rapidly. A small display of the alcohol content and main organic components of the wine appears in a little reticule in front of Ivanoovs HUD system. Distressingly, there were at least 12 unidentified organics in the drink. Ah well.
"I say we pay this Zildan fella a visit to see if he knows anything else. Then we can either try to locate Xanthis or go check out this "bleeding alter" down at the priory ourselves. First thing, let's ask around on where best to find Zildan."
"Gaia, if you were to lead a force against this place, how would you go about breaching these defenses?"
Note: Your bonus for this test is +15. Use it well.
Try as she might, Justine simply cannot catch the eyes of any tavern visitors (got a 78, don't even need to link the roll). She stomped off, cursing at the natural stupidity of men.