Report on Investigations on Acreage (6)

At Rhozena's palace, the acolytes discovered that Kirith had been murdered by Jharag, an old friend of Tholos and an ex-Imperial guard officer. Tholos attempted to persuade them to issue an Exterminatus order, but the acolytes grew suspicious and examined him for signs of xenotaint. A Slaught attacked, but was driven off.

In Jharag's house, they found an alien egg. The techpriest Alaric examined it, triggering another Slaught attack. They fled, and one of the Slaught sacrificed itself to repair damage to the egg. The acolytes tracked the xenos into the wilderness, and destroyed the taint with fire.

The Watchful Angel arrived and collected the acolytes. Inquisitor Grumaire rewarded them each with a copy of St. Balaric's Commentary on the Libram Omnius Xeno, a classic text on the alien taint. They were also permitted leave to refit and recuperate before their next mission.

Eye, Tooth & Claw (2)

The acolytes escaped the Musher ambush via a back alley. Cortez, Franz and the techpriest Malthus circled around to attack the Mushers. Franz was able to slay several with a mysterious blade of xeno design before falling into a chasm, while the bolter of the techpriest sowed death among the mushroom cultists. However, there were too many, and when the renegade Techpriest Lazarus joined the fight, the acolytes were forced to retreat.

They were brought back to Outremer, where Drake ordered them to prepare for the chase of the Blessings of St. Gustavius. First, though, they must return to Constanthus, as an agent has just revealed the location of the traitor Falco.

Chronology (Cult of the Illuminated)

40,350 (350 years ago) the Cult of the Illuminated is recognised as an imperial cult thanks to the sponsorship of the Amaranth family.
40,390 (300 years ago) the Cult of the Illuminated are at the height of their influence.
40,415 (275 years ago) Magos Vulcan dies, donating his eyes to Cius Amaranth and the navigator of the Blessings of St. Gustavius.
40,440 (250 years ago) the Purge begins
40,465 (225 years ago) the Amaranth shrine in the basilica is sealed; Cius Amaranth flees
40,490 (200 years ago) Testament is purged.
40,698 (10 years ago) Gristus visits Testament
40,707.9 The acolytes uncover xeno taint on Syta (The Tainted Dream).
40,708.X The Blessings of St. Gustavius visits Xaladros
40,709.2 Gristus attempts to activate the Barque of St. Anbas (The Passing of the Barque of St. Anbas)
40,709.4 The Amaranth crypt is reopened. Thousands die in the riots that follow. (In The Crush of the Hive)
40,709.7 The acolytes visit San Valuso. (The Clockwork Moon
40,708.1 The acolytes arrive at Testament, then head to Constanthus. (Eye, Tooth & Claw.

Eye, Tooth and Claw (1)

The acolytes travelled to the outlying town of Candletown, where they found thousands of strangely preserved corpses buried in the fields. These were being scooped up by automated shuttles from the titheship. The acolytes stopped this harvest of the dead, and discovered that an 'Auriel' within the Administratum was responsible for ordering the fields around Candlemas to be harvested.

The titheship carried the acolytes to Hive Constanthus, where they were debriefed by Interrogator Scythia. They met with Malthus the Techpriest once more, and were given new orders by Drake - they were to search for the trader Fritz, and all the relics he brought from Outremer. Most of these relics were shards of the ancient Marine base - others were relics and religious curios. The investigation led to Thallier, the great merchant of the Hippodrome. He gave them the address of the hotel where Fritz was staying.

Dorn learned from Baron Carlos of Outremer that Fritz was traveling to Constanthus to meet with a buyer named Falco! The trail of the renegade acolyte was hot once more.

After watching a psyker ork branded with the Illuminated symbol slay the Ogryn Othar (who was wearing the teeth once given to Lupos Wollsey), the acolytes proceeded to the hotel, where they were ambushed by mushers once more...

Report on Investigations on Acreage (5)

The inn proved to be inhabited by deserters and madmen. During the night, the piles of corpses in the fields outside the inn began singing, which provoked a weird reaction in the wounds suffered by Hastus Quint. Black alien tendrils danced inside his flesh in time to the singing of the dead. Alaric managed to wound one of the tendrils with a knife, but this caused the song to change, and soon after the inn was attacked by cloaked figures.

The attack was driven off, and Alaric was able to remove the other tendrils from Quint. Meanwhile, Verbal and Thondor destroyed the nearest corpse-pile, which seemed to disrupt the eldritch connection between the dead.

The acolytes reached the capital city and immediately sent an astropathic message to Grumaire. They then went to intercept Kirith at Princess Rhozena's palace. As they arrived, a shot rang out...

The Clockwork Moon (3)

Uller ordered his gun-servitors and acolytes to kill the inquisitorial team. Fortunately, the group were too close to the Magos for the Titan to open fire, but a hail of autofire from the machines severely wounded many of the team. Dorn was able to reach the shuttle and call for aid from the Oculus Imperatus.

Lupus Wosley drew on previous unsuspected reserves of psychic power and lashed out with electricity. Metal melted and flesh caught fire in the fury of his wrath. While the rest of the acolytes fled to the shuttle, Lupus opened himself up completely to the Warp...and something came though.

The Oculus Imperator blasted open the airlock, and the shuttle flew out. The Inquisitorial vessel jumped away just as the Guardian of the Moon opened fire.

* * *

Blasted and broken, with her navigator dying, the Oculus Imperatus limped through the Warp to the nearby world of Testament. For six months, she was buffeted by warp-storms and dark powers before tumbling into realspace once more. On Testament, the acolytes made contact with several potential allies, including Jermais, who claimed to be a friend of Drake, and the mysterious trader Twocoin. They discovered that Gristus the Techpriest had visited the outlying regions, and that these regions had once been the lair of Illuminated cultists.

Under the shadow of a storm cast by the arrival of the tithe-ship, they set off into the wilderness.

The Clockwork Moon (2)

Pursing Tantoblin, the acolytes travelled to the lifeless world below, and entered a vault of stored machines. In the depths of the vault, they discovered Tantoblin trying to use a warp engine to open a portal to the Empyrean. He held the stolen corpse of Magos Vulcan, the foul root of the Illuminated corruption. The intrusion of unnatural energies reanimated Vulcan, and he implanted a device into Sham's head. This implant allows the acolyte to sense the presence of other parts of Magos.

The psyker Lupus was able to seal the warp breach, and the team returned to the Clockwork Moon, only for Malthus the Techpriest to accuse Lupus of heresy. Lupus invoked a power and disabled the gun-servitors, but was unable to escape. The team were able to calm Malthus down...then Sham revealed his implant, and that he could sense the corruption of Vulcan within Magos Uller...