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.

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...

In The Crush of the Hive, Part 3

Lacking further clues, the acolytes chose to investigate the Underhive. Joined by a mendicant Techpriest, they travelled into the depths and followed a psychic trace to a hidden shrine of the Illuminated Brethren. The keeper of this shrine was an old woman named Matron Rho, who they recognised as being a scion of the Amaranth family. In the shrine was a statue containing the skull of her father, Cius Amaranth.

Rho explained that when the family chapel was defiled by 'men with flamers', she and her father fled. Her father died, but she enshrined his skull and cyber-eye here. She also mentioned that a nice man named 'Falco' often visited the shrine, and that the cyber-eye of her father was stolen after one of her visits.

Unfortunately, the acolytes let slip that they worked for the Inquisition, and Rho attacked them. As they fled the burning shrine, they were attacked again by the Mushers, and sustained considerable wounds as they retreated to the upper hive. There, they found a scene of carnage. Rioting had begun in the Basilica of the Founding and spread across Constanthus Hive. The acolytes travelled to the Basilica, where they discovered hundreds of thousands dead. The Amaranth crypt had been broken into, and the Illuminated Brethren - led by a man with a cybereye - were conducting a bizarre ritual.

The acolytes were unable to stop the ritual, but they were able to capture the cult leader as the Imperial Guard turned their guns on the Mushers, and blood and fire consumed the sanctity of the ancient basilica...

Report on Investigations on Acreage (4)

Rallying themselves, the acolytes fought off both Duke Ollard's men and the Slaught-animated zombies in the tower, and questioned the heretical duke some more. He spoke of a 'summoning' and claimed that the Slaught had shown him a truth beyond death. He was killed for his corruption by xenos. The acolytes attempted to convince Ollard's men that their lord was a heretic, but only a few heeded their words.

Fleeing through the sewers, the acolytes took refuge by the docks. Alaric tended their wounds, and discovered that Quint's belly was puckered with strange marks from where the alien touched him. Meanwhile, war engulfed the city once more. It seems that word of the duke's heresy had spread, and now the Rhozeia-loyal forces were fighting each other. Verbal made his way to the camp of the ex-Guardsman Tholos, after attempts to reach him by radio failed. Tholos had indeed turned on Ollard's allies, and arranged for the other acolytes to be rescued.

With the duke's confession that Prince Olcan's seneschal Kirith was an ally of the xenos, the acolytes decided to travel to the capital city to intercept Kirith and use the planet's Astropath. They asked Tholos for aid, and Alaric was alarmed when Tholos let slip that he knew the xenos were named Slaught. The group departed in an armed carriage.

Crossing a land of dead men and charnel fields, they came to an inn...

Report on Investigations on Acreage (3)

Following a disturbing encounter with an animated corpse, the acolytes followed the corpse-collector to a warehouse by the docks, where an eccentric old man was collecting corpses. The investigation turned violent, and an ill-timed grenade caused the warehouse to collapse, severely injuring all but Alaric. The acolytes retreated to the castle to recover from their wounds.

The next day, they discovered that Prince Olcan and his retinue had fled the city, leaving a hastily-promoted Brandic in command of the defenses. Defeat was inevitable. An emissary from the Rhozeia faction visited the castle and offered safe passage through the siege line.

In the Rhozeia camp, they met with ex-Imperial Guard Tholos and Archduke Ollard, Olcan's cousin. Ollard attempted to poison the inquisitors within minutes of meeting them; when that failed, he turned an artillery piece on them, forcing them to flee back to the ruined city.

Following the sewers from the collapsed warehouse, the acolytes discovered Ollard in conference with a pair of xenos, identified as 'Slaught', the Maggot Men. The team attacked and slew one Slaught, at terrible cost to themselves. The other alien escaped. They captured Ollard, who offered to treat with them, but Alaric refused all attempts at compromise and cut out the Duke's eye...

Report on investigations on Acreage (2)

>SECURITY SEAL ENABLED.
>COMMUNICATION FROM INTERROGATOR RAIS TO INQUISITOR GRUMAIRE.
>SUBJECT: Report on investigations on Acreage (2)

The platform came under attack by a flotilla of vessels under the banner of Rhozeia, one of the two warring heirs to the Governorship. Most of the acolytes avoided significant injury, although Alaric was struck by incoming fire several times. Thondor secured a ship that brought them to the mainland.

There, guided by the swamp-dweller Eklo, they rested in a swamp-folk village for a night before making their way to Olrankan. Using a letter of introduction obtained on Emperor's Island and their seal, they obtained entry and spoke to Prince Olcan, who promised to aid their investigations.

While waiting for Prince Olcan's seneschal Kirith to find the document that had been responsible for calling in the Inquisition originally, the acolytes began to investigate.

Verbal and Thondor went down to the edge of the siege, as eye-witnesses had reported bodies vanishing from the field of battle.
Quint found a corpse-collector's cart and followed it.
And at the castle, a sniper attempted to assassinate the tech-priest with an energy weapon...

Report on investigations on Acreage (1)

>SECURITY SEAL ENABLED.
>COMMUNICATION FROM INTERROGATOR RAIS TO INQUISITOR GRUMAIRE.
>SUBJECT: Report on investigations on Acreage (1)
Master,
following reports of a death cult on the feudal world of Acreage, I dispatched four acolytes (the assassin Verbal, the spy Quint, the barbarian guardsman Thondor and the tech-priest emissary Alaric; see attached documents of verification and sanctification) to investigate. After having them blessed by Thurman, the Watchful Angel docked with the lander of one Hetter Brum, who brought the group to the spaceport of 'Emperor's Island'.

Agents report that they learned of the ongoing conflict between the two princesses of Acreage, Rhozena and Rhozia, and how their vassals are respectively holding and besieging the city Olrankan in the swamp. While Thondor tried to find a guide among the swamp-folk, Alaric visited the agent of Rhozena in the city and acquired a letter of introduction to Prince Olcan of Olrankan. The other two visited the agent of Rhozia, only to find his tower abandoned.

The shelling of Emperor's Island began.
[[[ FILE CONTINUES ]]]