Dark Heresy - 40k RPG

Admin Joined : 29 Jul 2008 Posts : 30

I will be filling this space with the tale of the Dark Heresy adventure I have been running. I am however starting with an expression of joy at actually having all my players for the next meeting! Huzzah! Saying this its only the third session of the game. It is however a good sign as I felt that it was falling apart before they got to see all the nasty stuff I've prepped for them. So, soon will begin the story of the retinue of Inquisitor Zuriel sent to Hive Sibellus on Scintilla in the Calixis Sector.

Admin Joined : 29 Jul 2008 Posts : 30

So we got down to the business of character creation, which took longer than it should do (as always). The group are a disparate bunch so this resulted in a mixture of one-on-one sit downs and pub meetings (with beer). Slowly they decided on what they all wanted to be, with the usual undecided player who wants to see what everyone else is doing first. We had two newcomers to roleplaying and it was the first sniff of 40k roleplaying I'd had (the game had just come out). I was looking forward to it and as the players started to make their characters I began to imagine what sort of trouble they would get into.

Normally I like to have 4 players, but this game had attracted some attention and I'd kept it hush hush anyway - I knew several people who would want to play in it - sorry Smile

. Anyway I ended up with 6 players! But the list was looking nice and everyone seemed enthusiastic, so I thought 'what the hell'. The characters ended up looking like this:

Atellus - the Voidborn Techpriest - he travelled on board the Viator Magnificus (a rogue trader vessel) and performed well in maintaining the ship. The Rogue Trader Ishmael, captain of the Magnificus owed Inquisitor Zuriel a favour - so Atellus was given over to his service.

Benedict - the Hive worlder Assassin - a lowly guildsman of the Men of Mercy (after silencing the blasphemy of a renegade Redemptionist) he was lured into the service of the Inquisitor with a promise of being inducted into the Death Cult of Malfi.

Cortez - the Imperial worlder Guardsman - born into the trenches of the Protasian Civil War, Cortez was awarded a monoblade as a token for protecting an Ildian Lady with nothing but his bayonet. His skill earned him the name Cutter and the attention of Zuriel.

Jonas - the Imperial worlder Guardsman - Spectoris, an agri-world, held little charm for Jonas. He stowed away on a Rogue Trader vessel, but when he was found he had only one option. As a guardsman he was posted to Protasia. There he met Cutter and a ticket to Scintilla.

Mynxx - the Voidborn Imperial Psyker - the blue skinned psychic survived the Black Ships and Terra to serve aboard the Sorronos, a ship frequently charted by the Inquisitor Zuriel. The two met and he swiftly inducted the resourceful woman.

Pinch - the Hive worlder Scum - a local and curiously lucky young scummer, Pinch survives by his wits day by day. Not that its clear how. His impressive network of contacts led to him being investigated and subsequently 'recruited' by Zuriel.

You can see that we worked on their backgrounds from the get go. After some brainstorming I put together an A4 page for each player with a background and any pertinent information that only they would know. I like to slide in some background so that it can come back to sting the player. I also told them that they would all begin on board the Sorronos (a charter vessel) that had been chartered by Inquisitor Zuriel to take them to the Scintilla system. The only character that would not be part of the initial group would be Pinch, who would be waiting for them on the planet.

With this basic knowledge they were armed and I went off and had loads of fun creating the first part of what will hopefully become a long lasting, well roleplayed campaign.

Admin Joined : 29 Jul 2008 Posts : 30

So Inquisitor Zuriel called the five acolytes he had aboard the Sorronos to him to inform them of his activities and to give them their latest task. This was also to be their first task as a unit. He had been called to a meeting of the Tyrantine Cabal at Bastion Serpentis on Scintilla's moon Lachesis. Rumours had come to his attention of increased lawlessness on the Hive world below. Even though he is well aware of the frequency of supposed sightings and riots he cannot ignore the proximity of this trouble to the Cabal meeting. Since his presence has been explicitly requested by Witch Finder Rykehuss he has decided that his newest team of acolytes should cut their teeth on this problem. Their swift investigation of this problem should show the professionalism of the team and display his skill as a mentor. The rumours reaching the Sorronos speak of mass riots in the Factorium layers of the Middle Hive as well as a few mutation sightings.

Zuriel informs the gathered acolytes that he has provided them with a shuttle and that they may use their Inquisitorial influence as they see fit, but not to go crazy and lord it over the common people too much. The five make their way down to the shuttle bay of the Sorronos, the room is like the interior of a dark dank cathedral. The shuttle sits awaiting them, two technicians prepping the old bird for flight. They ask a few perfunctory questions of their steel eyed master and head off on their first mission. Aware that they must work well together in the service of the God Emperor or his wrath will be brought down upon them.

Meanwhile down in the dirty bowels of Hive Sibellus the scum Pinch has received, through an arbitrator that owes him a favour (Trooper Titus), a message from Zuriel. He has been instructed to proceed to the lowest level of the Middle City (above him) and await the shuttle's arrival. Dutifully, but not happily, Pinch starts to make his way through the twisting dirty tunnels and shafts that will lead him to the old abandoned dock pad that the Inquisitor has chosen for his acolytes' arrival.

The five acolytes jostled uncomfortably in the shuttle as the craft plunged into the pungent atmosphere of Scintilla. Below them and visible only to the pilots was the immense spire of Hive Sibellus poking out above the thick smog cloud layer that hangs around the vast megacity. The dark ochre clouds spill from the bowels of the hive, clinging to its walls and towers choking the Hive City and Underhive. The spire and the Lucid Palace atop it were the only things visible from high altitude. The pilots set the course the Inquisitor had provided them and informed the acolytes of their arrival time. It was as the co-pilot returned to the cockpit that the trouble began. A loud crash and clunk told all aboard that something very bad had just happened. The shuttle fell into a spin and plunged into the clouds. Smog filled the shuttle and for a moment the world was a spinning nightmare.

Pinch sat, his legs dangling over the lip of the docking bay. The room stank of filth and that particular sludge that seemed to seep down from the hive above, the dirt and slop of all the layers above. He had lit a lho-stick to get rid of the smell. He knew the hive well and felt relatively safe in this disused and half collapsed area. The hive wall sloped away before him, the shattered remnants of industrial activity folding in on itself in all places. To Pinch this was his usual view and he basked in the brown/green light coming through the smog layer. The hovels and mutie shacks spread out around the Underhive and foundations of the city like the scabbing skin that forms around a wound. Its filth and depravity was even greater than that of the Underhive and Pinch marvelled at the fact that there were people still living there. Taking a long drag on his lho-stick he looked up to see a flaming shuttle burst through the smog clouds and rocket straight down into the shanty town of a sprawl before him.

Inside the shuttle things were not going well and with such little time until they would impact it looked like there was little they could do. However the quick thinking Techpriest Atellus clambered (fell) into the cockpit and tore open the maintenance panel he found there. Jamming the wires together and running his multitool over the components he managed to redirect energy to one of the thrusters. As he looked up to tell the pilot the ground filled the window. He jumped into the back of the shuttle as the pilot ignited the repaired thruster. The shuttle started to gain altitude, but with so much time falling it was too little too late. The pilot tried to head to toward the hive, but the shuttle plowed into the structures cluttered around the foot of Sibellus. The acolytes were thrown around the shuttle so hard that they blacked out.

Pinch clambered down the buttresses and rooftops that lay between the docking port and the crashed shuttle. The craft had disappeared in an eruption of metal and glass. An old factory structure, half collapsed and broken anyway, now had a larger hole in the roof from which spilled a huge pillar of smoke. Pinch knew that every hungry pair of eyes in the area would have seen the shuttle go down so had jumped from his perch and now ran at full pace across the shattered rooftops and buildings towards the acolytes in their shuttle. As he neared the hole he was aware of the sound of gunfire coming from many directions and as he reached the factory rooftop a man leaped onto the same roof. Tattered clothes hung from his gaunt frame, a cruel dagger was in his hand and a savage glint in his eyes. Pinch drew his shotgun and took a bracing step backward.

Jonas and Cortez unstrapped themselves and looked around the interior of the shuttle. The techpriest had been flung against the back door and then deposited on the deck, but he looked alive. The rest had been rattled in their harnesses, but suffered no real damage. A check of the cockpit showed a skewered pilot, a large stanchion had broken from the roof and piled through his body, and a co-pilot cowering beneath his control console. Slowly the party shook the dust of and set about getting out of the shuttle. The back ramp opened into the dark of an ancient factory, the structure of which looked fragile in the extreme. Dirty light came through the hole in the ceiling illuminating their plight. As they began to position a girder so they might crawl out of the hole they heard the sounds of combat above and from the far end of the factory the sounds of cutting tools. Jonas, taking charge of the situation, realised they needed to get out before whoever it was got in.

Two great blasts from his shotgun had missed the dirty, greasy man as he ran in a half crazed manner toward Pinch. Fumbling with the shells in his pocket he realised the mutie was going to get close enough to stab him. Pinch reversed his weapon, clutching the barrel and battered him over the head. He knew his weapon had been heard, he was normally a bit more cautious when in the Underhive or out in the wasteland (not that he did that much). As he threw that man's body over the side of the building he heard the clang of a girder being placed against the side of the hole. It seemed that the acolytes (or some of them) had survived. He ran to the hole and looked down into the dark.

As Mynxx spoke to the scum that had appeared at the hole the guardsmen positioned the girder best for their ascent. Benedict had found a good spot to hide in and watch the far end of the factory. The cutting noise had got louder and Jonas was worried that they might not make it out in time. Atellus had decided to talk to the machine spirit of the shuttle and try to figure out what had happened. In short order they began to leave the factory, shimmying up the girder and onto the rooftop. As they made it up to Pinch, one after the other, Jonas helped the bulky techpriest up the girder. Aware that they were leaving Imperial property to be plundered by scum, but unable to do anything about it, Jonas ordered the group to move out.

They stared up at the massive tangle of structure that rose in front of them and began to make their way to the docking port they had originally tried to reach. The line of acolytes trudged off and as they left Atellus turned to Jonas and handed him a component from the engine manifold of the shuttle. Even though Jonas had no technical skill whatsoever he was able to tell that someone had deliberately cut the power feed in two. What had happened was no accident. The shuttle had been sabotaged. He shrugged his lasgun to his shoulder and marched on with the others. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a simple mission after all.