mission logs 9/30/21

(8:28:38 PM) Gryph: 267.M41 09:56 local. Orthlack Cling, Abandoned Mission Safehouse.
(8:32:32 PM) Gryph: Adrian is on the vox in the other room, in communication with a contact in the Munitorium about the Adeptus Mechanicus. The rest of you have just finished your preparations. Thanks to Benedict's recollection and Adrian's inquiries, you have the approximate location, in geocoordinates, of the Centrum Aquae LVI-Aleph, an ancient and deeply buried structure of unknown but sacred purpose...
(8:32:34 PM) Gryph: ...operated by a splinter faction of the reclusive Lathe World tech-magi.
(8:39:04 PM) Gryph: A pessimist might recall the story of Frodus the Ratling and how one does not simply walk into the deep underhive. Its buried passages are guarded by more than just gangs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the mutants are ever watchful. It is a barren warren, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand guardsmen could you...
(8:39:05 PM) Gryph: ...do this. It is folly.
(8:39:20 PM) Gryph: On the other hand, you're not ratlings, you're the Holy Inquisition. You will be fine.
(8:43:02 PM) Gryph: =][=
(8:43:45 PM) ***Benedict finishes up their introduction from Magos Van Ness using an autoquill.
(8:54:07 PM) ***Wrax had started preparing his equipment the night prior, intending to go at least fully armored for this, taking advantage of his armor's sealed helmet and respirator. He would also begin some preliminary inquiries with the local mercenaries he had been ingratiating himself with, forming a mental list of those who might've operated in the underhive near the site.
(9:09:43 PM) Adrian [[email protected]] entered the room.
(9:15:16 PM) Benedict: "I have some contacts in a local gang, the Ten-Tonne Tough Guys. They know me through one of my alter-egos. They could provide us with crude maps, and they could serve as muscle if we want to smash through hostiles. I'm not sure they'd make reliable guides, however."
(9:15:17 PM) ***Wrax has his equipment spread out on his cot. He's sat down in front of it for now, thinking.
(9:19:10 PM) Benedict: "The Warlords of Wreckage are another gang I've contacted before. They are adept at infilitrating using small groups of specialists."
(9:20:25 PM) Wrax: "There's someone I've heard spoken of. A holy man nomad. Well traveled. Good reputation as a guide. Si-ko Sam the Shotgun Saint." He said this name with complete seriousness, rubbing his chin with a furrowed brow. "Spurns wealth but he still charges a pile of gelt for his service. May make an exception for us, if we tell him who we serve."
(9:21:02 PM) Plex: "I've put some messages out," Plex adds. "Your...friends...might be willing to provide some muscle, but it would be better to know what lies between us and our destination. Ideally, we will have that information before too long."
(9:22:46 PM) Wrax: "Also, there are gunhands fighting in that area. We could call them if we want to force our way through... whatever is there."
(9:26:18 PM) Wrax: "Would need to speak to this Shotgun Saint, face to face, if he's the guide we need."
(9:26:33 PM) Benedict: "He sounds promising."
(9:27:23 PM) Zeal [[email protected]] entered the room.
(9:28:42 PM) Adrian left the room (quit: Ping timeout).
(9:32:37 PM) Benedict: "Then shall we approach this Saint while waiting for Plex's information?"
(9:35:09 PM) Zeal left the room (quit: Ping timeout).
(9:35:54 PM) ***Wrax nods, "Will have to find him. Only heard of him from others. But he's known, so should not take long."
(9:36:06 PM) Adrian [[email protected]] entered the room.
(9:39:31 PM) Plex: "My people know how to return their information to me. We need not stay here, and in fact, it may serve our purposes better for me to make my inquiries as we move...as long as we are methodical in our pace, such that we have time to prepare based on what comes back."
(9:40:29 PM) ***Benedict seals his letter and stands up.
(9:45:07 PM) Benedict: "Let's go, then."
(9:48:25 PM) ***Wrax leaves his heavier equipment behind, taking only his axe, pistol and local Gesham clothes. If there are no other destinations proposed to be visited first, he will lead to the locations where he heard the Shotgun Saint might be found.
(9:56:56 PM) ***Adrian takes gears up in his undercover suit with protective vest and concealed tactical harness underneath.
(10:04:03 PM) Gryph: A few thrones buys passage across the channel to the Gesham mainland, where you recover the cargo-sled from its garage. Then begins the process of moving through the conflict-torn city. Gesham is still reeling from the aftershocks of the violent overthrow of Lord Mortiz and the bloody purge of his noncombattant supporters, aggravated by the war of assassins on yourselves, and you find you...
(10:04:04 PM) Gryph: ...must frequently circumnavigate or backtrack to avoid coming into open conflict with enforcer patrols, gangs, riots, and ad-hoc refugee camps.
(10:08:10 PM) Gryph: 13:04 local. Gesham, near the Buried Crossroads. You've learned that the man you're lookin for is in that run-down district and are on your way. But...
(10:10:32 PM) Gryph: The cargo-sled noses around a tight corner that you think will lead you clear the rest of the way. Instead, up ahead, an impromptu barricade bristling with pintle-mounted stubbers and fronted with razor wire blocks the alley.
(10:10:51 PM) Adrian: "Well that's ominous."
(10:12:19 PM) Gryph: The pair of stubbers train on the vehicle, aimed by men in what look like paramilitary clothing.
(10:12:30 PM) ***Benedict doesn't react.
(10:12:41 PM) Wrax: "Hhf... power shift?"
(10:14:34 PM) Benedict: "Back up slowly?"
(10:14:53 PM) Adrian: "I doubt it's a power shift, more like a defense cordon."
(10:15:00 PM) Gryph: From behind the barricade comes an amplified, shrill male voice. "Not another inch, lawbreakers! Come out with your hands up!"
(10:15:12 PM) Adrian: "Yeah...."
(10:15:36 PM) Adrian: "I think we just need to show our ID."
(10:17:35 PM) ***Adrian stops the car and steps outside, squinting at the barricade. He shouts back "Do I look like a lawbreaker to you?!"
(10:18:05 PM) Gryph: "Freeze! Put your hands up!"
(10:18:07 PM) ***Wrax mutters, "Lawbreaker?" He peers through the window, searching for any identifying marks on their clothing.
(10:18:21 PM) Gryph: "Get on your knees! Put your hands behind your head! Drop the weapon!"
(10:19:18 PM) Gryph: All that's in plain view are the two men on the stubbers. They seem to have some sort of shoulder patch but you can't make it out at this angle.
(10:22:00 PM) ***Adrian takes a few steps towards the cordon, "Patch me through to your commander. This will get sorted out."
(10:25:12 PM) Gryph: A squat, rotund man in an Enforcer uniform rushes to the top of the barricade, somehow managing to flag *both* of the stubber operators with his autopistol before stabbing it in your direction. Apart from the loud-hailer in his other hand, which he brings back to his flushed face to yell at you again, neither he nor his uniform and gear look like they ever left an office before this week.
(10:25:25 PM) Gryph: "On the ground! On the grouuuuund!"
(10:27:16 PM) Plex: Plex lifts one eyebrow at Adrian. "I have my rosette," she says quietly.
(10:27:58 PM) Benedict: "I have the one on the left."
(10:28:10 PM) Gryph: By comparison, the men on the stubbers look almost bored, as if they're neither concerned about the possibility of violence, nor particularly invested in whether they open fire or not. They're certainly not in enforcer uniforms.
(10:29:47 PM) Wrax: "Are they even...?" He has a hand on his pistol, having thumbed back the flint striker.
(10:30:20 PM) ***Adrian lets out a loud and annoyed sounding sigh.
(10:34:07 PM) Benedict: "This is a kill zone. Maybe 8 other positions."
(10:34:55 PM) ***Plex nods. "Hiding on either side of this area. If you remember our last encounter in a kill zone, it fared poorly for you in particular. Our options are to comply, or to show off."
(10:35:09 PM) Adrian: "Tell your men on the rooftops to hold their fire, I'm getting out my documentation."
(10:35:38 PM) ***Adrian reaches up and pulls his jacket away from his chest to reach in and grab his rosette.
(10:38:41 PM) Adrian: "And when you're doing a cordon, you have someone out here to gather the documentation so the potential target does not have to walk to you."
(10:39:31 PM) Gryph: For a second you think he's going to open fire, but he seems cowed by your stern tone and command presence, and allows you to withdraw your rosette.
(10:40:28 PM) ***Adrian draws it and starts approaching the desk jockey running the detachment.
(10:43:17 PM) Gryph: After seeing your documentation up close, he begins flapping his arms at his mercenaries, and they stand down, allowing you to withdraw in peace and find somewhere safe to leave the cargo-sled and continue on to your objective, if you so choose.
(10:44:39 PM) Benedict: "Enforcers are having to outsource, now?"
(10:47:03 PM) Gryph: "Troubled times," he stammers. He looks around as if the appropriate title might be written on a helpful note nearby, then settles on, "Your eminences."
(10:48:33 PM) ***Wrax elects to stay inside, to keep their profile low. Seeing Adrian engage the commander in conversation, he thumbs forward the striker on his pistol.
(10:48:42 PM) Adrian: "So why is this street being guarded?"
(10:51:18 PM) Gryph: "Crime, your eminence! It's rampant! You should burn the whole Crossroads down, your Eminence! Nothing there but dissidents, criminals, and malcontents!"
(10:56:44 PM) Benedict: "Adrian, are we staying?"
(10:56:50 PM) ***Benedict calls from the van.
(10:58:02 PM) Adrian: "Nah..."
(10:58:20 PM) ***Adrian heads back to the van.
(11:00:53 PM) ***Adrian drives through onto the next phase of their trek.
(11:05:36 PM) Gryph: You leave the cargo-sled in a secluded alley near your destination and proceed into the Buried Crossroads.
(11:06:06 PM) Adrian: "There was an assassin here right? Cassandra?"
(11:06:28 PM) Adrian: "I got to wonder how that assassination moratorium's affecting business."
(11:06:34 PM) ***Wrax nods, "Cassandra Vusan."
(11:09:59 PM) Adrian: "You know, I'm kind of an assassin myself now."
(11:10:45 PM) Gryph: Crouching through a cramped passage that's more tunnel than alleyway, you enter a riot of smells and odors, lights and noise. If the Crossroads have been bothered by the quiet civil war outside, it's hard to tell. You proceed through the choked walkways, stepping over refuse both human and inanimate, barraged by advertisements and solicitations for every form of crude, low-rent escape from...
(11:10:46 PM) Gryph: ...human misery.
(11:14:27 PM) Benedict: "Have you been paid for it?"
(11:14:44 PM) Adrian: "Once."
(11:15:20 PM) Benedict: "Then you qualify."
(11:15:52 PM) Gryph: It's not hard to find your man. He's leaning out over the crowd, hanging on with one arm and one leg to a guy-line sparking with half-dead electrolumins, preaching a sermon to all and sundry that - from the snippits you can make out - seems to likely to get him executed in better company.
(11:17:19 PM) Wrax: "There is he."
(11:18:35 PM) Plex: "What a charming individual."
(11:19:43 PM) ***Adrian curls his nose a bit, "So he is..."
(11:19:56 PM) Gryph: "Nobles! Arbitrators! Do they speak for the Emperor? No, we have His holy words, and has He not given us guns to shoot the unholy? Are we not men? For He is the Emperor of Mankind, not the Emperor of the high and mighty! Righteousness is our..." His voice is lost in the din for a minute.
(11:21:42 PM) Gryph: "... so shoot your enemies! Stab them! Eat them if you're hungry! But never forget that you are the Emperor's mighty gun, milled out in the furnace of His will..."
(11:22:53 PM) ***Benedict listens politely.
(11:23:38 PM) Gryph: "...and honor the martyrs by honoring their sacrifice! And if you bang a whore, pay her, and not with fake scrip or used-up ration cards, for surely I say, he who shall cheat a whore shall get the pox, a fiery pox like unto the fires of the Emperor's wrath, unto the fires of the Warp itself..."
(11:24:16 PM) Plex: Plex's expression mirrors Adrian's after a minute of listening. "Perhaps, Wrax, it'd be best to interrupt his sermon."
(11:26:40 PM) Gryph: "...and so the saint slew him, and his whole family, and also his dogs, and his household, and burned what remained, as it is written...
(11:27:58 PM) Wrax: "Amazing. He sounds as wise as Benedict. Wiser, even."
(11:28:18 PM) ***Adrian blinks and looks at Wrax.
(11:28:42 PM) ***Wrax starts moving through the crowd, towards where he's perched.
(11:28:54 PM) Benedict: "Edit the word choice, and it is not out of place in some chapels I've attended."
(11:30:05 PM) Gryph: Wrax doesn't find it too difficult to shoulder his way through the crowd, being of that physical bulk which allows great force with little actual violence.
(11:31:45 PM) ***Wrax will wait a minute at the front of the crowd first, in case the Shotgun Saint's sermon is naturally about to end.
(11:33:20 PM) Gryph: The Shotgun Saint seems to notice Wrax and accelerate his sermon's end.
(11:33:44 PM) Gryph: "...but be swift to forgive your fellow man, for hatred is a gift not to be squandered on your neighbors! Hold tight to your hatred, and with it, and your gun, be the Emperor's gun, and gun down the mutants, all of them, and the raiders and the chem-fiends, shoot them, gun them down, stab them, bite them if you have to, by the Golden Throne of earth, let him who hath no gun sell his garment...
(11:33:46 PM) Gryph: ...and buy one, for it is better to be naked and shooting the enemies of God than clothed in inequity!"
(11:35:27 PM) Benedict: "See?"
(11:35:29 PM) Gryph: He swings down from his elevated position with ape-like alacrity to stand before Wrax.
(11:36:57 PM) Gryph: "As I live and breathe, Wrax the axe, the table smasher, the head smasher, the face smasher, the foe smasher, the man who out drank Drunk Dorn!"
(11:43:11 PM) Plex: "A smashing list of epithets," Plex drawls, eyes on her big compatriot.
(11:43:17 PM) Adrian: "Impressive."
(11:43:30 PM) Wrax: "And you, the Shotgun Saint. If you know me, of course I would know you."
(11:43:51 PM) Wrax: "Have you been well? These are hard times."
(11:49:43 PM) Gryph: "Aye, though it's near time for me to leave again. These good and pious people -" he waves a hand, encompassing the crowd, a couple of underage prostitutes, and a man holding up another as a third punches him in the stomach. "Are not my true calling."
(11:51:29 PM) ***Wrax looks over at the assembly of colorful Buried Crossroaders, "Mm. True."
(11:52:17 PM) Wrax: "If the road is calling, we may help each other."
(11:53:57 PM) Wrax: "A task has been put to me and others. A service to be done for the Old Father, Throne King."
(11:55:03 PM) Gryph: Instant, crazy-eyed attention from the Shotgun Saint. He paces back and forth as Wrax talks, hands behind his back, leaning forward alarmingly.
(11:55:36 PM) Adrian: "Ah... I understand now."
(11:57:26 PM) Wrax: "There's a iron temple, deep in the underhive. We need to reach it but we do not know the way."
(10/1/2021 12:00:14 AM) Wrax: "You are well-traveled. Will you guide us there?"
(12:07:23 AM) Gryph: "Mmm... it can be done. But is your task truly holy? I have heard of your might, Wrax, but..." he shrugs with his hands outspread. "Smashing and drinking are not the only commandments."
(12:11:22 AM) ***Wrax scratches his chin with a finger, thinking. "Shotgun Saint..."
(12:12:58 AM) Wrax: "I can prove the holiness of my task. So far past any line of doubt, that even you would dread the sight of it. But once I show you, you are committed."
(12:13:35 AM) Wrax: "Not just to aiding us but to the silence of that aid."
(12:14:02 AM) Wrax: Now it is Wrax who is leaning in, and slightly down, "Do you understand my words?"
(12:15:05 AM) Gryph: "Yes, brother. Yes, I understand!" He clasps your shoulders, leaning in, looking up at you as he speaks with rabid intensity.
(12:19:27 AM) Wrax: "Then come with me."
(12:19:53 AM) Gryph: He accompanies you willingly.
(12:20:44 AM) Adrian: "Well that was easy... To easy."
(12:20:51 AM) ***Adrian says quietly as he follows after Wrax.
(12:22:26 AM) ***Wrax would lead him back to the others and the cargosled. Once more out of sight than at that crowded area, he would confer with Plex whether she is willing to reveal her Inquisitorial status, as proof of the spiritual weight of their task.
(12:24:26 AM) Plex: "If it becomes truly necessary - this Shotgun Saint decides the task is too difficult for him, for example. But he seems committed for now."
(12:28:53 AM) Gryph: Along the way, the Saint lights a lho stick. He offers the pack out, a wordless question if anyone else wants one.
(12:29:58 AM) ***Adrian shakes his head.
(12:33:01 AM) ***Wrax reaches into his jacket and reveals his Throne Agent rosette, "Our task is the Throne's command. Our enemies are His enemies. Should you aid us, you aid Him."
(12:35:00 AM) ALT-F4 left the room (quit: Ping timeout).
(12:35:10 AM) ALT-F4 [[email protected]] entered the room.
(12:36:48 AM) Gryph: He aquilas himself, gaping with shock. He takes the rosette, turning it over in trembling hands. He whispers: "The Holy Inquisition..." A kind of quiet joy seems to suffuse his lanky body.
(12:37:56 AM) Gryph: He hands the token back with due reverence.
(12:41:41 AM) ***Benedict explains their destination.
(12:42:55 AM) Gryph: Thus you gain the services of Psycho Sam the Shotgun Saint, of wiery steel hair and sallow, pockmarked skin, of mendicant's robes, flak vest, and oft-repaired Imperial Guard issue boots, of the battered backpack, and of course, of the lovingly-maintained trencher shotgun.
(12:44:10 AM) Gryph: *steel-colored hair
(12:44:14 AM) Gryph: *it's not actually steel
(12:45:35 AM) Adrian: "How far down into the hive have you ventured?"
(12:48:29 AM) Gryph: "To the Deeps and beyond, where the Emperor's light comes only from the barrel of a gun. Below the sea, below the earth, where all is evil, where men prey upon men and nameless creatures lurk, where the underhive ends and the underworld begins..."
(12:50:09 AM) Adrian: "You ever hear about a band of old lost guardsmen on an island?"
(12:50:27 AM) ***Wrax frowns, looks around, suddenly uncomfortable, [ST:A] "Feel watched."
(12:51:20 AM) Gryph: "There are no islands down there." He replies, not understanding Wrax's quiet interjection.
(12:51:35 AM) ***Adrian gives Wrax a subtle nod and tries to not look obvious as he looks around.
(12:52:16 AM) ***Benedict looks with his skull
(12:52:19 AM) ***Wrax checks their current location and how visible it is to the crowded area where the Shotgun Saint had just been preaching.
(12:54:05 AM) Gryph: You're on the outskirts of the Burried Crossroads, behind the cargo-sled. A look around shows no-one on at the overhanging alley rooftops, and there is no crowd nearby, although you can hear it, faintly, through the tunnel-like passage through which you entered and left the burried district.
(12:55:00 AM) Gryph: He does, however, notice your sudden alertness. He places a hand on his shotgun, looking around himself.
(12:57:03 AM) Wrax: "We should move. If more questions, we can answer them on the road."
(1:01:47 AM) Adrian: "Agreed."
(1:12:33 AM) ***Wrax mentions once inside, "Have you been through that area before?"
(1:18:29 AM) ***Adrian starts the cargosled rolling away from the crossroads.
(1:21:13 AM) Gryph: He describes having traveled in the region. He has not been to LVI-Aleph itself, but he has seen it across a chasm. "A mighty mechanical creation, large as a spire, more ancient than time..."
(1:22:26 AM) Wrax: "That is good. And, if you aid us here, we may aid you in the future."
(1:27:33 AM) Adrian: "Is the route dangerous?"
(1:27:36 AM) Gryph: Returning to the safehouse while avoiding conflict takes most of the remaining daylight. Along the way, you discuss the journey with your guide. The preacher has no compunctions about going to a brutal gang for assistance and agrees that maps may be useful and violence might avoid long delays. He also agrees with Plex's assessment that a slow and steady approach, cultivating the friendship...
(1:27:38 AM) Gryph: ...of the common people, is more reliable than relying on a gang, but might increase the time of the journey by several times.
(1:31:03 AM) Gryph: Teasing out more specifics, you're left with four broad categories of options.
(1:31:05 AM) Gryph: You could travel as Sam would, moving mostly along known paths or amongst established allies, occasionally venturing into the unknown with caution and local advice when known paths would mean overly circuitous routes.
(1:32:05 AM) Gryph: That would likely take two to three days.
(1:32:43 AM) Gryph: You could modify that approach with violence - both your own, and the disposable muscle of your contacts. This would likely reduce the travel time to about a day, unless of course things went badly.
(1:35:14 AM) Gryph: You could plunge ahead on the fastest possible route, combining Sam's knowledge; violence, bribes, and bullying for human threats; and extravagant risk-taking for environmental and inhuman threats; to take as close to a straight line path as possible and use as much transportation infrastructure as possible. This would cut the journey to just a few hours... if nothing goes terribly wrong.
(1:37:34 AM) Gryph: You could move slowly and cautiously the whole way, avoiding conflict and risk, relying on relationships and perhaps a little bit of bribery to smooth the path. This would likely add a day or two, making the journey four or five days.
(1:38:00 AM) ***Benedict advocates for the modified violence route.
(1:40:02 AM) ***Adrian seconds.
(1:40:07 AM) Gryph: In any case, he is eager to leave and hopes you will depart this very evening.
(1:41:30 AM) ***Wrax thirds the modified violence approach. "We'll need gunhands, then."