Rosenkrantz 41

	Rosenkrantz_GM	IT IS THE 41ST MILLENNIUM...
	Rosenkrantz_GM	You are lowered into an area the size of a cathedra nave, its flagstone floor shattered and cracked by violence of the Sacred Heart's death. Statues ten meters tall line the huge space, each depicting Cognatius in one of his many guises. In some he is  a venerable, monkish character, his eyes radiating wisdom and purpose. In others he is depicted as a warrior, a power mace held aloft as
	Rosenkrantz_GM	if to inspire a multitude of unseen followers. Other statues depict the Saint as a wise general, a proud leader, a compassionate healer, or any one of a score of different aspects. Above each statue hangs the tattered, translucent remains of several dozen heraldic banners. Though very little remains of the devices once emblazoned upon these standards, faint traces of familiar symbols can
	Rosenkrantz_GM	still be discerned --- skulls, eagles and wings combined with candles, halos, hearts and other symbols associated with the Saint.
	Calvin_Colonel	"It seems all the scholars were right. Or most of them, anyway.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	But what catches the eye are the enormous, cast bronze doors at the far end. These tower above even the statues, and upon their surface are etched scenes from what can only be the life of Saint Cognatius and his glorious deeds in the Koronus Expanse.
	Vivian	stayed quiet, slowly walking forward to start into the open space. As she walked, she'd turn slightly, carefully surveying the room and taking in the sight of the statues- too taken in awe at the sight to really notice anything else.
	Baine_Mort	"So, What you think is behind those big doors?"
	Makh_Chomun	grunts to himself as he adjusts his make-shift sling. His pain however is overcome by the vast space full of it's magnificent statues and splendor. "By the Emperor." He breathes.
	Josef	takes a moment to observe their surroundings
	Calvin_Colonel	"A great relic, to be sure. Or, at the very least, clues to one's location. The Emperor has truly blessed this venture of ours."
	Josef	"Any significance of the scene in the etching?"
	Calvin_Colonel	"Let me take a closer look..."
	Makh_Chomun	"It's a worthy find so far, Colonel."
	Baine_Mort	"I still never quite understood why they needed big doors the guard something. Why not just a normal size door and huge thick walls."
	Calvin_Colonel	gives him a look
	Calvin_Colonel	"Aesthetics, of course."
	Makh_Chomun	chuckles despite the pain. "Oh Mr. Mort. Try asking that later when we're not balls deep in the bowels of an otherwise beautiful ship.
	Baine_Mort	looks at Calvin, "What? Its more efficient."
	Josef	"To significance its importance."
	Vivian	quietly checks her Chrono.
	Calvin_Colonel	looks back up at the murals. "Penance, redemption, and forgiveness. Seems I was right to give the Children a chance to change their ways."
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The House Guard respectfully approach the enormous doors.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	They dare not touch them, however, or force entry.
	Makh_Chomun	"Colonel?" Makh takes his place to the right of the doors, near his House Guard.
	Calvin_Colonel	"A moment..."
	Calvin_Colonel	inspects the door, looking for a mechanism or key
	Josef	"Confessor Colonel, do you need assistance?"
	Calvin_Colonel	points at a skull-shaped indent on a floorplate just a few meters in front of the doors. "Something goes in its head. Someone pass me a censer."
	Makh_Chomun	directs some of his HG to get the Colonel what he needs with a wave of his boltpistol.
	Calvin_Colonel	"Lord Protector. Muzzle discipline, please."
	Calvin_Colonel	takes a censer with both hands and gently places it in the hole
	Rosenkrantz_GM	One is picked up from the base of a statue, and brought to the missionary.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The placing of the censer seems to push some of the plating down a few centimeters.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	A light draft of air can be felt as a result of whatever was adjusted.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	As though the air around the censer is being sucked in.
	Josef	"I having difficult trying to figuring out this mechanism."
	Makh_Chomun	"That's a surprise," Makh jokes.
	Josef	"Indeed. This is troubling."
	Vivian	frowns slightly, before she would look around the room briefly once more. Looking to Calvin, she'd speak up. "Father.. Do you have any incense on your person, by chance? Or have you spotted any laying around?"
	Makh_Chomun	"Doesn't every priest carry some around? I was always told they practically wore the stuff."
	Calvin_Colonel	"Ah yes, I was saving this, but..."
	Calvin_Colonel	pulls the censer out, fills it with Drusine incense, then puts it back in
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The smoke begins to build up and rise slowly, a thick substance.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	And yet, it returns to the censer, and disappears beneath it, the mechanisms taking it all in.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The titanic, cast bronze doors swing slowly inward as gears not engaged for countless centuries grind noisily into life. Dust billows from the ground, obscuring the way ahead. The doors swing open with an ominous gust of sickly incense and candle smoke, and numerous points of light from dim candles faintly flicker into being somewhere in the darkness ahead.
	Calvin_Colonel	"Ave Imperator. Onwards."
	Makh_Chomun	waves his men and women forward to secure the inside. +Careful now.+
	Baine_Mort	readies his bolt pistol and advances forward
	Josef	draws his Eviscerator, Power Axe, and Chain Axe.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	Passing through the metal doors you find yourselves within a circular chamber, with four smaller arched mortals leading off it. Every surface is wreathed in gold leaf or emblazoned with shining aquilas, and the scent of burned incense hangs heavy in the air. At the center, illuminated by guttering candles that eerily flicker to light around it, stands a mighty rectangular structure wrought
	Rosenkrantz_GM	of stone and carved with line after line of spidery gothic text. Might this be a sarcophagus? If so, could the body of Saint Cognatius himself rest within? Surely now, you have reached the holy of holies. The inner sanctum of the Sacred Heart.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	portals*
	Calvin_Colonel	tries to read the text and make sense of it
	Makh_Chomun	whistles despite himself. Though you could hardly hear it given his helmet. "What a sight."
	Calvin_Colonel	"The text appears to either continue, or reference some other text. Each face of the rectangular sacrophagus has this same odd break of language. Perhaps each of the faces are an "answer" to whatever is found in the sub chambers they face?"
	Makh_Chomun	"Riddles? Pah. I never realized Cognatius was a fan of mind-games."
	Vivian	looked towards the portals- quietly and lightly stepping to one to try to see about opening it up.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The mechanisms are old and difficult, however the Acquisitionist is able to find the soft spot and the archway opens up.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The northern subchamber is an armory containing a staggering collection of weapons, all mounted upon the stone-flagged wall in ornate brackets.
	Makh_Chomun	"Sacred gak and shchlag." He says as he looks towards the noise and sees the armory.
	Calvin_Colonel	"Wait. The other chambers might close off if we take this. Let us see if we can find out what the other sides hold."
	Baine_Mort	turns his head and sees what is through the doors Vivian has opened and whistles.
	Vivian	dusts off her hands at first, before she would quietly and cautiously step inside. Soon as she did, she'd call out. "There's a armory here, fellas.. Though Father, I think you may want to see this." As she spoke, she stopped in front of what looked like  a rosarius placed in an ornate crystal box.
	Calvin_Colonel	"A Rosarius? Well, I already have one."
	Josef	"Understood, Confessor. We will open the other chambers."
	Vivian	carefully opened up the crystal box, removing the Rosarius and looking it over.
	Makh_Chomun	tinkers with the mechanism for the west wing and think he has it, a little difficult to do given he only has one arm to work with.
	Josef	"Did you hear that Lord Chomun?"
	Baine_Mort	stands guard near Vivian.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The ground trembles with the sound of metal grinding against metal and stone cracking wide open. A mechanical groan fills the air, followed an instant later by a howl of stark pain and utter insanity. One of the side chambers doors grinds open, the very fabric of the sanctum trembling and sending runnels of dust and debris scattering overhead. Then, the portal snaps fully open and there
	Rosenkrantz_GM	is a dread hush... the calm before the storm. What seems like an eternity later, a form stirs in the shadowed interior of the side chamber and a vast shape steps out. It is a huge mechanical monster, larger than a Space Marine Dreadnought. At the center of its torso is a shrivelle thing that might once have been a man, reminding you instantly of one of the fearsome Penitent Engines created
	Rosenkrantz_GM	and utulised by the Ecclesiarchy. But this is something larger and more horrific, the very pinnacle of whatever tormentor's artifices create such infernal machines.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	Clearly, the towerint horror is the guardian of this place. Its first action upon awakening is to cycle the motorized blades mounted upon its arms and test fire the heavy flamers set beside them. Its otics sweep the chamber. For an endless instant, it sits eerily still, priming its weapons and observing its surroundings.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	With a crash of one of its massive feet slamming down upon the deck and a bellow of incosolable fury, the guardian surges forward to strike down upon the nearest victim of its ancient wrath!
	Josef	"Lady and Lords, we have a situation."
	Makh_Chomun	"More than a situation!" He grabs his bolt pistol, +terminate with extreme prejudice!+
	Rosenkrantz_GM	+On your command+ the aknowledgment from the Guard is brief.
	Baine_Mort	grabs his Heavy Bolter from Mike.
	Josef	parries one of the Engine's strikes, but is caught off-guard from the other arm. He takes a hit.
	Baine_Mort	Seeing the giant beat of a machine, Mort points his Heavy Bolter, loaded with Kraken Bolts and opens fire.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The enormous construct shrieks in pain and torment. It charges forth in rage to destroy its targets, the wounded Lord-Protector in its sights. The heavy flamer dripping lit promethium, heavy chain axe roaring, every step it takes sees the destruction of another portion of the sacred chamber. Just three meters away from the Lord-Protector, the penitent engine launches itself in the air for
	Rosenkrantz_GM	a killing blow.
	Josef	"By the Omnissiah..."
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The Emperor protects. His divine intervention in the form of the Master of Ordnance's punishing burst of fire. Kraken Bolts fly through the air, guided by His Holy hand, striking at the monstrosity before Makh, with every projectile finding its mark. In a brief moment that seems to linger in slowed time, the engine of death and destruction is hit again and again. From head, to limbs, to
	Rosenkrantz_GM	torso. Every time, the rounds rip into its form. The soul that was tormented for centuries finding its penance; its rest, in the gruesome display of violence. This is true excellence. Mastery of the art of warfare. For that moment, Baine Mort is His favorite Son.
	Calvin_Colonel	"All hail!"
	Makh_Chomun	Despite the charge from such a monstrous machine, Makh stood his ground and was justly rewarded for it by the timely fusillade of heavy-bolter fire from the Master of Ordnance. The Lord Protector doesn't move an inch as the monstrous engine finds peace with itself mere feet away from Makh's boots.
	Vivian	just stared in awe, her jaw going slack before she focused on Mort. As soon as the poor creature was downed, she'd immediately grab hold of Mort by his shoulders- giving him a shake. "You-! HOW. HOOOWWW." Though immediately after, she'd just lean in and give the man a rather abrupt kiss to the cheek. "Glorious Bastard!!"
	Makh_Chomun	"Guess I owe you a bottle of amasec, Mr. Mort."
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The House Guardsmen are silent for a while. Incredulous at the feat. They let the moment linger for a while, before helmets are thrown in the air, and Mort's name is praised by the men.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	"Huzzah for Master Mort!"
	Josef	covered in damaged robes and leaking blood and oil. He says "Thank you, Master Mort."
	Rosenkrantz_GM	"Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!"
	Baine_Mort	"Yes you do, and man did that feel good." Mort says as he stands smiling at his work of destruction. He then throws his right fist in the air.
	Makh_Chomun	"Well, I think I'll leave the other portals to Vivian, seems I'm not too good at that." He has a closer look in the West portal after stepping over the corpse of the death machine.
	Vivian	"Well, before we do anything else. Josef, hold still-" She'd murmur, going to work on patching the poor techpriest up. "And after we had gone through all that effort of cleaning you up..Tsk."
	Baine_Mort	approaches Josef, "You doing all right doc?"
	Josef	"Thank you, Lady Vivian."
	Josef	"The damage is minor."
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The Western chamber houses the banks of machinery, amonst which are the power cells that have lain dormant throughoug the centuries and kept the guardian alive as it maintained its long and lonely vigil.
	Baine_Mort	"Good to hear, before that thing started attacking I saw a Scythian Venom Talon."
	Vivian	wipes the sweat off her brow, then goes on to the next portal to get to work.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The Eastern subchamber is a repository for a range of holy vestments, including several units of armor and religious accoutrements clearly made for a very important individual indeed. Individual items are mounted upon the walls, while more complete sets sit atop frames of gold and polished wood.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The Southern subchamber is a small chapel, its walls lined with niches of many different sizes and shapes. Within each niche is some object held sacred by the cult of Saint Cognatius, from jewelled crowns to seemingly insignificant items of cutlery.
	Calvin_Colonel	makes his way to the sarcophagus, his pockets filled to the brim with jewelry
	Rosenkrantz_GM	A feeling of solemnity fills the chamber.
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The House Guard lower their weapons, and stand at a respectful distance.
	Vivian	fell quiet as well, seeing as the sarcophagus in question seemed to lack any noticeable traps, she'd say nothing, for now.
	Baine_Mort	stands there, on his hip is the Scythian Venom Talon he saw before the fight.
	Calvin_Colonel	"In Nomine Imperator..."
	Rosenkrantz_GM	While the holy of holies provides a plethora of items of legendary value, one thing is important above all. The Legend of Saint Cognatius itself. Looking into the chambers, the passages start, continues on the sarcophagus itself. Once the heavy stone slab is pushed to one side by Father Calvin, the hissing of pistons takes over, slowly opening it to the side. Inside it you find a suit of
	Rosenkrantz_GM	consecrated artificer armor, with the bones of Saint Cognatius himself resting within.
	Calvin_Colonel	"By the Emperor!"
	Calvin_Colonel	looks reverentially at the equipment
	Rosenkrantz_GM	The sarcophagus is a voidcoffer, sturdy, almost indestructible. It has protected the remains of the Saint for centuries. And you have now discovered those remains. You are now uniquely positioned to revive an entire cult within the Imperial Creed.
	Calvin_Colonel	"Today, we have accomplished a great deed in the Emperor's name. And thus the Cult of Cognatius rises once more from the cold of the void."
	Makh_Chomun	"That...that's him? We found him?" Makh's voice is filled with awe.
	Josef	"Interesting."