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This will be the official IC thread for the game. I'm putting it up now so that it's ready to begin and get underway, as the first portion of the game will largely move at your own pace, until planetfall. With the holidays, I'm pushing the official start date back until approximately...Wednesday, the 27th, to give people time to finish up or ask any last minute questions and the like. But in the meantime, those of you who are ready, you're more than welcome to commence to the roleplaying and familiarizing yourselves with each other or generally digging into the lore or the like as you wish.
To start us off, here is the in-character report you were all given, regarding the assignment:
Ref: Inq/045678499/BI
Author: Inquisitor Jovinus Haugaarde
Subject: Mission Briefing
Name: Iocanthos
Location: Segmentum Obscurus
Sector: Callixis (Scintillan Sub)
Tithe Grade: Exactus Median
Notes: ref—Ghostfire Pollen
Mission Details: The Inquisition offices on Scintilla have been formally issued with a request for assistance from the settlement of Stern
Hope on Iocanthos. The report, while vague, suggests suspicious disturbances, possibly psychic or warp-based, occurring in the area of
a new cathedral raised to honor Saint Drusus. The cathedral lies at the heart of the remote outpost and its successful completion will do
much to further the Imperial faith on this troubled world, a laudable goal and one that the Holy Ordos shares.
You are requested and required to proceed to the planet Iocanthos where you will assist a Senior Inquisitorial Agent, Aristarchus the Seer,
in investigating the incidents and ensuring that the consecration of the cathedral goes as planned. Your principal tasks are to gather data
about any phenomena encountered and, where needed, eliminate any threats that you find. For the duration of the mission, Aristarchus
has the honor of command over you in my name. Assist him and afford him the same loyalty as you would give me, in the God-
Emperor’s name.
Passage for you has been arranged on the trade-hauler Brazen Sky for immediate departure to Iocanthos. Make yourself known and
familiarize yourself with your fellow Acolytes on board using the codes you have learned during your training.
Landing close to the site of the incident is impractical due to its geographical location in a mountain range and the potential hostility of the
natives. Instead you will make planetfall at Port Suffering (Iocanthos’ primary Imperial outpost) and meet Aristarchus there. From Port
Suffering, arrangements have been made for your journey to Stern Hope.
Addendum 1: The Cathedral Mission
Missionary-Abbot Orland Skae successfully petitioned for the first Iocanthan cathedral to be built in the settlement Stern Hope two years
ago, and since then reports indicate that he has gathered a sizeable congregation of native converts and worthy off-world pilgrims to
his cause. Skae himself, a very distant scion of Scintillan nobility, has managed to garner both of f-world donations and considerable local
support to his mission, so far succeeding where others have failed.
Addendum 2: Reported Phenomena
As the cathedral structure has neared completion, unusual phenomena have been evidenced both at the site and in the surrounding
area. These include strange lights in the hills, animal attacks, missing persons, an upsurge in accidents and unexplained deaths. These
incidents have culminated recently in more serious and obviously unnatural events such as manifestations of phantom sounds, walls
weeping blood, telekinetic disturbances and other such phantasmagoria.
Addendum 3: Planetary Briefing
Society: Iocanthos is an anarchic pseudo-feudal society, where all power-relationships are based on violence or its threat. A war-tor n
and brutal world, the control of the planet rests with various warlord and clan factions that compete to harvest or steal the planet’s
only tithed material, Ghostfire pollen, in order to tur n it over to the Imperium in exchange for supplies. The most powerful warlord is
currently King Vervai Skull who is currently acknowledged as Iocanthos’s de facto planetary governor. Iocanthos boasts a single fortified
Administratum-controlled spaceport settlement, Port Suffering, where the tithe is collected and trans-shipped.
Founding: Iocanthos was taken by General (Saint) Drusus’s 2nd Army Group during the first great crusades through the sector. As the
planet lacked any significant technology, Drusus’s forces defeated the indigenous people, known as the Ashleen, in a single week of
bloody fighting. Drusus later remarked in his memoirs that the only memorable aspect of the planet was the vast fields of wild flowers
which resembled “Shimmering fields of rippling explosions, caught at that fleeting moment between beauty and destruction” [Ref. pg.
526—Breaching the Darkness]. As ever, the general was perceptive as the Ghostfire would become central to the world’s future.
Additional Notes: In times past, Iocanthos served as a penal dumping ground for undesirables that the Scintillan authorities for various
reasons didn’t wish to execute or expatriate further afield. Such exiles were given minimal supplies and allowed to thrive or falter
without further interference. The current population is largely a mixture of their descendants and the native Ashleen.
Imperial xeno-botanist Mogren Thunt was the person who discovered that the pollen of the native Ghostfire flowers contained powerful
psychoactive properties and refined their use.
After being graced with a powerful vision telling her to build a temple, “Where the flowers burn”, Sister Semberle of the Adeptus Sororitas
came to the world and ordered the building of the Abbey of the Dawn in one of Iocanthos’s flint mountain ranges. The Sororitas facility
is forbidden to outsiders.
Ref—Ghostfire Pollen: Iocanthos’s sole tithe. It is a power ful psychoactive substance used as the base for a considerable number of
combat drugs used by the Imperial Guard’s penal legions throughout the Segmentum Obscurus.
Past Inquisitorial Involvement: To the average Iocanthan, the Inquisition is merely another half-legendary power from beyond their world,
and while there are records of several Inquisitorial missions to Iocanthos in the past, they are all classified beyond your clearance rating.
I have reviewed them and judge none to be currently relevant to your mission.
The planet historically registers a slightly higher per capita level of psyker birth, but not significantly so.
The Sisters of the Abbey of the Dawn regularly report any unusual heretical activity to the Conclave. Other than this, the Holy Ordos retain
no standing presence on Iocanthos.
Your assignment begins with the acolytes already in mid-passage aboard the trade-hauler, Brazen Sky, as arranged by the Inquisitor.
The Brazen Sky is...hardly luxurious, but it is at least in good repair. It's a sizable vessel, capable of making the trip across the well-traveled route of your passage in but a few days. Unfortunately, it was rather obviously designed more with hauling cargo than passengers in mind, and it only offers one single open-walled crew bay. The walls bear some visible signs of rust, the glow-lamps flicker worrying and sometimes go out completely for hours or days at a time, and the furnishings are far from luxurious (or even truly comfortable, for that matter), but are the best that can be offered in the circumstances. Meals have been provided in the galley alongside the rest of the crew, seeing the acolytes in the midst of the ship's engineers and ratings, though for the most part they are largely ignored. The only constant on board the ship is the noise, the constant grinding of mechanical parts that may or may not be working, screeching behind the plas-steel plates of the walls.
The acolytes have little freedom to move around the ship, but have been "generously" provided with the services of a fawning, alarmingly obsequious purser by the name of Sebek.
To start us off, here is the in-character report you were all given, regarding the assignment:
Ref: Inq/045678499/BI
Author: Inquisitor Jovinus Haugaarde
Subject: Mission Briefing
Name: Iocanthos
Location: Segmentum Obscurus
Sector: Callixis (Scintillan Sub)
Tithe Grade: Exactus Median
Notes: ref—Ghostfire Pollen
Mission Details: The Inquisition offices on Scintilla have been formally issued with a request for assistance from the settlement of Stern
Hope on Iocanthos. The report, while vague, suggests suspicious disturbances, possibly psychic or warp-based, occurring in the area of
a new cathedral raised to honor Saint Drusus. The cathedral lies at the heart of the remote outpost and its successful completion will do
much to further the Imperial faith on this troubled world, a laudable goal and one that the Holy Ordos shares.
You are requested and required to proceed to the planet Iocanthos where you will assist a Senior Inquisitorial Agent, Aristarchus the Seer,
in investigating the incidents and ensuring that the consecration of the cathedral goes as planned. Your principal tasks are to gather data
about any phenomena encountered and, where needed, eliminate any threats that you find. For the duration of the mission, Aristarchus
has the honor of command over you in my name. Assist him and afford him the same loyalty as you would give me, in the God-
Emperor’s name.
Passage for you has been arranged on the trade-hauler Brazen Sky for immediate departure to Iocanthos. Make yourself known and
familiarize yourself with your fellow Acolytes on board using the codes you have learned during your training.
Landing close to the site of the incident is impractical due to its geographical location in a mountain range and the potential hostility of the
natives. Instead you will make planetfall at Port Suffering (Iocanthos’ primary Imperial outpost) and meet Aristarchus there. From Port
Suffering, arrangements have been made for your journey to Stern Hope.
Addendum 1: The Cathedral Mission
Missionary-Abbot Orland Skae successfully petitioned for the first Iocanthan cathedral to be built in the settlement Stern Hope two years
ago, and since then reports indicate that he has gathered a sizeable congregation of native converts and worthy off-world pilgrims to
his cause. Skae himself, a very distant scion of Scintillan nobility, has managed to garner both of f-world donations and considerable local
support to his mission, so far succeeding where others have failed.
Addendum 2: Reported Phenomena
As the cathedral structure has neared completion, unusual phenomena have been evidenced both at the site and in the surrounding
area. These include strange lights in the hills, animal attacks, missing persons, an upsurge in accidents and unexplained deaths. These
incidents have culminated recently in more serious and obviously unnatural events such as manifestations of phantom sounds, walls
weeping blood, telekinetic disturbances and other such phantasmagoria.
Addendum 3: Planetary Briefing
Society: Iocanthos is an anarchic pseudo-feudal society, where all power-relationships are based on violence or its threat. A war-tor n
and brutal world, the control of the planet rests with various warlord and clan factions that compete to harvest or steal the planet’s
only tithed material, Ghostfire pollen, in order to tur n it over to the Imperium in exchange for supplies. The most powerful warlord is
currently King Vervai Skull who is currently acknowledged as Iocanthos’s de facto planetary governor. Iocanthos boasts a single fortified
Administratum-controlled spaceport settlement, Port Suffering, where the tithe is collected and trans-shipped.
Founding: Iocanthos was taken by General (Saint) Drusus’s 2nd Army Group during the first great crusades through the sector. As the
planet lacked any significant technology, Drusus’s forces defeated the indigenous people, known as the Ashleen, in a single week of
bloody fighting. Drusus later remarked in his memoirs that the only memorable aspect of the planet was the vast fields of wild flowers
which resembled “Shimmering fields of rippling explosions, caught at that fleeting moment between beauty and destruction” [Ref. pg.
526—Breaching the Darkness]. As ever, the general was perceptive as the Ghostfire would become central to the world’s future.
Additional Notes: In times past, Iocanthos served as a penal dumping ground for undesirables that the Scintillan authorities for various
reasons didn’t wish to execute or expatriate further afield. Such exiles were given minimal supplies and allowed to thrive or falter
without further interference. The current population is largely a mixture of their descendants and the native Ashleen.
Imperial xeno-botanist Mogren Thunt was the person who discovered that the pollen of the native Ghostfire flowers contained powerful
psychoactive properties and refined their use.
After being graced with a powerful vision telling her to build a temple, “Where the flowers burn”, Sister Semberle of the Adeptus Sororitas
came to the world and ordered the building of the Abbey of the Dawn in one of Iocanthos’s flint mountain ranges. The Sororitas facility
is forbidden to outsiders.
Ref—Ghostfire Pollen: Iocanthos’s sole tithe. It is a power ful psychoactive substance used as the base for a considerable number of
combat drugs used by the Imperial Guard’s penal legions throughout the Segmentum Obscurus.
Past Inquisitorial Involvement: To the average Iocanthan, the Inquisition is merely another half-legendary power from beyond their world,
and while there are records of several Inquisitorial missions to Iocanthos in the past, they are all classified beyond your clearance rating.
I have reviewed them and judge none to be currently relevant to your mission.
The planet historically registers a slightly higher per capita level of psyker birth, but not significantly so.
The Sisters of the Abbey of the Dawn regularly report any unusual heretical activity to the Conclave. Other than this, the Holy Ordos retain
no standing presence on Iocanthos.
Your assignment begins with the acolytes already in mid-passage aboard the trade-hauler, Brazen Sky, as arranged by the Inquisitor.
The Brazen Sky is...hardly luxurious, but it is at least in good repair. It's a sizable vessel, capable of making the trip across the well-traveled route of your passage in but a few days. Unfortunately, it was rather obviously designed more with hauling cargo than passengers in mind, and it only offers one single open-walled crew bay. The walls bear some visible signs of rust, the glow-lamps flicker worrying and sometimes go out completely for hours or days at a time, and the furnishings are far from luxurious (or even truly comfortable, for that matter), but are the best that can be offered in the circumstances. Meals have been provided in the galley alongside the rest of the crew, seeing the acolytes in the midst of the ship's engineers and ratings, though for the most part they are largely ignored. The only constant on board the ship is the noise, the constant grinding of mechanical parts that may or may not be working, screeching behind the plas-steel plates of the walls.
The acolytes have little freedom to move around the ship, but have been "generously" provided with the services of a fawning, alarmingly obsequious purser by the name of Sebek.
