Inactive Inquisition Quest: Mysteries of Brocante

[ERYFKRAD]

We're also in need of supplies, and while we'll be expected to return to our office to resupply, raiding the heretic for supplies would at least give us the ambush advantage, yes?

 

[Gondolin]

We're also in need of supplies, and while we'll be expected to return to our office to resupply, raiding the heretic for supplies would at least give us the ambush advantage, yes?

We definitely need to regain the initiative.

 

[CappenVarra]

circle back and purge the mob from the flanks?

i bet they won't expect that

nobody expects a cowardly inquisition

 

[Azira]

Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed in us, so I guess I'll just sulk in the corner and not write-in anything.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed in us, so I guess I'll just sulk in the corner and not write-in anything.

It's okay we'll still blame you. :friendly:

 

[Gondolin]

circle back and purge the mob from the flanks?

i bet they won't expect that

nobody expects a cowardly inquisition

If we can find a good ambush spot, I'm OK with this.

 

[Baltika9]

Ehh, don't see a reason to come back for a fight specifically. Ambushing the crowd makes sense if they're still there and common sense suggests that it's better to assume that. But the real goal is getting to the communicator.

 

[Gondolin]

Ehh, don't see a reason to come back for a fight specifically.

It would improve our morale and it might demoralize the enemy a bit.

 

[baud]

So the votes look like this:

circle back and purge the mob from the flanks
CappenVarra, Gondolin

Break into the business district and use the communicator there.
daveyarsegallant

wait out the rabble and go back to the communicator to contact Vince.
Baltika9

Not locking the vote yet, just wanted to start counting

 

[Endemic]

Break into the business district and use the communicator there.

I'll go with this.

 

[Baltika9]

Yeah, let's go with that.

Break into the business district and use the communicator there.

 

[ChumBucket]

Break into the business district and use the communicator there.
to solidify it.

 

[baud]

so the vote is currently there:

Break into the business district and use the communicator there.
daveyarsegallant, Endemic, Baltika9, ChumBucket

circle back and purge the mob from the flanks
CappenVarra, Gondolin

 

[baud]

can someone roll 4d6? (or multiple posters)

(to roll a die, post a message, then more options > roll)

 

[Baltika9]

Sure thing!

 

[CappenVarra]

message

 

[baud]

thanks!

(no ETA, I'll start writing tomorrow and we'll see how it goes)


Edit for a nettally test:

[1] answer A
[2] answer B

 

[baud]

First sorry for the delay between the chapters. I think I'd blame mostly myself, Path of Exile, my limited attention span, the lockdown, myself and my job. But the next chapter is nearly done, only a final edit pass is left and it should go up this evening. Since it's been some time since last I last posted anything, there will be a short recap of what we've done so far in the middle of the update; don't hesitate to ask questions if you need more information, though I'll only answer with in-character knowledge, of course.

 

[baud]

​

Part 17: Heavy lies the crown

[X] Break into the business district and use the communicator there.

"Our first priority will be to get into contact with Vince. One of the offices in the area must have a long-range communicator that'd allow us to call him." you decide. "We'll break and enter under the cover of the night in the offices there until we find one. Electryos, we'll rely on you to open the doors."

"Understood. I think the security here isn't high, so I'll be able to do it, but signs of our entry will be obvious once the sun is up."

"Then we'll have to make sure we don't tarry. Let's go."

Rolls: 4,2,5

Once again you walk in the narrow alleys, taking another route to avoid getting too close to the office of the Department of Health and Mores, in case the mob is still around the place. As you enter the business district, you slow down, making sure the way is clear, but you don't spot anyone in the alleys. You first pass a few run down offices that seem too minor to have what you look for, before first trying your luck with Hubei's Agricultural Coop, as you can directly enter that building from the alley, sheltering you from any prying eyes. Electryos easily broke the lock of a side door and you set out to explore the building. You go through it room by room and it quickly becomes clear that it's not much of an business office and so you move on. The next office isn't much better, but you find some packaged food that you quickly eat before leaving that office.

Finally you try your luck in a much better appointed office, with a wide sign reading in high gothic 'Lignum Vermem'. While you explore, you find a desiccated body, hunched over a table covered in papers. You identify the cause of death as the Pelforth virus; apparently the worker continued to work instead of seeking medical assistance. Though you can understand trying to complete his duty rather than joining the dying in the rapidly filling wards of the city.

And at last you find your objective, a long-range communicator. Electryos quickly get to the task of calling Vince's safehouse, but instead of his rough voice, you hear the hoary tones of Clo, reminiscent of rusty hinges, consequence of decades spent traipsing across the sector first as a sister hospitaller, then as a member of the inquisition.

"Look who's calling. Again needing the help of your seniors?"

"Hello, Clo, nice talking to you too. How's Alec?"

"He'll live, but he won't be wielding his sorry excuse of a gun anytime soon. And before you ask, Vince's away with most of the others, burning a few heretics. I'd have like to join them but someone responsible must be holding the fort."

"Ah. I wanted to give Vince an update. Anyway, have you taken a look to the documents we sent?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. The records weren't so bad, considering the backwater hole you dug them up from. And I guess you wanted a physician's opinion on whether that virus was touched by the Great Enemy, yes?" At your assent, she continues, on a cadence that reminds of your schola professors "Empyrean-touched illnesses and ailments produce extraneous phenomena a few standard deviations away from the mean, with the phenomena following a random distribution among the afflicted. Most of those phenomena are clear in their Empyrean causation, which isn't the case of the observed symptoms from the reports. And as for abnormalities that appear mundane, as I said, their distribution is random, which, again, isn't the case of the observed symptoms, rather they follow a normal distribution and appear at regular intervals, when compounding with the state of the patient. So, if the reports are accurate, it seems unlikely that this virus is related to the Empyrean."

"The Emperor protects. We were considering it, as we saw nothing showing it was the case so far, but more evidence is good. So, could you leave a message to Vince..."

"There's more to these reports. While I was shifting through them, I found a few bizarre conjunctions in how the contamination clusters were spreading, not in chaotic manner, but rather in the opposite direction. I asked Korolev, from the Inquisitor's group, to give me assistance running the numbers and the results are too regular, almost mechanical in how the disease spreads and impacts the infected."

"And? I don't really see what it changes."

"It's because you're not looking. It could means the virus was artificial, crafted by someone for some nefarious goals."

"Magos Zhou! Horus takes him, it wasn't just the servitors." But before you can continue, Clo cuts you;

"It's just a clue, a suspicion. You'd need some very hard proof to be able to accuse a Magos and survive the fallout. Also I told the Inquisitor that you were calling, he's asking to talk to you. I'm transferring the call. The Emperor protects."

====][====
​

As you wait for the connection to reestablish, apprehension grips you. This time your interlocutor won't be a comrade in arms like Vince, but a much more powerful figure, veteran of a thousand shadow conflicts for the soul of the Imperium and granted a life and death mandate over the population of entire planets. So far in his service, Inquisitor Sargent had been a distant figure, interactions limited to briefings and messages like the one that sent you on your current stint.

"Inquisitor."

"The Emperor protects. Agent Baldassare, report on your assignment."

As ordered, you report on your actions, starting from your arrival in Hubei, the investigation in Jianghu where the virus was first detected, what you didn't find (evidence of Immmaterium influence) and what you found (a sabotaged pump that could have been used to introduce the virus in the water supplies), then the visit to the dispensary in Hangul and the paperwork you retrieved there. At this point, you also repeat Clo's analysis of it, including the possible artificial origin of the virus. You continues with the visit to the Adminstratum following a strange transfer of comatose patients from Hangul, the interrogation of Basam Damdu, revealing where he sent the patients and that he was working for an unknown party and his execution. Then the break-in at the storehouse n° 11, where the comatose patients were transferred, how they are being covertly converted into agricultural servitors by members of the Mechanicus who might also be responsible for the initial spread of the virus. You continues with your return to the office and your discussion with the Magos Zhou, who admitted to being behind the servitor conversions and asked you to leave the region, because of the importance of his work for the local food production, both for the tithe and the needs of the planet. You link your refusal to Magos Zhou to the arrival of an armed gang at the office, prompting your flight into the city and looking for another communicator, leading to your current situation.

For the most part, the inquisitor is silent, asking a few questions. Your acolytes add a few comment here and there, adding details or context to the retelling.

"So far I would say your performance is acceptable. You brought enough information that we might tentatively conclude that the virus is not a work of the Great Enemy. Losing up your cover identities is regrettable, but we really didn't need them long-term. For the rest of the situation, as unfortunate as it is, we'll have to leave it at that and move on."

"What do you mean? Even if Magos Zhou isn't behind the virus and I think he is, he's still converting comatose patients without any kind of authorization! This fate is normally reserved to hopeless criminals, not innocents in the throes of an illness."

"Yes, those acts are grave indeed. But such deeds are beneath our notice. Remember our remit, we are the Malleus, striking against the unenumerable horrors crawling out of the sea of souls, defending the Imperium against their depredations. And more practically, I don't want to reveal our presence or expend more of our limited ressources in such a minor issue, especially as there could negative consequences to removing the Magos. Also the extermination of the Bloody Fist cult is still underway."

"And we'll just leave the Magos unpunished, free to profit from this abomination and to continue? If he's the one who spread the virus and maybe even crafted it, what would happen if he starts again, maybe to replace the rest of the planetary population with servitors, for efficiency reasons?"

"I had planned to leave a few clues with the local Arbites, so they'll know in which direction to start looking if it happens again. But again, such crimes are but a mote of dust against the century storms that the sea of souls can unleash upon us, from which we have to defend the rest of the Imperium."

But as you nod dejectedly, the inquisitor continues, more softly, almost wistfully.

"Though now I regret that time when I couldn't leave an injustice unrepaired, a dark deed unpunished... Of course it was an futile undertaking, as our Empire is built upon countless iniquities, billions of human lives ground unto dust, ground into the mortar used to build it. But it seems expediency hasn't yet broken your sense of justice. Or is it just wounded pride at failing to arrest the Magos? Either way, if you still want to go after the Magos, I'll let you attempt it."

"Really?"

"You won't be able to invoke the name of the holy Ordo, so you'll have to capture the Magos and proofs hard enough that the authorities will act and not just let him go. Finding some kind of antidote to the virus would also go a long way too, as will taking care to not disrupt the food production of the Wahun region. I will not lie, this won't be easy. As for support, I can have a mercenary platoon join you; I had originally contacted them in case you needed armed support while operating in the region. If you decide you're done here, get back quickly to Villeneuve, we still have work to do here."

So what do you choose?

[] Leave the city and the situation as it is
[] Stay and try to bring Magos Zhou to justice

Spoiler

I added a short story recap in the report to the inquisitor, since it's been quite some time since I posted anything.
You can also ask questions to the Inquisitor, who might or might not answer.
If you choose to stay, you'll be able to vote on how you'll proceed. If you choose to leave, I'll post a conclusion and we move on to the next adventure (I've done some prep work already, so it might run more smoothly)

 

[Gondolin]

[x] Stay and try to bring Magos Zhou to justice

We ain't leavin'

 

[ChumBucket]

[x] Stay and try to bring Magos Zhou to justice

We ain't leavin'

agreed

 

[Endemic]

[x] Stay and try to bring Magos Zhou to justice

 

[Kalarion]

[x] Leave the city and the situation as it is

We're not fucking mall cops. This is a job for the Arbites now, or the Planetary Governor. Or the Hereticus. Or hell, for Mars for that matter. Let them be made aware and allowed to quietly clean up their own mess with no embarrassment. Everyone's happy.

Beyond that, in the event we're successful in arresting/executing Zhou and stopping the virus and servitor conversions, a much larger mare's nest is opened up. Disrupting an Agri-system's production could result in a fallout that stretches across the entire sector, and we're not equipped to handle it (intellectually or materially). This is waaaaaaaay outside our bailiwick.

We're trying to ensure the Empyreal Tide doesn't roll over the shores of the empire. Leave this for the pros (as we should have in the first place, once we had a decent idea that this wasn't demonic).

 

[ERYFKRAD]

[x] Leave the city and the situation as it is

We're not fucking mall cops. This is a job for the Arbites now, or the Planetary Governor. Or the Hereticus. Or hell, for Mars for that matter. Let them be made aware and allowed to quietly clean up their own mess with no embarrassment. Everyone's happy.

Beyond that, in the event we're successful in arresting/executing Zhou and stopping the virus and servitor conversions, a much larger mare's nest is opened up. Disrupting an Agri-system's production could result in a fallout that stretches across the entire sector, and we're not equipped to handle it (intellectually or materially). This is waaaaaaaay outside our bailiwick.

We're trying to ensure the Empyreal Tide doesn't roll over the shores of the empire. Leave this for the pros (as we should have in the first place, once we had a decent idea that this wasn't demonic).

Ok. I'm not one to leave a gig halfway, but this makes sense.

 

[True Ukrainian]

Leave, our boss has already indicated that he's not inclined to pursue the matter further with Zhou officially.