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Well, that opportunity is gone, I've offered twice the option to kill the scavengers (or do something else with them), they're gone now. (also a good chunk of the update is already written, with the snail's pace I got, I don't want to nearly start over)
A little bit of retconning but if I'm an anti-plague inquisitor, would like bio-mechanical cyborg lungs pumping artificial blood with nanomachinery integrated on the cellular level. Also want ceramic epidermis.
You're playing as a lowly acolyte, so you just got the 40k equivalent to a respirator mask, which will protect you from contamination while wearing it (at least from airborne/droplet contamination).
The scavengers drive away with their truck, quickly disappearing in the twists and turns of the dirt road leading to the village. You are left with your two acolytes standing between your car and what you've just bought from them. Looking at the pile of unassorted loot, you start to say
"Electryos, can you check..."
"See how those iconoclasts treated this engine! It was dismantled from its mountings without the proper rites, its machine spirit must be incensed by their actions!" cuts Electryos, pointing at a obviously mistreated engine resting in the pile. "They should have been punished for this."
"Our job is not to hunt down every petty criminals we see; taking care of them would have taken us a lot of time and energy that are better spent on our current mission. And they are inconsequential compared to the matters we're dealing with. Even if I would have gladly to have meted on them the Emperor's justice." you answer, still noting that Electryos didn't said anything on the scavenging itself, only how the Omnissiah's gift had been treated.
"It is to be expected that in time of turmoil, the less law-abiding citizen of the Imperium would try to make a benefit from it. I've noted the truck make and number, we might be able to report them to the local law enforcement. How do we proceed from here, Balda?" asks Telemacus.
"Electryos, since you've started there, continue to look through what we've bought, see if there's any sign of warp influence or any other clue. Telemacus and I will sweep through the village, looking for clues, join us once you're done here. Telemacus, you know what to look for, right?" you continue.
Even if you have never been witness to the effect of the Warp on the Materium, you've read a few books which hinted more or less directly on what to expect, some found at the Schola and one given by your inquisitor when he hired you. You've also heard a few tales from your colleagues, memories of the horrors of Warp, told in the haze of lho-sticks and the smell of cheap amasec: more than anything else, those tales reinforced your dedication to your duty of stopping such incursions in the realm of Man.
"I do. I had seen what happens when the Empyrean enters the realm of Man. And what it looks like when it's done at the behest of one of the Four..." Telemacus answers. It looks like he's about to say more, but catch himself and doesn't continue.
---
The village is just a group of a few houses in the middle of the fields, with a pair barns at the end of the road and what look like a gathering hall in the middle. You can see what were gardens at the backs of the houses, but now they are overgrown with wild vegetation. All the labour was done by hand, without even beast of burden, since none are available in this area. The tech-level is expected from such a backward settlement, with the only piece of non-primitive technology a pump attached to a water tank, from which the motor has been torn of. According to Telemacus, pumps like this had been installed six months earlier in a handful of villages in the area, in the process of developing those villages.
You move forward in the village, stepping over a few random objects picked up and discarded by the scavengers, like a knitted doll, a dog-eared copy of the Liber Imperialis, a carved wood goblet... You clamp down on the irritation you feel knowing they are at large and focus on your task at hand, which is infinitely more important than a few wretched souls: chaotic corruption running unchecked might condemn that world to Exterminatus. You start in the house closest to the entrance of the village and then go through each one.
In each house, starting with a prayer to the Emperor so that He may protect from corruption, you conduct a thorough search, looking for signs of chaotic corruption. Some of the houses had already been ransacked by the scavengers, saving you some time in searching through the humble habitations.
"No sign of the Empyrean on our acquired materials. Or at least no visible signs that I could detect, but every time it impinge, it leave distinctive marks." Electryos says as he joins your search while you're halfway done.
"Anything of interest in what you've looked through?" you ask
"Apart from the engine, it was mostly just some scrap, cutlery, a few icons of local Saints. But I retrieved a pair of high-quality tools, even if a little primitive.", he answers, gesturing at the tool belt above his red robes, which sports additional tools, even if you can't discern their use.
"You've stolen from the dead? By the Emperor, have you no shame?" shouts Telemacus turning incensed toward Electryos, who answers.
"We bought this from the scavengers, so it belong to us. And better that they are used by a servant of the Emperor rather than rusting away."
"You're not better than those knaves; we nearly shot them for that! What we leave here might be reused by the next of kin or by villagers looking to resettle the village." continues Telemacus, as Electryos shows no sign of leaving the tools.
You
[] Stay silent
[] Say something:
-[] Acquiring equipment while on an assignment is an accepted practice.
-[] Stealing from the dead is distasteful, we should be above it.
-[] Write-in
---
In the end, you've looked through the houses, the two barns (empty, in wait of an harvest that might never come), the back gardens and after an exhaustive search, you don't find any signs of the Warp, no sign of the oily sheen that signals a breach, strange glyph that blink on the edge of your vision, warped material, otherworldly smells like tainted ozone...
No, nothing. You're left standing in the middle of the village, harassed, removing the sweaty gloves you wore to protect you from possible contamination, even weeks after the death of the last villagers. You take a look at your acolytes, who both seems to be just as tired as you, even Electryos, hidden under his cowl. The sun is setting, casting an orange glow on the village.
"So, no signs anywhere. At least no signs that we can see. I think that's a good thing?" You say, a little unsure, since you've never gone beyond the theory in the matter of the Immaterium.
"Absence of proof is not proof of absence. The Enemy has many ways to confuse the faithful. But still it might means the virus isn't Chaos-related. " says Telemacus
"Even if it not conclusive, yes, it is positive." adds Electryos. "But before we leave this place, I want to take a look at the pump: some of the damage on the engine seemed distinct from what those ruiners did." he adds, while moving toward the pump.
The pump is still missing its engine, but the rest of the structure is still there. Electryos points toward the parts: "The engine went there, next there's the filtration unit, the power is provided by those photo-electo cells there and it's connected to this water tank. This particular model of pump is made for frontier worlds, able to run with minimal maintenance for years."
He had continued his explanation while starting to examine the assembly, lighting a small headlamp to counteract the setting sun. His examination lasts for a few minutes, while you and Telemacus catch a rest next to the car.
"I have found something of interest" he says, scrapping paint to reveal small holes on the side of a pipe. "With holes here, something could be injected after the filters, directly in the water the villagers would drink."
"So you think the virus could have been introduced this way?" you ask.
"It's possible. The holes were most likely done in a hurry, considering how mediocre the work is. But those who did this had some good tools to drill through plasteel tubing." Electryos answers.
"Since such tools can't exactly be found in the area, it would mean someone from the more developed regions did this or provided the tools." adds Telemacus. "Since this pump provides clean water to all the village, if the virus was introduced there, it would have easily infected everyone."
"So even if Chaos might not be involved, the pandemic could be a criminal act, a sabotage, not just a natural occurrence." Electryos add.
"Possibly. I guess we'll have to make our report to the Inquisitor, at least." you say. "Anyway, I think we're done here, but we'll have to sleep in the car, I don't fancy driving around around those dirt roads in the dark."
---
As you are waking from a short and uncomfortable rest in the car, Telemacus says "Instead of going back directly to Hubei, we could go and take a look at the other villages which were hit by the virus after this one. If the virus had been intentionally spread around, we might find more clues."
"Or we could go and visit the closest dispensary, it's what we told the soldiers who stopped us yesterday." Electryos says.
"Hum. It would help maintain our cover story, at least." remarks Telemacus.
You decide to
[] Go back directly to Hubei
[] Go to the closest dispensary and pretend to do your job.
[] Inspect more villages where the virus first appeared.
Well, the joke's not as funny when it's your turn to be in lockdown. At least I hope you'll enjoy this part. The choice with Electryos is just an opportunity to develop a little the main character, it won't have much implication (as in you won't shoot him just for that).
So to sum up the votes:
1 - Acquiring equipment while on an assignment is an accepted practice.
Endemic, Gondolin, Usury, CappenVerra, Kalarion
1 - Say nothing
Baltika9, Azira
As you drive to the closest dispensary, Telemacus sits sullenly next to you. Is it because of the uncomfortable night and lack of recaff or because you didn't support him yesterday in his argument with Electryos? But even if it's the latter, you trust him that he will be professional enough not to pose any difficulty while you continue your investigation.
The dispensary is located in the town of Hangul, the biggest settlement in the area. According to Telemacus, order there nearly collapsed at the worst of the pandemic, with the local enforcers violently breaking up riots, leaving dead and wounded in their wake. Right now, the survivors are either in lockdown in their homes or in the dispensary, which also houses farmers from villages around, at various stages of the illness.
You clear a checkpoint at the edge of the city, your supposed role giving you leave to freely move around in such a situation. While you're stopped, you talk about the scavengers to the militia manning the checkpoint. They take note of your informations, but it doesn't seem they will be able to do anything about it, with the surviving law enforcement members busy with the quarantine.
As you enter the town before midday, instead of the usual bustle of a provincial town, it's the same dead stillness as in the capital, doors covered in mourning veils and eyes behind closed windows following your vehicle as you drive into town. The marks of the recent riots are still visible, with burned out vehicles and remnants of barricades pushed on the side.
The dispensary is in an old grain market where merchants from the rest of the planet would go to buy the produce of the surrounding villages. At least it's what Telemacus told you as arrived there. That edifice, located on a place dominated by a somber war memorial dedicated to the regiments raised on Brocante, has been transformed to serve as a dispensary as the pandemic had overwhelmed the meager local medical capacity, in the hope that it could be returned to its intended use after that crisis.
Your cover as an inspector of the Health and Mores department gives you quick access to the doctor in charge of the dispensary. She is young, but her face is prematurely lined by stress, with heavy bags under her eyes.
"Good morning inspector, I am Dr Hong Ji, head of this dispensary since Dr Xi caught the virus. I'll show you around the wards and how the quarantine is enforced."
---
Telemacus, Electryos and you are shown how the trading floors were converted in hospital wards, the offices in supply stores and how the isolation is enforced between the areas.
"We've been in a serious penury of medical supplies. I think right now, we might be able to try to treat just one or two more patients before running out. But with the relief convoy, we should receive more supplies in the coming days. And right now, with the lockdown, we hadn't have any case in over a week."
"So you think the worst is behind, at least in Hangul?" you asks.
"Well, at least the worst of the pandemic and only if the end of the lockdown doesn't bring out a surge. But the situation on the other levels is bad: with the number of dead, the social fabric has been torn to pieces and there's going to be grave manpower issues in the near future. Even with the pandemic, the agricultural productions targets are unchanged and I don't think they can be met in our current situation." she says with a sigh "But at least I won't be responsible for dealing with it, by the Throne, one crisis is enough."
"The planetary governor can't do much, with the tithe being scheduled for the end of the year." Telemacus comments.
"Though as usual the consequences are more harsh on the farmers than the elites. I was born in a village further East from here, I know what happens when the yields aren't sufficient." she tells bitterly. "Still if the farmers start using the tools of the Machine God, they might have a chance of salvaging this harvest, as much as they dislike them."
"It's true that the area around here is critically underdeveloped in that regard." continues Telemacus.
As you enter a room filled with comatose patients, Dr Ji continues
"At the later stages of the illness, the infected fall into a deep coma that lasts for a few weeks before they die. A good portion of our patients are at this stage. Though we had more of them until some were transported towards the capital two weeks ago."
"I though the situation there was even worse with all hospitals running over capacity, how many patients did you send them?" you asks.
"The paramedics had their papers in orders, it was removing a big load from our capacity, so I didn't look much further than that. They arrived with four medically equipped trucks, they moved 80 patients. It was mostly those in the early stage of the coma, I guess they might have a treatment, a cure to save them." she says, continuing to move across the room "The patients here are kept fed and hydrated via intravenous drips, we've set up a small workshop downstairs to refill the bags."
"Here you can see where we stored our supplies, Dr Xi's forward planning really helped us to stay supplied during the crisis as the riots burned down one of Hangul's warehouse." she continues toward the supply stores, now mostly empty.
---
You also get access to the paperwork produced by the dispensary, even during those times of crisis, the necessary paperwork continues to be filled, as the Administratum clerks expect no less.
Though no-one of you has any medical formation, so you can't do more than a cursory look, mostly at the admittance numbers and supply stores, which all corroborate what Dr Ji told you. When you try to understand what is written about the illness, to discern any clues as to its origin, it's useless, your lack of knowledge prevent you from learning anything
---
Two hours later, you are back on the road, now toward Hubei. Even if the route is longer than when going toward Jianghu, the road is much better and you will be back before nightfall, avoiding you another uncomfortable night outside.
While you drive, do you
[] chat with
-[] Telemacus
-[] Electryos
or
[] stay silent, idle chit-chat is unbecoming of an agent of the Golden Throne.
Sorry for taking so long. Maybe I shouldn't have gone with an investigation story for my first quest.
The choice isn't that compelling, I know, but it was a natural break for the update that had taken already way too long. The choice is also low-consequences, it'd just add or not an additional dialogue scene at the start of the next update.
As you enter a room filled with comatose patients, Dr Ji continues
"At the later stages of the illness, the infected fall into a deep coma that lasts for a few weeks before they dies. A good portion of our patients are at this stage. Though we had more of them until some were transported towards the capital two weeks ago."
"I though the situation there was even worse with all hospitals running over capacity, how many patients did you send them?" you asks.
"The paramedics had their papers in orders, it was removing a big load from our capacity, so I didn't look much further than that. They arrived with four medically equipped trucks, they moved 80 patients. It was mostly those in the early stage of the coma, I guess they might have a treatment, a cure to save them." she says
This stick out as odd to me. If you have a cure, why would you take comatose patients in the later stages of the illness, instead of the ones that just started showing symptoms? This may be another avenue of investigation.
This stick out as odd to me. If you have a cure, why would you take comatose patients in the later stages of the illness, instead of the ones that just started showing symptoms? This may be another avenue of investigation.
sure, why not (unless other posters in the thread don't want to, but I don't think it will be the case). You won't get results at once, but that might give you some clues.
This stick out as odd to me. If you have a cure, why would you take comatose patients in the later stages of the illness, instead of the ones that just started showing symptoms? This may be another avenue of investigation.
