Between the Darkness/Session 01

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Clavis Morden's Introduction

Tylorva: (( Just start by telling me a bit about what Calvis is doing on what seems to be an utterly normal day. :) ))

Clavis_Morden: It's been only a few weeks since Clavis' graduation. The difficult examinations, the painful tests are all behind her, as are the tears (and the hangover) of saying goodbye to master Malus Ravion.

Clavis_Morden: "Stay safe, my disciple, and shine brightly," he had said to her when the time came to part. They are teacher and pupil no longer, separated by professional ranks now. But in her heart he'll always be 'master' Ravion.

Clavis_Morden: The assignment hasn't come in yet and might be a few weeks yet, but Clavis has high hopes that she'll be selected to serve in the same prestigious division of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica Calixis where she was trained. But for now there is only the day-to-day business assigned by the supervisor of the Adeptus enclave to take care of.

Clavis_Morden: Woken at precisely 6 in the morning by the reliable machine spirit Clavis rises, showers and dresses. She's allowed to wear an Aspirant's robes now, black instead of the drab grey of a mere apprentice.

Clavis_Morden: After a quick meal in the common hall gradus tertius - the porridge tasteless as usual, but having been raised on a battleship Clavis is supremely used to that - Clavis makes her way to the gate, carrying a bunch of papers along with her personal data slate.

Clavis_Morden: At her side, under the robe, the still unfamiliar weight of the laspistol master Ravion had given her for her graduation. It was allowed, if frowned on by certain elders among the Adeptus, but this way she'd carry a little bit of safety with her. Not as good as ... but no more thinking about that.

Clavis_Morden: Her escort is already waiting for her, two serious looking men with lasguns carried by the shoulder straps Guard-style. She waves and greets them with a smile answered only by dour looks but undaunted for it.

Clavis_Morden: Of course they don't want to know her too closely, they are after all there for the safety of everyone else just as much as for her own.

Tylorva: They do indeed remain silent throughout the day's activites.

Clavis_Morden: A one hour ride on the anbaric train brings Clavis to the station in segment C3-7X. There she is assigned to examine the people brought in by priests, enforcers, and concerned relatives.

Clavis_Morden: Most likely there won't be any true psykers, latent or otherwise, among them but Duty is Vigilance as the thought of the day says.

Tylorva: The day passes mostly passes without incident. No psykers of any kind come through. It's really rather dull. Until towards the end of the day when they bring in a protesting young man who demands loudly to be released. He's a psyker. Oh yes...

Clavis_Morden: Returning her attention to the physical realm Clavis breathes deeply. Not a problem, she has done this often enough ... under supervision. Taking one hand off the staff she's leaning on slightly she makes a sign toward the armed guards near the door. Then she takes a few steps closer to the young man, nodding gravely.

Tylorva: "What are you doing?" howls the man. "Do you know who I am? Or who I work for? Let me go!"

Clavis_Morden: "Whoever you are, you will need to stay here, my friend," she says quietly. "The Empyrean wavers and bubbles in your wake. You may have felt it yourself."

Clavis_Morden: "Hearing the thoughts of others, knowing things before they happen, moving things with your mind ... have you experienced any of these?"

Clavis_Morden: "For you are indeed, as the fine people who brough you to me suspected, a psyker. One called to serve the Emperor as only a few can."

Tylorva: "What? Who are you? I know that! Is this about the party?"

Clavis_Morden: Behind duralumin-rimmed glasses Clavis' eyes narrow. "You know that? Then why do you resist?" She steps closer, inwardly breathing the mantra of the iron tower.

Clavis_Morden: "If you are sanctioned, then show your brand now."

Tylorva: The man struggles out of the grasp of the enforcers holding him and then stands up straight, dusting his coat down. "I... haven't got a brand. But I have authority!"

Clavis_Morden: Clavis' eyes briefly flick left and right between the enforcers who let him slip free, signifying that they should stand ready. "Authority? None but the holy Adeptus Terrae - Astra Telepathica and Arbites in this case - have authority in a case such as this."

Tylorva: "Like I tried to tell THEM..." He glares at the enforcers. "I'm a member of the Holy Inquisition. Now let me go."

Clavis_Morden: "In- ..." Clavis gasps as the man speaks aloud the name that is only whispered elsewhere. Impossible! He can't be. She leans on her staff, for real now rather than just copying the posture of the old masters at her sanctioning.

Clavis_Morden: "If ... if that is so," she finally manages. "You must have proof ... insignia ... papers! Papers, do you have papers?"

Clavis_Morden: Dear God Emperor on Earth, let him have something to call her superiors back at the enclave with. If he really is what he says he is.

Clavis_Morden: If not ... well, she was meaning to call the Arbites in any case to take a newfound psyker away.

Clavis_Morden: That would probably be easiest. He didn't feel corrupted, didn't have the stench of mutation on him, but he may well be deluded nonetheless ... or worse, lying. Clavis shudders as she imagines what fate would befall one caught in such a lie.

Tylorva: "EXACTLY!" He says triumphantly. "I have a seal and everything. But they wouldn't even give me a chance to show it." He slowly reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small item - it is indeed the seal of the Inquisition."

Tylorva: (( Give me a Forbidden Lore (Psykers) roll at +10 ))

Clavis_Morden: ((simple failure))

Clavis_Morden: ((is it a an Inquisitor's Seal, a Rosette, or a sealed document? Can Clavis even recognize one with any certainty?))

Tylorva: (( It's a seal. And no, you are not certain. But you -think- even Inquisition psykers should have brands. Everyone should have a brand! ))

Clavis_Morden: "Oh." For a moment Clavis is torn between the impulse to fall to her knees and the one to run, just run away somewhere. But in the end she does neither. She has a duty. And something isn't right with this.

Tylorva: "So NOW can I go?" Everyone else in the room has fallen silent, staring at the seal.

Clavis_Morden: "Uhh, just one short moment. Sir?" She turns slightly without taking her eyes off the man. "Nullus will you get the Verification Wand," she asks the lay tech-adept.

Tylorva: The man narrows his eyes as Nullus hurries off. "What's that?" he asks worridly. A minute later Nullus returns with the item in question and hands it to Clavis.

Clavis_Morden: Nervously picking at the staff in her hands she turns to the man again. "We ... if ... well, you see ..." Clavis' explanation doesn't make much sense, but then it doesn't have to. With a small cough the small machine spirit awakens and complicated lights flicker all over it.

Tylorva: "What is that? What are you doing?"

Clavis_Morden: "If ... if you'll hold up the seal just like that ... we'll verify you and you can be on your way immediately, sir." Clavis holds the wand toward the seal in his hand, but looks more at his face than at the sacrament of machine truth. How could anyone of the terrible Inquisition not know this procedure? Is he an imposter after all?

Clavis_Morden: Nonetheless she tries for good manners. 'Sir' is the least one would have to call even the lowest among that great and terrible institution.

Tylorva: "Ummm... sure." He holds up the seal. Clavis is able to scan it, and it pings cheerfully. It seems to think the seal is genuine. It also feeds back the name of the owner. Interrogator Yiddis Alcoth.

Clavis_Morden: Clavis feels as if she is sleepwalking. A dream or a nightmare, it feels so unreal. "In ... Interrogator. Excellence ..." Not knowing how to address such a lofty personage she falls back on the first thing to come to mind.

Tylorva: "Yes! Exactly! NOW can I go?"

Clavis_Morden: Taking a step back she curtsies deeply. "Umm. Yes. Of course, Interrogator."

Tylorva: He sniffs, turns and stalks off out of there. The enforcers look stunned but soon after normality resumes.

Clavis_Morden: "My deepest apologies, but ... it's procedure, you see?"

Clavis_Morden: Stunned? Clavis feels more like struck by lightning. Though the chances of that are probably higher than those of meeting a real life member of the Inquisition.

Clavis_Morden: After a minute or two she slowly begins to regain her faculties and looks if the ones who brought the man in are still here.

Tylorva: They are. Two enforcers. They look flabbergasted. "We thought he was lying!"

Clavis_Morden: shakes her head. "So did I until ..." She sighs. "What happened that you brought him in? For the report."

Tylorva: "We just arrested him for drunk and disorderly behaviour at an Arbites function."

Clavis_Morden: "Arbites function ... drunk and disorderly ..." Clavis shakes her head again. "So he displayed no abnormalities before I recognized his true nature?"

Tylorva: "No!" says one. "Well..." says the second.

Clavis_Morden: fixes the second with a steady look, which would probably look faintly ridiculous considering her height ... if not for those block robes with the Adeptus Astra Telepathica markings. "Yes?"

Tylorva: "He... uhhh... well. seduced quite a few people. it was unnatural!" The first one sighs. "It was just Atella and she'll sleep with anyone." "No no!" says the second. "She HATES Inquisitors. She would never have gone off with him on her own!"

Clavis_Morden: "... potential influencing of Adeptus members ..." Clavis mutters under her breath, already composing the report in her head. "That was Arbites Atella ... ?" Clavis trails off, waiting if the enforcers will fill in the family name.

Tylorva: "Regulator Atella Ummidia."

Clavis_Morden: The part about her hating Inquisitors she ignores ... who'd ever be in a position to say something like that with impunity? It's ridiculous.

Clavis_Morden: nods. "Anything else for the report, enforcers?"

Tylorva: They shake their heads. "Thanks for the help. Sorry to cause a problem."

Clavis_Morden: smiles brightly. "No, thank you. I couldn't well do my work without you. As always it's appreciated."

Tylorva: The rest of the day passes without incident. Until late in the night when Clavis is suddenly woken by the sounds of someone breaking her door down...

Clavis_Morden: Then she returns to the miniscule desk grudgingly freed up for her where she writes up the report of the odd if not outright fantastical events to be submitted later.

Clavis_Morden: "What is ... alright, I'll ..." With a start Clavis realizes that this isn't someone knocking at the door, this is someone breaking it down. "Aiiiiii!" Hastily she grabs her glasses from the night desk then scrambles for the laspistol.

Clavis_Morden: But in her haste she drops it and has to kneel down feeling left and right to find it ... where is that damn thing ... why did it need to have holster with such a difficult safety strap?

Clavis_Morden: And most importantly why in Terra's name are gangers or criminals or other evils of the under-hive breaking into her apartment?

Tylorva: "Imperial Inquisition!" Two heavily armed troopers burst in, followed by a tall man in ornate carapace armour. "Clavis Morden? We want a word with you."

Clavis_Morden: "Eeek!" Dropping the not even half-drawn laspistol on the ground like a hot coal Clavis raises her hands above her head. In her dingy old nightgown, with a look of absolute terror on her face she's not making the best impression ... but then nobody does when the Inquisition drags them from their beds in the middle of the night.

Tylorva: The tall man strides up and locks some kind of collar around your neck. You immediate feel your connection to the warp breaking - it contains some sort of psy-blocker. "Get dressed," he says coldly.

Tylorva: (( Give me a psyniscience roll. +20 ))

Clavis_Morden: "Yes, yes, immediately," Clavis says meekly, instantly feeling as if she was back on the Semper Vigilans. No more than a frightened child herded this way and that by terrifying adults.

Clavis_Morden: And as quickly as she is able she complies.

Tylorva: They drag you outside and into a groundcar. An hour later, you are taken inside the Tricorn Palace, head of the Inquisition in the sector. You are put into some kind of interrogator room. They make you sit down in an ominous-looking chair. Metal brackets are then locked in place holding your wrists, ankles and neck in place.

Clavis_Morden: After the initial shock wears off Clavis is surprisingly calm. If not for the fact that this is the *Inquisition* it would feel almost familiar. The chair ... uncannily so even.

Clavis_Morden: Clavis shies away from that thought. No thinking of machines, no thinking of those arcane mechanisms and the towering, dispassionate men in white behind them ... and their endless experiments.

Clavis_Morden: Maybe there is a thing that she fear more than the Inquisition after all.

Tylorva: A short while later the tall man comes in. "Good day Clavis Morden. I am Interrogator Reinhardt."

Clavis_Morden: "Your ... excellency?" Restrained as she is Clavis can't curtsy but she looks downward to show respect and submission.

Tylorva: "Interrogator will do. I need to ask you some questions. Compliance is recommended."

Clavis_Morden: "Yes, Interrogator."

Tylorva: "You dealt with a man earlier. An unsanctioned psyker."

Clavis_Morden: "There was a psyker without a brand, yes," Clavis confirms. "I was about to have him deported by the Arbites when he produces a seal ... an Inquisition seal, identifying him as Interrogator Yiddis Alcoth." She frowns slightly. "Assuming that is the one you meant."

Tylorva: "Indeed. But he is an imposter. Interrogator Yiddis Alcoth was murdered."

Clavis_Morden: If held by the chair Clavis would have rocked backwards. "He ... he was?" What has she done? Let an unsanctioned psyker, a *witch* just go? Just a few weeks out of her apprenticeship? And worse, a witch that might have murdered an Interrogator ... if something like that can happen.

Tylorva: "I am curious to know why you released him. He bore no brand."

Clavis_Morden: "I ... I didn't know ... he had the seal ... and the verification wand ... it all seemed to check out ..." Clavis sniffs, tears beginning to flow. "I didn't know ... I thought it was strange ... but with that seal ... how could I have stood in the way of a man from the Inquisition?"

Tylorva: "Did you not ask the man for his name?"

Clavis_Morden: Clavis looks down, ashamed. "I didn't. I didn't at first, because ... I thought his claim was ridiculous ... but then he had that seal ... and after that I couldn't question its authority."

Tylorva: He crosses his arms. "An unsanctioned psyker is now on the loose in Hive Sibellus."

Clavis_Morden: "I ..." Clavis' voice is very small. "I am sorry, sir. Interrogator. It ... it's my fault."

Tylorva: "Yes, it is. However, my mistress has read your file and wishes to give you an opportunity to fix the problem you have created."

Clavis_Morden: looks up to the tall man hopefully. "Anything I can do!"

Tylorva: "Serve my mistress well and she will look kindly on you. Fail her, and your mind will be repurposed for good. Do you understand?"

Clavis_Morden: shudders. It was possible, she knew, if unimaginably difficult ... or, for the Inquisition a trivial task, apparently. "Yes ... yes, Interrogator. I understand."

Tylorva: "Good. You will be working with Regulator Ummidian on this. You will also have assistance from another. He has his own task to perform. Aid he with his and he will aid you with yours."

Clavis_Morden: "As you command, Interrogator," Clavis says quietly but with more strength than before. She had screwed up, badly. And yet, she had a chance to fix her mistake. She'd let nothing get in the way of that, she resolves. It will be done.

Tylorva: (( Finally returns thread to main room! Lemme post something there. Everyone finally is together. ;) ))

Clavis_Morden: ((this is directly after the interrogation scene? IE, same clothes, still psi-blocked, etc?))

Tylorva: (( Ooh, yeah directly after, but they do remove the psy-blocker. The Interrogator seems to trust that you are not going to explode in daemonhost right now. ))