Malediction

The crew of the Solstice is gearing the vessel up for travel the warp. The crew fears for their lives but would rather jump through the warp than stay in this corner of space. Glademore plotted a route back into the Calixis sector and the ship is ready for the jump.

You gather up on the bridge for the jump. No words are exchanged, the normally friendly Rivaille is busy directing the ship and fine tuning the facing. Other than him the advisers are waiting solemnly for the leap.

[You are free to speak]

"Lord Captain, may you tell us of your plan for immediate future?  I hope to be completely sure of every detail, so that I might better serve you and prove my worth.  May the Emperor keep us safe."

"We set course for Thical. There Mekarn will oversee repairs to my voidship. In the meantime You, Nazier, Strondike and Vendigroth will sneak back into hive world Malfi and meet with an old friend of mine. Scilla Guthrey."

"My Lord, I do not believe I am acquainted with this friend of yours.  What exactly is our purpose in meeting her.  And how will we defend ourselves from our pursuers? Surely they will return to wreak their vengeance upon us once they discover our escape.  Shall we not approach the Inquisition, and leverage our recent acquisitions to gain some holy protection?"

Kalthar speaks from his motionless position in his throne "I will personally attend to the negotiations with the Inquisition. It will take some time for me to gain audience with anyone of consequence. As I wait audience You and my other esteemed advisers are to discover who harbors ill will towards us. Scilla is a better woman to start with than any. Glademore has an encrypted tablet detailing how to reach her ready for you."

"As you command Lord Captain.  Let me volunteer my service to you as well should need my support in your Inquisitorial negotiations.  The Xanatos family holds no little sway in ecclesiastical circles, and our familial Relic of St. Drusus will surely aid you.

"I believe you are better put to use collecting information." Lord-Captain Kalthar is aggressively implying you run reconnaissance for him.

[Relic of St. Drusus does not grant bonuses to interacting with Inquisition. The Inquisition and the Ministorum (the church) are not one and the same.]

"As you command Lord-Captain.  What information can you grant us to aid us in our search for this Scilla Guthrey.  I simply ask for any advice you might have not already detailed on Glademore's tablet."

What you might mistake for the Lord-Captain's face cracking is actually a smirk: "Be careful. That is my advice to you."

"We shall surely take your advice. Thank you for humoring my request Lord Captain." Jarrion bows, then turns and walks over to Glademore.

"Do you have the encrypted tablet of which our Lord Commander spoke?"

"Couriers were dispatched to deliver the tablets to your quarters."

[Post when you are ready for warp jump]

"Very well. Please, Lord Glademore, allow me to extend my heartfelt thanks for your actions while we were onboard the hulk. I have no doubt that, were it not for you, we would not be here today. Please accept this token of my gratitude." Jarrion offers Glademore one o his many signet rings, not the most opulent, nor the least decorated. Somewhere in the middle. "It is not much, but should you show it to any Xanatov and mention my name, you will be sure to gain their trust. I am aware that this currently does not stand for much. I hope to make it more useful in the future, with you by my side." Jarrion gives Glademore a respectful bow/salute flourish combination, then heads off to get further attention from the medicae.

[ready to warp]

Darrius spends the remainder of the time before jump overseeing the preparations and documenting necissary events should anything happen in the warp

[ready for warp]

In the midst of whatever task you put your hand to you hear a dull vibration slowly escalate to a deafening roar. The leap into the warp is imminent, you hold your breath in anticipation as the ship tears open gate to the warp and travels full throttle inwards.

48 hours later the crew nervously rests. Glademore estimated it would be another 5 days worth of passed time before the Solstice reached the vicinity of Thical. However, fortune did not favor you and your comrades this time and the Solstice is caught by a warp storm. Arthurias does his very best to navigate the Solstice out of the fray but something goes wrong with Gellar Fields. By some stroke of luck only Xanatov, Rivaille and Glademore are at the bridge when the malfunction is detected. You must make a decision now: Either leave the immaterium immediately or pray the Gellar Fields stabilize before the warp wreaks havoc upon the Solstice.

"Arturias! What are our chances if we stay in the Warp? I don't want to give our pursuers any extra time to catch up with us."

"It may be the best idea to drop out of warp now and make towards the nearest occupied planet. As it stands I don't want to risk the whole ship getting destroyed in the immaterium"

[Vendigroth is not there]

"No soul on this ship would yearn for our pursuers to catch us. Yet, I am unable to spit out some calculation pertaining to our chances of survival should we continue warp travel."

"Full speed ahead I say. Keep a close eye on the storm though Arturias. Should it become any worse, drop out immediately. Can anyone tell me where we would be if we dropped out now? And we should send a message to The Lord Captain."

[Arthurias is Arthurias Glademore - he is befuddled by your sudden use of his first name. In addition, I was not clear enough with what Glademore was saying - You need to drop out of warp space or pray that gellar fields start working before you become warp mush.]

[In that case, Jarrion says the following.] Glademore! Get us out of the warp. We can't risk any damage with our ship already so hurt. Lets figure out where we have landed before bothering The Lord Captain with this."

From the bridge you and the present crew members make an emergency escape from the warp. As you get down to the wire you feel inklings of horror and perhaps for a minute the room appears to be melting. The insanity starts to take hold of you all but Glademore alone stands unaffected only the space around his black garbed visage appears "normal". The Navigator punches the button and instantly everything returns to normal. Glademore speaks triumphantly "Tis finished, the Solstice rests in the void."
  Shutters over the windows are pulled back by crew members and you can peer out to see the countless stars that fill the void. Glademore makes haste to Ontar with the hopes that between the two of them they can discern the current whereabouts of the Solstice. The rest of you wait expecting a meeting to be called by Kalthar to discuss this predicament. And you wait . . . a peculiarly long time. 7 hours pass and you shuffle about the ship a little worried why no summons for you have been made.

[This post would be longer but I had to leave at the time of this post sooooo post responses or I'll fix it later]

After listening to the murmurs of the crew for a couple of hours, Jarrion makes his way to the bridge, and the main con system that broadcasts throughout the ship.

"I realize that we have been traveling through a dangerous period, and some of you men must be tiredc by now. Unfortunately, now is not the time for rest. I cannot tell you how proud we are of your toil men. Your efforts have certainly saved us and with you helping we will be safe once more!"

Charm, fellowship, (+10)

The member 'Jarrion Xanatov' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'd100' : 3

Ignoring your own concerns about the situation you deliver a speech to raise crew morale. Your years of using your silver tongue show: Crew morale is raised by 12. You know in your gut you will not be able to feed the men with words alone anymore.

[Current morale is 72, dropping between 1 to 5 every 2 days this hellish scenario continues.

Don't write your own bonuses for things unless it is in combat - This is actually a -10 charm test (as per the rules from the book)

For future reference use the format [Skill],[Attribute]-[Value], Trained [Value] for out of combat skill rolls.]

"Nice speech Xanatov. I'm sure The Lord Captain will be happy with the result"

Eventually a courier comes with urgent personal summons for each of you to meet at the bridge. Elizabeth, Rivaille, Arthurias and Ontar all arrive in due time as well. Glademore motions for everyone to gather round the tactical board. Glademore's mannerisms and Ontar's partly furled face (for the metal portions of his face cannot move like the mortal portion) give away that they are clearly distressed. Glademore speaks up as Ontar works his techno-secrets on the board changing the display to show a system, presumably the one you are in.
Glademore speaks up: "The Solstice had to egress from the warp or twould have be torn asunder. Naturally only two days into our journey we were not graced with Hive World Thical's Voidship port. Nay, instead we are in the vicinity of a death world . . ."
Elizabeth interjects: "You sent urgent summons Arthurias, hovering tens of thousands of kilometers away from planet-bound monsters is no emergency."
Mekarn stops working the tactical board and slams his fists on the board "The emergency, wench, is that since we exited the warp things have been strange in the ship. I communed with the machine spirit of the Solstice and held counsel with Glademore. We are concerned that beasts from the Death World were transported on board."
[Chance to respond]

"Do we perhaps have any information about the nature of the creatures native to the world or any sort of lead to go on. Since nothing has been reported of the issue it is likely they are highly evolved predators and any information would be invaluable."

"We have a book that gives summary information about the xenos monsters that inhabit the world, we have only read through it three times ourselves. Please, if you can identify the creature do so."

From under his tech-priest robes Mekarn pulls out a thick tome and holds it for you to take.

Jarrion reaches out and takes the book. As he flips through it quickly, he says, "Has The Lord-Captain been informed? This situation undoubtedly concerns him. In addition, I would ask Tech-Priest Mekarn, what strange things do you mean. I have felt nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the rumblings of near mutiny. We should set up a ship-wide patrol, so that we may clarify these occurrences. Finally, is there any portion of the Death World below suitable for landing? Our supplies are due for replenishing, and it would help the men's morale to walk on the surface of any planet, no matter how deadly."

Ontar responds "Xanatov, lest you can commune with the machine spirits of the Solstice or peer into the void I would expect you to be oblivious to the strange happenings on board. The specific details are of no concern to you."

Rivaille chimes in: "The Lord-Captain is not responding to any communications, though durin the tough times the captain has been known to go into deep thought in seclusion."

The entirety of the group made an obvious effort to ignore your comment about landing on the death world. They scoff at the stupidity of sending the crew to their deaths and that this could raise morale.

[The lack of a space port means you cannot resupply. These ships don't dock on planets, they are built in the void and stay in the void.]

Security trained, Intelligence 45 +10 from Jarrion support

The member 'Dekaru' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'd100' : 31

[Security - Security is used to bypass mechanical locks and other physical security systems. This differs from many systems that employ codes or cogitators that are more suited to the Tech-Use Skill. The GM sets the Difficulty of the Test according to the complexity of the mechanism.

Security does not apply in this scenario.]

"It seems to me as though our best course of action is to try and get back into warp jump towards the hive world. Ill lead a team and look around the ship and see if we can find whatever it is. If I could have that book I would like to read through it and see what to expect"

[Ontar stares soullessly at you and keeps the book held out as before.]

Glademore speaks: "I will set myself to mapping a course to resume travel to Thical. Lady Faelyn might have communicated with Lord-Captain Kalthar."

Elizabeth and the others leave and resume their duties.

"I will accompany you lord Vendigroth. We should gather some mercenaries to come with us. We can also send out additional patrols to cover the rest of the ship. Glademore, how soon until we can reach a hive world?"

Darrius takes the book and begins reading through it. He looks for anything on creatures adept at hiding and that utilize ambush tactics

" . . . I apologize, I am not capable of determining the length of our remaining journey without consulting my maps and tomes."

---

You spend a few hours trying to garner what information there is to be had from the book. Perform a Forbidden Lore (Xenos) test as if it were a basic skill.

Intelligence 45 -5 for background

The member 'Dekaru' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'd100' : 27

Jarrion, realizing that he is not as well-equipped as Darrius, decides to spend that time setting up patrols with the mercenaries. Ten men to a patrol, with instructions to radio in as soon as they discover something odd.

Vendigroth's efforts are for naught. You are overwhelmed by the jargon employed by the author of this dull book. As far as you know the unwelcome guest could be any of the creatures in this book small enough to fit in the ship.

The patrols wander the corridors for a few hours with no success.

Jarrion tells the patrols to keep searching, then finds Darrius. "Do you think it's worth it to bother The Lord Captain about this? It does seem like the sort
Of thing he would care about. I'm also curious by how vague Mekarn was. What sort of beast could be powerful enough to threaten the machine spirits of the Solstice herself?"

"I'll go and see The Lord Captain, you go and question Mekarn for more information and see if you can help him with anything. Hopefully one of the two will bring done light to the situaion"

Darrius, upon your arrival to the Lord-Captain's quarters one of two guards posted out side the entrance to his quarters (as usual) greets you: "Sir Vendigroth, the Lord-Captain has told me to inform you or any other of his council members that he will not be speaking with you until the monster affair has been sorted out."

"Is there anyone in there with him or is he alone? We don't know what we're up against and it's imperative that The Lord Captains safety be seen to"

The guard responds "The Lord-Captain warned you might be concerned for his well being. He ordered I assure you his safety has been seen to. His head of security has the Lord-Captain thoroughly protected. To answer your first question Sir: I apologize but as you know the Lord-Captain does not permit his guard to speak of his affairs when he is in his quarters."

Darrius sighs to himself

"Yes yes I understand you aren't to talk of his personal buisiness. I would like to speak to the head of security [Insert name here] to make sure that things are as they should be. It is important that lords know that The Lord Captain is safe so that the crew may be reassured."

"I will let him know 'soon as my shift is over sir."

Darrius is clearly getting annoyed with the guard

"You will go now and I will watch the door in your place while you get the head of The Lord Captains Security. The Lord Captains safety and life doesn't wait for the end of your shift. When I tell you to retrieve someone you do it"