A respite from the fight emerges as the final attacker falls to the floor in flames. The court is still hot from battle and the burning corpses that litter the floor. From within the halls, the panic can be heard as those left alive flee for their lives. Skarmen glances back at the Acolytes and urges, “Hurry, we must secure the Judiciary!” Tertius nods as he and Servius help Torqul to his feet and assist him out of the court and into the inner halls. The acolytes hurry past debris and burning corpses through an archive vault and down a side passage before entering a large private chamber.
The chamber is surrounded by floor to ceiling bookshelves with ornate chairs and a grand oval desk in the center. Inside are multiple dead bodies. Upon entering, Skarmen growls, “By the Golden Throne they got the Judiciary.” From his glance, the Acolytes can tell he is referring to the ornately dressed man slumped upon the desk. He pulls a vox from his side and begins shouting orders to his men describing the current state of affairs before glancing back, “This is going to bring the city to a boil. We need to secure the district immediately. I will leave this to you. I will assign men to begin collecting the dead as soon as we know the area is safe.” He returns to the vox as he strides from the room.
Tertius
As soon as Marshall Skarmen is out of earshot, Tertius’ face and voice are flush with anger. “We’ve been had for fools! To have our presence used in this plot. I am incensed! Now we must be quick about our business before the Marshall and his men can distract us.”
Turning to Theta. “Theta, those behind this have to be close. See if you can find what escape route they have taken and track them. If you see anyone suspicious then call for backup and engage if need be.”
To Servius. “We need a closer look at those corpse thralls. Find the one in the best condition and start a field examination.” Tertius plops down his backpack and hands Servius his medkit. “We are going to see more of those hellspawn and we still don’t know how to effectively stop them. Don’t let Skarmen or his men touch any of those thralls until you are satisfied you have seen all there is to see. Also, how did they combust? Were they explosive laden or was that of the warp? Oh, and one last thing. May I have the Rosette? I mean to break into any cogitators I can find of the Judiciaries.”
Offering the least bloodied chair to Torqul. “Brother Torqul. If you need a moment then by all means rest here while I begin my examination (of the Judiciary’s office). If not then we let us work together.”
Tertius examines the room. What he most wants to see now is how the Judiciary and the others were killed, if there is a cogitator (computer), and if it looks like something is missing/broken into.
Servius
Servius hands Tertius the Rosetta. “I’ll see what I can determine from what is left of those abominations. May the fall of those cursed thralls be a blessing from the Emperor.” Servius heads back into the great hall to investigate the thrall bodies.
GM
Tertius slowly looks at each body in the room. There are 7 in total. Most appear to be a part of the Judiciary’s entourage and are likely body guards although two are more finely dressed and might have been nobles. The killing wounds appear to be las wounds to the head. Search of the room shows little extraneous fire that might suggest a counter attack. You suspect that they were caught unaware.
You do not find a cogitator in the room although the room has many documents and books to rifle through if time would allow.
Theta
Theta searches for alternate points of exit that the attackers may have taken.
Tertius
Tertius says to the team via microbead, “Seven dead. Las wound to the head killed each. It seems they were taken unawares. Servius, see if any of those thralls had a lasgun. I don’t believe they did this, I just want to see if we can recover the murder weapon.”
He moves over to the Judiciary while he is talking and then begins to search the body. If nothing of note reveals itself he will move to the Judiciary’s desk and search there.
Over the microbead,“Look for any security cameras as well. I should think there is a security network room here we will need to look at before anyone else does.”
Servius
The bodies of the attackers in the quorum are all burned to a crisp. As you rifle through each one you can see that each had been heavy swatched in black bandages and dark green raincloaks to prevent their true nature from being seen. Although this fabric is almost entirely destroyed at this point due to the flames. Attached to the chest of each is an exploded firebomb that you can assume was used as a final attempt to cause chaos. The flesh of each of these creatures is little more than char at this point and any psychic deception causing them to appear as acolytes has faded. You find a couple of unexploded frag grenades and a number of hand canons that the risen were wielding.
Servius pockets the grenades and hand cannons to keep for use later. He ponders the information and decides that these attackers were likely a diversion to perform the murder of the Judiciary and his crew.
Servius leaves the main chambers and heads into the halls. The noise of people still fleeing in his ears. He scans the walls and ceiling looking for surveillance equipment avoiding wreckage and bodies. With his gaze upwards he almost runs into a women coming around the corner. “Ah!” She yells in fear before regaining her composure. Servius exchange glances before a look of insight and relief crosses her face. “You are one of the inquisitors! You need to help me I am in extreme danger.”
“You are correct in your assumption, fair citizen. Are there more abominations a foot?”
“Hopefully not anymore. But I believe I have discovered something that might be of vital interest to you and your inquiry.” She pauses a moment. “And likely the reason these attacks happened today. Please, come with me.” She catches herself before turning her gaze back. “Oh my name is Eupheme. I work just around the corner.”
She begins a hasty walk leading you through large double doors labeled ‘Official Records’. “I was not near any of the blasts although I did hear them from across the court. I was retrieving some archives from the northern archive when I heard the sounds and rushed to see if our records were safe.” The outer room is filled with walls of bound scrolls sealed with wax. Rows of desks in the room are present and a dozen lexographic servitors are in the room moving about with slow clockwork motions. Motioning to the room she says, “I have sent the adepts home due to the danger and since I am still unsure of what is going on.”
At the back of the room an ornate door with the placard ‘Keeper of the Rolls’ is emblazoned. “This is my office. But I know whoever perpetrated the attack came through here. Let me show you.” She pauses for a moment. “I didn’t catch your name.”
Servius responded reserved but, slightly more relaxed than official - “Inquistor Flavon but, you can call me Servius.” He inquires where she was doing the meeting? “If this was a point of interest, where were you when the meeting was starting?”
“It is a pleasure to meet you Servius.” Eupheme does a small flourish with her hand. “I like to think of our records as a point of interest although I doubt most do. But I do not know what meeting you are referring to.” She opens the door to her chambers and heads inside. It is a ornate room filled with dark wood and engraved shelves lined with scrolls and mechanical blaziers lighting the room. Behind her desk are two large shelves which appear to have their contents strewn across the floor. A large rolling wooden ladder used to reach the higher shelves has been knocked to the floor. She begins picking up some items and placing them back on the shelves. “As you can see someone tore through here rather quickly. And I have a good guess now as to what they were after.”
A siren begins to blare in the distance somewhere in the district indicating that tensions must be rising outside of the quorum.
“So you were not near the Judiciary and his party or in the Hall when the commotion started?”
She pauses showing a bit of concern. “No, like I mentioned I only heard the blasts from a distance. I am still unsure of what sort of explosions they were but hopefully our guards have dispatched the attackers. I hope you are here to help and not to accuse or this will be for naught.”
Servius tries to easy her concerns, “My party had just arrived when the commotion started. I’m still in an information sorting mode to get my bearings. I’m here to find out more of what may have happened. An arbitor is always uses precaution, an Inquisitor - even more so. Please, may I have a look around?”
“Feel free to look around the chambers but there is an item that I believe was what the attackers were looking for.” She reaches under the desk and pulls out an ornate wooden box with a scorched handprint on the surface. “When I found this the handprint was still smoking so I know the intruder was nearby but apparently the wards my grandfather put in place were clearly strong enough to keep them at bay.” She slides the box across to you eager to free herself from the danger of the item.
Theta
Theta leaves and begins making her way about the labrynth of halls and rooms on the outer section of the court. The signs of explosions and battle apparently did not extend through all portions of the court but seem to be limited to the grand entrance and halls close to the acolytes entrance. She decides to determine the layout of the rest of the court and begins passing through meeting rooms, galleries, and cogitator stations. Most of these are now dusty and disused and some areas are tellingly stripped of their former finery and equipment. She finds the center of the court as sirens begin ringing in the distance from somewhere in the district. Opening a large door reveals a large dome of brass-latticed crystal upon a gracefully stepped open pavilion. You notice a large collection of servitors that appear in the form of angels and warriors lining the walls standing motionless. Looping around the building you determine that there are only four primary entrances that allow entrance to the court from the rest of the city. The other three entrances of the court still have armed guards although they are visibly agitated and discussing rumors of what could possibly be going on amongst themselves.
Tertius
Tertius ceases his examination of the scene and returns to the Judiciary’s desk. After depositing some items from it into his backpack, Torqul sees him remove an ornate bolt pistol, pop out the clip to check that it is loaded, then reinsert it. Walking towards Torqul he removes his old bolt pistol from his harness under his cloak and hands it to him, grip first.
“We must better arm ourselves for this cruel warfare Brother Verada.” He slips the new bolt pistol into his shoulder rig.
To the team, “We are finished here. Any updates?”
Servius
Servius responds, “There isn’t much left of the thralls but, I discovered they were disguised to not give away there initial presence. There were also equipped with firebombs which was probably used to get rid of any evidence on their bodies.”
“I met a person there while i was investigating them. This person insisted I go with them to show me why there was an attack. I am now with them in their office. I’ll inform more in a moment.”
“I’m in the Official Records room with the Keeper of the Roll. It’s north of the Hall.”
Eupheme tilts her head listening to your conversation with Tertius. “I hope I am not being an inconvenience but I believe this is pertinent to your investigation. I have had this relic since my assumption to the office of Sagacity after my grandfather’s passing. I have been researching and translating his papers and believe I understand what might be happening at this point.”
Servius responds, “They are other Inquisitors. They must be close to finishing there investigation. I agree with you, This is pertinent. " He quips, “So, you are keen to good mental judgement?” Servius moves closer to the box.
A knock on the door interrupts their conversation and Tertius walks into the room. (Continues below)
Torqul
“Brothers, the Emperor did not grant me the final blessing, and yet my body is damaged severely. I believe it would be best if I spent some time in the medical facilities while you continue the investigation.”
Tertius
Tertius reaches out to help support Torqul out of the chair. “We will get you medical aid as soon as we are able brother but we are not yet out of harm’s way. But fear not, I saw the hand of the blessed Saint Drusus himself upon you today.” Tertius gently but firmly urges Torqul to exit the Judiciary’s chamber. “Unless Theta is near Servius’ location then he is alone and unaided. I worry for his safety more than ours at the moment.”
GM
Tertius and Torqul make their way through hallways doubling back due to the maze-like nature before coming to large double doors labeled ‘Official Records’. The outer room is filled with walls of bound scrolls sealed with wax. Rows of desks in the room are present and a dozen lexographic servitors are in the room moving about with slow clockwork motions. At the back of the room an ornate door with the placard ‘Keeper of the Rolls’ is emblazoned. You hear Servius and a women talking within.
Tertius
Tertius does a low volume tap with his knuckles on the door. His other hand rests on his holstered bolt pistol under his cloak.
GM
Tertius opens the door to a large ornate room filled with dark wood and engraved shelves lined with scrolls and mechanical blaziers lighting the room. Servius stands opposite of a women across a large desk covered in scrolls and writing tools. Behind the desk are two large shelves which have their contents strewn across the floor. A large rolling wooden ladder used to reach the higher shelves has been knocked to the floor.
“Ah, you must be who Inquisitor Flavion requested. I am Eupheme Tassal, Keeper of the Rolls and The Sagacity of Sinophia Magna, as I was mentioning this relic,” motioning to a wooden box with a blackened imprint of a hand, “or rather what it contains is likely the catalyst behind this attack. From my readings, I believe I am in danger with this in my possession and would like it transferred to the inquisition for safe keeping.”
Servius nods to acknowledge your presence inspecting the handprint on the box.
Tertius
“Tertius Kabakes ma’am, at your service.” He looks back to see Torqul wearily standing guard outside the door and then turns his full atttention to Tassal and the box. “Please proceed with your explanation.”
GM
“I returned from the northern archives when I heard the blasts. At first, I released the adepts from their duties for the day. But upon entering my chambers I saw that it had been searched. When I found the box the handprint was still smoking so I know the intruder was nearby but it seems the wards my grandfather put in place were strong enough to keep whoever it was at bay.”
Eupheme begins looking around the room at various scrolls. “Of course. I have been researching and translating papers belonging to my grandfather regarding these mirror fragments. He apparently used it for scrying and seeing glimpses of the ancient past and even distant worlds. But I think that after he realized that they were cursed or at least were tainted with daemonic forces that only Haarlock could control he put aside the shard and sealed it in that box guarded with wards.”
Tertius
Tertius’ eyes flash at the mention of the mirror fragments and Haarlock. “Madam, what you have told us confirms all our suspicions. It also confirms that you are indeed in grave danger. I urge you to gather up what texts you have here regarding these fragments and leave with us immediately.”
GM
Eupheme furrows her brow, “Where do you intend for us to go? This is most likely the safest location in the city although I do realize the recent attempts at an attack make everywhere seem dangerous at the moment.” Looking to Servius, “Well I believe they are after what it contained if that is what you mean.” A look of concern crosses her face. “Oh we must go to the Judiciary’s Office immediately.”
