Dark Heresy Game information

Acolytes

You, an acolyte of Inquisitor Morgitus Olestes.

Garvien Hogtog, a Scrivener rank Adept, known for his talkativeness, bland features, and
ceaseless reading. He is especially fond of non religious pro-imperial poetry.

Home World: Imperial Agri-World

Divination: The only true fear is of dying with your duty not done. (+2 wounds)
Handedness: Left
Age: 28

Thaddius Haxties, an Arbite trooper drafted by Morgitus to serve as a liaison with local
military and police forces. Thaddius is tall and of average build. He is friendly and
usually cautious, but he is also unpredictable.

Homeworld: Hive
Divination: The wise man learns from the deaths of others (+3 intelligence)
Handedness: Right
Age: 31

Urana To, a young Sanctionite psyker. She underwent considerable mental trauma as a
child, and is considered to be a bit crazy. She speaks her own private language that only
Garvien can understand, despite his attempts to teach others.

Homeworld: Unknown, no Home World traits.

Divination: Die if you must, but not with your spirit broken (+3 willpower)
Handedness: Right
Age: 30

Veneya Cohlix, a fighter (scum class) who would be attractive if not for a crude
augmetics eye and terrible scarring. She is sarcastic, bitter, yet fiercely loyal. She also has
a deep loathing for gangs, pirates, and other such criminals, despite her own tendencies.
She also feels tainted by what she had lived through and strives to purify her soul through
service to the emperor.

Homeworld: Imperial War Zone

Divination: Truth is subjective (+3 intelligence and corruption)
Handedness: Right
Age: 27

000, a techpriest who fell victim to a terrible electrical surge that wiped his mind. Now he
responds only to 000, in reference to his inability to remember his name. Although it is
believed that he was previously a high level Tech-Priest or even a Magos, a rumor he is
keen to support, he now is back to ground zero. He is heavily augmented, although his
new personality is upset by this.

Post-Incident Home World: The warship Bulwark. No side effects.

Post-Incident Divination: The gun is mightier than the sword (+3 ballistic skill)
Handedness: Ambidextrous
Age: Unknown, probably in his forties or fifties.
Post-Incident Age: 3

Background

Year: 40,407

You are an acolyte recently recruited by Inquisitor Morgitus, of the Ordo Hereticus. You
and your friend were recruited a week ago, but circumstances prevented you from
traveling to Morgitus’ orbiting cruiser, the Severus Viator until today. You arrive on the
cruiser to be met not by Morgitus as you expected, but by a man who introduces himself
as Garvien Hogtog. Garvien is a short man with pallid skin and small features, with a
reading light bolted into the back of his shaved skull.

Chapter One: Introductions

Garvien: Any questions before I show you two around?

Garvien knows a lot about the Imperium, but only has time for about three questions.
After this, he insists that you hurry. If asked why Morgitus himself is not present, he
explains that the Inquisitor is away investigating a treasonous Ecclesiarch. Investigation
skills have no effects in this conversation.

Garvien: Let us go, you should come meet the rest of us.

On the way to the briefing deck, Garvien gives a brief tour of the ship. He is able to
answer basic questions about the ship.

Garvien leads you through one last vaulted arch, festooned with swooping golden eagles,
and you find yourself on the briefing deck. It is a huge oval shaped room with massive
glass view screens that give a beautiful view of outer space. A huge metal table
dominated the center of the room, and at it sits two people. One is a tall man with the
look of a warrior, who wears a grey and brown overcoat. There is also a tech-priest,
obviously heavily augmented, with robotic eyes, several mechadendrite attachments, and
looping respirator tubes, as well as a large battery hooked to his back. Garvien introduces
them as Thaddius Haxties and Magos 000. Thaddius stands up, gives your hand a firm
shake, and then asks you to sit down.
You can now discuss any concerns or voice any questions on your mind. The other
acolytes will discuss your new employment and explain everything you need to know.
When you finish, you may explore the ship.

The next day, you are awoken by a naval rating who informs you that Morgitus will be
communicating with you and the other acolytes in the briefing room in ten minutes.
When you arrive at the Briefing room, everyone else is already there. There is also a new
acolyte in attendance, a psyker named Urana. If you try to talk to her, the other acolytes
explain that she only speak her own language. Also in the room is a recorder that plays
back the astropathic message received by Morgitus.

If you ask why he does not talk “live”, the other acolytes laugh at you and explain about
communications lag. You can attempt a difficult -10 deceive test to pretend you were
joking and avoid embarrassment. The other player may also make a check to save his
friend from embarrassment.

The message tells of a world called Kalf, in the Calixis sector. It is a frontier world of
twenty thousand people. Apparently there have been mass unexplained deaths their. You
are to investigate why people are dying and eliminate the source.

Characters may find out other basic information by merely looking it up, no test required.
For more advanced information, make a Routine +20 inquiry test. Alternatively you can
use an appropriate lore test.

Basic Information: Kalf is a jungle world with advanced technology. It is ruled by a

governor put in place by a merit system. The governor has unlimited power, but can be
impeached by popular vote. A three quarters vote is required to remove the governor
from office. Life on Kalf is harsh, keeping the flora in check being a constant struggle.
Kalf is small, about the size of Terra’s moon, but is home to vast reserves of gasses
vented from subterranean volcanoes. These are harvested by specialized gas mines
located over volcanic vents. The capitol is Jamaraal, home to seven thousand people.
Kalf was first colonized in 39,992.

Advanced Information: Kalf has had to deal with very little political strife. It has had
eighteen governors, of whom only one was impeached. The military presence on the
planet is minimal; however most of the population is well armed and tough due to
conditions on the planet. There is also a mandatory militia service involving weekly
training drill for all men between 18 and 40 years of age. The life expectancy on Kalf is
40. The vast majority of men on Kalf work in the gas mines, so most of the artisans and
merchant class are the women. The current governor is Alamar Krane.

With one or more degrees of success: Governor Krane has faced a recent loss of
popularity due to his inability to deal with the mysterious deaths that have begun to
plague Kalf in the past year. Rumor is that a movement is underway to have him
impeached. His primary political rival is Glori Suvetsni, an extremely popular offworlder
known for her stubborn determination to meet problems head on and solve them directly.
The acolytes should be given a brief period of time in which to discuss the upcoming
mission together in the briefing room. They then may explore the ship, and at any time
are allowed to skip ahead to the arrival at their destination.

Chapter 2: Arrival

It is decided that you, Thaddius, and 000 will travel to Kalf’s surface while Garvien and
Urana remain behind in a supporting role. You are all given vox bead communicators if
you do not already have one. Next you board the waiting Aquila Lander and land at the
small spaceport at Jamaraal. There you are met by Executive Imperial Liaison Vindict
Bertrand. He politely but briefly welcomes you, and then informs you that Governor
Krane has requested an audience. If you refuse to attend, he insists, but if you persist he
eventually submits to your wishes, grumbling about having to reschedule Krane’s
congested agenda. If the acolytes delay, then they may take a day to explore Kalf, but
after that they must meet with the governor if possible.

For the record, Thaddius should be loosely in favor of meeting with the governor when
originally summoned. It may be appropriate to call for an Ordinary (+10) fellowship test
to persuade him.

If the acolytes choose to explore, they may temporarily skip ahead to chapter 4: Jamaraal.
Chapter 3: Governor Kane

Governor Krane sits on a large throne of ebony wood draped in golden covers. Kane
himself looks like the chair, tall and broad with dark skin and golden eyes. His mere
presence is overwhelming.

Krane has a fellowship of 45. He will regularly attempt to intimidate, charm and deceive
the Acolytes for his own gain. He is trained in all four interaction skills. He is also racist
against white people. Bon blacks gain a minus 10 penalty when interacting with him.

Krane tells you he has called you to discuss the disease that is ravaging the population.
The only new knowledge he can give on the disease is that it has killed 478 people so far,
320 of them being foresters, and 19 of them administratum officials, even though such
officials rarely leave the safety of their headquarters. Krane will try to downplay his own
incompetency, and if the Acolytes bring it up, he will attempt to change their minds with
a deceive test. Thaddius has the scrutiny skill, and a perception of 35. Other characters
may attempt to notice his deceit with a scrutiny test or by making a half perception test.

All in all, nothing much is gained from Kane. If you discover his deceit at any time in this
chapter or later chapters, the discoverer gains 75 xp, and the other acolytes gain 25 xp.

Chapter 4: Jamaraal

Your characters now have a day to explore Jamaraal. There are several locations of
interest.

-The trades block

-The press building
-The administratum building
-The space port
-The town square

In the trades block, characters may purchase any standard primitive melee weapons of
average quality. They may also purchase any SP handgun for 110% market price. Also
for sale are maps and trinkets.

The press building prints out pro-imperial propaganda. A +30 intelligence test can be
used to discover that the news is exaggerated propaganda and not entirely factual.

The acolytes may access the Severus Viator through the space port.
In the town square there is a statue of a bear. A +20 inquiry test reveals that it represents
the strength of the people of Kalf. This inquiry takes twenty minutes. A failed test
succeeds, but takes two hours.

The administratum building is full of lower adepts. If the acolytes go through the entry
logs, they will notice that an ex naval officer named Coget Yin has entered the building
repeatedly in the previous three years, although he is not in the Administratum. A -10
inquiry test reveals that he lives in the forest to the east of Jamaraal. This test may be
attempted by each acolyte. If you talk to the adepts, they can give you advanced
information about Krane, and inform you that the disease is indeed a virus.