[Werefish]

It is the 41st millennia, the Imperium of Man is a war-torn empire, teetering on the brink of collapse. For ten thousand years it has been presided over by the God-Emperor, a being of extreme power trapped somewhere between life and death, to whom thousands of souls are sacrificed each day. The peoples of the Imperium live in a place where daemons are real, mutation all too frequent and death is a constant companion. To live in this grim future is to know that the universe is a truly terrifying and hostile place. The power of technology and science has waned, for so much has been forgotten never to be re-learned. You are one amongst billions and, no matter how heroic your death, you will not be missed.
A truly vast domain, the Imperium's territories encompass untold millions of stars and countless more human lives. In its name, terrible wars are fought and desperate sacrifices made, yet even this river of blood and carnage is a small price to pay, for the Imperium is the guardian of mankind. Were it to pass into nothingness, so too would the human race, destroyed by enemies uncountable, to the laughter of the Dark gods.

Every man and woman must do their part to the continued existence of mankind, yours will be in service of the Imperial Inquisition. The Inquisitors of this secretive yet powerful organisation stand against the vile influence of aliens, the misguided followers of the Ruinous Powers, rebellious worlds, rogue psykers and mutants, that work to bring the Imperium low. As the acolytes of one of these terrifying individuals you will assist in combating just a small number these myriad treats.

Planning to begin on 6th September. Anyone interested?

[Death Jester]

Drooling. 40k nut here. I would love to, currently in a D&D game, if it starts on the 6th chances are I can't. But a couple of weeks more and it could be possible.

[Teflon Billy]

Good to see another rpg starting up . Unfortunately I'm DMing for the foreseeable future.

Sadly not everyone looks at the forum, so it may be worth mentioning it at the EGM.

[HungryHippo]

oooh, I like to, but I'm going to be a bit rubbish on my commitment; around for 3 Mondays then off for a week, around another 3 mondays then off for two weeks.  Probably not the level of devotion the Emporer was after...

[Prostanc3]

Believe this is what was talked about after a game of rail ticket or something along those lines?

Count me in as long as I can kill stuff!

[Not Invented Here]

Hi, it's Stephen - I talked to you about the campaign on Monday? Anyway, definitely count me in.

[Sparhawk]

I've been wanting to play Dark Heresy ever since it was first announced. I'm definitely up for this.

Adam (we talked last Monday)

[Werefish]

[Kalak76]

Hi there. Sounds good fun and I would like to give dark heresy a try so if you have another place free then I would be really interested.

D

[Kalak76]

Sorry but forgot to say that I'm in a game at the mo but current one will finish soon if that's fine?

[Werefish]

Hey guys, sorry to do this via the forum but I'm afraid I can't make the session on 26th Sept. Will resume again on 3rd October.

Sorry again.

Ben

[Prostanc3]

Gutted

[Werefish]

Hi Guys,

Sorry to do this to you again but I'm gonna have to bail again this week. My girlfriend suprised me with tickets to go an see Dave Gorman.

I'll make it up to you guys next session I promise.

Sorry again guys.  

Ben

[Prostanc3]

Dark Heresy back on tonight?

[Werefish]

Dark Heresy campaign to restart on 23rd.

[Werefish]

I have decided to start posting a brief description of events from each session so that if a player misses a week then can check the forum and anyone else who is interested can have a quick peak.

The group of acolytes find themselves once more aboard the Imperial Navy frigate 'Emperor's Beacon', they are summoned to a conference room within the command area of the ship not far from the bridge. Captain Gravius, Commander Tyrion and Ship Commissar Kel are present along with the acolyte's handler, Guilliman, another Inquisitional operative Dorn, scribe Godfrey and two astropaths. The acolytes are informed by Captain Gravius that a distress signal, using inquisitional ciphers, has been received from a location in the interstellar void between Samson VI and the agri-world Hilarion. The warp jump to the location takes a little under 5 hours and the frigate finds the badly damaged remains of the mass hauler 'Hazeroth Harvester'. Initially all that can be ascertained is that the damage has not been caused by convention weapons batteries but the background radiation levels and debris are making it difficult to discern the try cause of the damage. The acolytes are tasked with boarding the stricken vessel and recovering the back-up data coils to see what happening in the ships last hours. Friction between the inquisitional operatives and the ship's command staff have reached a head meaning that apart from the boarding cutter and a small group of armsmen to secure the landing bay aboard the 'Hazeroth Harvester' the navy will not supply any more men, meaning the acolytes are essentially alone in this endeavour.

Once aboard the acolytes have had to take a snaking path through the shattered remains this once proud grain ship, the have encountered void weevils, insects that over millennia in space having been exposed to the radiation of the void and the twisting effects of warp space have grown to the size of dogs. The acolytes have also been plagues by power surges that are resulting in sections of the ship's grav-plating to overload and making their journey more difficult as they struggle on to their objective through areas of zero-g. The group has just make there way into a cargo bay that is has entrances to four granary silos, four small piles are arranged in front of each silo door, the first is a pile of hands, the next legs, the next heads and finally a pile of burnt wheat grain. As the acolytes approach these piles one of their torches illuminates the edge of some writing, as the the acolytes pan their torches to read the whole message they see two distinct  parts, the first written in yellow hull paint SAINT ATTEELIA SAVE US under which is scrawled in what can only be blood NO SHE HAS COME

[Werefish]

The acolytes do some analysis with the auspex they have been given and find that the only way to proceed by going into one of the grain silos, once inside they have to cut their way through the deck plating to gain access to a service duct. This duct leads them further into the bowels of the ship, when they begin to near one of the sub-levels of the engineerium the group hear the sound of boots on walkways and eventually voices. Virtually unnoticed the acolytes move out into the sub-level to find about twenty crewmen running around frantically with a man wearing a petty-officers uniform giving them orders. A fire-fight ensues, the team dispatch the petty-officer swiftly and manage to take a prisoner for further interrogation after dispatching or causing the other crewmen to flee.
The acolytes set off once more towards the back-up data core vault, once there they find that the retrieval console is in a locked state. The locking system seems to incorporate a physical key, the shape of which seems to match a ring found on the body of one of the petty-officer slain in the engineerium sub-level. With the ring in place the console springs into life, with a few deft commands the data-log of the last voyage is retrieved and the group have the navy cutter to reroute to pick them up from nearer their current location. Since the acolytes have boarded the Hazeroth Harvester the Imperial Navy frigate has managed to penetrate the miasma of radiation and debris they have managed to locate an emergency airlock near the confessor's chapel in what remains of the bridge section of the ship. The route that they must navigate takes them through one of the ships remaining void shield generators, as the group approach the generator another power surge courses through the ship, resulting in this section of the ship losing power and therefore gravity. The acolytes make it to the shield generator they find that it seems to be operational to some degree, as the group move around the gantry they happen upon what seems to be a woman cradling her head in her hand crying. The woman looks up and the chamber is bathed in an emerald light as she rises up and begins to levitate, one acolyte fires on the woman and in response is thrown across the chamber. Another acolyte engages the woman in hand-to-hand combat but their sword passes straight through her body, seeing this the cell leader decides that the shield generator needs to be shut down and fires his autopistol into the venerable machine. With the generator damaged the woman looks toward the ceiling and phases out, the the entity gone the group begin to move quickly toward the waiting navy cutter. Upon reaching the chapel the acolytes find a scene of carnage, the pews are filed with corpses, as they reach the alter they see the corpse of ship's confessor pinned to the wall by an twelve-foot bronze spear, below his dangling feet is the smashed marble of St.Atteela. The acolytes board the navy cutter to take them back to the Emperor's Beacon.

[Prostanc3]

Quick question for you gents, do you only need the Dark Heresy RPG Core Rulebook to run & play this game or do monster manuals and GM guides exist too?

[Not Invented Here]

There are printed adventures of various sorts, a "monster manual" named "Dark Heresy: Creatures Anathema", and a bunch of player books, as well as a GM's kit. None of them are required to play - the full rules and a variety of sample creatures are in the Dark Heresy Core Rulebook - but they certainly help.

[Prostanc3]

Thanks, might be making a purchase soon then!

[Werefish]

The Emperor's Beacon set a coarse for the agri-world of Hilarion, after three days in the warp the Navy frigate reaches the planet, the inquisitional task-group board the ship's cutter to take them to city-sized orbital station known as The Grain Exchange. Aboard the massive orbital the acolytes find a suite of rooms to use as a base of their operations during their stay. While moving through one of the common areas near the hub of the station the some of the acolytes spot a man giving a sermon to a small crowd of people, the preacher's forearms are covered in what looks like green paint (not that dissimilar from some of the crew members found aboard the Hazeroth Harvest). The sermon is focused on St.Atteelia, the acolytes do not recognise anything heretical in the speech but when the preacher hands out pamphlets about a prayer meeting that he will be leading tomorrow the acolytes decide to attend to see if they can find out what message this man is spreading to imperial citizens. After gaining more information about the preacher the acolytes and their handlers attend the prayer meeting, once again the speech that the preacher gives in not directly heretical but he keeps saying St.Atteelia will come and judge all.

[Werefish]

Sorry this instalment is a little overdue:

After the meeting has finished the congregation start to move off, going back to there homes or to work night cycle shifts. The acolytes are given orders to seize the preacher and bring him in for interrogation. The stealthier operatives shadow the preacher as he leaves, he is accompanied by two companions. The target leads them into an area of hab-units, most of which are vacant, the trio enter one of the hab-units and close the door. The acolytes put the next part of their plan into action, the Death Cultist bursts through a dividing wall from the neighbouring (vacant) hab-unit while the rest of the team kick the door in with weapons at the ready. The preacher and his companions are taken completely by surprise and quickly subdued. The acolytes bind the three men and escort the preacher from the the hab-unit, using a back route the group manage to make it back to the suite of rooms their handlers are using without encountering anybody. Unbeknownst to the acolytes the preacher has managed to cut through his bounds and whilst they are momentarily distract he makes a break for it. Before the preacher can make it to the relative safety of an adjoining corridor one of the acolytes shoots him in the leg sending him sprawling onto the ground. Once inside the suite of rooms with their newly re-secured prisoner the acolytes are informed that they are to head to the planet's surface on the next available transport.

[Prostanc3]

A little overdue?  

[Werefish]

The acolytes make planet fall on the landing grounds outside Hilarion's principle city of Diltax, due to the harvest festival taking place the landing platforms and port facilities are practically deserted. As the group find their way into the city proper they make slow progress as their way is barred  vast crowds of festival revellers, entertainers and stalls selling types of foods beyond counting. The acolytes decide to head for the city home the senatorial family that they need to contact, when they finally arrive they are told by the housekeeper that the family are at the Grand Cathedral for the 'Service of the High Harvest', the acolytes are given directions and begin to make their way across the city once more. After a couple of hours of forcing their way through the crowds the group find themselves amongst the environs of the Senate building and the Grand Cathedral. Moving toward the Great Stair before the cathedral the group hear gunfire in the distance and screaming, the rattle of automatics weapons fire starts to get closer until the acolytes see men moving amongst the crowd firing indiscriminately at civilians. The streets are turned from public festival to mass panic in a matter minutes, the acolytes take safety in a nearby two-storey building. From the roof of the building they see that the men that were previously firing at civilians have now engaged the local enforcers that are protecting the cathedral, the enforcers are outnumbered and out gunned, the acolytes decide to intervene. The group managed to cut down several of the men before they identify where the weapons fire is coming from, however once their position is spotted some of the men start to head towards the building in an attempt to flush the acolytes out. A brief but bloody close-quarter fight takes place in the corridors leading to the roof of the building, the acolytes remaining on the roof however begin to hear sirens and the sound of vehicles approaching.

[Werefish]

Armoured vehicles arrive, enforcers fire pintle-mounted heavy stubbers at the armed men in the street. Fearing that they may be mistaken for 'terrorist' the acolytes take cover on the roof and watch how events begin to unfold. Within minutes the area outside the cathedral and senate building is swarming with armoured vehicles and enforcer, obviously feeling safer for their presence people start to leave the cathedral. The majority of the men are wearing white togas, they detach themselves from the body of the crowd forming outside the cathedral, move down the great staircase toward the senate building. The togaed men are inside the senate building for about fifteen minutes before they start to appear on the street once more, after which the enforcer start to load people into the armoured vehicles. Over the citywide PA system an announcement is made “Citizens of Diltax, a state of emergency has been issued, the senate has just voted to place Consul Miskar CamCarrick as dictator for the duration six months. As his first act Sole-Consul CamCarrick has declared marshal law, till further notice anyone found on the street will be fired upon by the Diltax Praetorian. This order takes effect immediately, return to your homes for your own safety. Glory to the Diltaxian Republic and Honour to the God-Emperor!”.
While marshal law is in effect the acolytes decide to keep a low profile, they hear sporadic sounds of fighting through-out the city over the next couple of days. Using their vox-caster the group managed to contact their handlers still aboard the orbital station above, they are given orders to hold their current position as local enforcers are en-route to collect and escort the them to the landing grounds. Within minutes two armoured vehicles bearing the livery of the Diltax Praetorian arrive to pick up the group, after a three-quarters of an hour journey the acolytes find themselves at the Diltax landing grounds. They are told to wait and soon they see the contrail of a landing craft entering the atmosphere, it plummets toward the landing grounds.