Capitulus Decum: The Belly of the Beast

In the nightmare future of the 41st millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of extinction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by ravening aliens, and threatened from within by malevolent creatures and heretic rebels. Only the strength of the Immortal Emperor of Terra stands between Humanity and its annihilation. Dedicated to His service are the countless warriors, agents and myriad servants of the Imperium.

Dark Heresy is a roleplaying game based upon the universe of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000. The setting of Warhammer 40,000 is a dark, gothic future where the Imperium of Man is beset by dangers within and without. In Dark Heresy players take on the roles of Acolytes of the Inquisition, aiming to uncover and combat the enemies of mankind, be they aliens, heretics or mutants!

Run by the Grand Inquisitor Vardaen
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ManWithDoor
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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by ManWithDoor » Mon Feb 08, 2021 5:16 am

Damien pauses at the flickering reality, narrowing his eyes. These 'illusions' aren't quite that, not tricks of the mind but a shifting in reality. The real Dei-Phage is likely still flying around outside, and the Titan's Princeps had ordered them to the Quake Cannon. They need to get through the gear housing to access it, but this alternate reality is preventing that.

Rather than throwing more energy at the monster he tries to defy the vision and feel for the access points to the Quake Cannon.
Sorry, guys. I've got nothing else on a True Name from my notes. It had various Hekate thralls bound to its will, but I doubt naming them off would be useful. Hopefully those Santified Rounds we found earlier will turn out useful! *fingers crossed*

Trying to 'Disbelieve Illusion' as best I can, like trying to feel for a ladder of something taking us to our true goal of the Cannon.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Vardaen
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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by Vardaen » Fri Feb 26, 2021 8:21 pm

Merica does one thing, she shoots things, so why would she try something else? She figures she just needs to shoot with the right things. Swapping weapons she fires with the Holy Boltgun Shell and strikes the side of the target. I throws itself back from the impact spinning about. It shouldn't be possible, but the wound there begins to regenerate almost at once.

Haxtes has an idea on what is happening, and he latches on to theat. He begins moving about the burning library trying to feel what reality is underneath. He grabs out, mind like a machine, not a human, and for a split second perhaps he feels cold steel railing on his hand. You aren't at the canon yet, but part way there. He pulls his hand back and in it is one of the man books of the libriaram nox that you are 'in'. He goes to discard it but it falls open in his hand, and there is cult like writing on it, names and rituals and more heresy.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by RorytheRomulan » Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:05 pm

Ok. Time to stop and think. Merica is no Primarch, but if the inquisitor wanted a mindless killing machine, she would have been given to the Machine Cult. A pause in the middle of a fight is fatal, but she cannot recall information and destroy heretics at the same time, and so she searches for something she heard or read from her classes and studies that might shed some light on what to do before the holy bullets run out.
Free/Half/Full (?)
Skill checks. (Common) Administratum, (Common) Ecclesiarchy, and (Scolastic) Philosophy. Did she ever encounter information, fact or conjecture, about the deiphage or its true name, that could help her right now? Is it a 'creature' or something else?

Reaction to Dodge. If I'm allowed to do the above and add something else, I'd like to take Defensive Stance for a full action. If I only have a Half Action, I'll Delay.

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by ManWithDoor » Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:26 am

Damien steels his mind against the heresy written in the books of the false Librarium, his mind unable to not read what passes his gaze. Rituals of demon possession and false claims against the God-Emperor flash through his brain, but he cannot turn back now. He has to force his way through the not-reality presented through the power of the Immaterium.
I thought I was the one trying to dig through the illusions, not Haxtes. :P
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 26, 2021 1:48 pm

You are certain fighting this thing toe to toe is pointless. Even your best weapons have done nothing to it. Another scroll flies through the air, born aloft by hte heat of the burning fires. Damien grabs the scroll to peal it off his face, and notices on it real writing. Script and information about cult rituals. Merica wracks her own brain for any information, only knowing that daemons are vulerable to their real names, which they never give out, but many groups, including the Sisters of Battle, the Tech Priests of Mars, and the Black Pyskers keep detailed RECORDS of such things, generally in a collected sort of space.

All around you the LIBRARY burns, books and scrolls going up in flames, all that collected knowledge.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by RorytheRomulan » Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:54 pm

Merica stows her gun. Until they get the daemon's real name, it's... useless. Recalling the categorization of tomes and scrolls from the progenium on Sepheris Secundus, she runs toward what she hopes are the daemonology shelves, scanning titles.

It would have been in the section of forbidden knowledge, cordoned off by security measures much tougher than iron bars to dissuade any would-be rule-breaking alumni from - should they attempt to browse them - continuing to exist.

"We don't have the right name! Search the library! That book you picked up - perhaps it will help!"

(she refers to the book we found in the Planetarium, Prodigious Heavenly Occurrences)
whelp - we've gotta find the daemon's name as it attempts to burn the knowledge in this room and us along with it. I'm almost tempted to shout "Pestilence" in Latin as a potential name...

For skills in helping me know what to look for, I think the best I can do are Administratum - maybe Philosophy.

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by ManWithDoor » Wed Mar 31, 2021 4:55 am

Damien yells his agreement, and starts reaching out for the floating parchments and tomes, reading through them as quickly as he can. He frantically pulls books off the shelves and scans through them, his mental will strengthening him against the heretical print burning his soul.
Well, that's going to be interesting! :) Need to dig through a Corrupt Library, hoping we find their True Name before being driven insane by the madness contained therein.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by Vardaen » Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:29 pm

A name, a true name.... you recall that a daemon has many names, and that one, its true name, gives power over it. So you head for the shelves and the burning books and scrolls. It is an impossible task it seems.

Merica guides the group, "Here this section!" She finds the section of the Librarium that contains information on forbidden subjects, including tomes describing heretical cults and the collected writings of warp-prophets. Its a good enough place to start.

Damien finds a shelf holding catalogues of daemons, their names, and their deeds.

Haxtes is about to join when a fire bolt from the daemon is unleashed at him. He is nearly struck but manages to dodge, but his effort is put into not being blasted to pieces and not searching.
Ah got my clues, excellent.

You need X successful Challenging (+0) Search Tests are required to hunt it down.

Merica: I will give you each +5 bonus for calling into being some interesting and useful skill.

24 vs 16+5 = 21 eh close enough!

Damien: 21 vs 20.5 eh close enough!

Haxtes: 54 vs 13 Fail
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by RorytheRomulan » Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:13 am

Ducking under a shelf, Merica pops open the most promising book and scans the contents, muttering her daily prayer to herself as she frantically cuts to chapter headings and flips through pages, looking for anything relevant to their malignant foe, "dei-phage" of course being one of her keywords, followed by "Nurgle" and "Tzeentch" in the Gothic tongue, and anything related to transformation, recalling Lord Thrunng's Chaos-tainted arm from the day she crashed into his menagerie. By the Emperor's golden throne, her prayer may be finished before they leave this cursed place, IF they return.

But, wait... Perhaps "eclipse"? Thinking back to the party's meeting with the wraith impersonating Koronath, anything related to the planets and stars "being right" feels like the right direction. "Think back to what the ghosts said," she advises above the Chaos in the room. "The planetarium could give us a clue about what to look for."
I invoke the skills Literacy and High Gothic (+32, each, for skill checks)! I did NOT think I would need these for combat, but here I am, skimming books for a daemon's true name before it burns me alive! :lol:

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The Dei-Phage: Librarium Nox

Post by ManWithDoor » Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:18 pm

Damien, as the resident expert in the Warp, its workings and denizens, is in his element. Alright, he's not the best at digging through books to find what he's needing in a short timespan, but he hasn't spent years endangering his sanity and soul, exposing himself to worse things than base humanity can handle without going mad or surrendering to heresy, for nothing.

"I think you may be onto something, Merica. This isn't just some garden variety daemon, stupid but strong, to be hunted down by a killteam at leisure. It has trapped the souls of its victims here, and their knowledge may turn useful after all."
Well it looks like my Lore investments may be useful here too! I mean, I did so intentionally since I'm Mr. Psyker, but I'll never look a Gift Skill in the mouth.
- Search is 20.5, so yeah, not fantastic.
- (High Importance) Forbidden Lore(s): Warp (53), Heresy (43), and most importantly - Daemonology (43)
- (Possibly Useful?) Scholastic Lore(s): Occult (48), maybe Legends (48) if this thing has been known in deep history by other names?
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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