Yarrow Able, curious pyromancer had interacted with said device and was enraptured by a violently powerful vision just as the beautiful and dangerous Rogue Trader the group had encountered upstairs showed up with her entourage, and the two parties were now staring eachother down mistrustfully.
It took only a short tense exchange between Sinric, Caesar and Aleri before both parties concluded that it was exceedingly unlikely that either group was responsible for the horrors down here, given that they had all only arrived the very same day. Sinric convinced Aleri to divulge that she had actually attended this party because by means she refused to divulge she had determined the Tarnell family had possession of a potentially valuable and dangerous artifact, but after probing around revealed no one knew where it was she was convinced that one of the higher ups in the family had likely taken it and hidden it for their own use.
Meanwhile Yarrow was far away, his mind's eye being shown a vivid image of a misty looking ballroom filled with tables. Of the people seated at these tables half had featureless blank faces and the other half had wicked visages of terror, twisted and malformed. The vision changed to show a large golden Imperial Aquila, at first pristine but then showered with blood and gore. As viscera marked its surface it warped and changed to show a large, unblinking eye that stared balefully at him. Yarrow tried to scream but only managed a wheezing gasp, once more back in the vault.
Sinric told Aleri that they were merely investigators looking to uproot a cult, which was technically true. However only moments later Yarrow stumbled out of the vault saying how the artifact inside was trying to help him, that it had given him a potentially helpful vision and that they should take it and give it to the Inquisitor.
The group visibly balked at Yarrow dropping the I word, but Aleri dismissively discredited their concern. She was not a damned fool and an eclectic group such as theirs probing such a high profile party for a cult basically screamed Inquisition to anyone with half a brain.
Then there was the matter of the artifact they had found. Yarrow was certain it was trying to help him find the cult and adamantly wanted to keep it. Aleri insisted this was a bad idea and his fascination was going to get him in trouble. She told the group that if they gave it to her she could contain it with a purpose-built warded container she had brought and it would be safely offworld while the party concluded whatever it was they were going to do. Obviously handing off such a potentially dangerous warp-related artifact to a Rogue Trader is not exactly standard Inquisition protocol, but the party was far from standard and their Inquisitor had already been established as a little bit of a radical.
They debated for a brief time before siding with the Trader. Sinric and Caesar both seemed convinced it was the correct course of action, possibly because they were slightly enamoured with Aleri's striking looks. Yarrow was adamantly against it, wanting to keep the device. Demios seemed to care little either way and Bram was equally surly against all parties, not wanting to hand it over but clearly a little disturbed by Yarrow's fascination. Finally Alcyone broke the deadlock after some deliberation, bartering it to the Trader in exchange for a payment in rare cybernetics to be negotiated properly in the future. Bram was clearly a little uncomfortable with this arrangement but would never speak out against Alcyone, and so the deal was struck. Yarrow was extremely pissed, mostly at Sinric and Caesar.
An early image of Alcyone, Inquisition Interrogator. Yarrow always suspected she only made that deal because of her barely contained obsession with amassing cybernetics, rather than thinking it was the right thing to do.
The box snapped shut and their business concluded. As a show of good faith Aleri told the party everything she had gathered about the family, although some of it they had already heard. She repeated that Governor Tarnell was considering making his youngest son Siris his heir, but also mentioned that the Sector Commander even attending this event was due to Siris' shrewd political negotiating which was influencing his father's decision. She also mentioned that she caught wind of one of the Spire nobles by the name of Vinatris who had been talking vaguely but at length about a sort of inner circle of the local nobles, like a sort of exclusive club. Both possibly good leads for cult activity but she for obvious reasons had little interest in following them up herself.
[GM'S NOTE
The group would not know this until I divulged the information after the final session of this arc, but while giving Aleri the artifact deprived them of a potentially useful item and piece of evidence it was also a great boon for their cover. The vault being raided and Aleri leaving immediately afterwards pulled all suspicion to her, and made the vile conspirators naively believe that the greatest threat to their nefarious plans had left with their prize.]
With that Aleri gave a wink to Sinric (or maybe it was Caesar, in any case they were both convinced it was for themself) and left up the passage she had come down. Tensions were high in our little group of heroes, Yarrow and Bram making no secret of how they felt about Sinric and Caesar's fascination with the Rogue Trader and how they thought passing off the artifact was a poor move. But regardless they still had a job to do, and scant few leads with which to do it. After some deliberation they decided walking back into the palace covered in grime and mutant blood was a poor choice and elected to attempt a journey back into the civilized portions of the spire through the sewer/runoff tunnels that branched away from the room with the vault.
Being the one ostensibly most trained in navigation Caesar boldly took the lead, desperate to restore some of his companions lost goodwill (in reality they sort of always thought he was a bit of a nonce and nothing had changed), and much to everyone's surprise he actually did a pretty good job. The sewer was cramped, dark and smelly and there were occasionally claw rends in the walls, but the party did not get turned around and after maybe a half hour of navigation found themselves in a back alley of the inhabited areas of the higher-class upper hive civilian areas. The Palace entrance was now within walking distance and they had two hours before security for re-entry was tightened.
After cleaning themselves up as best they could the party capitalized on their new location by perusing some of the local areas to make some purchases with their ill-gotten cash from the vault and skim some rumours from the local high-class drinking establishments. After buying the locals some beverages and chatting around Sinric and Caesar gathered that although the Governor was cracking down on crime hard in the upper hive to prepare for the Sector Commander's gala there had been a string of strange disappearances that the local Enforcers could not explain. They also managed to find a palace servant on leave that was able to confirm the existence of a sort of inner circle in the Draxis Nobility, but insisted they just swilled incredibly expensive alcohol and swapped gossip and fashion tips in the most mind-numbingly dull manner possible.
The image I used to represent the Draxis Upper Spire City. A bit upscale and clean for 40k but I think it got the point across
Their new meagre leads in tow and mostly cleaned of blood and sewer grime in a restroom sink, the party travelled back to the Governor's palace and through the security checkpoint just before heightened security measures were put back into place. The guards thought it odd that they were checking in with no formal record of them having checked out, but some gentle ribbing from Sinric convinced them it was probably just a clerical error and they were allowed in without issue.
Once more they were back within the lavish opulence of the Governor's hospitality. It was getting late but the festivities were ongoing and Sinric decided to chat up the noble Aleri mentioned. Once again blunt application of flattery was extremely effective in obtaining her good graces, but other than a somewhat unusual fascination with Alcyone's profession as a Magis Biologis surgeon she divulged little of usefulness before excusing herself, citing a need to get some beauty sleep.
Meanwhile Alcyone and Yarrow took a moment to discuss what Yarrow saw in his vision. He figured that the artifact was attempting to show him who at the party was under the foul sway of Chaos but had little success at parsing this information. Even so he assured her the artifact had no unnatural sway on his mind.
Caesar and Bram both wandered about, looking for any of the Tarnell family to shadow, finding Dimitrius chatting and drinking in one of the lounges. The massive man had a small group around him, pretending to hang off his every word with mixed success. As they casually watched from a distance and debated their next move a rather terrified looking servant approached and whispered something into the massive man's ear, Dimitrius' face twisting into a visage of pure rage at whatever news he received. He grabbed a nearby chair in one large hand and threw it at the wall so hard it exploded into flinders before storming away.
Caesar attempted to follow him, but was stonewalled by the guards at the Tarnell family's private wing. Bram instead stayed, walking up to the poor servant attempting to sweep up the shattered chair in shaking hands and helping him pick up the fragments in his massive gauntlets. The servant seemed shocked at the kindness especially from such a fearsome looking man as Tancred and telling him it was not necessary, but Tancred insisted. On his homeworld, he said, they knew that a house was nothing with out his servants and such brutality was unnecessary and foolish. The servant remarked that only two months ago Dimitrius beat one of the new serving staff to a pulp and threw him down an elevator shaft, and he considered himself merely lucky to be alive. He told Bram that all he did was deliver a coded message, but declined to say more for his own safety.
Bram considered this for a moment, before clandestinely offering the man a massive handful of local currency. He could get him and his family out, find safer employment elsewhere in the hive, all he had to do was tell Bram what the message was. The servant was wide eyed at the kindness and bribe, considering for only a moment before taking the cash fervently and stuffing it into a pouch in his apron. His voice dropped to a whisper as he told Bram the message came from Dimitrius' brother Siris. It was coded, and would be entirely gibberish without their own personal cipher to decode it. Even so he told it to Bram in its entirety. He insisted he would tell more if he knew it, all he was sure about was that the brothers had been agonizing over the particulars of tomorrow's Gala for weeks now up to the tiniest decoration and detail. His act of betrayal done, the Servant quickly finished sweeping up the shattered furniture and hurried away, casting furtive glances all around.
It was getting quite late, and the group reconvened in the quarters they had been granted for the stay. Demios had been tossing the place for bugs and traps and found it to be entirely clean, so our heroes pooled their intelligence and planned their next moves. They were fairly certain one or both of the Tarnell brothers were in on whatever misdeeds they had stumbled upon in the sewer as well as the Vinatris lady, but lacked compelling proof and had no idea who else might be implicated. They grudgingly decided that their best course of action was to attend the gala and see what moves were made, protecting the Sector Commander at all costs. If they had gone through such trouble to lure him here they likely had something involving him planned. Alcyone decided to stay awake through the night deciphering the message Bram secured with her considerable skills at codebreaking.
Six hours later the party was mostly waking up. Bram, Caesar and Yarrow reconvened with Alcyone in the common area between their rooms to find she had deciphered part of the message by brute force decryption. "_$%#eal is broken %$&#@ taken. @$%$@$# dead. must reconsider". They assumed this was almost certainly in reference to the vault and its heretical guards they had plundered the previous day which gave them a pretty solid case to implicate the Governor's children, but without any real enforceable authority here they did not have a better course of action than to watch for whatever plans they might enact and move to stop them. As this conversation was going on there was a knock on the door. A servant was outside, and when the door opened he wheeled in a cart with a light breakfast and a decanter of recaf. He informed the party that Sector Commander Thaddeus Hale had been recalled to the front on a matter of some importance, and as such the Gala was being moved up from a dinner to a light luncheon taking place in two hours. As the servant left Sinric finally rose from his bedchamber groggily, skipping the breakfast cart, grabbing a bottle of amasec from the common area fridge and swishing around a mouthful before spitting it on the priceless carpet and taking a proper swig. He retorted the dirty looks from his companions by saying he was getting in character and what the hell were they all so morose about anyways?
Their timeline growing tragically short, the party agreed to attend the gala, watching both the Sector Commander and the Tarnell family and jump into action should they make a move and hopefully prevent tragedy. They posited some basic plans for dealing with what may arise, Sinric suggested the possibility of Caesar bringing the brothers laced drinks since he was already acquainted and handed Caesar a few vials of Obscura. There were a few raised eyebrows about why Sinric had any of the powerful narcotic in the first place but no one asked.
The party got their finery on and headed out to scope the scene of where the Gala was going to take place. The massive double doors of the ballroom in question were closed and closely guarded by a small team of Tarnell Guards and Naval Armsmen of the Commander's own retinue. None were allowed entry until the preparations were complete but many of the visiting and local nobles were milling about sipping drinks in the adjacent hall. Bram and Alcyone attempted to get close enough to the doors to sneak a metachandrite underneath it and peak inside, but the armsmen were adamant that no one get too close. The group did notice however that a large number of servants were coming and going from a side door in a nearby hallway. Caesar and Sinric concocted a clever plan to get inside, while Alcyone Yarrow and Bram concocted their own little plan to get at least a look inside the ballroom.
Sinric informed one of the servants that his dearest brother Caesar was a bit of a lightweight and drank enough that he spewed all over the floor in their quarters. Caesar turned beet red at this and clenched his teeth as he agreed that was in fact what happened. The two of them took the hapless servant back to their quarters and then pulled a gun on him, forcing him to disrobe and then tying him up. Demios agreed to make sure the fellow didn't run off and Sinric donned his disguise, thankful the servant's garb was a good fit.
Meanwhile back near the ballroom the rest enacted their own scheme. Yarrow lounged near one of the large banners, setting it alight with a small effort of warp energy. Once the flames grew to a decent size he ran up the hallway screaming about a fire. Several of the armsmen went to investigate leaving only a couple at the door. Bram stamped up, drawing himself up to his full height and demanding his ward Alcyone be allowed inside to shelter from the flame. The terrified guard meekly said that there was nothing he could do, and that since the flames looked to already be under control they would need to wait like everyone else. Bram exuded disdain for the snivelling man but it mattered not, Alcyone had gotten close enough to snake a tendril under the door and take a peek inside.
Within the room the Tarnell brothers were directing an army of servants in the arrangement of tables and refreshments. The room itself was very large with the dining tables arranged in a large circle off to one side with the rest of the room's floor open, presumably for dancing. Dimitrius looked positively incensed. Siris was his usual implacable self, but even so Saboris swore she saw an eyebrow twitch in frustration. They were talking hurriedly but were too far from the door for anything to be heard.
As the commotion from the fire died down and the trio discussed their next moves, Caesar and the now-disguised Sinric approached. Sinric went off to try and get inside the side servant entrance Alcyone had spotted, and after a few minutes Bram and Yarrow followed, set on bluffing their way inside as well.
Sinric was let in without issue, ending up in a store-room full of furniture and bustling servants. It was connected to the ballroom, and by the smell of it to the kitchen as well. He was quickly given a broom and told to sweep, and that given the brothers current mood all of their lives likely depended on it. In the ballroom the live band was seated on the other side of the dancefloor tuning up their instruments, and Vinatris had joined the Tarnell brothers. She was wringing her hands and unlike both of them had no measure of composure at all, seeming quite nervous and worried. After a brief exchange (and mentioning something about "They are all destroyed? You are sure?" to which she received no reply) the pompous woman left back to the back room. Sinric kept sweeping and trying to stay close to the brothers. He clandestinely reported all he had seen to the rest of the group via micro-bead communicator.
Bram and Yarrow had got to the lone armsman who seemed quite bored at having to guard the servants entrance. He was adamant that they couldn't pass, but Bram wove some incredibly creative (for him anyways) threats about how the psyker could become a little unhinged when he was hungry, and he just needed to grab him a snack from the kitchen. Given how intimidating the hulking knight and bizarre pyromancer could be the guard let Bram pass as long as he promised to be quick and not tell anyone.
As Bram entered the back room, Sinric made a distraction by tripping a servant carrying a tray of food and slipped back there as well in the chaos of the mess he had made. Sinric let Bram know that the noblewoman they were now certain was implicated in this mess had gone into the kitchen. Bram strode back there confidently to find her.
Meanwhile out front the massive ballroom doors had finally opened and the guests outside as well as the rest of our Interrogators were allowed in. Yarrow had looped around and met up with the rest of them. The arrangement of tables had assigned seating, and the group was shown to their spots. As soon as he approached the table arrangement Yarrow felt something tug at his mind before he was once more assailed by a portion of the vision shown to him in the sewers. This was the place! The shadowy figures with warped faces all corresponded to seats here at these tables, and of all the ones that were already seated belonged to the Noblry of the Draxis Spire, including the center table where Dimitrius and Siris were sitting! He knew the artifact was trying to help him!
Early art of Caesar Morroe and Yarrow Able
As Bram entered the kitchen area he saw a veritable army of servants and cooks at work preparing a massive feast, watched over by Lady Vinatris. She seemed shocked and angry to see the massive man, but he eased up without missing a beat and told her that his lord sends his regards, and he had some critical information about certain....thieves. Her eyes widened, and then narrowed suspiciously. He told her that it was too sensitive to discuss among so many prying eyes and ears and she tentatively agreed, but was clearly seething with suspicion and anger. The two went out to the hallway where the single armsman was posted. She sent him away dismissively and when he was gone turned to lock the door, saying that if he did not speak quickly she would have him flayed alive.
Not waiting for her to turn around, Bram hammered one of his massive fists into the back of her neck as she finished locking the door. There was a sickening crack and she was instantly killed, her spine and much of her skull utterly pulverized by the blow. She crumpled to the floor, a small bit of blood pooling from her mouth onto the marble. Bram muttered that it was too good a death for such a foul traitor, lifting the keys from her pocket as well as the very same heretical surgical knife from the vault and tossing her corpse behind one of the draping banners. Looking around, he called for Sinric to bring a mop and clean up all this blood.
[GM'S NOTE
I can not adequately describe through text how goddamn hilarious this bit was to all of us. Bram had been pretty firmly established as a man of action rather than words, so we were all really interested to see what sort of scheme our Huge, Bald, punching machine was concocting as he wove a web of intrigue with one of the cult's higher members. And then, at the apex of it all, he just defaulted to what he did best and fucking destroyed her with a single strike from his huge punching hands. God damn it was so funny when his player said "I punch her full force in the back of the head before she can turn back around]
In the ballroom the party was finally starting to get into full swing. Sector Commander Thaddeus Hale finally made his first appearance, the spitting image of the grizzled Imperial Commander. He seemed slightly uncomfortable and altogether fed up with the pomp and foppery of such an event, but even so sat at the table in the centre of the dining area with two of his personal guards, the Governor, and his two sons.
At their table Caesar and Alcyone attempted to put their drugging plan in m otion. Caesar grabbed a few crystal glasses of fine liquor, had Alcyone dose three of them with Obscura and sauntered right over to their table in the middle of the room. This was a huge social Faus Pas, but after introducing himself to Commander Hale it was clear he was delighted to have a proper military man to talk to as opposed to the sycophantic nobles he had been surrounded with (or at least someone pretending to be a proper military man). Unfortunately Caesar's plan went south when only the Governor himself took one of the offered glasses when Caesar proposed a toast to the war effort. Dimitrius still looked furious at everyone and everything and didn't say a word, but Siris seemed calm and implacable once more, declining the beverage politely and after the toast asking Caesar if he would please return to his seat as it was time for the public address and speeches. The Governor had started to sway a little and giggle as the narcotics took hold of his system
Caesar hurried back to his seat, furtively whispering "I FUCKED UP! THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE BAIT I DOSED THE GOVERNOR I FUCKED UUUUUUP!". At this point Tancred Bram had returned to the party's table after instructing a rather pissed off Sinric to clean up his mess. Sinric was not used to doing so much honest work, and after mopping up the small blood puddle pretended to be busy in the ballroom doing not much of anything.
The Gala had started in earnest, and our heroes still had very little idea what was about to transpire or how to stop it. Tune in next time for the thrilling climax of Dark Heresy: Spirebound!
Special Thanks to Alcyone's player who made a bunch of our character art as posted around this story. Check them out on tumblr HERE
Part 3 and the thrilling conclusion can be found here!
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