Session 8: The Dark Secret that Lies Beneath

So there we were staring at an arm and it's former owner. Rat decided that the best course of action was for him to wrap the arm up in his new cloak and we would decide later. Veck was anxious to use his new flamer and he did so with great effectiveness as he reduced the heretic Thrungg to nothing more than a pile of ash. It was still unsettling that he had fallen so far into the chaos. News of their masters death caused the rest of the guards on the grounds to surrender. While we had dealt with Thrungg, we still hadn't discovered the location of the museum.
We made contact with Captain Scippio and updated him on the situation.
 
While we had some downtime, Veck and Yarn had their injuries treated. Braxton wished to go inspect the priest again. He had the idea that the arm may have been attached to him first as the priest was missing an arm. There was no way I was allowing Braxton to wander off by himself, so naturally I followed him. We inspected the priest again to see if the arm may have been attached to him originally, but looking closer at the injury it was obvious that the priest most likely lost his arm to the dog-like creatures that we had just bested. Braxton cut a lucky break and discovered a secret door.
 
It opened into a huge room below the chapel lit by several Servo-Skulls that bathed the room in an eerie red glow. We immediately called over Captain Scippio and he did a sweep of the massive underground room. It appeared that the museum wasn't quite as heretical as we imagined. Captain Scippio returned and told us that he found a data pad that gave unusual readings and we should check it out. We decided to check out all the contents to determine what was actually heretical and what wasn't.
 
Every object in the museum had a plaque indicating it's history or significance. There were several weapons that had a historical context, but they were obviously not heretical in nature. Well the Eldar blade was a piece of xenos heretical history, but other than that, there were several gifts of the Omnissiah making Veck very happy. Honestly, I felt like I could hear him singing a happy song through his cogitator. Braxton discovered an old bottle of amesec. I read the plaque and saw that it was from the most heretical noble line I know. I took the bottle from him and smashed it on the ground. Then we discovered some books. One of the books was a holy book, so I took ownership of it. The rest made me feel uneasy, so we decided they were most likely heretical.
 
We then found the data pad that Captain Scippio had discribed. Veck was able to safely decrypt it and read the contents. It was Thrungg's journal of events from the last week or so. It appeared that Thrungg was not alone in his heretical journey. Also his heretical actions were not limited to Scintilla. He mentioned "a temple of gold with a heart of coal". This had to be a reference to the Gilded Temple on Barsapine. He also mentioned Dei-Phage, who was the original owner of the arm that Thrungg was wearing. He also mentioned that he had "taken care of Skrivus" as Skrivus apparently got cold feet and returned to the light of the Emperor. Thrungg had his dogs eat him. The way Thrungg decribed Skrivus as a "more refined meal" for his pets leads me to believe he was another noble mixed up with this heretical plot. Reading these entries illustrated how far Thrungg had fallen from the grace of the Emperor's light. A sad fate for anyone. There was some doubts, but the thrawl of this Dei-Phage was too strong for Thrungg to resist.
 
With this new information we decided it was time to destroy the dark books found in the museum. I warned that it might be difficult for us to destroy them ourselves, but Veck wished to put his flamer to good use once again. Burning the books did cause the room to become unbearably cold but with persistence they were destroyed. Braxton wished to destroy the rest of the contents of the museum using explosives. Very Braxton indeed, but everyone believed that the best course of action. And with a press of a button the contents of the museum were buried as the chapel collapsed on top of it. Now we had to decide what to do with the arm.
 
Braxton was fearful of retaliation if we didn't return the arm to Rathborne, but Veck and I were against this idea. I made the suggestion that we contact the Inquisition on Scintilla and have them take the arm. They agreed to come and get the heretical article. A transport arrived with the investigator that I had spoken to over the coms. He was escorted by two women in power armor that were later identified as Sisters of Battle. I felt a strange connection to these women, but I wasn't sure what it was. As Rat was in possession of the arm, he was asked to enter the transport. I joined him as I was the initial contact. One of the Sisters of Battle addressed me as "sister". I had been called sister by one other person recently, Inquisitor Tyler Christoff. At the time, I figured it was his roguish attitude and nothing more. But now this woman, this woman whom I feel a connection with has also called me "sister", why?
 
I approached the Sister of Battle and addressed her as sister and asked her why she called me sister. She seemed to avoid the question and said she spoke out of turn. Rat witnessed this exchange so he may mention it to the rest of the group, but I hope he will keep it between us two. The interrogator came back with a lock box and asked us to place the item in it. I took the arm from Rat's Cloak and put it in the box. Again I felt the cold sensation that I felt with the daggers on Luggnum. The interrogator confirmed that the item was heretical and we went on our way. While we were finishing the investigations on the grounds, I remembered that I wanted to try and decipher the papers we found on the priest earlier.
 
I was successful in translating the document and it's contents made my blood boil. They were sermons that had been altered to slowly convert the parishioners from the light of the Emperor to a heretical plot. I insisted that we keep the documents as proof of the church's indiscretion. Everyone wanted to burn them, but I placed them in the backpack with the data pad that Rat was carrying hoping to use them later. It was almost impossible to find proof of this kind and it was to valuable to destroy.
 
Shortly after wrapping up things on the Thrungg Family grounds, we received a communique from Rathborne. She instructed us to go to Barsapine and investigate further. No surprise given the info we gained from the data pad. We were to meet up with a contact there and dig deeper into discovering what the situation was with this Dei-Phage and discover just how deep this plot decended.
 
We were able to resupply our normal gear before heading out for Barsapine. You would think the journey towards Barsapine would be a quiet one, but then again nothing is quiet when Braxton is around. I was confronted about Goldie again. Apparently Goldie had visited my cohorts on our journey to Scintilla. Due to the hurried nature of the trip and the circumstances of our previous engagement with Lady Rathbone, it was decided to not confront me with this information. Braxton apparently still believes Goldie to be a heretical item and has now convinced Veck that Goldie might be harmful as well. This is of course proposterous, Goldie is a doll, a trinket that gives me comfort and has given me comfort for most of my life. But they don't understand that, how can they? None of them knows the horrors I've endured and the horrors that still haunt me. But that is a story for another time, at this moment I was being attacked by Braxton once again for having a doll, though his claims are concerning.
 
It would appear that Goldie visited each of my compatriots during the first night of our journey to Scintilla. What's even stranger is that they each saw a different version of Goldie than that of the doll I carry. Each was given a message or warning of some kind relating to the future. For Veck, it was to not be afraid of independent thought and breaking free from the hive mind influence of the Mechanicum. I can see how that would be disturbing to him as he is programmed to follow directives and that would be outside of his comfort zone. That being said, I can see he is struggling with this idea as well given the new found information about the Biologicous Magi Perdix, a suspected heretek, being on his planet conducting experiments on his Skitarii brethren. But he also said Goldie touched him and gave him a sense of calm, much like I feel when Goldie is near me. For Veck, calm is a bad thing apparently and it disturbed him more. He was also more concerned for my well being than his own and apparently threatened Goldie if any harm was to come to me. That was sweet and somewhat funny to hear from him.
 
Then there was Yarn and Rat. Both of them were also visited by Goldie but their experience was a pleasant one. They said that Goldie brought them a warning and let them know that they would be needed in the future. According to Yarn, it was comforting to hear he'd be alive that long. I couldn't help but give a little chuckle at that, but it was good to hear that he would be around for a longer time. Both of them said they felt a sense of calm at the end of their visit and Yarn was able to sleep soundly for the first time in a long time. Does that sound heretical? If your name is Braxton Vorr, apparently it does.
 
I saved the best tale for last. The tale of abuse and a sad man scared of a doll. Apparently, when Braxton was visited by Goldie, he flushed him down the toilet...twice and attempted a third time. He refused to listen and blocked anything Goldie had to say out. He was having a battle of wits, with a doll. I'm not sure exactly who won that fight, but I'm not a gambler, so I won't speculate. He was very unnerved by the whole experience and then asked if I too was visited by Goldie and I wasn't. I was totally surprised to hear all this had happened. Braxton's response: "Well apparently we're all heroes of the Imperium and you're not." Very mature response to this situation. He began to argue with me about the heretical nature of Goldie, again.
 
I wasn't hearing it. Goldie has been by my side since I was a child and kept me sane in a situation where most would have lost their minds. He then began talking about drugs and hallucinations. I immediately accused him of drugging everyone since he has had it out for me from the beginning. I mean he tried to get Lady Rathborne to kill me last time we finished a mission, so I figured this would be no different. Veck pointed out that Braxton would have a hard time doing this. And after some quick thought, I had to agree. Braxton isn't clever enough to drug our party without their knowledge, but there is someone that is.