Ref: Inq/045678499/BI

Author: Acolyte Nixios

Subject: Debriefing

Name: Iocanthos

Location: Segmentum Obscurus

++ An open mind is like a
Sector: Calixis (Scintillan Sub)
fortress with its gates unbarred
Tithe Grade: Exactus Median
and unguarded ++
Notes:

Mission Summary: Insertion to the operational area onboard The Brazen Sky was uneventful save for
some unsavory and unbecoming conduct by members of the Inquisitorial party, who pilfered drinking
coasters from the already suffering and pitiful crew and engaged in excessive gambling. Upon landing
in Port Suffering the local magistrate, Kerred Smyk, greeted the party but offered no information or
aid. Smyk was summarily dismissed as unimportant and contact was established with Aristarchus the
Seer, as per mission parameters. Upon Aristarchus express orders the party set out to contract a
skilled driver to pilot the surface transport that Aristarchus had secured for the mission. While
attempting to make contact with connected locals the party was intercepted by a raving lunatic
covered in tattoos of blue flames. When the madman did not heed repeated stern warnings to cease
his obstructions, the party used a measured and justifiable amount of force to encourage
compliance. This legal application of violence was met with outrage from nearby miscreants and
seditious elements that moved to engage in conflict with the party. Through use of guile and
movement the party was able to escape an altercation and after a few hours of interactions with the
locals a modestly skilled driver was hired to make the trip to Stern Hope and provide further
vehicular transport needs for the duration of the mission.

The first day of travel was uneventful. During the night watch the party was beset upon by psychic
phenomena manifesting as a decaying body approaching the camp and stopping just outside of the
reach of the light from the campfire. The body appeared to be that of a local Ashleen. The body was
soon followed by more bodies and camp was broken and an exfiltration towards the mission
objective ensued. The body crumpled to dust as the party passed by it.

Several hours later a psychic disturbance was detected upon a mountainous outcropping in the
foothills. Pursuit of the root of the disturbance revealed a pictograph of a bird grasping a skull. The
ground around the stone was charred and warm to the touch. It is believed that the pictograph is
that of General Drusus’s 2nd Army Group and the Pictograph has been submitted to the proper
Inquisitorial Vault for further safekeeping.

Upon nightfall the second day the party arrived at Stern Hope and after a brief intercession with the
leader of the guards, Brother Lamark, the party was asked to seek out Prelate Skae in the morning for
proper introductions. At this point Aristarchus expressed severe fatigue and retired to the local inn,
the Crying Closta. In the morning Aristarchus still looked weary but accompanied the party to the
meeting with the Prelate. The Prelate relayed reports similar to the mission briefing, of unexplained
sickness and death, disappearances and strange lights in the night and aural disturbances of insane
laughter and wing beats. It was at this time that the Prelate informed the party that he intended to
consecrate the cathedral the following day.

A thorough inspection of the cathedral followed, but apart from an ominous psychic aura the party
was unable to find any signs of wrongdoing or malicious intent. Interactions and interrogations of the
local populace, both Ashleen and pilgrims, were more successful and several rumors were
uncovered. Of importance to the investigation was the falling out between a former pilgrim, Seth the
Voice, and Prelate Skae. Seth had since turned into a warlord leading an apocalyptic splinter cult, but
the rumor insisted that Seth had broken ties with the Prelate due to Seth considering the cathedral
cursed. Several Ashleen also revealed that the hill upon which the cathedral stood was once a
sacrificial site for evil men. A third rumor spoke of an abandoned steading that could be a place of an
unknown malignant presence and the party decided to investigate the place. Due to the intense vigor
of the party’s investigation, it was already dusk when the party set out and through the inadequate
performance of the hired driver the party’s vehicle was badly damage before reaching the steading.
The party arrived in Stern Hope again late at night and picked up rumors that Warchief Kos’Ke and
Esha Raine, two Ashleen dignitaries, would arrive at Stern Hope in the morning.

The following morning Aristarchus did not appear for breakfast and when the party sought him out in
his room, he asked that we continue the investigation without him. Shortly after this the Warchief
and Raine arrived in procession, an occurrence that prompted Aristarchus to join the party. It was at
this time notable that Aristarchus looked haggard and ridden, and he asked that the party attend the
morning ceremonies in his stead. Before the ceremonies the party sought out the Warchief but were
unable to gather meaningful information from them. It was at this point that voicers attacked Stern
Hope, however the locals were quick to suppress the attack. Along with the Warchief and Raine the
party made its way to the cathedral were the Prelate and Aristarchus was found with a captured
voicer. Aristarchus summarily executed the voicer, causing a disagreement with the Ashleen’s that
saw the Warchief and Raine depart with their followers.

While the party regrouped and prepared to pursue the Ashleen an attempt was made upon the
Prelate’s life while he secluded himself in the cathedral in preparation of the consecration. The
Prelate spoke of a woman making an attempt on his life and Aristarchus gave the order for the party
to seek out and apprehend or kill Esha Raine, naming her the would-be assassin. At this point the
party suspected that the Prelate might be hiding something, and Aristarchus showed clear signs of
madness, so a decision was made to seek answers from Esha Raine, whom the Ashleen venerated as
a wise woman, before committing to Aristarchus orders.

The party tracked Raine to a steading in the western mountains. She, the Warchief and their
bodyguards were receptive to parlay, but before information could be exchanged a massive swarm
of shale crows attacked. The animals were dispatched with little trouble and Raine entrusted the
party with an ancient folio called the Widow’s Tome. It speaks of the Crow Father and how Saint
Drusus fought him at the very site upon which Stern Hope now rests. The book also revealed that the
current cult was formed on lies and deceit and involved ritual combat to prove the supplicant’s
worth. The book is interred in the Inquisitorial Vault.

A hasty retreat was beaten to Stern Hope to stop the consecration and stop Prelate Skae from
performing whatever vile ceremony he had prepared under the guise of worshipping the Emperor.
Stern Hope was seemingly abandoned and most of the tents torn down. In the wreckage of the
Crying Clota a data-slate belonging to Aristarchus revealed that he had been corrupted by the Prelate
and was intended to become the vessel of the Crow Father’s reincarnation. At the steps up to the
cathedral brother Lamark was found badly wounded, having seen through the Prelate’s deception
and attempting to stop him. His life was spared, and the party rammed into the cathedral with a local
vehicle. Inside the people of Stern Hope were in trance, Aristarchus trapped at the center of a foul
ritual that the Prelate was conducting. Foul chaos energies swirled high above the trapped
congregation near the glass dome of the cathedral. The Prelate had been possessed by something
and attacked the party. A short fight ensued, during which a grenade caused severe injury to both
Aristarchus and the Prelate. Shrapnel from the grenade tore the eyes of the Prelate out and from the
empty sockets foul energy flowed, causing a reaction with the tarot deck that centered Aristarchus in
the ritual. The reaction caused an immense explosion that killed Aristarchus, the Prelate and
destroyed the roof of the cathedral. All that remained was a single tarot card, the Magus of the
Executeria. It has been interred in the Inquisitorial Vault for safekeeping.

In summary, the party ascertains that it stopped a demonic manifestation at Stern Hope, though the
cathedral itself will require extensive repairs and a proper consecration. What corrupt and malignant
entity the Ashleen know as the Crow Father is currently unknown, as is whether this entity possesses
other means of traversing the void between the Materium and the Warp. It is this humble acolyte’s
suggestion that further investigation of the Crow Father follow.