A dark horizon [campaign thread]

[LordBlades]

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Raineh Daze: With Scholastic Lore (Astromancy) you know the location of the planet of Damaris in the Koronus Expanse and that it is the sole inhabited (and habitable) world of the Forsellis system, a blue giant star whose only feature of note is an ice field of remarkable side surrounding the system at it's outskirts, but which remains unexploited as far as you know, fact which, come to think about it, seems rather odd.

Xerael: With Coomon Lore (Rogue Traders) you know the Forsellis system has been discovered by the Rogue Trader Markus Forsellis about one millennium ago and that he was the one that first settled a colony on Damaris, named Forsellis Prime at that point.

Nicomedes Richelius is more than willing to fill in the blanks for you guys: Damaris is the closest thing to an Imperial world you would find in the Expanse. For centuries it's loyal and Emperor-loving citizens have been paying tithes to the Administratum and raising their rightful quota of Imperial Guard regiments to fight the holy wars of the Imperium. Now, as their darkest hour approaches, it's time for the Imperium to repay the loyalty of these people in kind. For Damaris is under grave threat from an ork invasion. The Imperial Navy has decided to hold back for their own petty reasons, but we, as the rightful defenders of His faithful everywhere cannot. As such, I urge you captain, as the loyal and faithful servant of the Emperor that you have repeatedly proven to be,  to march to the aid of Damaris at once! It's people should not be abandoned at the mercy of the foul Xeno horde. Also, Damaris hosts a shrine dedicated to St. Drusus, and a most holy relic within. I need not say that such a powerful symbol of our faith must not be allowed to suffer defilement by our enemies. Moreover, apart from the praise and gratitude of the Emperor and His servants, the governor of Damaris has promised substantial rewards to all those that would come to his aid. What say you?

[Raineh Daze]

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Because you've mentioned Orks:

Forbidden Lore (Xenos)--50 1d100 : 84, total 84

"How do you know of this invasion? In fact, what else can you say about it? If the invasion is too large, then it would be better to remove as many people--and the relic--from Damaris as possible than risk the destruction of three relics in one go!"

Quite aside from the relic on Damaris itself, there was the one Aurelia herself was carrying, and the far larger machinery installed on her ship. This battlecruiser didn't exactly lack for religious paraphernalia.

[Scout89]

Kallias' telepathy power gently "knocks" on the captain's mind's sufface. If allowed in, he'll say only to her <Captain, maybe they have a fellow astropath shouting in all directions asking for help. I know that's what I would do if I were in that kind of situation... I'm sure you have reasons to be suspicious and wary, but if  Damaris is in need of help we should at least help take them AND St. Drusus' relic out of there.>

[LordBlades]

Astropathic signals Nicomedes replies. The Xenos have their own psykers, known as Weirdboyz, and most of their long distance communication is done via Astropathic signals, which can be intercepted by those who listen. Therefore, we know there's a number of greenskins massing in the area around Damaris and shouting for more across the Void. We don't know how many or where exactly they are at this point, but Damaris is the only place of importance in that area of space. As for evacuation, it's the duty of every faithful servant of the Emperor to strike down the Xeno, the Mutant and the Heretic at every turn. Until we get some actual indication there's too many Orks for us to handle, evacuation is not an option I'd like to consider, and most likely neither are the damarians.

[Xerael]

01011000 ponders the bishops words for a few minutes searching his data-banks for information about orks

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Forbidden Lore (Xenos) vs 63 ... result 18 .... 5 degrees of success .... roll is the brand new rolling thread.

[Wrex]

Orzthaka prods his Gretchen

"Oy, Go fetch me data-thingies, da boss needs sum infermation on da boyz!"

He then spends some time thinking about whatever information he can bring to mind that can be used for the benefit of the group

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21, success

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63, failure

[Xerael]

01011000, leans near the captain, I have located an extensive data coil containing information regarding orks in my data coils, the problem may be more severe than expected, is seems that planets under attack by orks, if not thoroughly cleansed are under risk of repeated ork invasions, due to the fact that they multiply via spores, and given enough time after an invasion, the spores will evolve into new orks and the risk of an invasion will reappear, my suggestion is that we evacuate the relic to a new location to avoid further risk. The priesthood of mars had undertook studies on the orks in order to prevent them from further threatening the sacred forge worlds after an invastion. I can provide more information on the subject with your approval, such information is confidential and i highly doubt it that the good deacon would appreciate me possessing it

[LordBlades]

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OOC: Both 01011000 and Ortzhaka can fill the rest of the group in on the basic stuff about Orks:

-orks are extremely warlike, pretty much everything they do revolves around battle, violence and  being 'da'biggest'
-they're extremely resilient physically, surviving injuries that would irremediably cripple most other known species
-they multiply with amazing speed

Additionally, Xerael knows quite a few more bits of information:

-Orks multiply by spores, which they shed from their own bodies quite often, so every place an ork has been for a while has toe potential to have orks popping up after a while
- Apart from having their own psykers, the Ork race seems to also have some sort of species-wide latent psychic energy, as some things that make no apparent sense work merely because the orks as a whole think they do. Notable examples include red ork vehicles reaching greater speeds, yellow painted rockets being more destructive, and most of Ork technology.

Feel free to pass on this information to the rest of the party as you see fit

[Wrex]

"So, uh, Boss, you should 'no sumfings about da Orks. We're dead 'ard, so use a big gun. Da big wuns are da bosses, an' dere's a lot of us. So, you might wan' some 'eavy guns. "

When his gretchen returns with one of his data slates, he hands it to the Human Mekboy (As that's /clearly/ what he is), so he can record anything of note for future reference.

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Since Orks do inherently know about the WAAAAAAAGH, i'll just assume he has no idea how to explain it in a fashion that will make any sense to a Non-Ork, or is indeed unable to explain it in anything more coherent than "Da red wuns go fasta". Also, hoping to loot some spare Ork kit when we get down there. For experimental purposes. 

[Raineh Daze]

"Very well. I will deal with these Orks. However, if it gets to the point where we are vastly outnumbered, then we get as many people off Damaris as possible, and the relic. I am not allowing three relics to fall into xeno hands because of a fight to the death."

[LordBlades]

You can see the deacon isn't very pleased with your answer but does his best to conceal it I expected no less of you captain. Whatever you need to get underway as soon as possible, my faithful scribe Porten he points toward the adept you saw earlier as part of his retinue will make sure it's done in the shortest possible time. Also, do you have some room aboard your vessel? I have gathered some Frateris Militia for the defense of Damaris and I need a way to get them there.

[LordBlades]

Upon the captain's agreement to take his troops aboard, the deacon introduces his other companion (the one with the mechanical arm and Power Fist) to you as Drill Abbot Herculon Nyx, commander of the Frateris Militia contingent that will be boarding your ship, then takes his leave, while Porten stays behind to take care of your needs.

With hefty aid from the Ecclesiarchy, the ship is made ready for departure in less than one week. Supplies and everything else you asked for is securely aboard, including about 2000 Frateris Militia troops. Poorly equipped and summarily drilled (as expected), all they have going for them is enthusiasm and faith in the God-Emperor. Their commander however definitely looks like a hardened veteran and a man with his experience would probably be more than able to provide you with insight and advice in military matters.

The ship slowly glides away from the docking area of Port Wander, as the NAvigator makers the necessary preparations for the upcoming Warp travel.

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Cut the intro short so we can get the story going. I need the following from Harald:

2 Psyniscience tests for Divining the Auguries and Locating the Astronomican
One Navigation (Warp) test for Steering the Vessel.

[LordBlades]

Although the tides and flows of the Warp manage to obscure the Astronomican from his sight, the sheer skill at navigating possessed by Buenadventura Montere Kel'terran more than makes up for it, as less than 3 days later, you emerge from the Warp without incident at the edge of Forsellis system. Not long after, you are being hailed on long range Vox, which the communication officer swiftly puts on bridge speakers for the captain to hear
Unidentified vessel, this is the Bulwark, please state your identity and intentions.

[Raineh Daze]

"This is the Fides Omnia Vincet, here with supplies and reinforcements for Damaris, on behalf of Deacon Nicomedes.

[LordBlades]

Acknowledged a short pause follows, then the voice continues, trying to conceal excitement Any help in this hour of need is more than welcome. Transmitting approach vectors now. Emperor bless you!

After several hours of following the approach vector given toward a stationary orbit around Damaris without incidents, the bridge's tactical displays gradually light up as first the planet Damaris, followed by the sizable signature of The Bulwark, Damaris' main orbital defense platform, built upon what used to be the planet's moon and then by several voidships enter the range of your ship's Auger arrays. As you look at tactical plots generated automatically by the ship's cogitators, you start to guess the reason behind the station operator's excitement: the Fides Omnia Vincet dwarfs everything that you can currently detect on your scans in bulk as well as firepower. The fleet in orbit of Damaris at this time consists of a pair of cruisers (one Lunar and one Dauntless), a Tempest class frigate and about a dozen or so smaller ships. As you're pondering on this, one of the crewmen on deck addresses you: Lord-captain, Drill Abbot Nyx requests permission to join you on the bridge.

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Anyone who is on the bridge currently please roll :
Common Lore (War)
Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis)
Logic (this last one is a Basic skill,so you can roll regardless whether you have it or not)
If you have more than 1 of these skills, roll all of them

[Raineh Daze]

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Assuming Logic is INT?

Can't remember how basic skills work right now, INT is 50:

Rolled 1d100 : 13, total 13

... in the future I'm probably just going to subtract the relevant characteristic. Negative = success, positive = failure, right? Then just count the tens for (extra?) degrees of success/failure.

"Permission granted."

[RivlisDrake]

Roll says 47, Int is 28, Basic makes that a 14...

3 degrees of Failure

[LordBlades]

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Even though you aren't experts in void warfare, you spot several common sense mistakes in the disposition of the fleet around Damaris. Instead of deploying in an unitary battle line, where smaller ships could be used to support the cruisers quite effectively, the fleet seems separated into several independent groups, each of which could be quickly overwhelmed in the event of an attack.

Lord-captain, my respects. Herculon Nyx greets the captain politely, then looks at the tactical plot. So I see the damned Greenskins haven't torched the place yet. Good. Although, whoever is in charge of this mess he gestures toward the disposition of the fleet isn't trying very hard to make their job difficult. In any case, here is what I wanted to see you about: I don't want to inconvenience you too much, but I want to get my men on the planet as soon as possible. Therefore, I'd like to accompany you when you meet with Damaris representatives, so that I may request the service of some transport vessels.

[Raineh Daze]

"Very well; I expect you would have more success explaining how they should arrange these ships than I would."

[LordBlades]

The battlecruiser slowly makes it's way closer to Damaris, past the Bulwark and onto the indicated orbit point, the communications officer informs you:

Lord-captain, we have been informed that we are clear to land at our earliest convenience. We have been kindly asked to do so at the Sphinx's Landing planetary starport, where a representative of the Planetary Governor is waiting to meet with us.