Part 3
Page 157
Intrusion spirits. Security hacking systems and defensive measures against such.This simple machine spirit, typically residing in a special dataslate isolated from all other possible means of escape, can defeat many security systems if plugged into an appropriate data port. These devices burn themselves out after essentially devouring the system into which they’ve been placed.
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Keep in mind that most systems have intrusion gates that limit the damage of these kinds of incursions to the local area, so the spirit might unlock a single door or disable the pictcaster on the opposite side, but it would not open all the doors to the west wing of a merchant household. The Mechanicus are divided about the use of Intrusion Spirits, finding them either highly useful or an objectionable abuse of their sacred craft.
Page 157
Not unlike the Jokaero 'spy flies' Draco had in the Inquisition War novels.. albeit of lower quality.Much like the Vox-bug, these insect-like constructs resemble large Terrestrial dragonflies, using the brain and nervous system from a similar flying creature. They also have a very limited intelligence, allowing for uncomplicated instructions such as “follow the woman with the augmetic eye” or “hover above the cargo yards.”
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The Acolytes will require a pict-caster (5 kg, 400 thrones, Scarce) to view the fly’s transmissions, which also include sound, though the quality tends to be poor..
Page 157
Privacy fields. These sorts of stealth/security measures have been seen quite a bit in novels in various forms.In the worlds of shadow operations, commerce negotiations, and Inquisition business, it is often desirable to ensure that one’s conversations cannot be overheard. Establishments that cater to an elite clientele who wish to remain anonymous will sometimes include a field generator of this type around select tables. It is briefcase-sized device that projects a field up to 5 metres in radius. From the opposite side, the field has the same visual effect as looking through heavily frosted glass: shapes might be distinguishable, but very little else. The field is completely impervious to sound, vox-, and pict-casting of any sort.
Page 157
Psy blocking/damping technology seems understandably commonplace in the Imperium (at least for those with money and influence)Most citizens of the Imperium have an ingrained fear of psykers, not only for the threat they represent, but also for their ability to inspect or alter the minds of others. These phobias are not restricted to the common man, and even members of the Holy Ordos have grave concerns about the threat to privacy that psykers represent.
Psy Dampers are not portable devices like Psy-Jammers...
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...their arcane workings can take up a space larger than some vehicles and require large amounts of power. These devices surround their area of effect with a multilayered lattice of psycho-absorbent alloys and psycho-reactive crystalline fibres.
Page 158
Spider/ninja style climbing glovesThese gloves, vambraces, and greaves strap securely over clothing or armour and supply an adhesive surface that greatly aids climbing in most circumstances. Pads at the knees, toes, forearms and hands secrete a tacky substance that sticks to many surfaces.
I'd still use a suspensor for aid though. Called spider pads.
Page 158
A tracking device.Consisting of both a marker (which is approximately the size of a Throne coin) and a tracker (roughly the size of an Auspex), the system indicates direction and distance to the marker so long as it remains within range. Within 1 kilometre, the signal will remain strong, and even out to 2 kilometres, the signal will read properly so long as there isn’t a large amount of stone or metal between the marker and tracker (such as a hive or tunnel system). The tracker is backed with an adhesive that will bond with virtually any material, but can be removed with relative ease either before or after discovery.
Page 158
More tiny surveillance gear. For audio rather than visual, which again is a limitation compared to the Jokaero version Draco had.Looking much like its moniker, Vox Bugs are self-motive devices, the size of a thumb, able to scuttle to their target and hide themselves amongst their clothing or possessions. The cortical material from the ubiquitous roach forms the basis for its rather limited awareness, allowing them to take one simple sentence of instruction, such as “hide in the gear of the man across the table” or “climb onto the corner of the next room.”
They can also be placed in “inert mode,” where their tiny claws will simply affix themselves to an item or object. They will faithfully transmit sounds from their location to any vox-caster or micro-bead tuned to the appropriate frequency. Their range, however, is poor, only able to broadcast out to 1 kilometre.
Page 158
Vox tracking gear.Roughly the size of a backpack, this device can give a direction and approximate distance for vox transmissions. The tracker is ineffective in locations where the volume of vox traffic will not allow parsing of one signal from the rest.
Page 158 - Privacy fields weigh 10 kg and are rare. Line ascenders are scarce and weigh 1 kg. Spider Pads weigh 1 kg and are scarce. Gil filters are .5 kg and scarce. Holo Visors are 'rare' and weigh .5 kg. Vox trackers are 6 kg and scarce.
Tracking device is .5 kg and scarce. Intrusion spirit is .5 kg and very rare.
Pict flies and Vox bugs have no weights but are both 'rare'
Page 162
The term ‘Chaos ritual’ or ‘warp ritual’ encompasses the diverse weird rites, occult formula, and strange ceremonies by which the warp can be called on to alter reality or its denizens summoned forth into the physical universe.
Page 162
the Dark Mechanicum tech stuff. Considered a variation on warpcraft.....a dark and forbidden strain of technological lore which deals in the manipulation of the warp long proscribed by the Adeptus Mechanicus. This corrupted science lurks as a nightmarish shadow that perverts the empirical understanding of the universe with the insane maletek incarna of the Dark Mechanicus. Such incarna, though blessedly rare, are every bit as dangerous as a Chaos Magi’s summonings and often far more insidious, able to corrupt signals, possess circuits, mutate metal, and sunder physical laws in terrifying patterns.
Page 163
Basically it means to tap on a desired effect or chaos entity you might use something commonly associated with it or from which it can draw power from (khorne with violence or blood, Nurgle with decay and disease, etc..)This factor is taken into consideration and exploited by some in what occultists refer to as the ‘Rule of Sympathy’. This is to say that ‘sympathetic’ customs and rites are conducted to draw on the achieved effect during a ritual.
Page 163
the barrier between realspace and the warp. Probably an explanation of why sometimes 'location' is an important factor in the success of rituals.An empyrean barrier separates the physical universe from the formless, seething psycho-reactive energies of the warp, and it is this barrier often referred to as ‘the veil’ that warpcraft in all its forms, including the power of Chaos Rituals, must breach to achieve its work. The density of this barrier is not constant, and in some places it is weaker than others, making rituals commensurately easier to perform. In a few accursed places.. ...the barrier is frayed so very thin that the warp penetrates reality at a fundamental level...
Page 163
Means of eroding the barrier between warp and realspace. It isn't specified whether this can be permanant or temporary, but I suspect the latter (although it can be made 'effectively permanant' under the right circumstances - eg the Eye of Terror.)..instead must seek to disrupt or abrade the barrier themselves using a number of proscribed methods..
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Others rely on the psychic release provided by sacrificial death and murder, the power of the psyker’s mind as a conduit, or even corrupted technological means of forming a breach, such as the Ghast Engine, a blasphemous and forbidden piece of dark technology based on corrupted Gellar field systems used to hurl Imperial starships through the warp.
Page 164
Like Slyte of the Ravenor novels, or the Trail of St Evisser stuff from Grey Knights.The most powerful of rituals—devices of terrifying import and influence whose nature known only to the deepest denizens of the warp or fabricated in the insane minds of the most infamous magi—often involve very particular cosmological and temporal convergences to function.
Page 165
Chaos summonings. Of a sort.Daemonic creatures are created by a Chaos ritual during which blood must be spilled and a body ritually fashioned to house the daemonic essence summoned. Usually this will entail a corpse, animal cadaver, or a specially prepared statue or other occult construct.
Page 166
familiars. Lesser/minor entities.Daemonic familiars are servitor creatures bound to the soul and service of a sorcerer, diabolist, or malefic witch. Although relatively inferior to the raw power of summoned daemons...
Page 168
Self explanatory....even those with very limited or no latent psychic ability can become powerful Sorcerers..
Page 169
Thus explaining the scarring and mutilation of some sorcerers, i suppose. It must be tied to emotional intensity of some kind ....In manifesting their powers, many sorcerers practice some form of self-mutilation in order to further augment and empower their incantations with their own suffering and bodily sacrifice.
Page 170
Short ranges (100-1000 m) are fairly normal, anywhere on a planet is tougher. anywhere in a system is even more difficult, whislt traveling within a subsector or sector is the most difficult. Presumably it cannot be uesd beyond that (at least not by this ritual.) may also be gameplay.The sorcerer summons a burning doorway from thin air. The doorway may be used to transport the sorcerer anywhere he can clearly recall in his mind.
Page 171
Other sorcererous powrs include a falil of skulls, channeling the fire of the warp, causing the blood to leave a victim's body, causing the victim to fall over in disease, etc. They can also use chaos marks to reshape their bodies for fighting, or use such runes to open locked portals.By swallowing a solid round of ammunition, the sorcerer fortifies his body against projectiles and crude weapons.
Page 171
A sort of healing, but also most obviously a weapon.Sinking his fingers into the flesh of a target, the sorcerer absorbs the target’s very life force until nothing remains but a dessicated husk.
Page 172 - more various psy powers - using fear/confusion to create a psychic ward to keep people away, summoing objects, corrupt people thorugh the warp, create a wall of aetheric spirits to block passage, or inflicting hallucinations on the target.
Page 173
With a mix of blood and ash, the sorcerer marks a burning rune on the target’s head. Through the rune, the target can draw on unnatural reserves of fortitude.
Reminds me a bit of the runes Eldar Aspect Warriors can draw on themselves as a osrt of 'trigger' or focus (Path of the Warrior.)
Page 174
Again, echoes things like Eldar runestones, in a way.Sorcerers, in turn, seek to increase their capacity for warp-craft by creating items designed to draw upon the power of the warp directly, without the need for extended rituals. Some go a step further, calling forth servants of Chaos and binding them into physical cages to create daemonic weapons of great and terrible power.
Page 175
A use of warp power for the purposes of decoding and translating.He sought to use it for the Imperium’s benefit, seeking a way to decipher the oft-encoded tomes found in the possession of cultists and sorcerers.
Page 177
Protection of chaotic texts/weapons as wlel as cultists and traitors.All are sealed behind adamantine doors etched with sacred script of protection and held in check by humming void field generators. In the cells that are at the deepest point of the Vaults, held by null and stasis fields, are the worst heretics and malefic traitors to have been captured by servants of the Ordos Calixis.
Page 178
An interesting device. Not unlike some of the war engines of Khorne. Chaos must have a fondness for brass.This object consists of a human head, fashioned from brass, mounted on a small eight-legged chassis.
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Created as a mockery of a Tech-Priest’s servitor, Mech Spiders are often used by sorcerers and witches to spy upon the unsuspecting or to communicate with remote cells of cultists and the like. They require no small skill to create, and are usually only found on hive and forge worlds, as other planets normally lack the resources needed to make one.
Page 184
The defining trait of a daemonhost seems to be its 'bound' nature, as well as the degree of binding....a daemonhost is a daemon bound and contained within a human body, enslaved to the will of its creator. However, nothing about a daemonhost is truly simple.
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The bindings that trap the daemon within its host and force it to obey its master also limit the power it can wield. Therefore, the stronger a Radical wishes his daemonhost to be, the weaker he must bind it to his will.
Page 185
Daemonhosts also require a living human vessel. No corpses, no animals allowed. Also tehre are mention of rules/rituals for creation differeing. There are alternative 'sort of' daemonhosts things you can make with animals or dead bodies, however, at least IIRC there probably are.Normally, one cannot create a daemonhost by binding a daemon within an animal or a corpse.
Page 185
Daemonhost bindings.First, the actual bindings detailed in the instruction tome must be applied to the victim’s body. This is done by inscribing the wards and phrases of containment directly onto the skin. The inscribing can be done in simple ink—although considering the terrible consequences should the wards have even the slightest flaw, most prefer a medium that cannot be carelessly smeared or altered, such as tattoos or scarification. Once this is done, additional bindings such as sanctified chains and locks, purity needles, and sigils of authority are added to the victim as well.
Page 187
Daemonhost mental faculties.
Most deamohosts are at least as intelligent as their masters, and some far more-so. They are also perfectly capable of speech. And although they may despise their fate, they may very well be cunning and malicious enough to realize the opportunity that presents itself.
Page 187
the limits of the binding.Once the daemonhost is bound and contained, the Acolyte who bound it can compel it to do his bidding. As long as the daemonhost remains bound, it is unable to directly harm the Acolyte. However, how closely it follows orders depends on how strong its bindings are—and how specific the Acolyte is with his directions.
Page 189
Not unlike some stalk tanks in the Ghosts novels. Note the genetic engineering and cloning. It's also interesting that Psykers are considered a tithe in this context, which actually makes sense. the Imperium is built upon the psychic resources of the Imperium just as much as it is on the manpower and material tithes, so the whole 'psyker control' aspect of an Imperial Commander's duties could be viewed as being similar to the way they siphon off men and material from planets at need.A psy-engine is a dread weapon: barely controlled, living psyker brains set within a weapon-housing and goaded by neuro-implants to blast foes with the power of the warp. The Callophean pattern consists of a lozenge-shaped central body and metre-long insulated director wand connected by flexible cabling. The psy-engine’s centre is a transparent housing just large enough to hold four psyker brains suspended in pinktinged gel, pierced by mechanisms and linked by fluid-tubes.
The narrow edges of the psy-engine consist of clustered psyamplifiers, null-wards, and fluid support devices joined to the tormented brains within.
The psyker is a resource to be expended—this is an Imperial truth. But heretek Magi-Psykana go too far: forbidden genemanipulation; neuro-active implants to induce and control psyker manifestation; and holding back psykers from the Imperial Tithe.
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Her coven tended vats of pulsing, device-ridden psyker brains, all other flesh cut away and the minds within afflicted by a controllable form of blind insanity.
Page 190
Storage requirements for psy-engines.A psy-engine presents a continual danger to soul and sanity unless it is stored within a stasis field, the heavy psy-barriers of an Astropathica facility, or the like. The foaming, blind madness of the psykers within constantly seeps through the psy-engine’s null-wards, and anyone within 100 metres is afflicted by half-heard whispers, fleeting visions of horror, phantom pains, and strange urges.
Page 190
Thet more crazy Dark technology.Neuro-augmetic lore and study of the Omnissiah’s universal laws was combined and tainted to produce an unholy technology—the matrix scourges mind and soul with occult energies, tearing down the foundations of faith and loyalty.
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Each metal staff blisters with cogitation nodules, electro-sensors, and mottled field projection devices.
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A victim so much as grazed by the electrostave is scarred by its power. The apostasic matrix reaches into the very mechanisms of the soul, pouring toxins and pain upon the roots of faith, and burning away memories of worship with agonizing darts of electro-essence.
Page 191
An interesting daemon killing weapon.The heretek Mechanicus faction known as the Empyric Engineers employs numerous device-patterns to turn the warp upon itself and annihilate daemons that transgress upon their labours. The oldest and most revered is the Empyric conduitblade, a sacred standard for these Machine Cult hereteks.
An adamantine mono-edged conduit-blade is a centerpiece in every Engineer shrine: inset field-guides of gold run the length of the blade, the hilt is a warp-mechanism, and at the base of the blade is a socket for a small null-field generator. Vast warp-machines stand within hidden strongholds of the Engineers, used to draw forth the essence of the empyrean and imprison it within null-field containments for study. Much smaller null-field generators are constructed for attachment to a conduit-blade; they look like glittering gems laced with circuitry, belying the danger of their contents. Inside, raging and incoherent, is raw warp-matter—without this imprisoned Empryic energy, a conduit-blade is no more than a symbol.
Page 192
An immateria ward is a form of null-field projector and machine spirit cogitation core intended for armour, portable shield-walls, and similar devices. Empyric Engineers who infuse the warp into their machinery are rarely insane—at the outset at least. They understand the need for protection from corrosive warp-energies, and so turn to heretekal archeotech lore concerned with creating machine spirits that can channel the warp.
Placed upon armour (to the accompaniment of long ritual and forging of the machine spirit) an immateria ward appears as a sigil within a circle, both shapes outlined by thin silver cables set into shallow channels. The null-field projector and cogitation core are hidden beneath the center of the sigil.
The potent machine spirit within slumbers until it senses the presence of the warp; when it wakes to action, the silver cables smoke and glow with a purple mist of dissipated Empyric energies.
Something like a gellar field, perhaps?
Note as well the mention of protable shield walls.
Page 192
Not quite genetic engineeinr or augmetic enhancement. A bit of both perhaps. unpleasant long term side effects were tha tthe process grew out of control, created rampant mutational effects, plasteen protrusions from the body, insanity as the brian was infected, or crushed vital organs.As the bioforging took hold, the workers grew addicted to the addition of a rare and synthesized promethium extract called nephium added to their food rations by their masters. Over time, unnatural biomotes grew within their bodies and began their dreadful work of twisting the sacred human form. An irregular, lumpy rind of organic plasteen developed beneath the skin, and their flesh became laced with filaments of that tough material. Eyes and mucus membranes also became plasteen-saturated. Within a few weeks, menials could enter the void unclothed, shrug off heavy blows, and survive terrible injuries.
Page 193
40K data theft.Tech-devices capable of despoiling data-vaults have spread across the Calixis Sector through the black paths of smugglers, alongside vox-heresy, unsanctioned psykers, and a thousand prohibited substances. Crime barons of the Golgenna hives call these devices “murder-cogitators.” They allow the uninitiated to pillage a cogitation array of encrypted secrets, slay the machine spirit within, and leave a steaming ruin behind.
Page 196
so now we have Golephs and Gholams....were ravaged by faceless machine assassins built in the form of men. Inhumanly clever, fast, and silent, the machines stalked their victims by sound and heat-radiance before slaughtering them with ancient powerblades. Ultimately triumphant, though at great cost, Embuleos discovered enough in the heretek ruins to put a name to these echoes of the Dark Age of Technology: Golephs.
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A Goleph machine is cast in the pattern of a man, is cunning as a man, and can hate as only a man can—an active Goleph is an unrestrained murderer. To establish control, early hereteks crafted Golephic Keys, devices designed to communicate crude sigils of instruction and castigate disobedience by disruption of mind-pathways.
Page 198
More on the propogandic/siege mentality nature of the Imperium, except for all the cases where unfriendly aliens are assaulting the Imperium.Fear of the xenos is instilled in all Imperium citizens from a young age, even on worlds that have never seen an alien creature. Such fear is used by the planetary governors to keep their populations in line.
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There exist many terrible and ancient alien civilisations, races resentful of the spread of humanity and covetous of its domains. Such aliens seek to topple the Imperium, whether from without, through open warfare, or from within, through infiltration and corruption.
Page 198
contact/dealings/alilances with aliens and the ImperiumThere are those within the Imperium who seek out the alien, to better understand their culture or to make use of them and their technology, for these aliens pose little or no threat to humanity.
Such actions are rarely sanctioned by the Imperium, except to those rare outcasts known as rogue traders. Continued dealings with the alien, not to mention sympathies or alliances, are considered dangerous at best—and heretical and treacherous at worst.
Page 199
The mention of the pragmatic view of the Imperium towards aliens.Although all aliens are—officially—viewed as anathema by the Imperium, some are tolerated to a lesser degree. Such races tend to be primitive in technology and culture or constrained to a backwater planet far from Imperium space. In many parts of the Imperium contact with alien races is not uncommon, and on some frontier worlds trading with aliens is a fact of life. Such dealings are usually overlooked by the authorities and would certainly not warrant censureship or intervention.
Other races, however, represent such a threat to humanity that the Ordo Xenos brand them with a stigma, the Xenos Horrificus, marking them as high priority targets who must be hunted down and purged at every opportunity.
Page 200
Burn caster.It uses a hybrid of debased Imperial and alien technology attributed to a minor Xenos race known as the Morgauth. The scavenging reptilid Morgauth are not a species known for their subtlety and this weapon is no exception, nor is the effect its rapid firing selfpropelled thermic shells have on the target.
Page 200
Lightning weapons. Grenade like explosive effects.. or bolter level damage. Take your pick.What technology of theirs has been examined by the Imperium centres around electrical weaponry that utilises capacitors and cells far beyond the technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Xenarch death-arc is a potent, rifle-sized weapon that unleashes a series of arcing bolts of lightning towards its victim. If any of these bolts—deadly in their own right—strike their target, the death-arc channels a far-more powerful arc of electricity along their path, blasting the target into pieces.
Page 200
Another case of a (probably) warp-based phase weapon.A few scholars of xenos lore attribute this weapon to the Eldar, but others claim that the Eldar consider this device and its ilk anathema, its existence not to be tolerated. Under interrogation, some agents of the Cold Trade have confessed to purchasing these weapons from a race of void-nomads known as the Stryxis. However, official Ordo Xenos records claim there is no such race within the Calixis Sector.
The blade of the Aether Lance is completely insubstantial, and will pass through almost any material—including flesh— without leaving a mark.
Page 201
I wonder if this is a variation or extension of necron Living Metal technology.Resembling naught so much as a pool of liquid metal, the device responds to external stimulation, although is resistant to auspex scans. When the metal comes into contact with human skin, it begins to coalesce, slithering over the skin to form a protective sheath much like armour. The metal is cool to the touch and responds to attacks by becoming momentarily super-dense, deflecting impacts or energy blasts across its surface. Using Mecronid armour does have its downsides, however. So long as the wearer remains conscious, the armour remains protective. As soon as the wearer loses consciousness, however, the parasitical armour attempts to slither inside the wearer, either consuming or taking control of him from within long enough to find a new host. Either way, it is often fatal for the wearer.
PAge 202
Body armour incorporating Eldar holofields. Of Eldar design, i think. Weighs 4 kgThis advanced Eldar design has been all but unknown to the Calixis Sector, with only a handful of these rare suits in existence, and even then most are in the hands of senior Ordos Xenos officials. The armour incorporates the same fields used by their titanic machines of war and the mysterious Harlequins, fragmenting the wearer’s image into a thousand swirling slivers of colour when in motion.
PAge 202
Ork pulsa weapon. Pulsar mine I think.The spherical device looks something like a primitive naval mine, complete with spiky protrusions. Rather than acting as triggers for the device, these protrusions are transmitter arrays for the powerful force field emitter of unfathomable design nestled within. When triggered, the field activates, sending pulses of force radiating erratically out from the mine, knocking down personnel and unsecured objects and overturning vehicles.
Page 203
genetic engineering of the Fabius Bile persuasion. Naturally it is forbidden (but still manages to happen in various ways, anyhow.)In the darkest corners of the Adeptus Mechanicus, certain heretek Magos Biologis practice transgenic grafting: the splicing of alien organs and biological matter into human subjects. Such a procedure is not only extremely dangerous, corrupting the mind as well as the spirit, but is also an act of extreme tech-heresy.
Page 206
Interesting translation technology. The last bit implies they aren't good at nuance or dialect variations, hinting at limitations. It also mentions that 'proscribed' or 'alien' tanslator implants are more unusual, but exist. Doesn't seem to be exactly rare/lost tech either.Fitted between the inner ear and the brain stem, a translator implant filters foreign languages through arcane cogitators that translate speech into the user’s native tongue. To the wearer, every language simply sounds the same, whether the most obscure High Gothic dialect spoken amongst a handful of nobility on a remote world, to the most uncouth underhive slang of Gunmetal City. The language of choice is chosen upon implant and cannot be subsequently changed. The implant does not allow the wearer to speak other languages, only to understand them. In situations where nuance or dialect is important, such as certain diplomatic encounters..
Page 206
communciation/translating servitors.Employed by diplomats and envoys dealing with cultures that speak obscure Gothic dialects, communication servitors are employed to ensure communication is as smooth as possible, often translating between the different factions. Communication servitors have large parts of the logic centres of their cortexes replaced with additional cogitators, allowing comprehension and translation to occur at a rapid pace. Adapted vox arrays allow the mimicry of not only language but also dialects and tone. Many Radical Xenos Inquisitors make use of adapted communication servitors to communicate with alien creatures, modifying their cortexes to comprehend alien language and their vox-units to mimic alien speech patterns.
Some even go so far as to alter the appearance of the servitor to a form more pleasing to alien eyes. Such modifications are techno-heresy of the highest order.
Page 206
The upside to associationg with (relatively friendly) Xenos.There are many things that can be learnt from the xenos, from the deeper mysteries of philosophy or ideology, to arcane secrets and technological wonders.
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Perhaps the most straightforward way to gain knowledge about the xenos is through scientific enquiry—that is, vivisection or autopsy. The surgical study of a live alien creature is one of the best ways to gain cold, hard facts about the xenos.
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Xenos races such as the Eldar are often far older than humanity, and the depths of their knowledge is far greater. Such races can often be bargained with or persuaded to offer insight into the deeper mysteries of the universe.
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Such xenos might also have a keen insight into battling the other perils of the galaxy, such as other alien races or the creatures from beyond.
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Xenos races often possess fabulous technology or great powers and might be bargained with to share such great and beneficent devices. An alien might not be prepared to sell his gun, but he might be persuaded to offer an insight into its manufacture or workings to the inquisitive. Similarly, an alien might be prepared to share his knowledge or to teach a budding student some of the greater powers.
Page 207
In other words, they have the same goals as man and act accordingly. At least in a broad sense, or specific ways. You can't always trust those goals to be mutually compatible.Such aliens lie either to safeguard themselves and their plots or to make their plans more palatable to potential allies.
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Other xenos lie to conceal their true selves.
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Perhaps most insidiously, xenos races lie to impose their will upon human subjects.
Page 207
Eldar precognition. mention of being taught it is probably an allusion to those like Ravenor.One of the greatest skills possessed by the Seers of the Eldar is their ability to read the destiny of all things and to weave the fates to better direct the outcome of the future. To the innately psychic Seers, manipulating fate is no more difficult than unpicking and restitching the weave on a loom, albeit a weave made from a billion billion different threads woven so tight as to be near invisible. Seers make use of wraithbone runes, casting these artefacts to make auguries before plucking at the strings of fate with their minds alone, steering the future as a pilot might steer a ship.
The fates are only taught to those Eldar who walk upon the Path of the Seer, but on rare occasions the Seers might teach knowledge of the fates to a trusted outsider. Only a small handful of Inquisitors has earned this trust.
Page 207
Oh dear, analysis of the alien. How heretical.Entire sections of the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus within the Calixis Sector are devoted to such analysis, attempting to draw conclusions about the likely disposition of alien races or plot xenos agendas based on scant information and endeavouring to work out the truth behind alien ruins or mysterious xenotech.
Page 208
This is circa 806.M41, so the AdMech are still finding forge worlds. Or creating them....that Haddrack is a young forge world pledged to the Omnissiah in 566.M41..
Page 208
My.. how adaptive.Haddrack’s adept and voidfleet-militant resource allocations are far outsized for a forge world of its overall utilisation level, as you would expect. Weaponry, strategy, and tactics evaluation at all levels is constant and ongoing.
Page 208
Forge worlds (at leats young ones) also seem to serve as mining as well as production facilities. One imagines that the evacation and building of the manfucaturing capability is designed to use a double purpose (if they're going to be digging and building they might as well make use of those resources.)The majority of Haddrack’s industry resides in, or rather beneath, the chem wastes. Since mining fortresses began operation in 570.M41, ceaseless maglifter flights have carried processed ore to orbiting highliners for transhipment to the Lathes and other attendant domains. Whilst sunk into the bedrock armourium halls, manufactora, and Secutor chantries soon followed.
Page 208
magnetic shielding.Haddrack’s planetary magfields are powerful and unstable—indeed, every machine spirit in service there requires extensive shielding.
Page 208
Interesting that the odd magnetic fields of the planet have 'etheric' results (eg implied warp effets) with the void shields. Possibly an allusion to void shields being based on the warp.Within the surface mining fortresses, it is impossible to completely insulate against the audio, electric, and etheric results of magneto-interaction of large fragments with fortress void shields.
Page 208
'atmospheric" Lance and photon burner testing.. suggests that both are still produced.Alas, the surface about the mining fortresses is crossed by power transference beams, and specked by Sollex atmospheric lance-beam and photon-burner test stations.
Page 209
Ongoing war over the existence of private/independent information sources.The grand Library of Fenksworld, jealously guarded by the planetary authorities, is the subject of quiet battles of will within the Calixian conclave. A number of Monodominants wish the Library closed or destroyed, but their position remains weak, and private initiatives to this end have so far proven unsuccessful.
Page 211
Underground use of auspex and vox and the ranges.Auspex mapping has proven useless, and vox communication within IV.b has a short effective range, less than 300 metres outside shafts and long corridors, unless vox-cables are strung through the maze.
Page 212
use of warp capable vessels for routine quarantine. It's not quite clear whether they make this part of periodic patrol routes, or if they are permanantly stationed there.The quarantine is enforced by Battlefleet Calixis, and patrols of Sword-class frigates routinely sweep through the system.
Page 212
Eldar planet. They seem to have left Wraithguard/Wraithlord defenses as well sa some weird teleportation/phasing ability. Probbly meant to protect the planet, or something....descriptions of automated defenses and strange, silent automatons armed with weapons that fired concentrated warp-energy. However, subsequent visits to the planet’s surface have found that the abandoned city explored by Travius seems to shift locations, and it is ver found in the same set of coordinates twice.
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...the planet once belonged to the enigmatic Eldar.
Page 213
Drawing psychic power (or some other kind of power) from the stars and shielding it against the Warp. Rathe interesting they are able to tap solar power in that manner....I suspect that this chamber, this city, is some kind of psychic node, drawing power from the stars and somehow stabilizing this planet against the influence of the warp.
Page 214
Cartographical expeditions. Note the allies and equipment.Departments of the Calixian Administratum dispatch cartographers and map-scribes to the far corners of the sector, with the authority and seals to requisition additional support at their destination. Cartographic adepts are fussy and impatient, neuro-augmented and detail-oriented to the point of mania. An expedition in the field includes Imperial Guard personnel, techadepts pledged to the Munitorium, local guides, and equipment ranging from bulk-cogitators to cartographic auspex.
They also mention Calixis Battlefleet officers doing exploration, a nod to the Age of Sail practices.
Page 214
Explorator capabilities.An Explorator, ensconced amidst tech-adepts, Tech-Guard, and servitor-excavators, will have his reasons and his goals—but it will be a struggle to uncover them. An Explorator calls upon vast resources: he could bury an archeosite beneath machines and tech-adepts carried within his voidship, leaving no stone unturned.
Page 217
100 Inquisitors in a sector at least....trial of the heretical Inquisitor Vilnius Habib....
...
...slaying 99 Inquisitors...
PAge 219
Again Inquisitors vary. They also vary in how they may shift to radicalism, it is stated. Some may come to it gradually, otehrs may shift instantly.One Inquisitor’s patriotism is another’s treason. One Inquisitor may not blink at ordering the Exterminatus of a whole world to ensure the destruction of a cult; another may blanch at pulling the trigger to execute a single cultist.
Page 220
Makes sense, sort of. Works to an extent in America too.Naivety and ignorance are encouraged amongst the citizens of the Imperium as a means to keep them pliant and under control. Naivety is also a valid defence for the general populace—in the 41st millennium some knowledge genuinely is dangerous, and ignorance keeps the people safe from the dangers of daemons and subversion into Chaos cults.
Page 225
Judicial and similar procedures for inquisitions (excommunication, appeal, etc.An Inquisitor declared guilty by a trial of his peers will typically be declared Excommunicate Traitoris...
...
Those Inquisitors found guilty in absentia will be declared Excommunicate Traitoris and a warrant will be issued for their arrest and execution across the sector or beyond. Being excommunicated means that they will have their Inquisitorial powers stripped from them...
...
The galaxy is a very big place, and the Inquisition is but one organisation spread across a large area.
Transmitting the excommunicated status of an Inquisitor amongst all the Inquisition’s holdings within a sector can take years, and it can take far longer to spread word of the verdict to every individual Inquisitorial agent.
...
...oblivious to the fact that the Inquisitor has successfully appealed for innocence in the matter.
..
An Inquisitor’s rosette is a totem that commands great respect, a symbol of a higher authority with no more real power than any other physical artefact. Being excommunicated does not strip an Inquisitor of any real status, for he is still able to command the fear and respect of others simply by virtue of who he is. In the eyes of Imperial law, he might be a criminal and a traitor, but far removed from the centres of authority, on most worlds of the Imperium without a powerful Inquisitorial presence he remains an Inquisitor in every respect.
Page 226
Inquisitorial wars. Something like the battle between Eisenhorn and Quixos in Malleus, I suppose....arguments can fracture an already tenuous consensus along factional lines, breaking the Inquisition in the sector into a whole mess of smaller organisations, each with their own agendas.
Most such fractures halt there, the Inquisitorial conclave engaging in a tit for tat diplomatic squabble between a dozen or more small factions for an indefinable amount of time. During this period a sector often slides further towards the yawning abyss of Chaos, for whilst the Inquisition fights amongst itself, the individual Inquisitors do not fight the enemies of the Imperium. Such civil wars can last decades but rarely escalate beyond minor infighting or skirmishes on fringe worlds.
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Inquisition Wars are, thankfully, very rare, only a handful having occurred in the past 10,000 years.
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Shadow missions assassinate planetary governors. Entire regiments of the Imperial Guard are commandeered and turned on one another. Whole systems burn via Exterminatus as the doomsday weapons of the Inquisitors are unleashed against the strongholds of one another.
An Inquisition War rarely rumbles on for longer than a decade, a century at most, for they are so devastating that the wider Imperium is forced to act swiftly. Entire Chapters of Space Marines are deployed to the sector with orders to terminate any and all Inquisitors with extreme prejudice. If one or another faction does not hold the upper hand when fighting ceases, the Imperium is not averse to wiping the slate clean in the most bloody way possible and establishing a fresh Inquisitorial conclave with Inquisitors drawn from other parts of the galaxy.
Page 226
One example of Inquisitorial war.. note orbital bombardments (Exterminatus) by orbital bobmardment and exterminatus. All because of politcs. no less. The entire Malfian subsector was left in turmoil for over a century, and parts of it still faced conflict far longer than that.No fewer than 13 Inquisitors and their entire retinues were excommunicated and declared traitors by a power bloc of Puritanical Inquisitors seeking to destabilise what they perceived as Radical elements within the conclave.
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Three systems within the Malfian Subsector were consumed in the war, the surfaces of their worlds razed by virus bombs and planetary bombardment.
Page 231
The Black Regiment presumably. Also "vat psykers" have been mentiond in other sources (Creatures anathema for example.)He [Gelt] has been known to use captive psykers secured inside grav-suspended nutrient vats to provide a modicum of protection from the powers of the warp.
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He explored death worlds, sailed on ships of the Imperial Navy, commanded a personal regiment of stormtroopers in the field, and kept a series of captive psykers for his personal use.
Page 232
He also learned divination from the eldar 9like Ravenor) althoug he is only somewhat good at it.Those who have spoken to Arcturos report that he is now obsessed with the Eldar’s means of viewing the future through a series of psycically-active runestones, and that he constantly practices this vile form of divination, basing every act on what he sees in the patterns of the stones.
Page 236
"Silica Animus" seems to be far more than just artificial intelligence or computers/robots of some type.. it seems like its something (in this context) akin to necron biotransference. Disciplies of the Dark Gods, however, seems to treat Silica Animus as being true AI type things (like the Tau use), while the Proteus Protocol is what is described here. Maybe it overlaps....means by which to replicate a human consciousness into the form of a self-aware machine–spirit: the dreaded tech-heresy of the Silica Animus. So far, Scayl’s research indicates that only the mind of a psyker possesses the strength of will required to endure the process, but he hopes to refine his theories after experimentation so that any mind can thus be transformed.
