Author Topic: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash  (Read 99656 times)

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #60 on: June 09, 2009, 11:48:29 PM »
Okay, took me like twenty minutes of messing around but I figured it out and got both the characters I had names for added.

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #61 on: June 12, 2009, 11:53:26 AM »
Well there's going to be a slight delay in our start time: I found the disk that I thought I'd mailed out between some coach cushions today. I'll head down to the post office after work and get that going.

Dawnsteel

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #62 on: June 15, 2009, 12:40:36 AM »
I could have finished statting Raltus.  Instead, I wrote this.


I relive my father’s death about once a week.

The food on the heighliners of the Imperial Merchant Fleet is nothing memorable, even without the concussion that followed.  I dimly remember leaving the midship wardroom, headed aft to my quarters.  The hatch outside my bunk wouldn’t open, and as I fiddled with the control, a heavy blow from behind drove me to my knees and a second one turned out the lights.
I woke, slowly, to the sounds of struggle.  Corwin – my father – was grappling with three crewmembers I didn’t recognize.  One man lay on the deck nearby.  Blood ran freely from his mouth and nose, and his throat seemed oddly flattened.  For all his skill, the remaining assailants were slowly forcing Corwin back toward a maintenance airlock, just large enough for one human in a void suit.
Its door yawned open, like a hungry maw.
The conspiracy unfolded before me in a flash – most, if not all, of the crew was neck-deep in a plot to “reconsign” the heighliner’s cargo.  Given the nature of her cargo, the forces of Chaos were clearly the intended recipient.  I didn’t stop to consider the deeper implications as I turned my thoughts to survival. 
I carefully looked around, moving as little as possible to avoid attracting attention.  I was laid chest-down on the deck of the aft maintenance bay, between the master control console and the forward hatch.  And now, to my growing dismay, I could make out the irregular form First Officer Oughusk, crouched over the console.
My only hope was that Captain Denec wasn’t a Heretic, too.  I took two deep breaths to focus my mind, tensed my arms and legs like coiled springs, and leaped to my feet.  I covered the distance to the forward hatch in four long strides, but the clank-clank-clank of my boots on the corrugated steel deck was unconcealable.  Oughusk glanced over his shoulder, and with widening eyes, spun back to his console and tapped rapidly with his manipulator arm.  I dove for the hatch, sliding through just as it snapped shut.  I bounced to my feet once more, and the deck tilted crazily beneath me as my head swam.  I caught myself against a bulkhead and did some more deep breathing.
My pulse pounded in my ears, but not loudly enough to muffle the unmistakable CHA-WHOOSH of a couple of cubic meters of atmosphere venting through the hull and into the void.

I pounded along the corridor, avoiding high-traffic areas, and always moving forward.  If I paused, I would hear the steady clank of pursuing footsteps, reverberating along the steel tunnels.
My pursuers got me in their sights less than a hundred meters from the bridge.  There was a blinding flash to my right as a lasgun blast carved a half-meter-long trench in the bulkhead.  Barely two seconds later, my world exploded into noise as alarm klaxons screamed their warnings.  Denec’s voice, tinny through the ship’s comm., called out, “Shots fired on board!  Officers and arbitrators to the bridge at once!”
   “Heresy!  Mutiny!”  I shouted, but mere human lungs could not overpower the klaxons.  I poured everything I had left into my sprint, running literally for my life.  I felt the heat from another lasgun blast behind me, and at that point my vocalizations degenerated into a wordless howl.
   I burst onto the bridge, still screaming, and I was cut off abruptly when I ran full-speed into a crewmember’s chair.  The bridge was empty, save for Captain Denec, who started to ask me what was happening.
   “Mutiny!”  I shouted, cutting him off.  “Seal the bridge, sir!  They’re right behind me!”  Denec was an experienced captain, and you don’t live long in the depths of space by ignoring potential threats, no matter how ridiculous.  The bridge access door closed, and the locking bolts shot into place.
   “All right, son,” Denec said, sternly.  “That door’s a hardened alloy.  Take a week and a half with a lascutter to break through.  Time to explain yourself, and it better be damn good.”
   I laid it out for him.  “Your cargo was too ripe a target.  Heavy bolter parts and ammunition?  Who thought freighting that stuff together was a good idea?”
   Denec wasn’t looking at me, instead moving from display to display along the consoles of the bridge.  “Warp-cursed Tech-priests.  Oughusk has the security monitors jiggered, nothing shows out of the ordinary.  He told me Rispol was going out in a Void suit to check a hull fissure, when I saw the portside maintenance lock cycle I figured that was him.”
   “Well, kid,” he continued.  “Let me lay it out for you.  Oughusk will kill our drivetrain from the engine room.  We’ll drift in the void until we’re missed at Landunder.  The Imperial Navy will be looking for us right quick tomorrow.  Now, the Astropath was pulled off the ship just before we left dock above Scintilla, so we can’t holler for help.  I got six days’ water and rations stored up here, and like I said, no one’s getting through that door.  Heat and atmosphere are supplied independently to the bridge, so we’re pretty much self-sufficient for a week or so.”
   “Pretty much?”  I asked.
   “Yeah, kid,” he replied.  “About all they can do is…” As Denec spoke, the background noise of the bridge changed subtly.  A continuous background thrumming stopped, leaving the chamber much quieter.  And right on cue, we floated off the deck.  “…kill our gravity,” Denec finished.
   “I’ll tell you what I think, Captain,” I said as we drifted.  “High-value cargo like this, only two Arbitrators on board, Astropath pulled out at the last minute.  Add ‘em up, and I think you were set up, sir.”
   “Tell you what I think, kid,” he replied, sounding grim.  “We hold the bridge from the crew, we live through this…we’re going to meet an Inquisitor.”


I didn't come here to win. I came to make friends.

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #63 on: June 15, 2009, 11:07:55 AM »
I like the look of this. Grim, gritty, good stuff.

In a related note, I'm happy to say we have another applicant from RPOL who's interested in joinning up. I just got his join request this morning. He's a 40k fan and he's played some Dark Heresy so it'll be nice to have someone with alittle more system familiarity.

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #64 on: June 16, 2009, 12:42:47 PM »
Okay, so I've gotten a disk into the mail, may have another on the way soon. One player has their own book and I think the new guy does too.

So, looks like we're getting close to being able to consider getting started! So, this is the point where we need to consider the Acolite group as a unit. The adventure doesn't specifically require everyone to have worked together before but an existing cliche of Acolites is generally advised.

JonHook

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #65 on: June 16, 2009, 01:32:31 PM »
Awesome. I can't wait to begin.  ;D
"Isolation on a ship like this can breed heresy in the dark unwashed corners. I won't find evidence of heresy here, will I?" - Festor Sorebol (an Imperial Psyker in Tadanori's Dark Heresy game: House of Dust & Ash)

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #66 on: June 16, 2009, 03:00:12 PM »
Me too. I've been practicing my grim and gritty writing.

Oh, some background information.

See, there's alot to 40k that isn't fully covered in the RP manuals.


Servitors-
Servitors are criminals who have had their brains more or less removed. They look mostly human but have no intellegence and simply follow orders within their understanding. They generally have had their arms replaced with equipment to facilitate their tasks.

Some servitors are combative in design and have weapons, others construction equipment, and some are connected to vehicles. In clerical work they are treated like servo skulls, but with less respect, and are used to carry things from one place to another or to simple repeated tasks.

Cherub-
A highly advanced variation of the servitor, Cherubs are created beings sized similarly to human babies and grown with feathered wings. They are typically servants of adepts and are a status symbol of high regard. Unlike other servitors, Cherubs are aware and can take action on their own will, though they are kept controlled by their masters.

Less useful over all, Cherubs often serve as minor assistants, carrying items or fetching things. They are normally not see outside of major Imperium areas such as conclaves or adeptus facilities.

Servo Skulls-
A servo skull is the skull of a human, typically a pious member of the Imperium, that has been fitted with anti-gravity equipment, allowing it to float about freely. Servo skulls possess limited intellence, able to follow simple instruction, and serve as messager carriers or menial task keepers. Some servo skulls simply serve as mobile candle stands for clerks.

Servo skulls can not speak or think in any significant manner but they are loyal servants who follow orders to the best of their ability. They are a common sight in the high levels of Imperial society, especially Administrotum facilities. They the Cult of the Emperor, often used to take confessions from the millions of humans who need to give it. In the Mechanicus they carry tools, fluids, scrolls, prayer books, and other items of importance.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2009, 04:17:01 PM by Tadanori Oyama »

JonHook

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #67 on: June 16, 2009, 04:06:40 PM »
Damn. How bizzare and cool.
"Isolation on a ship like this can breed heresy in the dark unwashed corners. I won't find evidence of heresy here, will I?" - Festor Sorebol (an Imperial Psyker in Tadanori's Dark Heresy game: House of Dust & Ash)

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #68 on: June 16, 2009, 04:18:35 PM »
Damn. How bizzare and cool.

The 42st millenium is screwed up dude. And this is just the humans! Should see what the other major species get up to.

Speaking of which: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page

This is a wiki with lots of good 40k info. If you mention something you don't get during play, you can look here in addition to asking for clarifications.


Addition-
Also, here is the page on the Calixis Sector, the location we'll be playing in. Anything listed on this page is assumed knowledge for your characters.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Calixis_Sector
« Last Edit: June 16, 2009, 04:24:13 PM by Tadanori Oyama »

JonHook

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #69 on: June 16, 2009, 04:44:51 PM »
Damn. How bizzare and cool.

The 42st millenium is screwed up dude. And this is just the humans! Should see what the other major species get up to.

Speaking of which: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page

This is a wiki with lots of good 40k info. If you mention something you don't get during play, you can look here in addition to asking for clarifications.


Addition-
Also, here is the page on the Calixis Sector, the location we'll be playing in. Anything listed on this page is assumed knowledge for your characters.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Calixis_Sector

Awesome. Are you going to post these links in a game thread on RPoL too?
"Isolation on a ship like this can breed heresy in the dark unwashed corners. I won't find evidence of heresy here, will I?" - Festor Sorebol (an Imperial Psyker in Tadanori's Dark Heresy game: House of Dust & Ash)

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #70 on: June 16, 2009, 05:06:53 PM »
I will be, yes. I can't access RPOL from work so it'll have to wait til tonight.


Addition-
Added a page for the links on RPOL this morning.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2009, 01:02:35 PM by Tadanori Oyama »

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #71 on: June 19, 2009, 11:03:28 AM »
We had another new application through RPOL. He's interested in play, though I'm probably going to make him submit a writing sample, his messages are concerning... teenage, would be the word I'd use.

JonHook

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #72 on: June 29, 2009, 03:44:59 PM »
Hey Tad,

What did you think of Festor's first real interaction with an NPC?

I may be a little too much in love with my own cleverness, cause I've now made Festor's statement into my signature below.  ;D
"Isolation on a ship like this can breed heresy in the dark unwashed corners. I won't find evidence of heresy here, will I?" - Festor Sorebol (an Imperial Psyker in Tadanori's Dark Heresy game: House of Dust & Ash)

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Dark Heresy Play by Post: House of Dust and Ash
« Reply #73 on: June 29, 2009, 08:42:25 PM »
It was just about perfect. Made me think you'd been lying about not knowing the setting. Inquistiors, and Acolites, often develope the idea that heresy is everywhere.

Some of them are really, really nuts too. If two people are alone in a room and one of them is a heretic best to kill both to be sure you get him. And burn the building down too.

Actually, Inquisitors are alot like PCs...