Funny you should mention that, Wu Ming... I initially started the writeup as a letter from Luc to his creepy sisters Mara and Moira. However, that approach made it difficult to reveal what I wanted to about Varn and Isen, because Luc didn't know.

Now that their backgrounds are established, though, future writeups will probably be fragments of Luc's journal and correspondence, maybe with a few descriptions of vido clips; footage of interrogations, home movies of Luc teaching his daughter to be a proper young lady and fire a laspistol, etc.

Keep in mind the kid is only about 7 or 8 years old. Not that a kid can't be taught to shoot at such a tender age, just food for thought.

Keep in mind the kid is only about 7 or 8 years old. Not that a kid can't be taught to shoot at such a tender age, just food for thought.

Yes, I've taken that into consideration. That's why Luc will be getting her something small, with low recoil, for her adoption party. We haven't a clue when her birthday was, so, well, you understand. Luc's also going to try to have his sisters send along a lady's maid and a little rask pup for her, though the shipping might take a while. Oh, and she'll need xenomesh armor, and, if she's very good, a pony.

In the grim darkness of the far future, Daddy Warbucks is training Little Orphan Annie as an assassin.

Still hung up on the mind-cleansing issue, though.

Yes, that certainly was a grand tale. As for mind wiping the child... I imagine with what happened whatever pesonality she had was most likely obliterated. So forcing a child to remember those horrible memories or giving her a fresh slate you can mold as you see fit. Well, now there could be an even worse fate... Eh, have fun with that decision.

Interesting point, Isen. Oh, by the way I think you misspelled your name.

No, no, I think I got it right. lol

Ethics in the 41st Mill. ?

Mind Wipe little Tam. It's better not only for her transition, but to possibly safe guard both herself and your line from taint and coruption as you do not know what evils lurk in that catatonic psyche of hers. I mean hell SM are Mind Wiped frequently upon encountering heretical knowledge and gribblies and little Tam was part of a SLaaneshi Orphaneage Orgy/Sacrifice Pit and saw 3 Deamonettes...

Mind WIpe. That is if you can afford it and have the conections...

Ethics? Well, yes, Luc's sort of the odd man out in the party. He's cynical and manipulative, but genuinely good-hearted... as opposed to Varn, who's a self-serving psychopath, and Eisen, who's a servant of the ruinous powers.

That aside, if it were some random witness I'd pour the bleach into her skull myself. But this is Luc's daughter... and if mind-wiping really is tantamount to killing her, he'll do everything in his power to prevent it.

I wouldn't think it to be tantamount to death. Remember the Emperor Protects, what is most important is that she is uncorupted, and the state of her immortal soul not a bunch of various quirks and what passess for a 'personalty' which shes' only had seven years to acquire and devolope. She is starting fresh, and has been exposed not only to horrific experiences that from a purely mundane point of view could leave here emotionaly and mental damaged for the rest of natural life (which may be shortened in the case of her scarred psyche.)

However this is compounded by the fact that she's been exsposed to horrors which casue even prepared and fortified minds to crumble and lead even the most pious down the path to ruin. She's been exposed to the foul vile warp spawn and has heard mention of proscribed tomes, seen eldrich sigils, been privy to the litinies of the ruinous powers. A mind cleansing is just that. It will reset you mind to a pure state and minimalising the chance of lasting damage, to both her mind and her soul.

I in no way see Mind Scrubbing as tantamount with death, that is from the 40K perspective, it would be a far worse crime to risk damning her soul to possible (inevitable) coruption by the events she has experienced. It would be less humane to let a child suffer with those traumas and the weight of the knowledge of such things. Remeber ignorence is both blessed and blissful in the Imperium. ANd even those that 'Shall know no Fear' are most often mind scrubed after encountering such things as she has seen.

I'd scrub her. Its both the right and the convient thing to do. Who wouldn't want to load their daughter up with hand picked foibles, informatio and behaviour engrams... that is like I said before if you are able to afford it or even have acess to such services.

Wu Ming said:

I disagree completely...her experiences make her a possibly oh so incredible asset later in life. I would have her checked out by your inquisitor and if her psyche hasn't been to damaged leave her as is. She is going to grow up and be a complete badass when your inquisitor needs someone to go against another cult. And she is young, the young heal faster from everything. Soon this will be nothing but a bad dream (ok, the occasional horrible nightmare) but with a sympathetic ear and a loving parent she'll do fine. AND with the training of a gunslinger from 7 years old she's going to be a terror against said cultists. Mindwipe is a FINAL recourse. See if she recovers on her own before taking that drastic step....

In my game I didn't get to the girl fast enough (guts ripped out by a couple of those **** zombies) and had to administer the Emporer's mercy to her....talk about character development. My character now has hatred for cultists because of what they did to that innocent little girl (and I almost shot our assassin for being to cowardly to go into the building..."Oh, he is covering the area from the safety of the chimeras firing port" bastard.

friggin' double post...I only pushed the button once

If you place magical wards on your spellbook, a rival wizard will steal it and work to unravel the wards.

If you decide the seal the daemon in the heart of a cursed mountain forever, it will reappear a few decades later to take revenge.

If you arm your landspeeder with a self destruct mechanism, it will be exploded when you get back from your mission.

If you huddle your family in a protected vault while the virus bombs fall, they will have been eaten by mutants who were hiding in the vault's shadows when you get back.

If you mind-wipe the little girl, I can guarantee that she will have horrible flashbacks and turn into some sort of conduit for the ruinous powers ( Hey there uncle Isen. Do I want to play a game? Do I ever ! What's the game called? Summon the daemonhost and realise my untapped psychic powers? That sounds like fun! ) or something along those lines.

However, the consequences for not mindwiping her could be ever-more horrible.

Either way I think you're going to regret your actions. I believe this is called "choosing the lesser evil". Welcome to the differing shades of grey that is morality in the 41st millennium.

There is no black and white here, only black and all-consuming-light-devouring-void .

Valzin said:

Yeah, hand Tam over to your paranoid, mind ****** Inquisitor that sounds like it will go great. (Has Luc 'offically' joined the cell?) Oh and regarding the young healing faster from 'eveything' when it comes to early childhood and traumatic emotional and psychological damage the converse actually seems to be true. Regardless, I'm sure Tam will be fine no matter what you do, Just make sure to take her with you to Coseflame, let her hang out with your sisters and Eisen & Varn and I can't see why she won't 'bounce right back.'

Little Tam?

I see what you did there, Domis. Have a complimentary pair of blue gloves.

Snidesworth said:

On the "no" side, her name is actually Tan with an N.

On the "yes" side, House Cassius is indeed an intersteller megacorp of dubious morality.

Luc has yet to make contact with the Inquisitor Secrecy McParanoid himself, largely because Varn and Isen don't know how to contact him. The one who knew the contact codes was my previous character, the one with the slight possession problem.

So, it seems like public opinion is as conflicted as I am on whether to scrub her little cerebrum.

Some things to keep in mind: first, the cleansing can't be done right now. However, the Inquisitor is a powerful Telepath, so the option (if not the outright inquisitorial command) to cleanse her will almost certainly come up eventually. The problem is, she is making progress. She no longer seems to be terrified of Luc, though she still doesn't talk, and she screams and runs from anyone else. The longer Luc spends slowly building a bond of trust with her, the less willing he'll be to have her cleansed.

Luc's a stubborn bastard, and he hasn't yet been ground down by the grimness and darkness of the world he lives in. He still clings to the belief that he can make things better. It hasn't gone well so far, admittedly. His family was torn apart by external vendetta and internal feuding. The first person he ever loved, and more importantly the first he ever trusted, was collateral damage in one of his brother's schemes. Luc couldn't save her. And then the business on Baraspine... all the killings, and then that airship going down with hundreds on board, guilty and innocent alike. If he'd been stronger, faster, smarter, then maybe... Tan's the only person he's managed to save. He takes her welfare very seriously.

Remeber ignorence is both blessed and blissful in the Imperium. ANd even those that 'Shall know no Fear' are most often mind scrubed after encountering such things as she has seen.

I'd scrub her. Its both the right and the convient thing to do. Who wouldn't want to load their daughter up with hand picked foibles, informatio and behaviour engrams... that is like I said before if you are able to afford it or even have acess to such services.

Luc has a stubborn dedication to the girl that overrides convenience, and a healthy degree of disdain for what the mass of humanity considers right and wrong. He's a noble, ignorance is for keeping the rest of humanity in line. However, your arguement that it's what's best for the girl is difficult to refute.

If you place magical wards on your spellbook, a rival wizard will steal it and work to unravel the wards.

If you decide the seal the daemon in the heart of a cursed mountain forever, it will reappear a few decades later to take revenge.

If you arm your landspeeder with a self destruct mechanism, it will be exploded when you get back from your mission.

If you huddle your family in a protected vault while the virus bombs fall, they will have been eaten by mutants who were hiding in the vault's shadows when you get back.

If you mind-wipe the little girl, I can guarantee that she will have horrible flashbacks and turn into some sort of conduit for the ruinous powers (Hey there uncle Isen. Do I want to play a game? Do I ever! What's the game called? Summon the daemonhost and realise my untapped psychic powers? That sounds like fun!) or something along those lines.

However, the consequences for not mindwiping her could be ever-more horrible.

If you have a rival wizard, employ, subjugate, or kill him.

If the demon escapes its cage, punish it with knives of whatever it deems anathema, and bind it into the sun of a dead system.

If your landspeeder is destroyed, hijack an armed shuttle.

If your daughter is possessed, you **** well find a way to save her. Surround her with null rods until the demon cannot sustain itself, or seek out the Illuminati, or offer yourself in exchange.

The common run of men aspire to no more than survival. Less common are the breed who call themselves heros, who will die for a cause. But your death means nothing if your cause fails! The line of Cassius holds this truth in their stony hearts: with wit, defiance, and ruthlessness, a man can break fate over his knee and forge a greater destiny.

Inquisitor Gasan Velli may be a bit paranoid, but this most recent acolyte cell hasn't done much to convince that they know how to keep sensitive information secure...

Also even the acolytes seem to be so desperate to "put one on the win column" that they considered just executing the first suspect and calling the investigation complete...

That doesn't even get into taking it upon themselves to assassinate a high ranking member of House Gazmati of the Navis Nobilite....

Good luck explaining that one to the boss, boys.

Given that Marines are Mind Wiped and seem to retain all their skills and experience, or at least regain them pretty sharpish, I always assumed that Mind Wiping was a bit more specific than wiping the *everything* that charicter Murder would imply.

Brother Domis said:

If you actually manage to play Luc in a manner that embodies this ideal, then all sorts of possibilities open themselves (for both glory and/or a fall).

I like the principle, now let's just see it perform.