The Adeptus' Handbook

Simply, chapters covering the various involvements, characters, centres, institutes, opportunities and such across the Calixis sector corresponding to the various Adeptus.

A chapter outlining the variety of the Adeptus Terra across the sector; where do the Tithes go, who collects where, which ones go between planets, which Sector and Subsector worlds are crucial, which are neglected. Where are there Temples of the Priesthood of Terra, who's a senior figure? Where do the Auditors live? Any warehouse worlds?

As N0-1 has been pressing, the Adeptus Mechanicus is a rich source of detail and one I suspect which could easily and well contain enough to fit into a whole book on its own. Still, that'd be a bit of an exclusive book (or rather require a fair bit of work to not make it exclusive). Tons of opportunities I doubt I even need to list.

Then there's the Adeptus Ministorum, Adeptus Arbites, Adeptus Astartes Adeptus Astra Telepathica and so forth. Tons of details within the Calixis sector to make it seem more like a proper... place , but at present, we don't have all of the links, all of the interactions...any of it. I've been working a little bit on Port Wander for the RT game, and I found this to be a crucial exponent; figuring out the 'Imperial mechanics' of the sector (and its relation to the segmentum) not only presented me with a wealth of 'stepping stone' opportunities for my RT players, in even doing a little bit of mental-exploration I found a brick-ton of stuff available to me for DH opportunities. Almost every 'stepping stone' I create could be a massive point of interaction for DH investigators, and this is only one space station! (And I've barely even begun to explore the 'non-Adeptus' bits of the place!)

Anyway a nice more-solid look at 'the Imperium of Calixis itself' is what I'd like to see. Not 'stuff in Calixis' but how it all fits together. The bigger picture and all the hooks that dangle from it, dragging all the 'little people' along with it.

I'm inclined to agree with Raith. We've seen a Radical's handbook, and we've seen a lot of material on the political and philosophical groups that make up the unofficial, behind the scenes Inquisition, but we haven't seen much on the formal structure of the Inquisition, and the intra-Ordos politics that arise as a result of their different focus.

We know how a radical Inquisitor would react to a puritan and vice versa. What we don't know is how an Ordos Xenos Inquisitor would react to an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor. Are Ordo Xenos Inquisitors seen as mad scientists? Do the other ordos regard Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors as mediocre talents who couldn't make it into the more "elite" branches of the organisation? Do Ordo Malleus Inquisitors regard themselves an "infernal affairs" division, as Dan Abnett seems to suggest?

I'd like to see a complete guide to the Inquisition that, for once, doesn't concentrate so much on the secret, behind the scenes conflicts within the organisation, but rather on their "puiblic face." Inquisitorial fortresses. Notable figures. Inquisitorial resources within the sector, public knowledge and perceptions of the Inquisition, methods commonly employed, etc etc..

(Mind you, I haven't read the Radical's Handbook yet - all this could be in there!)

So my understanding is this:

#1 wanted is Calixis sector info (subsectors, organizations, planets etc etc )

#2 internal Inquisition book (how they work from the inside, departments, deployment, personnel, purtian equipments and ruels nd regulations to define a puritan and locations and details and names or puritans and radicals and how they interact and maybe some sub plots to add drama.)

#3 Adeptus Mechanicus book on all things Mechanicus (from hwo technology works in 40k, to who maintains it, to how the AdMech deploys its members and where they get stationed at, what they do to keep up on eqipment, training, requisitioning, R&D and so on, etc etc)

Lightbringer said:

Well conidering the fact that the Tricorn on Scintilla shoot down any traffic that might stray to close without proper identification I think that pretty much sums it up of what sort of "public face" the Inquisition has. If you're in the Inquisition, you might be privy to whats going on behind the scenes (i.e the different factions of monodominants, xeno hybrisists etc.) or you might be kept perpetually in the dark depending on what more senior agents wish to divulge. If you're not in the Inquisition, then the "public face" you will most likely ever see of the Inquisition is that it is an organisation made up of people that should be feared and avoided and when you do have the misfortune of encountering them you better stay out of their way and/or cooperate once the rosettes are flashed.

And this seems to go for pretty much all Inquisitors, be they ultra puritan maniacs with a taste for pointing the guilty finger at everyone and have them burned at the stake, or radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitors who seem to like to dable a little too much with forbidden xenos artifacts, you'll generally not want to have anything to do with them.

Well, yes, their public image might need a little work....

What I suppose I mean is that in some ways we have approached the Inquisition, in terms of their background, in a sort of bass ackwards way. We have started off learning all about their dark secrets BEFORE we know anything else about them!

It's a bit like trying to piece together an academic history of the CIA by just reading conspiracy websites babbling about controlled demolitions, grassy knolls and exploding cigars. Yes, these things arguably play a PART in the CIA's history, but they don't define it.

Radicals make up (I would imagine) a relatively tiny proportion of Inquisitors. (And I say this having not read the Radical's Handbook yet.) The impression I've got is that there is an Amalthian majority (sort of centrist/moderates) and fringes of both radicals and puritans. Of course, calling Amalthians moderates is a comparative term, as they'd still be prepared to burn hundreds at the stake...

But anyway, back on track, I actually don't think a Puritan's handbook as such is needed, but yes, a general guide to the mainstream inquisition would be a nice sourcebook to have.

I'd rather have a mega Calixis sourcebook first....

Lightbringer said:

I see what you mean, but I'll extrapolate a little on the discussion anyway. There might be more people who experience the same issues as you have presented and it might be good for everyone if we somehow adress these issues to bring a little clarity to the matter.

I get your comparison to the CIA but the thing with the CIA is that they are a pretty open and known organisation (as far as intelligence agencies go of course). I think the definition of the Inquisition IS the secrecy and cloak and dagger. The Inquisition is more likely like a few of these unofficial organisations in the modern world that doesn't have names or public faces and whose existence is mostly only known to their operatives and their benefactors only.

Of course, people know (or at the very least: have heard) that the Inquisition exists, and that they are scary. But that's pretty much it for the common man. Any other aspect would just be pure speculation because of all the secrecy. In fact, the secrecy is most likely even spread out among Inquisitors themselves (because Inquisitors are, after all, DIVIDED by a common goal, not united). Sure, a senior Inquisitor Lord will most likely have learned of the more regular movers, shakers and operatives among his local conclave, but even within the same sector several Inquisitors might work "under the radar" without the conclave's knowledge. And when it comes to foreign sectors, not even the most prominent figureheads of the Inquisition will know much about their neighbouring conclaves.

So I think that's the thing with the big =][=. The secrets and conpiracies ARE the Inquisition. There isn't much in the way of a known, formal structure with so many differing philosophies and opinions of how all the threats to mankind should be conquered. And also, a major difference between the CIA and the Inquisition is the fact that most conspiracy theories regarding the CIA is most likely nothing more than paranoid fiction, with the Inquisition on the other hand, most of the "theories" are actually true.

Anyway, that's the picture I've gotten of the Inquisition. They seem to have some sort of hierarchy and structure, but they aren't based around a formal and proffesional kind of hierarchy and structure. It's more like a confusing web of debts, favors, double dealings and rival philosophies.

Good points, Varnias.

I guess I'm just a bit OCD, and like to see structure and order...which is not necessarily true to the setting!

My view on the structure of the Inquisition - for what it's worth - is that the Inquisition originally started as a fairly egalitarian organisation, where each Inquisitor had equal (vast) power, but that as it grew in size and complexity, hierarchies and support networks built up around it. The Dan Abnett novels portray the Inquisition of the Ixaniad Sector as a very formal, traditional organisation, with a clear promotion structure, series of ranks, internal system of rules (for example rules for the trial of another Inquisitor.) etc.

My gut feeling is that the "tone" of each sector Ordos will vary tremendously depending upon the age of the Sector.

A nascent, embryonic sector (like what the Sabbat Worlds may eventually grow into) wouldn't have ANY formal Inquisitorial structure above and beyond the Ordos forces which accompany a crusade force. In the Gaunt's Ghost novels, Gaunt encounters a variety of shady Inquisitors, all of whom seem to have power fettered only by the military power of the Warmaster runnning the crusade. They all seem to be of equal status, and act as a sort of roving warp expert, offering advice and guidance on the wiles of the archenemy. They don't seem to abide by any particular rules, and are pretty much free agents.

Calixis is a relatively young Sector - there is still a "frontier" feel to it, so perhaps the Ordos Calixis haven't had the time to build up such an elaborate structure and hierarchy, like older sectors. There is a Lord Inquisitor in charge of all Ordos activity, and some powerful cabals (in particular the Tyrantine Cabal) but apart from that, Inquisitors seem free to pursue their own agendas...er...I mean their holy duties.

One can imagine that in very old Segementum Solar sectors, the Inquisition has a deep stranglehold over the politics of the region, and the whole place might resemble an Orwellian nightmare police state. Perhaps the Inquisition is bogged down with internal rules, precedents and tribunals covering every aspect of their agents' conduct.

I'm not suggesting it HAS to develop like this: merely that human nature tends towards office politics, and the bigger the office, the bigger the politics!

EDIT: Wow, I've really wandered off topic...sorry guys!

I think a lot of us would like to see the former web site of planets added to the hodge podge of Calixis Info from the various books with new and alternate ideas thrown in into a single sourcebook. 128 pages, sure, 256 is better.

Lightbringer said:

You mean the Scarus Sector, in regards to Dan Abnett's novels. We know very little about the Ixaniad Sector...

IMO, the 'structure' of the Inquisition is a façade, a matter of apparent civility and political convenience created for the most part by the Ordo Hereticus (meaning in part that this kind of structure didn't really exist until about M36, as the Ordo Hereticus was founded in the aftermath of the Age of Apostasy during Sebastian Thor's Reformation of the Imperium). The notions of trial and formal procedure are, at their heart, a pretence adopted for the sake of propriety, sitting over the truth of the matter - that force, and the threat of force, are the only things that can overrule the authority of an Inquisitor (because a dead Inquisitor has no power). Consequently, networks of allies, vassals and contacts and mutual respect grow to accomodate those politics (because two Inquisitors collectively present greater potential force than any Inquisitor alone can muster; even if that force is never used, the threat of it should be sufficient to make a rival Inquisitor think twice about how he goes about his duties).

They're the tool of the Ordo Hereticus primarily because Hereticus Inquisitors are the most numerous in the modern Imperium, and because those Inquisitors must (by necessity) deal with the rest of the Imperium far more closely than an Inquisitor of the other two Ordos Majoris (who focus far more on external threats, as is their nature). However, the usefulness of such a structure - one which is simple to just ignore and discard as required (because it's not a matter of law, but of mutual acknowledgement), but which allows for smoother and more effective inter-Inquisitor interactions - means that most Inquisitors working within a Sector will make use of such structures where they exist.

What we know about the external perception of the Inquisition...

Page 1 of the Inquisitor rulebook:

"You have been told of the Inquisition; that shadowy organisation which defends Mankind and the Emperor from the perils of heresy, possession, alien dominance and rebellion.

You have been told the Inquisition are the ultimate defence against the phantoms of fear and terror which lurk in the darkness between the stars.

You have been told the the Inquisition are bright saviours in an eclipse of evil, purest and most devoted warriors of the Emperor.

You have been told the Inquisition is united in its cause to rid the galaxy of any threat, from without or within.

Everything you have been told is a lie!"

It does paint a rough picture of how the Inquisition is viewed by those not within its ranks (remember, even Acolytes may be unaware of the intricacies of Inquisitorial politics, depending on how much their master trusts them). To me, it also implies a group that, while citizens may be glad for its existence, they may not be particularly eager to actually meet a servant of the Inquisition...

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Absolutely right, sorry, mea culpa!

That's a very interesting interpretation... I guess it all comes down to the usual answer..."It depends." Different sector Ordos will have different approaches, structures, hierarchies etc.

I do like your idea that all such things are a conspiratorial facade, though, nice one!