I am about to start a campaign where the Acolytes will be working for an Oblationist Inquisitor. As far as I have seen in the books, the only one specifically mentioned as an Oblationist is Antonia Mesmeron. While I can create my own Inquisitor if necessary, I was wondering if there are others in the books, that perhaps I missed. Any help would be appreciated.

Just offhand, Seraph is listed at the back of Dark Heresy as an Inquisitor herself. So maybe Mesmron raised her to the Rosette, albiet probably in a very unofficial capacity?

I'll take a look and see if I can find anyone else. If not, I suppose you can make one up. The author of one or more of the notes in the story at the beginning of the RH is an Oblationist as well...

Edit: Hmm, as far as I can see, the others mentioned are all deceased, or at least presumed so.

Hodgepodge said:

You are certainly right about the author of the stories at the beginning of RH, though. I had forgotten about that. Unfortunately, after going back over them, all I can find are the initials R. W.

Well, and a veiled referrence to Zerbe having poor adept Saldon disposed of for discovering the files ... hmmm. Now, is that because he considers the information contained in them a moral threat, or because he's hiding something? Interesting.

Thanks.

Do keep in mind that the Inquisitors detailed in the DH core book are members of the Tyrantine Cabal. These are NOT the only Inquisitors in Calixus sector, merely those Inquisitors "in the club". Absolutely no reason why you can't develop your own personal pet Inquisitor to fit your stories.

ZillaPrime said:

True. But if I am going to develop my own pet Inquisitor, then I was just hoping for a few more examples of the type (Oblationists) to draw inspiration from. Since I have never played the 40K tabletop (and hence don't have access to the hordes of codexes), and since I have only recently begun to read the literature in the novels, I had just hoped that someone might know of some obscure Inquisitor out there who could get my creative juices flowing. Mesmeron just isn't doing it for me. Ah well, if I have to 'wing it', so be it. Just thought I'd check to see if any of the loremasters out their might know something I didn't. Thanks, though.

Not alot of Inquisitors in the Codexes per-se, and those that are present are mostly just rather militant quotes and fluff. Most of the Inquisitors you would encounter on the tabletop would be Monodominants and Amalthans anyways. After all, they are personally leading Imperial military forces in open battle against "something"

Maybe start with some disgraced and supposedly long-gone Inquisitor who ran afoul of Sector Governor Hax and had their career torn to shreds for political reasons? Inquisitors being crafty and stubborn bastards, he called on some remaining allies and went to ground. Now he is back and wants to settle some scores, all in the name of preserving the Imperium of course! Hax is a clear and present danger to the sector, and therefore the Imperium. Naturally he will need some minions: Servants who are utterly loyal to the Imperium but not at all afraid to get their hands dirty, oh so very dirty! Inquisitor X will naturally keep a low profile until he has suficiently scouted out the political situation and has all of his pieces in place on the Regicide board... This is where his loyal (?) acolytes come in. He will have to place alot of faith and trust in them if this is going to succede so your players will have a surprising amount of control over immediate situations but also run huge risks if they are discovered at the wrong time. You could even pull a cheesy Gundam theme and have the Inquisitor wear some sort of armoured mask whenever he is in public and using a false name. Sound at all interesting to you?

Random thought: Back in 2nd Ed 40k I had a friend who built his army around three red-robed Inquisitors equipped with teleport-homers. They would teleport directly into battle (always three of them) to cries of "No one expects the Imperial Inquisition!" Monty Python FTW!

ZillaPrime said:

I see. So maybe I'm not missing out on as much as I thought.

Ooohhh ... now this has possibilities. Not just out to rid the sector of the Conclave, but also the Lord Sector himself. Yes, I can already see this working out very, very well. Perhaps not so much for the poor Acolytes, but ... sacrifices must be made in service to the Imperium, after all.

Of course, they'll have a chance ... if they are smart.

Thanks, Zilla.

Sister Cat

don't feel too constrained by the source material. codexes made for the tabletop will not be of too much use for DH when dealing with the Inquisition. the DH line provides all you really need in building your Oblationist. an Inquisitor can be anybody. he only need have the will and the measured ability to tackle the enemies of the Imperium. so there are a great many possibilities.

follow the guideline for the backgrounds set out in the RH. aliases. known associates or organisations. preferred method of operations. tell the story that you want of who he his and why he became and Oblationist. and why the particular hate on for Hax if it is more personal than just ideology. most likely the PCs will not know any of this so you have quite a bit of time to develop this inquistor over time and gaming sessions. revealing layers of who he is..a lil at a time if that is your desire. let the Imperium be your interrogation chamber.

cheers

As mentioned above, aside from Mesmeron and the unknown Inquisitor and his or her servants in the front story of RH, there's no real Obolisonists to draw from so you're kind of on your own when it comes to creating Inquisitors of that faction. However, when it comes to inquisitors, it's hard to go wrong. They come in all shapes, colours, and sizes to match anyones needs.

Rather then falling back on 40k books, I find it's easer and sometimes more fun to draw inspiration for an Inquisitor from other sources. Just about any story involving a guy or gal who investigates odd happenings could be 40ked into an Inquisitor, and lets not forget history. My groups former Inquisitor who was of the Obolisonist faction (I decided that after reading up on Mesmeron and felt her philosophy matched how his was shaping up) was based off of a mixture of John Hale (of salem witch trial fame) and Father Lankester Merrin from The Exorcist and it worked out rather well.

Heck, i just got done reading the last issue of Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels (I love anything related to Hellboy and the BPRD :-D ) and he, Sir Grey, would make the perfect young Xanthite. He and "The Captain" even have the fallowing exchange in the final issue when they get the mad occultist Gilfryd to work some dark magic in their plan to destroy a beast that's been plaguing London:

Sir Grey: "I'm damned uncomfortable with this."
The Capitan: "Results, Sir Edward. That's what matters in the end. Even if it means using the devils own tools against him."
Sir Grey: "Maybe, but i fear it will cost us."

Prior to that in the 4th issue, they have similar exchange:

Sir Grey: "Black magic. That's the tool of the devil."
The Capitan: "And what's that tool you have in that case there? That's no Christian artifact but very effective nonetheless"

I mean, come on, it's all but begging for an almost strait port over! Of course most things tied up with the BPRD universe is golden inspiration for DH. Basically, what I'm saying here is in the end, don't limit your self to strictly 40k sources for inspiration as there's not a whole lot there. Anything not on a battlefield is still virgin territory which has barely been touched on. You'll probably come up with more interesting characters by pulling inspiration for them from a couple of sources, combining them, and then painting it all over with a bit of 40k grimdark lacquer.

Edit: ya, what liegekiller said.

Tabletop Inquisitors can actually be highly radical. After all, the Daemonhost is available to them as a tabletop unit.

The other inquisitors mentioned in the Radical's Handbook writeup of the faction are actually rather good as inspiration, even if they aren't in action any longer.

Good advice all. I appreciate the input. Thanks all.

I've got a lot of plotting to do at the moment, but I'll put her profile up here when I've got her fleshed out, for your consideration.

Thanks again.

Since mention of Oblationist faction in DotDG I always imagine Inquisition daemonwielding chap from its cover (one of the best Clint Langleys and 40k art in general illustrations ever) to be follower of Oblationist philosophy. Nothing official, but he is far too cool to be "just" a Xanthite:)

TorogTarkdacil said:

Heheheh ... agreed.

In fact, I was thinking of using him as my intrepid Inquisitor's 'un-named', and reportedly lost master/teacher, Sith-style.

Okay, for anyone interested, here is the profile of my Oblationist Inquisitor, Jezail Venria.

Since I don't plan on stat-ing any Inquisitors until Ascension is released, I am only giving her history and personality here.

Jezail was a Sanctioned Psyker with the rare Living Nightmare background. She ran afoul of Imperial authorities during her time in service to the Imperial Guard as a battle-psyker on the war-world of Malice, for using 'questionable means' to allow her compatriots a victory, even though every said they should have been routed, if not destroyed to a man. This was due to her effective, and repeated, use of the Seed Mind power to compromise the leaders of the Enemy, and then throw the Enemy forces into chaos. Unfortunately for her, this also brought the unwanted attention of the Ecclesiarchy, who determined that she was corrupted beyond redemption, and worthy of nothing but execution.

She was insensed! She had only done the absolute best she could, in service to the God-Emporer! She had wrenched victory from the jaws of defeat! How could they condemn her for this? Hypocrites! All of them!

But before her execution could be carried out, the Inquisitor ++name deleted++ stepped in, and took charge of (as well as responsibility for) her. He convinced the Eclessiarchy that she could still serve the God-Emporer, with a little 'adjusting'. He then introduced her to his radical philosophy, and it's implications. Having nothing left to lose, and an incurable rage at the Imperium she had served for condemning her for that service, Jezail embraced his teachings, and eventually took them to heart fully.

So, in addition to her Oblationist philosophy, she nurses a special (and irrational) hatred of the Ecclesiarchy and its ideals. She will do anything to discredit, condemn, or kill, any of its ranking members. Absolutely anything. After all, she is already damned ... so what are a few million dead clerics of the Imperial Cult? They are all hypocrites anyway, yes? Let them burn! ... just like they wanted to burn her.

So, what does everyone think?

Sister Cat said:

Crunchy goodness served up with a heaping side of wassabi-fries!

I especially like her name, not just because it sounds cool, but also because of name-synergy. If memory serves, Skaven in Warhammer fantasy have long flintlock-type rifles called Jezail (or similar, can't be bothered to go look for a book atm...) that could go off in dramatic and unplanned ways if mishandled, shaken hard or looked at in a funny way....

ZillaPrime said:

Thanks, Zilla. I appreciate your approval. Surprisingly, since I never played WH fantasy, I was unaware of the Skaven weapon reference. I just looked through the name charts on all the 'name-generators' until I found two I liked. Believe it or not, coming up with her name was the most time-consuming part of her creation. Oh, btw, your Inquisitor X (the one from the picture on the cover of DotDG) is her un-named mentor, and has a personal vendetta against Lord Sector Hax. So that will color her agenda, as well ... it's just not as personal a matter to her as the Ecclesiarchy.

Oh, and for those that care, Jezail was born on the hive world of Grove's Fall, in the Markayn Marches, roughly sixty-five years ago (the exact date dependent on the date in your campaign). She was surrendered to the Black Ships early in puberty, around age 15-16. She is completely hairless as a result of her sanctioning. Mysteriously, she still looks as if she were the age she was when her santioning was complete, around 29-30. She then was assigned to various military campaigns and regiments, until after a decade or so of acting as a battle-psyker, she found herself assigned to the Brontian Long-Knives (no reason for this regiment, other than that their name is 'cool' ) in their campaign on Malice. This, of course, is where her life changed dramatically.

While she knows that she is damned, and effectively dead, she nevertheless (thanks to the teachings of her mentor) understands the value of deception. She therefore has nurtured an image of perfect conformity and loyalty amongst her fellow Inquisitors. She has been so successful at maintaining this ruse that, so far none (other than her newly resurfaced master, and his few friends, including Antonia Mesmeron) suspect her radical nature. She was only raised to the Rosette around 10-15 years ago. But in that short time, she has managed to make a very good reputation for herself among her fellow Inquisitors of the Calixian Conclave. In fact, while very, very few know this, Lord Inquisitor Zerbe, nominal head of the Tyantine Cabal, has taken Jezail under his wing. It is a matter of conjecture whether he knows of her radical leanings or not. This has given her almost unheard freedom to enact her agenda unhindered, and the 'at least implied' resources of an Inquisitor much her senior. Were this to become known, it would likely earn her, as well as her minions, a great many very dangerous enemies.

Well, I think that's enough plot devices for now. Let me know what you think.

Your ideas are excellent, and I wish you well with them!

Have you considered allowing the Inquisitor to be compromised from the start. It seems too coincidental for Zerbe to have taken her under his wing, and much more likely that he is simply priming this firebrand to inconvenience the Ecclesiarchy at an important time to distract them from business he may be carrying out on behalf of the Tyrantine Cabal. However, circles within circles being as they are, Jezail's master may be using his own disciple to get close to the Lord Inquisitor for his own destructive purposes, so a case of everyone 'using' everybody else.

Naturally, caught in the middle of all of this are the hapless Acolytes, who may not even realise that their own Inquisitor is a radical!

RedMike said:

Heh, heh ... yep, just another possible twist. That was the point though, that no one but the major players really knows ... so as to give both myself and anyone else who wanted to use Jezail a good number of juicy options.

As an addition to all of the above, Jezail has created and maintained an impressive array of Alter-Egos, both during her time as an Acolyte, and since her elevation to the Rosette. This is one reason that her more 'radical' actions have yet to be attributed to her. She also is very particular in her choice of Acolytes. She tends to prefer much more experienced ones, and ones who seem to have become dissillusioned with their more 'puritanical' masters.

As I flesh them out, I will post her alter-egos here, for your consideration.