Hey!

Whats up, how is everybody?

So I had a quick question for you guys, more versed in 40k fluff then I. I have been running another adventure (not Idyll heresies, even though that's still going rather well), which has a bunch of Acolytes intruding a Rogue Trader's mining colony to recover a rogue psyker who has accidently teleported himself there, only to be captured by a cult who has been developing secretly for a while now.

As you can see, truth be told, the Mining part of the mission was so irrelevant, I did not think to fluff it. When asked about what they were mining that was so important (to justify the rogue trader buying the land, and nullifying any semblance of authority they had so that they don't walk in guns blazing killing everything and everybody (the tech-priest is rather zealous)).

Now, they took a lot of hints I have given and expanded on them to make up quite a nice story. However, when they had asked about what exactly was being mined, I simply threw out "crystals" because well, I didn't think gold was that rare or worthwhile anymore in the 40k, as everything is made out of gold. Well, granted everything expensive, but still, not expensive enough to justify a rogue trader taking over.

Now the group has a lot of theories of what could be causing craziness in the colony: mutations, warp infection, crazy cult, and last but not least... the crystals themselves. The tech-priest has seemingly figured out what these crystals are, and believes THEY are causing the mutations.

Now i have looked up as much Info on crystals as I could possibly find, and I still couldn't find any hints of crystals causing mutation trough exposure. Perhaps he thinks its Kryptonite or something? I am not quite sure!

So It seems the guy is better versed in the lore then I am, and I may have accidentally put my foot in my mouth by throwing out "crystals" as the "thing they were mining".

Any ideas what cannon crystals cause mutations that could possibly be down there, or do I have free reign to make stuff up myself, based on the Tech's priest assumption, and develop it as another red-herring?

Alas, there are a number of instances of crystals being linked to warp phenomena (an outgrowth no doubt of the RL New Age beliefs linking crystals and psychic power)... a notable one from Eisenhorn involves a mining colony overrun a cult worshiping a sentient, psychic, Chaos-tainted crystal which took control of the miners.

Your best way out, if the PCs are turning the crystal mine into an unintended red herring, might be to blandly answer the questions about the crystals by saying the are in high demand by a nearby forge world for stacked-crystal cogitator cores or lasgun focusing lens or something similarly mundane.

Ahh, thank you very much!

As i have not read any of the Warhammer 40k novels, it seems I have inadvertently stumbled into the plot of one of them! That explains why the Tech-priest is so sure about these crystals: they actually DO exist Hehe. (Well, not these crystals in particular, but Warp-corrupt crystals)

Perhaps I can work this to my advantage? We'll see what happens! Thank you very much for your quick reply, at least now I can better deal with the team's investigation as I understand now what they are looking for.

Its nice to know that not ALL crystals are warp conduits though, so i can still lead them deep into the mines, without the issue being the crystals themselves.

Thanks!

Oh, also the Eldar make wide use of certain crystals in there psychic technology, including the famous Eldar Spirit Stones which hold the souls of dead eldar until they can be placed in the Infinity Circuit (the repository of all the souls of an Eldar Craftworld).

In addition, I believe that the Force Weapons (not the ENERGY Weapons but the blades psyker wield in comba to channel their powers) are made of some psi-reactive crystals.

A mine of THIS would for sure be a reason for a Rougetrade to achieve a slap of land... a continent...perhaps a planet!!

Talking "not going in guns blazing":

The Authority of an =I= is the greatest. A "RT" has not more "rights" to command acolythes then a planetary governeur has. As far as I learned from some background info from "Tattered Fates", an "fresh colony" (RT or otherwise) is not falling under full imperial lore till it has a suiting population/output. As this point is reached, a regular Goveneur is assigned. Before this, some kind of "pre regant" is installed... normally appointed by the founder(s) of the colony, most time the titel will path down to the heir.

Since it can be a long way from "fresh colony" to "full fledged world" I think it is safe to assume that the forma "pre regent" familie will later counts as a planetary noble house.

So, if you do not want the pc to go in "gunz blazing", have the =I= emphasize the value of said mines to the surrounding system (or to the subsector as a whole!), which gives the actual "Regent" (the RT) enough political hold to cause for trouble if the pc start to raise hell "on suspicion only"

In the Gaunt's Ghosts novel series crystals were used to contain aestrotelepatic messages.

While an RT doesn't have more rights than a planetary governor, I think that a RT is a far more dangerous opponent. Planetary governors are still restricted by imperial law amongst other things, and while they can ask the Imperial navy to shoot things from orbit, they do not have direct control over real warp capable space craft.

An RT wouldnt think twice about calling down a lance strike on someone who is messing with his holdings. Its not like anyone is going to come looking after a few lost acolytes on some blasted rock in the middle of nowhere, and its not like the RT has to fill out paperwork everytime he wants someone killed.

Gold is actually a pretty rare element. Yup. Element. It's really only created (according to most scientific theory that I know; but I could be wrong) during supernovas. So, I don't think gold would be too far off as a good mining potential. Unless, of course, the Mechanicus has some sort of STC gold making machine somewhere.

Logister said:

Valid points! But I would suggest that the RT would intercept the "offenders" vessel on the fringes system instead. Killing of people on planet with a lance strike will leave A LOT of wittnesses (unless the planet has a very widespread population) and their might not be so many ship around that would be able to perform that...

[i do believe that some will sooner or later try find out what happend to this Acolythes if they don´t come back... otherwise, this would be no-one would care at all about the mission they are on...which would be a little contradictionary to being send on a non-training/suicide mission]

Logister said:

And so are Rogue Traders.

A governor could be just as dangerous. A governor who can only use official administratum channels to achieve their objectives is probably just a tool for someone else who put them in their position. If the governor made it there themselves, holds it themselves, and has ambitions of even higher things, then they know people , have debts owed to them from the right kind of people , and know who needs to be taken out for drinks and a reminder of past loyalties so they can call in a quick and easy favor. If they relied solely on the Administratum, they wouldn't get anywhere in the Imperium at all. And, after all, it's the grim dark future -if the poloticians in the not-so-grimdark-past had a hard time playing by the rules and doing things strickly by the books and the up-and-up, why would they start doing that in such 'grim" and "dark" times?

I concede that some planetary governors are powerful people that are not to be trifled with, but I maintain that a RT can do everything a governor can do but better. Instead of calling in favors from the navy to blow something up, an RT just does it. Instead of going through the difficulty of maintaining quasi-legal kill teams to eliminate acolytes, RTs have their own armies.

Yes, RTs are bound by imperial law in theory, however, in practice they are bound to a much lesser extent. People that live in RT holdings are beholden to the RT in more ways than simple employment. These people are dependent on the RT's network for food, supplies, and survival. The RT does not need to report his holdings to the Imperium (it may be useful in certain circumstances but isnt strictly necessary); and all those under the RT answer directly to him rather than some other idea or organization (e.g. it is difficult to convince arbites to kill inquisitorial agents).

Furthermore, RT holdings tend to be so remote that the RT is the law. There are no other agencies to check his power.

Put this in perspective from a regular miner who works for the RT: You were born on a mining installation. Your boss is an RT who, not only pays you, but provides you and your family (and friends/relatives) with food, water, etc. Some guys show up on the mine for some reason, cause problems, and your boss shoots them with a laser so big that it cracked a mountain. Are you going to mess with this guy?

Logister said:

Ok, you've straitened me out. I misunderstood where you were coming from, though, to be honest, if I were just an acolyte, I wouldn't mess with either of them ;-)

Saldre said:

One word: Warpstone.

Dem skaven, man. Dem skaven-
-ahem-

Hrud. Yes, I meant Hrud.

Dragonfire said:

Heh, Beware of mining colonies named Mordheim....