Many thanks for the brilliant ideas. I'm planning that this Professor will turn up at the Blind Tesseract. Obviously that's far and away in the future, but I think that he's likely going to be joining up with Siprit Daneen in the future, as he will have no qualms about his... reading habits.

Great stuff!

@The blind Tesseract

Hi! Since Siprit is introduced as a follower of a Slaaneshi Cult, how about the pages being part of the "Anathenis Formular" (or how ever this prefection-formular from DotdG is actually named). The far future (or not so far future?) could show said professor having not only collected the complete formular (over some years) but having it put to use (under Siprits guiding) to create a "perfect probability formular", witch is intended to prognost the result of upcoming events based on many input factors.

The sequence would show him having his work done, his study room full of charts and the formular applied to one great event taking place [iNSERT YOUR PLOT HOOK] (Astrology needed got get where this forumlar is pointing to). As the pc approach, the formular is finished with all parameters, the Professor proclaims something like "yes.....YES! IT WILL HAPPEN! IT WILL HAPPEN AND I CAN PROOF IT" while Daemons of Rapture come into reality...and the pc better run for the next door...

This could be used as a plot hook as well, as the pc will undoubtly try to track the Professor down to hinder him from doing his future works. But Spirit might already have the Anatheanismn Codex and might already have somebody else applying it to something else... which could mean that the future the pc visit will be one where some Slaaneshi cult already taken over some parts of the hive....

Hey,

I think that it's interesting to present the Professor as after a book that's proscribed, because it helps the players see someone who to all intents and purposes is a nice, decent man, doing things that the Inquisition says isn't acceptable. If he is after a copy of In Defence of the Future , the group's Tech-Priest would likely be entirely against him getting his hands on it, whilst others in the group might be far keener on him getting it if it gets them to the Logicians.

My plan is that Siprit Daneen will be introduced in RFYAT , and then the next mission the group plays will be a mash-up of THOD&A and Tattered Fates - where Siprit will be the Heron-masked man leading a Slaneeshi pleasure-cult to the auction. (When we get closer to that episode, I'll doubtless be posting here for ideas to mesh the two together!) But Daneen's pleasure cult will likely enter the Tesseract, and be my version of the Pilgrims of Hayte. It makes sense that as a rich nobleman he might sponsor the Professor's research. As a cult leader, he might be attempting to get a educated man (and there's not many of those in the 41st millennium!) on his side. He might be able to do that by tempting him with the knowledge in the various proscribed texts he has (or the knowledge they can wheedle from the lips of daemonhosts...)

So, it's entirely possible that the Professor won't say much about the book he's trying to acquire. Now I just need to build an encounter - I suppose that the Heretic will be held in an Arbites Precinct-house somewhere in the Hive. (I figured Arbites rather than Enforcers because it's such a severe crime, but I suppose that Enforcers might be easier to bribe/bluff...)

Hi,

I would advice for Enforcers. They ARE the easier once to deal with. True, heresy would normally something the Arbitrator are after. Hmm.....

How about the local Arbites having him handed over to one of the jails/dungeons of the Enforcers? After all, they Arbitrator where already through with him, the sentence was set. And the Arbitrators might have a valid interest in not cluttering the holding cells inside their Precint Houses with low-threat convicts whom do not need to be taken care off by Arbitrators?

@Encounter
Well... have a jail, have some Enforcer guards and a chief jailer. As the pc intent to speak with the convict, they first have to get pass the guards. If they make their job good their (depending on their plans; their roles and their roleplaying) they might not even need to see the chief. Otherwise, the guards will enform the chief whom will come to them to talk to them before they are allowed to see the convict.

Oh! I realize that you could have meant the second part (searching for the book/dataslate/whatever).

Well... heretic was a Scholar, so how having him some kind of apartment in some middle/upper class hab?
The pc would first need to get in. They can either go in through the Hab (with a Hab Warden noting them coming in and out if not distracted). Or they could climb in from above. Unless they go in over the facade (high risk of being spotted) they would need to deal with locked door and then search the apartment. The longer it takes, the bigger the risk that a neighbor notices "sounds from this empty apartment which once belonged to this heretic" and call for the Enforcers.

Hey,

So, my players have arrived at House Haldane*, where they were introduced to Adrielle* and Amos* Haldane. Adrielle took them into the holdings of House Haldane, where they were given the opportunity to talk to the Haldanes. Amos revealed that he used to be one of them - he served their Mistress, and her Master before that! This was a deliberate attempt by me to show that the acolytes are part of a much larger universe, in which histories, grudges, vendetta and adventures have already taken place. They're being brought into a much larger conflict. Amos knows much more about their Mistress than they do (they haven't met her yet, and they won't for quite a while!) They've been allowed to go to their "wing" on the second floor, where Interrogator Brandt has provided them with some equipment (my Arbitrator is quite pleased to have a proper shotgun and a power maul!)

To me, Amos was more like a retinue member from the Inquisitor game (or the Eisenhorn / Ravenor series) than a cell member like in Dark Heresy . This raises some interesting ideas. He's a very skilled man, and is likely to have contacts across Hive Praxis*, and possibly even some in the Arbites? If they think to ask him, they might be able to use him to get to the imprisoned heretic.

The other main change I'm doing is to make Adrielle Haldane rather unlike Julia. Whilst Julia's a bit of an airhead, I want Adrielle to be quite hardcore, having been trained by her father. When Pressure Point assault the household, she'll take an active role in defending the house, which should impress the Acolytes. Also, she'll pop up in a later episode, becoming an NPC Acolyte.

* A Glossary of my Changes:

House Haldane = House Strophes

Adrielle Haldane = Julia Strophes

Amos Haldane = Laurent Strophes

Thalia Haldane = Saia Strophes

Hive Praxis= Hive Sibellus

Mnesimache said:

Well, at the moment it looks like two of my acolytes are interested in Adrielle - so... In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, there's always going to be a love triangle to wreck your day...

Hey guys,

I've been idly working on the future of my DH campaign whilst waiting for my players. The current scenario they're playing through is a slightly modified version of Rejoice, For You Are True from Purge the Unclean . My acolytes still haven't met their Inquisitor. They know of her - she is known as The Lady Amaranthe, but that's about as far as it goes.

As I said earlier, I want my Acolytes to feel as though they're part of a much larger universe. Their cell is called "Septimus Cell", though I don't think any of the Acolytes have picked up on the idea that they could be the seventh cell, and that there are (at least) six others doing the Lady's bidding at the same time! The Acolytes have been working through Interrogator Brandt, who is stationed on the hive-world of Hyades. Brandt and Amos Haldane (my stand-in for Laurent Strophes) have some history together, and Haldane has told the players that he used to serve the Lady as an Acolyte and companion, and that he served "her master too, until his death." The players didn't really do much with the line, which is fine. In honesty, I haven't the faintest idea who Amaranthe's mentor was, or how he died. But I'd like it to factor in at some stage. (To me, it's very much a thematic "the sins of the father" thing.)

At the end of this episode, the Acolytes will have investigated the True (my version of the Joyous Choir) and uncovered the Vinculists (in our games, a heretek cult who replace the Logicians) working behind them. Hopefully they'll have destroyed their facilities in Hive Praxis, and it will be hoped that for the time being, the Vinculists have been stopped on Hyades.

But where to go from there? I've been looking into the Haarlock Legacy, which I like very much. It's a really epic story arc (so much so that it seems like after you've bested Haarlock, you can't really go back to skulking around in Hive cities!) and it should have some really cool moments. I've been giving it a lot of thought as to how to make it cool, and I've been searching through some old threads (including an excellent one by "Zombieneighbours", located here: www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp ) As I read through the book, I hit upon SIlas Marr's pseudonym, "Ezekiel Sunder." I liked the name, and stole it. Henceforth, my Haarlock became Ezekiel Sunder.

One thing that I like is that, thusfar, the players haven't met their Inquisitor. So, it'll be a bit of a shock to them when they actually meet an Inquisitor, but he's not their Inquisitor. I decided that I would run The House of Dust and Ash , only I didn't entirely like everything within it. I liked the intial set-up, the skyship ride, the auction and the Gilded Widow. Beyond that... not so much. Equally, Tattered Fates is okay, though not everything was entirely to my taste.

EPISODE III -

For my players 'Episode III', I want to run a mash-up of Dust & Ash and Tattered Fates . The players are on the Hiveworld of Hyades, sub-sector Capital. When they return to Interrogator Brandt, he will inform them that a shadowy and mysterious Inquisitor named Nahun Grist (you can see I'm stealing names wholesale) has co-opted them with the permission of their Mistress. He wishes them to infiltrate the auction of Ezekiel Sunder's effects, taking place on his estate, which is on the pleasure-planet of Arcturus. The players will travel by ship to Arcturus, and will then find themselves in the only city on the planet, having to work out a way to get into the auction. What I wanted to do is run Act 2 of Tattered Fates , with the players trying to acquire an invitation. I've read a number of great diversions and additions (mostly from Gregorius!) for the festival, which I think should be great. The "Grey Scholar" could still be on the planet, and having him being attacked by the jackal-mask's followers is cool. In my games, Jackal-mask will be Siprit Daneen, who the players met during Rejoice . He is the leader of an influential pleasure-cult that's slowly spreading through the sub-sector, and will prove to be an opponent for the Cell later on. They'll also meet Adrielle Haldane again - sent off-planet after Pressure Point's assault to stay with her aunt, she'd far rather take up with the players for another adventure (and her noble contacts might help them get into the auction.)

After the players acquire an invitation, by whatever means, they will take a sky-ship to Sunder's island mansion (throwing us back into D&A for a while) before reaching it. Sunder's mansion will mostly be Gabriel Chase, though D&A 's auction will be taking place, including the Gilded Widow, who will activate and attempt to kill everybody. The game will end with the destruction of the Widow (or the Mansion, or both!) and the deaths of many, many people.

( Your thoughts on the merging of THOD+A and Tattered Fates are welcome. I don't particularly like the Beast Cages, but apart from that I'm really open to your opinions.)

EPISODE IV - The Embrace of the Rose

The name and the title are stolen from Zombieneighbours. At the start of the first episode, my players received a silver pin depicting a rose, impaled by a sword. This is the heraldry of the Lady Amaranthe, so the name does have some meaning. This mission is intended to start with the players on Arcturus. After the arrival and destruction of the Widow, the planet is a very different place, descending into anarchy, with widespread violence as the nobles rush to flee the planet. In this, the players must try to escape off-world to tell Interrogator Brandt what happened. I would like this to be the episode in which the players meet their Inquisitor. I want there to be a stunning moment where they witness the true power of an Inquisitor. She will be furious with Grist, who used her acolytes in place of his own, seemingly knowing the risks faced. With the suggestion that Ezekiel Sunder may be returning, the Lady will bind the cell to the cause, swearing oaths that bind their future to that of Sunder. They are to track down information on what happened to the Sunder dynasty when it fragmented, to investigate whether Sunder really is coming back, and (to a lesser degree) to find out what Inquisitor Grist is up to.

Bridging Activities

I wasn't sure about having some episode here. The obvious choices are, as suggested, trying to find out something about the history of the Sunder dynasty from their ancient holdings, or trying to track Inquisitor Grist.

Damned Cities

The acolytes travel to Sinophia Magna (not got a different name for it yet) as it is a former holding of the Sunder line. They investigate the murders, leading them to the mirror daemon. The change I'd make her (along the line of the Widow, the Widower, the Iron Maiden, the Spider Bride, etc...) is that it's not the leader of the Arbitrators who's the traitor, but his secretary, subtly twisting and manipulating. They leave Sinophia with the Mirror-Daemon's warnings ringing in their ears. This is also the adventure which features the Spectres, a cell belonging to Inquisitor Grist, who warn the PCs off the Sunder dynasty. (Obviously to little avail!)

Again, Bridging - I'd like to have some adventures here, also. It would be important for the Acolytes to try to uncover the location of the Blind Tesseract. This could lead to an investigation where they have to travel into an Inquisitorial Fortress-World and find some documents within a hidden library. Of course, finding that it's on the derelict prison-world of Tanis (my version of Mara), opens up a new world of problems. They'll have to charter a Captain crazy enough to take them to Tanis, perhaps interview the crazed survivors of the Dropsite Massacre (now locked in asylums) and most importantly, will have to appear before the Conclave to ask permission to travel to Tanis. (Which of course means that Grist knows the location of the Tesseract!)

Dead Stars

The Tesseract will play out for the most part as written, with the Acolytes going up against Inquisitor Grist and the Spectres, and Daneen's Pleasure-Cult (who are my version of the Pilgrims of Hayte.) In my adventure, Sunder will be returning to the material plane...

After Sunder's Return

Up til now, the players will have been receiving different viewpoints of Sunder. I want to paint him as quite a tragic figure, who has done all that he has done out of love. He returns a changed man (the influence being Davey Jones, from Pirates of the Caribbean ) - he has been driven mad by grief, but cannot die thanks to his daemonic pacts. He has carved his heart out and hidden it. Returning to the material plane, he continues to search for a way to bring his wife and daughter back, blinded to the monster he has become. He searches for the Division Bell, a device of Eldar (certainly Xenos) design which, when rung, is said to give the wielder incredible power.

Somehow I'd like the Acolytes to find out about this quest. This will mark a transition to a Rogue Trader -esque campaign, where they will be taken on by the daredevil rogue trader, 'Hotblack' Desiato, who takes them to the frontier-world of Cordova, where a family of psyker-sisters can help point the way to the Bell (for a price.) This is the first part of Lure of the Expanse . Along the way, i want the player characters to get snarled up in defending a world in the Howling Stars - this would be The Frozen Reaches , which plays out almost intact. As the Acolytes are embroiled in war against the Orks (and a revolution by disaffected Guard Generals) they will encounter the Eldar, who give them what they need to know in order to destroy the Waaagh! And get on with the hunt for Sunder.

With regards to narrative, I have no idea how the hunt for the Division Bell would play out, but the other option (more Pirates of the Caribbean ) would be for them to find his heart and bring it to him - to show him the monster he has become. This could lead to Sunder taking his own life - providing him with the opportunity to be with his wife and daughter once more. Of course, wherever Sunder has hidden his heart would likely be mind-twisting and well-guarded, so they would have to be careful.

Another game I'd like to run is The Sicarius Connection . Unbeknownst to the players, their characters, even their Inquisitor, Grist was the one responsible for having Sunder's daughter and wife killed. Perhaps he ignited the war between the Sunder dynasty. It's the perfect Istvaanian plot - and in many ways, it's succeeded. Sunder killed all the weak in his dynasty, and although he's gone mad with grief, he has created the rise of the player characters, who have goen from a disconnected rabble to a honed band of warriors. This would take place after Sunder has returned (but possibly before the search for the Division Bell - though it could be after.) - the players could try to aid their Inquisitor as she denounces Grist at the Conclave for his actions. Something happens at the Conclave (a murder?) and their Mistress is implicated, discrediting her. The Acolytes must work quickly to save their Mistress before she is executed and Grist escapes.

All of this is really disorganised (especially the bits that are far off) and will take a long, long time to play through, but I like having an over-arching storyline that my players can work towards. There's a few things I'd like to think about, especially in bridging the gaps between the three parts of the Haarlock's Legacy trilogy, but also bringing in the other factions - the Vinculist tech-heretics and Siprit Daneen's pleasure-cult. And also, how to have the Spectres worked in as a recurring threat after Damned Cities and until Dead Stars (where I will give the players the chance to finally avenge themselves.)

So, many thanks if you worked your way through my confusion! I'd love to her some thoughts and insight.

These are five pages......... If I would be you, I would not expect much feedback on this. You told me why you choose to write this up so massively...but I do not think that you will get much replies at all.

EPISODE III -
Do you already have any plan on how the pc could qualify for one of these Invitation?
Who is handing them? And for what reason(s)?

Is the Auction still a trap for a Haarlock scion? Is the whole house still a deathtrap?
What exactly is the person / power holding the auction?

EPISODE IV - The Embrace of the Rose
Why is the planet descending into Anarchy? What has the Widow done? Realising a Shadow of the Tyrant star?

Damned Cities
Why do Grists only acolythes work against him (in warning his new agents to not proceed)? This is in fact a very strange behaviour. After all, acolythes are there to go where it hurts.

Thanks for the post. It's understandable if people don't give too much feedback - it was a massive post, but I suppose it's proven useful for me in "setting out my stall." Especially because things are so over-arching (with events in early stories having an impact in later ones) it's been interesting to do so. Of course, I will be focusing my efforts on crafting those episodes closest to being played, as that simply makes the most amount of sense.

Fundamentally, to begin with I'm looking at trying to expand the Haarlock's Legacy trilogy, and am looking for interesting ideas in how to do so. Partly, I suppose one key thing is to try to feed the players slowly more and more information about the Haarlock Legacy.

My plan for Episode III is that the players will have numerous ways to get an Invitation; the Spider Bride and Papa Grist will still be around; it's possible Adrielle Haldane's aunt might be able to bring them to the estate, or my players might manage to find some other way to do it. I imagine that the planet of Arcturus (like Quaddis) is a nobles' playground - and within any elite group, there will be an even more elite group, because everybody likes to feel special. The invitatiions to Ezekiel Sunder's auction will be hot property. Some people will go for rumours of the bizarre and fascinating artefacts the Sunder dynasty managed to acquire. Some will go just because it's the natural human condition to be voyeuristic, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

I imagined that, although the Sunders have been effectively wiped out, there are still servants working for them. I imagine that the auction is, yes, to draw in and eradicate rivals (including those of the Sunder bloodline) but the cover will be that they are liquidating the Sunder estate to pay for outstanding debts (after all, something has to keep the power going in the years since the master has left the mortal plane...!) As a result, the mansion will host a number of rather boring adepts (perhaps the Administratum?) who are overseeing things.

What I'm seeking to do is blend the Widow and the Widower - perhaps activating the Widow brings about the eclipse, which will plunge the party planet into darkness. When all hell breaks loose in the Mansion, many nobles will be killed. Those that can afford to flee Quaddis will do so, whilst those without money or connections will be stuck. Riots will break out, primarily through fear. Quaddis has almost no military or political presence, so there will be nobody to quell the rioting. The players (at this point still not having met their Inquisitor) have only their Interrogator to trust, and he's on a different planet, so the players will have to try to secure passage off-world (at a time when everybody is trying to flee) and get back to Hyades.

With regards to Damned Cities , I figured that Grist would order his acolytes to give the PCs one warning. If they continued to pursue the Legacy (which, knowing them, they will!) then the next interaction between the two cells of Acolytes can be far, far bloodier!

Okay, I think I got your intention know.

I think you that you first need to invest some extra work into "Epsidoe Three". Mainly, the points "who was bestowed with and for what quality?" and "what exactly can the pc do to get one?". Allow the pc to come up with their own solution is a fine thing. But I always advice to have something prepared and to have some clues to what is prepared, so. Let us see...

You auctioneers want to remove some.....rivals? I would not choose "rivals" but would stick to "eleminating the bloodline". This was the one of the two major motivations of Haarlock and this should be kept.

So, the invitations could have been dealt to the different noble lines without any perceived rhyme or reason, giving them to people scattered through the whole sector. Those who put up a lot of study on the genealogy of those whom received an invitation will find out that most of them have some distant relations to the Haarlock Bloodline. This is on behalf of THE CULT (what your faction running the auction is, I will call them THE CULT by now). They want to eliminate the other Haarlock, still true to their master. Most of them are descandents of those servants and assasines Haarlock once gave the order himself. The other where lured by promises of power, wealth and dominion Haarlock would bestow upon his "loyal servants" once he returns. The leader of them is a figure named " The Unfaltering ". This figure is indeed a person that was once a servant of Haarlock, knowing him in lifetime. A servant that was turned deathless by his masters works and given the task of ministering his vengeance till the last one is dead.

For this, the Unfaltering builded up the Pleasureworld. Once openly, later turning to the shadows. Many a grave of a "hero" litters the planetside. But these aren´t really the graves of nobles and warheros. No. Deadly constructs, build and powered by He-who-will-return are hidden their. They will activate once the widow wills it.

The widow will only spring the trap if she senses enough of Haarlock blood on the world. And she will do so at the beginning of the auction. But, being a bound daemon, she will add a twist to this even Haarlock did not forsee: she will offer and end to those in the House (Gabrial Chase) "if my face will be washed in blood, to wash away the shame Haarlock blood brought upon me". Greel will rage at this, but will unable to harm or destroy the widow. He will instead unleash the Widower (whom is under his command) to chase everyone off at first & to bring the hunt about.

The Widow will be unleashed if her face is smeared with blood of a Scion. The "Clock" will be among the things of the action. It will "Strike" even faster and and faster as time passes by. The Widower will be stunned with pain each strike... a hint that the clock does include his destruction. But I will not be the key-stone, but the part making the ringing sound.

In order to get the Widower away from the clock, he has to be taunted by one of Haarlock blood. He cannot but hunt these once they are in side, no matter what his orders was. After all, this is what he (it?) was created for.

How about that?

So it's taken five years for me to return to this(!)

After a couple of years' hiatus, my group (with a few new members) have returned to continue this adventure.

Per my previous post, we've embarked upon Episode III. Septimus Cell is now divided between three "old hands" - Artemis Stroud, the Arbitrator/Acolyte Prime, Astelan the mute Scribe and Zarkov, a priest - and five new members: a Tech-Priest of the Biologis, a Desperado, an Ex-Penal Legionnaire, a Sanctioned Psyker and an Ecclesiarchal Witch-finder.

The old hands have been busy purging Hive Hyades from the Vinculist (Logician) threat, but the Cell's Interrogator, Brandt, has brought them together. Inquisitor Grist summoned them to the Chancellery Court, where he has told them of the "death" of Ezekiel Sunder. The Cell asked some intelligent questions (one has even asked how the Inquisitor can be sure that Sunder is dead) and they are due to leave Hyades for the world of Arcturus. Before that, they're currently researching the Sunder line and preparing themselves.

The Cell has concocted quite an interesting cover - their psyker is posing as a spook addict noble - they're taking the persona of the recently-deceased Thalia Haldane (Julia Strophes from Rejoice! ) with the Penal Legionnaire serving as her dealer, supplying her with her fix. It's quite an interesting "dissolute noble" cover and works to explain away her psychic ability.

I'm currently working on detailing Arcturus and Novabella (my version of Quaddis and Xicarph) so that it's ready for them when they arrive!

I'm hoping to use this thread a bit more to plan the auction and the attendees. Any thoughts and feedback you guys might have would be awesome.

Thanks in advance!

Threadnecromancy is heresy! BLAMMBLA ...oh wait, this is actually interesting. Thanks for writing this stuff up