Thank you all for the encouragements given in "Soul or body" scenario. And thus I have made a new scenario to test. This is a little looser and a bit different but we'll see how this goes.

Your finest group of Acolytes, paragons of service to the Emperor, have advanced into the ranks of Throne Agents and throught their years of service they have unravelled plots of heretics, aliens and daemons and smithed them all in the Emperor's name. They have brought great prestige to you among your peers and increased your standing since you found and groomed such excellent protegés that more or less all agrees would make terrific Inquisitors.

But a problem has appeared. You have found undeniable evidence that all or some of these Throne Agents have, partially or entirely, embraced the teachings of the Temple Tendency and keeps contact with that heretical organization for spiritual guidence. No one else knows about this except you and some trusted agents…What do you do?

Gurkhal said:

During the actual Inquisition, some orders of monks were declared heretical by the Pope; the members who refused to renounce their allegiance to 'banned' orders were tortured until they 'saw the light', under the idea that pain to the body was infinitely preferable to eternal damnation. The movie The Name Of The Rose features Sean Connery as one such monk who was forced to change orders by the Inquisition. I imagine the 40K Inquisition would do something similar: "We value your service to the Emperor, my son; that is why we are giving you this chance to redeem yourself. This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you…"

Suicide missions away from these Heretical cults allow them to die with honor rather than be summarily executed. Unfortunately, as Adeptus B pointed out; There is not a lot of room for Heresy among acolytes.

The Emperor knows all, He sees all, so the Throne Agents may be able to hide their sins from the mortal eyes of men but must ultimately answer to Him On Earth when comes the time they are called to account. As an Inquisitor in His service I hold sacred secrets of my own, some known to my trusted, dedicated and faithful Throne Agents, others not. We bear burdens of lesser and greater import; I will shoulder mine, they will theirs. Men may and will judge our mortal flesh, but only the Emperor may judge our immortal souls.

Thought For The Day: It is the details of mistakes we remember with the greatest of clarity. Success is bought with the price of failure.

I am fairly certain that my Inquisior serves the Emperor and not the Ministorum. In fact I'd hazzard a guess that he sees it for the bloated monstrosity it is. Both he and I are familiar with the various cults of Feral Worlders and they are all faithful servants of the Emperor so the precedent is set. So long as this cell remains loyal the the Emperor and our Inquisitor I see no issue and will continue to praise them for their good work.

@Alekzanter: Nice reply.

His dedicated servant,

Interrogator Z.

Depends… If the Inquisitor is a smart man, he won't execute his own most trusted capable Acolytes. But keep an eye on them even having some other acolytes to follow them. Even if they are heretics they can prove some usefulness. And inquisitors are living a life of politics and lies. Don't think they rush to this matter like 'purge them all! kill them all!' approach.

Sorry i did a mistake that's why i am editting this message. So you can delete it…

If I cannot keep my valuable flock unsullied in my own eyes, then I shall atleast do it in my fellow inquisitors' eyes.

1) Interrogate said acolytes for information and heretical contamination

2) Have them mentally recalibrated accordingly, making them believe seeking for guidance was merely a cover to infiltrate and that you planned this all along, or just full-scale mindwiping. Either way they're reaffirmed with non heretical beliefs.

3) Mindwipe your trusted agents of the fact you didnt plan this all along.

4) With newly found information, very very well trusted agents on this delicate matter, newly reaffirmed acolytes and whatever resources needed/possessed (such as Adeptus Arbites and their Cult-hunters), investigate and purge the heretical cult.

5) After successful purging, tell peers and superiors it was planned this way all along thus acquiring even more prestige and standing while still possessing finely groomed excellent protegés.

6) More Mindwiping, probably someone here or there that needs it to keep all shiny in the eyes of fellow inquisitors.

I would say Ecclesiarchy can go and hang itself. It's the most fractured Imperial insitution of them all, and even the Holy Sinods of Terra and Ophelia can't agree on which branch of their byzantine organization represents the "one & only" true faith. Any charges brought against the agents in question would probably just devolve into a complex discussion on the nature of faith and its many guises in one of the Holy Sinods… and will boil in that theological cess-pit forever.

That said, the agents must still be brought to heel. They already distrust the "official" church; that's half the work done. All that remains now is to carefully orchestrate a chain of events that will expose the "corruption" of Temple Tendency to the agents as well. With their faith broken upon the anvil of truth, they could then be forged anew by the hammer of the Inquisitor's will. Of course, some might break completely, turning to unwholesome extremes like Chaos worship, self-flagellation or blind fanaticism, but the precious few who would pass this ultimate test will become the true servants of their Inquisitor, loyal first and foremost to him alone.

The rest… well, it IS said able bodies become better hosts…

This thread is one of the many reasons I enjoy the lore of 40k. The players themselves seem to fall into their own little factions regarding different subjects of the Inquisition and the many Ordos. It seems to keep ideas and new stories interesting to read.

As a loyal servant of The Emperor I am saddened by those who would somehow punish the acolytes for this. This is a transgression against the Ministorum, defined by the Ministorum, in the interests of the Ministorum, a buch of bullies who for personal advancement have persecuted a smaller faction who weren't obsessed with power, wealth and decadence. It has nothing to do with threats to The Emperor and the Imperium.

The Inquisition serves the Emperor. Shame on you all who seem to have forgotten that. Maybe it's time for a shake up to clean the rot out of the Ministorum for the benefit of the Imperium.

Interrogator Z (Ordos Xenos)

Go full-out penal legion for a chance for the acolytes to redeem themselves, and then try to cover up the truth as best as I can. The acolytes were heretics and must be dealt with as such, but no need for lives that may still be useful to be wasted - and no need for scores of people to know that the acolytes had heretical tendancies.

I would confront my acolytes,reprimand them in His name, remind then that it is He that they serve, and it is His laws that preserve that which was built by gods and angels. Until they are inquisitors themselves, they are not fit to judge what is and is not heresy, and what is and is not acceptable.

Then, drawing upon a tradition from antiquity, whose origin I cannot place, I would have their hands tattooed red, marking them as dead men walking. They may still serve, until such a time as I deem they are no longer needed by Him on Terra. They would also be implanted with melta charges in their brains to which I hold the trigger (this they wouldn't know of though).

Heidrich Krauhausen said:

The tradition of marking the condemned with crimson hands (or crimson-painted gauntlets) is a practice of the Night Lords Legion of the Adeptus Astartes. *ahem* That's the excommunicate traitoris , sided with Horus during the Heresy, Night Lords. I see whose traditions you follow… Showing your true colours, are you? Caught red-handed, shall we say?

Cheers,

- V.

Zakalwe said:

Ok: I have finally had the time to go back and read up on the actual nature of this "temple tendency". I suppose my response would depend heavily on which Ordo I actually serve in this case. The Temple tendency seeks to overthrow the Eclesiarchy who are themselves a member of the Adeptus Terra so this IS in fact Heresy! The question is how badly does it affect my operations? If I am Ordo Hereticus then these acolytes are actually threatening the core of my mission and must be dealt with accordingly! If I am Ordo Xenos or Malleus I am not as concerned. I would however NEVER allow these Acolytes to advance to the rank of Interrogator or Inquisitor! The unfortunate truth is that while they may even be valuable as Throne agents their "Tendency" is still Heresy and cannot be allowed to take root in the inquisition itself!

Vandegraffe, what a clever one you are. Caught red-handed I may be, but the tradition is in fact older than the VIII legion. If I recall correctly, it was a gang tradition on Nostramo for quite a while before even the coming of Curze.

In service to Him, is it not results that are all that matters? Do we not sacrifice droves our psykers of weak body and mind to His glory daily? Do we not stamp out dissent with the hammer of the guard or the spear of the Astartes? Is it not a trifling matter to resurrect the tradition of a dead world? Killed by it's own sons, yet another casualty of the Heresy, should it not live on in memory and tradition?