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Raith posted a topic in Only War"For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falke Hi All, It's been ages since I posted anything on this forum, but I am still alive and GMing. Recently I decided to give my long term Dark Heresy players (The Search For Victory crew) a chance to Respec their characters. During the process of which I got to thinking that I really need to make a list of where and what every alternate rank is for Dark Heresy. So I decided to compile a list and share it with everyone. While I was making an Index of the Alternate Ranks I also saw, so many Minor Psychic Powers that I had forgotten as well as many other pieces of information. From their my Index grew and grew and once I had finished I decided to make my way through all the other books. Explanation aside... Here is a Index of things I found useful to have a quick reference for. IT IS AN INCOMPLETE LIST for starters it doesn't cover any of the adventure modules and rule additions contained within. It also tends to only have a few references to things in the Core rules and any material referenced should be consulted directly this is in no way a complete list of the requirements for the options indexed. What this is not: This is not a cheat-sheet, it is not designed to replace any of the books, it is just a Name and an index as well as a semi-thematic description of whatever is listed. What the Only War Index covers: The fifth tab in the Index relates to Only War. Like Black Crusade the smaller number of supplements leaves this index a little bereft of material for now. The Index begins with listing the various Regiments found in the various Only War books and also lists the pre-made Regiments by name as well as any possible variations associated with them. The index then references the various Homeworlds a Regiment can be drawn from as well as the various additional to the stages for Regiment creation including new Types, Training Doctrines, Equipment Doctrines and then the new Regimental Drawbacks which give you more points to build with. The Index then concludes with a listing of the Guardsman Advanced Specialties found in the supplements as well as presenting a simple index that covers some large rules additions for Talents as well as new Comrade Orders and Talents that are only awarded to Veteran Squads. In addition, the Index also covers the other 1st edition Warhammer 40k RPG game lines and provides similar Indexing for the other lines to varying degrees. Where Is The Index You can find the Index at the following link, it is a view only Google Sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmtQWHK__dbHdHNRZ3pNenh3ZzhsNHdWQnlaOU1KRGc&usp=drive_web#gid=3 For those with Google you should be able to save a copy of the sheet for your own use. For those who wish to see an Addendum to the Index or have comments/suggestions please leave a message in this thread. I hope this can be of some assistance to everyone. Enjoy! - Raith p.s. Please ignore any and all spelling mistakes cause I'm sure their are plenty.
Raith posted a topic in Deathwatch"For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falke Hi All, It's been ages since I posted anything on this forum, but I am still alive and GMing. Recently I decided to give my long term Dark Heresy players (The Search For Victory crew) a chance to Respec their characters. During the process of which I got to thinking that I really need to make a list of where and what every alternate rank is for Dark Heresy. So I decided to compile a list and share it with everyone. While I was making an Index of the Alternate Ranks I also saw, so many Minor Psychic Powers that I had forgotten as well as many other pieces of information. From their my Index grew and grew and once I had finished I decided to make my way through all the other books. Explanation aside... Here is a Index of things I found useful to have a quick reference for. IT IS AN INCOMPLETE LIST for starters it doesn't cover any of the adventure modules and rule additions contained within. It also tends to only have a few references to things in the Core rules and any material referenced should be consulted directly this is in no way a complete list of the requirements for the options indexed. What this is not: This is not a cheat-sheet, it is not designed to replace any of the books, it is just a Name and an index as well as a semi-thematic description of whatever is listed. What the Deathwatch Index covers: The third part of the Index is the most all-encompassing, to begin with it breaks down each section by Astartes Chapter. Each Chapter then lists any Solo Mode Abilities, Squad Attack Patterns and Defensive Stances that they directly possess. It then lists any Advanced Specialties tied to that specific chapter. As well as listing any Successor Chapters which can be designed based of their Progenitor. For may chapters the Index also lists any Chapter Specific Psychic Powers not found in the Core Rulebook. This section concludes with entries listing the Legion of the Damned as well as the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) related abilities and those which can be earned from experience within the Jericho Reach's various fronts and dealing with its secrets. After all that the Index then lists the Specialties which may be taken by the specific Deathwatch Careers before listing the possible Elite Advance, Followers option. Next the Index includes a list of the Deeds found within the various Supplements and any Chapter/Specialty restriction. It similarly lists the Oaths found in the additional material. Finally this part of the Index gives a short listing of additional Psychic Powers found in the supplements which are primarily used by NPC's. In addition, the Index also covers the other 1st edition Warhammer 40k RPG game lines and provides similar Indexing for the other lines to varying degrees. Where Is The Index You can find the Index at the following link, it is a view only Google Sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmtQWHK__dbHdHNRZ3pNenh3ZzhsNHdWQnlaOU1KRGc&usp=drive_web#gid=2 For those with Google you should be able to save a copy of the sheet for your own use. For those who wish to see an Addendum to the Index or have comments/suggestions please leave a message in this thread. I hope this can be of some assistance to everyone. Enjoy! - Raith p.s. Please ignore any and all spelling mistakes cause I'm sure their are plenty.
Raith posted a topic in Black Crusade"For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falke Hi All, It's been ages since I posted anything on this forum, but I am still alive and GMing. Recently I decided to give my long term Dark Heresy players (The Search For Victory crew) a chance to Respec their characters. During the process of which I got to thinking that I really need to make a list of where and what every alternate rank is for Dark Heresy. So I decided to compile a list and share it with everyone. While I was making an Index of the Alternate Ranks I also saw, so many Minor Psychic Powers that I had forgotten as well as many other pieces of information. From their my Index grew and grew and once I had finished I decided to make my way through all the other books. Explanation aside... Here is a Index of things I found useful to have a quick reference for. IT IS AN INCOMPLETE LIST for starters it doesn't cover any of the adventure modules and rule additions contained within. It also tends to only have a few references to things in the Core rules and any material referenced should be consulted directly this is in no way a complete list of the requirements for the options indexed. What this is not: This is not a cheat-sheet, it is not designed to replace any of the books, it is just a Name and an index as well as a semi-thematic description of whatever is listed. What the Black Crusade Index covers: The fourth tab of this sheet specifically deals with Black Crusade. Unlike the last few tabs Black Crusade has a lot less variables in terms of predefined "Classes" so the sheet jumps into presenting all the Archetypes available in the game and if they are a Marine or Human Archetype as well as a Experience number indicating roughly what equivalent to Dark Heresy EXP they represent. The Index then lists all the Rites, Rituals and Curses that can be found in the supplements and finally groups any additional Psychic Powers based on alignment or discipline. In addition, the Index also covers the other 1st edition Warhammer 40k RPG game lines and provides similar Indexing for the other lines to varying degrees. Where Is The Index You can find the Index at the following link, it is a view only Google Sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmtQWHK__dbHdHNRZ3pNenh3ZzhsNHdWQnlaOU1KRGc&usp=drive_web#gid=4 For those with Google you should be able to save a copy of the sheet for your own use. For those who wish to see an Addendum to the Index or have comments/suggestions please leave a message in this thread. I hope this can be of some assistance to everyone. Enjoy! - Raith p.s. Please ignore any and all spelling mistakes cause I'm sure their are plenty.
Raith posted a topic in Rogue Trader"For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falke Hi All, It's been ages since I posted anything on this forum, but I am still alive and GMing. Recently I decided to give my long term Dark Heresy players (The Search For Victory crew) a chance to Respec their characters. During the process of which I got to thinking that I really need to make a list of where and what every alternate rank is for Dark Heresy. So I decided to compile a list and share it with everyone. While I was making an Index of the Alternate Ranks I also saw, so many Minor Psychic Powers that I had forgotten as well as many other pieces of information. From their my Index grew and grew and once I had finished I decided to make my way through all the other books. Explanation aside... Here is a Index of things I found useful to have a quick reference for. IT IS AN INCOMPLETE LIST for starters it doesn't cover any of the adventure modules and rule additions contained within. It also tends to only have a few references to things in the Core rules and any material referenced should be consulted directly this is in no way a complete list of the requirements for the options indexed. What this is not: This is not a cheat-sheet, it is not designed to replace any of the books, it is just a Name and an index as well as a semi-thematic description of whatever is listed. What the Rogue Trader Index covers: The second tab of this sheet specifically deals with Rogue Trader. The first thing it covers are the various Home Worlds found in the Core rules and supplements. It also breaks down all the Alternate Career Ranks by Career and lists the minimum rank they can be acquired. It also lists the possible Choir options available for an Astropath to buy at starting to help represent their training. In additional it also collates the Racial Careers that Rogue Trader offers. After the Careers are covered it then lists All the Elite Advance Packages and then breaks down all the Psychic and Navigator abilities by Discipline before finishing with the Starship Combat abilities for Astropaths and Navigators to make use of. In addition, the Index also covers the other 1st edition Warhammer 40k RPG game lines and provides similar Indexing for the other lines to varying degrees. Where Is The Index You can find the Index at the following link, it is a view only Google Sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmtQWHK__dbHdHNRZ3pNenh3ZzhsNHdWQnlaOU1KRGc&usp=drive_web#gid=1 For those with Google you should be able to save a copy of the sheet for your own use. For those who wish to see an Addendum to the Index or have comments/suggestions please leave a message in this thread. I hope this can be of some assistance to everyone. Enjoy! - Raith p.s. Please ignore any and all spelling mistakes cause I'm sure their are plenty.
Raith posted a topic in Dark Heresy"For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falke Hi All, It's been ages since I posted anything on this forum, but I am still alive and GMing. Recently I decided to give my long term Dark Heresy players (The Search For Victory crew) a chance to Respec their characters. During the process of which I got to thinking that I really need to make a list of where and what every alternate rank is for Dark Heresy. So I decided to compile a list and share it with everyone. While I was making an Index of the Alternate Ranks I also saw, so many Minor Psychic Powers that I had forgotten as well as many other pieces of information. From their my Index grew and grew and once I had finished I decided to make my way through all the other books. Explanation aside... Here is a Index of things I found useful to have a quick reference for. IT IS AN INCOMPLETE LIST for starters it doesn't cover any of the adventure modules and rule additions contained within. It also tends to only have a few references to things in the Core rules and any material referenced should be consulted directly this is in no way a complete list of the requirements for the options indexed. What this is not: This is not a cheat-sheet, it is not designed to replace any of the books, it is just a Name and an index as well as a semi-thematic description of whatever is listed. What the Dark Heresy Index covers: The Dark Heresy 1st Edition portion of the index covers several things. First it covers all the Home Worlds and variations their off as well as the single Background Package specifically tied to the Feral World. It breaks down all the Background Packages and Alternate Career Ranks by Career as well as which Ascension Careers can be directly tied to them as well as presenting a Revised Experience Progression for the Career based on the new rank amounts listed in Ascension. After the Careers are covered it then lists All the Elite Advance Packages and Cell Directives covered in the Dark Heresy line as well as a single Elite Advance from Rogue Trader which indicates it can work directly in a Dark Heresy game. Finally the index lists all the new Psychic Powers covered in supplementary books. These are organized into Minor Psychic Powers and Disciplines In addition, the Index also covers the other 1st edition Warhammer 40k RPG game lines and provides similar Indexing for the other lines to varying degrees. Where Is The Index You can find the Index at the following link, it is a view only Google Sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmtQWHK__dbHdHNRZ3pNenh3ZzhsNHdWQnlaOU1KRGc&usp=drive_web#gid=0 For those with Google you should be able to save a copy of the sheet for your own use. For those who wish to see an Addendum to the Index or have comments/suggestions please leave a message in this thread. I hope this can be of some assistance to everyone. Enjoy! - Raith p.s. Please ignore any and all spelling mistakes cause I'm sure their are plenty.
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Dark HeresyIt's been a few weeks… month, maybe 2 tops… since I last posted, so here is a HUGE update. Sorry intended to post these one at a time, I had it all prepared but went on a business trip. Sessions 8, 9, 10 are breifly summarized, thier was a lot of back and forth with players including my new Arbitrator. The last section though is what happened in this weeks session (11). THE SEARCH FOR VICTORY Chapter 2: By Tooth and Nail Session 8, 9, 10, 11: Calixis Sector, Malfi, Hive Malfi, Holding Precinct 28-A to Under-level Sy-R33-Nu 233.799.M41 Arbitrator Quintis finished filling in the paperwork on his captives, consigning them to immediate transfer to Hive Malfi's primary precinct courthouse, satisfied that the local judges would soon determine the full guilt of the parties he had arrested. Despite the obvious recidivist nature of the dark skinned man, the fact that the other captive seemed to legitimately belong to the Adeptus Sororitas greatly concerned him. After some discrete questioning and placing the Sister into a less confrontational holding cell, the Arbitrator left to try and figure out just who the people he had arrested were. *** The news of several off-world prisoners filtered through the bureaucracy of the Arbitrators with surprising alacrity, but is was a short vox-call that brought the arrest to the attention of Intelligencer Giovanna. The dark haired woman was quietly monitoring the Hives local information-net keeping an eye out for her contacts, sensing their relative inexperience with clandestine operations and knowing that the men she had introduced them too where likely to consider turning against them. Her brown eyes glowed as they red streams of intercepted communications as she waited to disguise any information that might lead to their presence becoming public. Sealing the data-reports with a private cipher, Giovanna responded quickly to the vox-call authorizing a transfer order and quickly retrieving the prisoners from the holding location before the interrogators could set to their blessed work. Once it was clear that there was little permanent damage sustained by the captives, Giovanna returned the Acolytes at their safe-house encouraging them to pack up and move out, it would only be a few short hours before someone noticed her tampering with the feeds and the change of orders. While that change was not outside of her authority, the authorization in itself would create questions and demand answers. *** Having easily slipped his pursuers Ashram had taken the time to return to the safe-hab assigned to the group in order to rearm for his next errand, the severed head of the factory-foreman and revolutionary sitting silently in the complex's rickety fridge. Despite his professionalism the Assassin was concerned enough about his companions to send a quick message to Giovanna alerting her to the chase through the under-streets. While Giovanna employed her authority, Ashram spent the time gearing preparing rendezvous with Nader Al-effendi while making sure that there was little evidence of the group left in the apartment. Late in the evening Arl, Ashram and Narla slipped out of their temporary refuge, reunited once more to head into the streets of Hive Malfi, picking their way across the city towards their contact and hopefully the next part of their investigation. *** Within the monolithic halls of the Judiciary House, Arbitrator Quintis confronted the woman who had commandeered his prisoners. Giovanna paced before the massive black-oak doors of the Conclave de Veritas, the inner court of the Arbites where lesser Judges and Enforcers were called to report on their Sentencing and explain any rulings that the High Justice and the tribunal deemed concerning for the laws of Malfi. The waiting was always the worst part, for while the tribunal was expedient in their ruling, it was in this place that all members of the Arbites could face the justice they in turn handed out to the masses. Quintis was his usually gruff self, demanding answers from his senior on why the prisoners had been released, but no matter how he asked, and denied of the opportunity to properly interrogate his subject, Giovanna met his questions with a seemingly endless stream of stern rebuffs citing superior rank and insufficient clearance levels. The disgruntled Investigator's questions were cut short as the Praetor Justicar drew open the massive doors leading into the shadowy inner sanctum, beckoning Giovanna inside while denying Quintis entry. With a glare at the black-clad guards Quintis spun on his heels and stalked away, if Giovanna would not answer his questions, perhaps her office would. *** Nader gleefully accepted the bloody severed head as proof that the Acolytes had done the favour he had asked, the grisly display doing little to upset the big man's appetite as he feasted amid the turbulence of the crowded storehouse around them. True to his word the Stevedore-Cime-Lord provided the trio with the agreed upon fee, an address to a rundown hab as well as a letter of introduction and payment to it's "lord" a man called Anaton. Sticking to the back roads and under-ways meant the journey through the streets of Malfi to their destination ate up all the day, the group arrived just as sundown peeked through the ever-present clouds above the Hive, joining the throng of workers returning home, blending in thanks to the concealing local garments they had organized the previous night. The bab-block was like most, it stank of unwashed bodies and ruptured sewerage conduits, graffiti covered every flat and accessible surface, wiring lay exposed where semi-illegal tech-hackers tapped into vox-lines and power-feed. Slowly the Acolytes made their way up through the multi-level building, ascending a dozen floors till they arrived at an unassuming doorway. It looked like ever other hatch into the homes on that level, its exterior pitted, chipped and rusting. Arl knocked first and a muffled voice called out from the otherside. For severa moments the Acolytes conversed through the door with the irritated voice, exchanging threats and pleasantries while Narla and Ashram kept a watch to see if any of the locals strayed too close. Finally, as the group began to feel nervous at such an exposed position, the door to the habitat opened revealing the stuble covered face of a sneering ratling guard who ushered hem inside briskly Behind a heavy door reinforced with ablative blast tamping material the hab belonging to "Anaton" was clean and well maintained, though a stain here and there in the foyer suggested a terrible end to something daring to breach the outer limit and confront the emplaced weapon-servitor within. With a grunt and a shove the ratling slammed home the door and guided the others into a central room lit in drab colours. A pair of unshaven men lounged about the room sampling narcotics and looking glassy eyed at the newcomers. Through a beaded curtain in another room the sound of an accountant at work his abacus clattering away. Leading the group into the kitchen area, the ratling ushered out the bookie and demanded to know just why the group had come looking for Anaton. Apparently satisfied with their answer the guard was about to respond when an angry voice echoed through the closed blast-hatch into the hab. Cursing his neighbours the ratling chivvied the group into another room with the accountant as the two stoners suddenly produced a pair of well-used assault rifles, discarding their inattentive air for that of professional soldiers in a heartbeat. *** Two Enforcers stood outside the entrance of Intelligencer Arico's office, they chattered to each other distractedly as Quintis walked up to loom over them demanding to know why their attitude was so lax. The Enforcers quickly smartened up and replied to Arbitrator, indicating their services had been dismissed by the rooms current occupants. Intrigued Quintis walked into the room, stopping in the doorway as two pair of eyes suddenly transfixed him. The first pair belonged to a man ransacking the draws of a mahogany desk. The man dressed in a white shirt, black vest and well-worn pats grinned lopsidedly and went back to work. The second where a startling blue pair belonging to a lithe woman, clad from the neck down in a black armoured bodysuit worked with an intricate design of swirling glyphs, a low-riding Bolt Pistol sat holster to her shapely right thigh. The woman's gaze was unsurprised piecing out from a fringe of pale blonde hair as she demanded the Arbitrator's identity. Quintis replied, his gaze appraising the final figure n the room, man or woman the figure was indistinct clad in a floor length dark navy cloak and hood with a featureless polished metal mask covering the face. When the arbiter in turn demanded identification the woman looked at him quizzically for a moment, the robed figure turning to regard the floor to ceiling stack of law-books dominating the western wall of the room, before answering that her authority was of the absolute tugging free a fine length of chain from her bodysuit, the light from the Pict-window on the far side of the room glinting off the delicate Inquisitorial Rosette facsimile hanging from it. As quickly as he entered Quintis was dismissed, assured that all was as the Agents needed and that the guards loitering outside would provide any assistance the Throne Agents needed. Just as he left Quintis shuddered, feeling the expressionless mask turning to regard him, a strange odour sitting on the air. *** When the ratling returned he quickly made it clear that me was Anaton and that he knew ways through Malfi that neither Arbitrator nor Slum-lord did, explaining that he was once a sapper for the Imperial Guard and that there were thousands of miles of tunnels, abandoned hab-levels and other stranger ways beneath the Hive, most from whatever had existed before the Angevin crusade had ever approached this sector and made Malfi their initial staging ground. Quickly the Acolytes explained their needs. The ratling listened intently before agreeing to show them into House Syreen's territory unnoticed. After some last minute assurances and perpetrations Anaton ushered the group from his residence, unwilling to wait before making the journey necessary, nightfall would aid them in their initial foray. The first step of their journey took the group to an abandoned cathedral on the outskirts of the rain-soaked hive district Anaton lived in, the shrine to the God-Emperor was ancient, its roof crumbling and windows shattered with neglect, the holy-site hidden at the base of a massive pair of Sky-habs. Anaton lead the group up to a boarded up side entrance, while Arl worked to pry the boards loose the ratling quickly briefed the group on what lay ahead. The immediate danger was from the locals, a vicious sub-human group that used the cathedral as a home. Motioning for silence the ex-sapper slipped through the wing of the cathedral and slunk along the wall of the main basilica. *** Arl stood guard, an easy job given the limited paths from their current location. Nearby a pool of fluids cast scant illumination around the tunnel from where the mag-rail that had once born a rocket-tram was buckled and severed. Anaton had been right to warn the group that the path was dangerous. The first thing they had encountered were flesh eating mutants, an incautious movement by Narla had alerted the sub-humans to intruders sneaking through there lair. The fight that followed had only been stopped by a barrage of covering fire from Anaton, the heavy protection worn by the Hospitaller and the hunger of the mutants outweighing a desire to continue fighting as they dragged their fallen back to the cook pot. Narla had done her best to patch up Ashram who was still breathing heavily with cracked ribs one of the mutants had landed an unnaturally strong blow. They had fled into a storm-water system and then down into a strange generatorium chamber, braving the pulses of discharging energies running down the cylindrical room which threatening to knock them off a thin walkway and into the spinning water-propelled turbine a dozen meters below. Finally they had entered a massive labyrinth of tunnels, each a four meter wide conduit dominated by a single slightly raised railing on which in ages past strange elongated trams had run propelled by exotic forces at sound-breaking speeds. The Hospitaller finished checking the group's fresh injuries, moments before they had been assaulted by a wave of iridescent rats, sightless creatures which had been living off the luminous-blue liquid spurting from the damaged rail. The creatures had been twisted to unnatural proportions in the dark but judicious automatic fire had run them off, though Arl could still smell and hear them in the dark. Thankfully Anaton had called an overnight rest in the tunnel, feeling a break might help to alleviate some of the Acolytes suffering and now they were again ready to press on. By the sappers estimate they needed another half a day of marching to see them out of the tunnel with its unnaturally smooth lines and strangely spacious terminal and back into the familiar gothic territory of a collapsed hab-level. As promised the unnatural surroundings fell away and the familiar smells reached the group. Anaton quietly informed the acolytes that his guidance would soon end, but after some pressuring by ashram and Arl, the ratling agreed to introduce them to a local who might be willing to assist them in blending in to the indentured workforce of Syreen, Pressing on they passed into abandoned rooms, the floors buckled and offset at random with the forces from above or below. In places they crawled or squeezed through gaps but in others they marched quickly down corridors that seemed cleans and well repaired where it not for doors closed tight with pressure of shifting walls. Despite the fatigue that pressed at his injuries Ashram kept glancing over his shoulder, a niggling feeling causing him to examine their path, something familiar was dogging their steps. *** Again and again Ashram kept catching glimpses of their pursuer, a figure in white, female, familiar. But each time the Acolytes and their guide stopped there was only stillness. Anaton spoke quietly warning the group that he had seen things on past forays down here but would not clarify what that was. Just as he turned away Arl shouted in surprise spotting a woman in a white medicae-gown racing across the passage ahead of them. Ashram had been right, the figure was the image of Solaria, the psyker who had accompanied them while on Scintilla investigating the over-hive of Tarsus, though the similarities ended as the newcomer was much younger, possibly Solaria's sister. Before the group could pursue, the woman vanished. While Ashram suggested following the figure, Arl cautioned that they had a mission to which Anaton motioned they should continue. Their path was slow going and as they travelled Anaton called back to Narla as he scrambled over a wedge of collapsed ceiling asking if the Sister knew any good marching Hymnals, the ratling voice carrying a hint of nervousness. For a moment the Sister considered the question before launching into an elegant song, startling her companions with her trained voice. Anaton recognized the Hymn and carried the tune as best he could, Arl and Ashram soon mumbling along as they moved. About to step around a corner Anaton snapped his las-carbine up, bracing it to his shoulder in caution. Swiftly the group stepped around the corner with weapons at the ready, before them a pair of men dressed in matt-black Carapace armour and mirrored helms dragged away a barely moving woman dressed in white. Arl glanced at his companions searching for recognition, the woman indeed looked like a younger version of Solaria, but Narla cautioned the group indicating the warriors as members of the Adeptus Telepathica, specifically soldiers of the Blackguard, men whom worked aboard the Black Ships of the Inquisition collecting the Emperor's harvest and returning them to Terra. The men dragged the unconscious woman out of sight, paying no heed to the newcomers for which they in-turn were thankful. They turned back to their journey as Anaton suggested they disable the limited lights they carried, the corridors they walked down possessing a flick of remnant energy, enough for long abandoned emergency lighting to still feed off. Passing up a short flight of crooked stpes Arl called out noticing a small breach in one of the walls of the corridor a flicked of harsh white light spilling from the hole. Kneeling down the Duskborn Guardsman took a quick peek into the gap, beyond the wall was a room filled with all manner of machinery that put him in mind of a Medicae-station he had once convalesced in during his soldiering days. Waving Narla over the Soriritas checked through the gap and confirmed the appearance of the room, noting the equipment looked especially well-maintained. As they spied into the room a man clad in a crimson doublet and a dark coloured cape moved around the dimly lit area, a small golden insignia of the Holy Ordos hanging from his neck. The figure was diligently monitoring various pieces of equipment as he fetched a large gage-needle, filling it with a viscous green liquid. As he worked he rattled off medical observations to the air an auto-scribe chattering away somewhere unseen from the Acolytes limited perspective. What held their attention was the sight of the young woman they had previously witnessed. She lay strapped in the centre of the laboratory to a metal crucifix. Clearly sedated her cries of denial were barely more than a mumble as she flopped uselessly against leather restraints, the woman's white robes had been cut open signs of recent medical experimentation across her body. Ashram sat back from the opening and looked at his companions, the figure in the room had mentioned the words Project: Ra, for a moment the others looked blindly at the assassins words before it clicked, Rah was the surname of their Inquisitor. First a woman who looked like a young version of a past companion, then Blackguard who are normally never encountered off the ships they serve aboard and now a coincidental reference to their missing Inquisitor, at the very least the area appeared like it may possess supplies they could use to speed along their recovery. All in agreement the Acolytes quickly renegotiated a deal with their guide to delay the journey while they investigated the laboratory. Half an hour later (and 100 thrones poorer) the Acolytes stormed into the medicae-facility, barging into a scene of utter destruction. The crucifix was a nearly unrecognizable mess, its twisted spars lying in a heap on the floor. Cogitators and medicae-equipment lay scattered everywhere, beakers were strewn about the floor and a portion of the roof had tumbled down across the far side of the room, a gaping hole in the ceiling pointing to where the weight of the hab-above had shifted. Of the restrained woman there was no sign. Arl looked at his companions wondering if this was the same location or a different part of the facility. While Arl scratched his head pondering how they could have missed hearing the level of destruction needed to reduce the room to rubble, Narla searched for anything salvageable. Poking through the room at his own pace Ashram broke Arl from his reverie, calling him over to where the rubble from the collapse roof lay, indicating a skeleton lying crushed by the debris but still held somewhat intact by its once-fine cloths, now tatters left by rats. The guardsman knelt to check the corpse for anything of interest pulling free a golden pendant from around its desiccated neck, holding it up to the light of their lumen-globes the illumination winked off a twisted gold rosette. Slowly the ugly truth dawned on the group, the ratlings words about seeing things, the apparently younger appearance of their ex-companion and the advanced age of destruction in the lab all pointing to a strange warping of time. The room they were in was what they had witnessed, though they had not witnessed its current state but some point of the rooms past… - Raith
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Dark HeresyHI all, sorry for the lack of updates, its good to see that some people are still reading this. Here's a long post summarizing whats happened over the past three play-sessions. Enjoy! THE SEARCH FOR VICTORY Chapter Two: By Tooth and Nail Session 5, 6 & 7: Calixis Sector, Malfi, Hive Malfi, Refinery Complex Excetur-1Y to Sector 139-A:Level -4 231.799.M41 The elevator rattled to a halt at the bottom of the shaft and Arl cautiously stepped out sheathing his blade, there was no sign of hostiles. The struggle against the foreman had been short, his first strike not been delivered cleanly but a second and third blow had put the man down. Arl had then stooped the lift and dumped out his body at a small maintenance level. Now the ex-guardsman stood inside an airlock donning a set of protective chemical warfare clothing, using his familiarity with Guard procedures to make do in the absence of more skilled guidance. Once attired he stepped into an airlock dominating the passageway stretching away from the elevator and stepped out into a tunnel complex swirling with aerosolized promethium once the cycle completed. Proceeding ahead Arl kept alert choosing passages at random and following what little crude signage he could see. Up ahead the corridor bent suddenly and a shadow loomed against the wall. Flattening back in a poor attempt to hide Arl watched as a pair of servitors slowly manoeuvred past. The barely human height machine-men equipped with several tool arms posed no threat as they disappeared back the way Arl had come. Wondering where they were going the Dusk Worlder kept pace behind them until they turned down a corridor leading past another large airlock. Cautiously Arl entered the second facility and quietly divested himself of the rugged environment suit, with sword at the ready he waited till the all-green lights winked on over the internal door before stepping into the dark beyond. *** Hack, Narla and Ashram spoke in conference with their guide who reported how Arl had been chasing one of the foremen into an old elevator as the black-clad infiltrators had arrived. The quartet agreed that they needed to regroup and hopefully Arl had found something that might lead them to the personal ultimately in charge so they could continue with their true mission on Malfi. With Asharam in the lead the Acolytes carefully picked their way down through the sporadic fighting to the main manufacturing level and then into the same elevator that Arl had previously used with only a minimum of swift and silent killing. Hack got the elevator moving and they followed the same path that Arl had a little less than an hour before. Once at the bottom and fearing pursuit from above Ashram ordered Hack to disable the lifter but the Tech-priest replied that any such attempt might only serve to strand them at the base of the "well". In intimation of their companion the group donned protective gear at the first airlock and followed the hasty marks left by their companion, scarped crudely into mine walls. It didn't take long for the Acolytes to locate the second facility. Hack noted the extensive cabling lining the walls leading to the second airlock and surmised that the location was probably the chief extraction facility, or at the least a place for mine workers to use rather than returning to the surface for what weary breaks they were assigned. In short order the Acolytes removed their gear and used what little time they had while the airlock finished cycling air to prep for whatever awaited them in the corridor beyond, as Narla stepped into the area beyond Ashram cried out a warning as the safety of a Heavy Stubber was released. *** A slap to the face brought Arl around and he could taste the hessian sack over his head, there were three voices in the room, two men and one woman. A fact he confirmed with his eyes as he blinked away tears, the concealing hood torn from his head carelessly. The man closest to him was a large brute who cracked his knuckles in delight looking at the bound guardsman. The woman learned over a table examining his equipment. Whomever she was, she was clearly a professional clad in full carapace plating, her short brown hair curled close to her scalp and her eyes expertly appraised his confiscated weapons, testing balance and hair-triggers in precise order, she was also the most heavily armed with a chainsword sheathed across her back and a Stub Automatic positioned low on her hip. The final man looked appraisingly at Arl from beyond the first. This one was much older and looked tired despite the glimmer of something hopeful in his eyes. His work-vest and slightly better fitting outfit identified the man as someone of importance able to wear more than just hand me down work-wear. Arl spoke up to this man's questions identifying himself as a newcomer to the facility, one sent down to alert the Facility Chief that the structure above was under attack. From here Arl wove a story of how he had witnessed Foreman Kal being cruelly shot and imparting the Chief location with his last breath. The chief looked concerned at the news of the attack above while the large thug scoffed with a grunt. From the armoured woman there was little response. In response to his companion's unspoken assessment of Arl's story the older man thanked Arl for the news and reported that he had been aware of the attack. For a moment Arl panicked wondering if his murder had been witnessed but the man continued thanking him for his efforts before properly introducing himself as Elias George the leader of the facility and his crews best hope for a brighter future in the Imperium. Arl listened in horror as Elias suggested that the ways of the Imperium where not those of the Emperor and that mankind could have more freedom than what it was allowed, the choice of what job to have or perform even. For a moment as the conversation continued Arl began to relax before a warning tone rang out of a speaker in the corner of the room. Elias looked darkly at his thuggish companion before stepping out of the room and into the corridor beyond, snatching up a large communications-receiver from a port near the door. Using the open door to access what lay beyond the room Arl could see a long corridor, similar to the one he had witnessed right before being captured. At the far end stood a blast hatch which the guardsman hoped might lead to freedom. Elias walked back into the room and signalled to the armed woman who quickly nodded and exited the area heading down the corridor. The chief then turned to the other name and instructed him to learn what he could from their captive before leaving as well, shutting the rooms door behind him. Arl looked up and grinned as the thug drew back his fist. *** Light flooded the length of the corridor, it was nearly forty meters long, at the far end just inside of a blast door was a small stack of sandbags, behind the sandbags worked two men, the first making sure he had a firm seat while the second checked an ammunition feed. Individually two men in overalls might not represent a threat to the Acolytes but the squad suppression weapon they maintained was an entirely different creature. Hack shouted in alarm and dived back into the airlock hoping that the rim of the hatchway would provide much needed cover while Ashram and Narla dashed forward aiming for a point a little over half way down the corridor. As the heavy weapon barked in fury they each shoved themselves into tiny maintenance alcoves. Bullets raked the walls and an interface-control unit exploded in the alcove Ashram cowered within. The Hospitaler and the Assassin glanced at each other. Ashram motioned upwards to where several conduits hung suspended from the ceiling. Making a gesture about crawling along them, Narla raised her weapon and fired covering shots back towards the emplaced Stubber while the Assassin reacted. Not quite used to taking fire, the worker assigned to loading the heavy weapon cringed and ducked for cover. Seizing the moment Narla rushed forward throwing herself to the floor beneath the traverse of the weapon while Ashram shinnied along the overhead pipes. The gunner cursed and yelled at his companion who drew a sidearm and shot down over the wall of sandbags forcing Narla to roll aside from the bullets, spinning on her back the Sororitas fired her shotgun the blast taking the head off the gunner but in her fury she had neglected her rites of firing angles and Ashram hurriedly curled up into a ball to avoid the ricochets lashing the pipes he was crawling along, the action causing him to lose his balance momentarily, though he recovered enough to turn the fall into a graceful landing face to face with the loader. Before the assassin could take out the unfortunate man cleanly the blast door opened and chainsword roared through the opening. Ashram ducked the swipe as a woman followed the weapon through the door. Narla levered herself up from the floor only to face the muzzle of a Stub Automatic pointed at her chest. The Hospitalers carapace breastplate turned aside the shot and a brutal melee broke out as the newcomer engaged both the Assassin and the Sister in a whirling twisting fighting style of sword and gun. *** Arl brushed his hands together as he spat out a loose tooth. The chair he had been bound too was a twisted ruin discarded on the broken form of the thug. Gathering his gear and checking his weapons the ex-guardsman sprinted from captivity, hustling down the long corridor toward the only other exit. Consoles dangled from the ceiling of the room into which Arl peaked, the circular chamber easily half the length of the corridor he had just rushed down or more in diameter, its space dominated by three concentric rings of computation machines with a forth ring lining the wall. The console-monitors depicted numerous pict-thieves spread throughout the mining works and the facility above. Over by the center console with his back towards Arl worked Elias who nervously looked towards another hatch on the far side of the room. Glancing about Arl counted eight exits including his own, each spaced around the large central area. Slowly the guardsman lifted his weapon, he thumbed the safety off, sighted down the barrel, and breathed out to relax before taking a shot at the unaware man whose back was facing him. Whether a poor shot or by divine providence Elias turned at the last moment and the shot blew apart the console he worked out sending the old man scurrying for cover. Arl in turn dashed into the room, briefly sticking his head out of cover only to pull it back as the roar of a large calibre pistol echoed in the enclosed space. The pair exchanged fire as they threw themselves around the room hunting for cover, Arl cursed his luck with his lasgun and discarded the weapon in favour of his sword while the Mining Chief drew a long knife and levelled a vicious stab at the Duskman's guts. *** The woman in the armour looked briefly away from her combatants and took a glancing shot as a reward, a scream had echoed from the central room behind her. With a deft flourish she holstered her sidearm and retrieved a grenade with a single smooth action before dropping the explosive at her feet as she leapt backwards through the hatchway. Ashram and Narla raced away as the metal sphere bounced and rolled along the floor, sighing in relief as the grenade only emitted a blanket of choking smoke. Cautiously the pair waited for the fumes to disappear before they moved to check on their companion, during the fight Hack had attempted to intervene only to be clubbed down by the woman in short order. Dazed the tech-priest mumbled to Ashram who looked confused until the group realized the airlock back where there had come, had sealed as was now cycling back to read once more. Dragging the barely mobile Tech-priest into the room beyond Ashram and Narla looked across the control facility at Arl who was lowering his weapon, while the woman named Ashely frustratingly shook her head at her dead employer lying on the ground. Ashram quickly appraised Arl of the situation with the airlock and Ashely rushed to the door slamming the hatch shut after lobbing a second grenade into the corridor. The bounty hunter gestured to the injured Tech-priest and demanded if he was capable of manually controlling a lift as she knew of an alternate route out. Narla assured the woman that the Tech-priest would pull up with a little chemical help as Ashram handed over a vial of Stimm and a hastily alliance was forged. Ashely pointed to one of the other exits from the room and with the help of Ashram and Narla pinned down their pursuers, each taking turns to race down the length of the hallway, identical to the other two and into yet another round room, this one filled with the discarded odds and ends of decades of workers coming through the facility as well as a large freight elevator, apparently in need of serious repair. The group struggled aboard the elevator as their pursuers closed inflicting injuries to Ashley and Hack before the Tech-priest managed to get the ancient device functioning, its systems groaning into life. The ancient freight-lifter rose slowly upward, its path a halting journey as the tech-priest manually triggered the release of various emergency hatches sealing the shaft above. At the top was an abandoned and sealed warehouse. Huge containers lay in the loading area along with a large cargo-hauler, the massive vehicle silently awaiting an operative that may have not have come over 300 years before or so Narla theorized from the few remaining crates of goods left in the area. Arl set the group moving into cover as he heard the approach of someone whispering down a vox-link and the group dashed across the warehouse for a massive rolled door and smaller exit. Both seemed locked and while Hack reported he may be able to repower the roller door and its comatose machine-spirit Arl looked at the large tracked Cargo-hauler and grinned. *** Investigator Quintus of the Adeptus Arbites stood on the roof of a twenty-five story building overlooking the sprawling refinery complex within the heart of his city. He grimaced bitterly as the sounds of the gathering behind him reached his ears. Judge Huges sat with Sallid Magenisum a Rogue Trader and provider of the small but opulent pavilion that they reclined beneath. Five other Arbites also waited on the roof, one looking out from each angle of the building and two on guard within the pavilion itself, though the two closest to their superior seemed more concerned with partaking of the Rogue Traders largess. Concentrating on his work and trying not to dwell on who he had rubbed to get saddled with such demeaning work this time the Arbitrator reviewed the brief of his mission. The Promethium facilities tithe quota had fallen to an unacceptable level following the take-over and destruction of House Kristiansen by House Syreen. Already involved in several larger acquisitions Syreen had "requested" their allies in the Magenisum Dynasty who had a vessel in orbit to retake the facility on their behalf. More laughter cause Quintus' jaw to clench tighter, Magenisum would effectively control an Imperial facility under their charter and from the sounds of the negotiations behind him the Emperors Quota might be in some doubt. Before Quintus could even consider making sure the Emperor's laws were still respected amid the rampant corruption of the Malfian Arbites a warehouse door on the bottom street level of the refinery he was observing shattered outward as a massive cargo-hauler ripped apart the door, its caterpillar treads pulling over the rubble as easy as a tank's would. The Investigator called out an alert to his companions who closed to witness the vehicles escape. Judge Huges enraged that something might be disrupting his work turned to Quintus and order him with making sure no interruptions to the Emperor's tax was to be tolerated. Dashing from the roof Quintus called for reinforcements, a pair of Enforcers on riot-bikes would be dispatched and a Rhino used to carry him and the other Arbites along with the Judge was assigned to his direct control. As Quintus climbed onto the Arbites transport-carrier the chase was on. *** Arl, Ashram, Narla and Hack abandoned the cargo-hauler bidding farewell to Ashely who took off at a fast pace, not wanting to trust their shaky alliance a moment longer than necessary. As the group moved away and into the under-streets, levels of Malfi's solar-hive which where only illuminated during specific portions of the day thanks to the skyways overhead, the group was soon forced to stop as Hack revealed several severe injuries to this biological components. While Narla did her best to patch him up and give the Tech-Priest another dose of Stimm, Ashram caught sight of a man on a nearby rooftop observing them. Reporting it to the group the assassin unslung her hunting rifle in preparation for something going down only to hear the blare of a loud-hailer from the distant figures armour demanding that they stand-fast and await judgement at the hands of the Adeptus Arbites. For a moment the group considered doing just that, trusting that Giovanna would be able to help sort out any misunderstanding of jurisdiction, until Ashram looked sheepishly down at the bloody jacket she held and its gruesome contents, the severed head of the former Miner Chief, taken as proof for Nadar Al-Effendi. Cursing their luck the group broke into a mad dash as a second Arbitrator dashed around the corner at the far end of the street and a loud rumble signalled the arrival of the Enforcers' tank-transport. Sprinting down the open alley between a pair of towering buildings Arl and Narla separated from Ashram, leaving the killer with the severed head, trusting that he would have an easier time if they split up. Within moments Ashram was sqeezing into a small space between a pair of buildings and silently making his way apart from his fellows. Trying to raise as much attention to themselves as possible Arl and Narla raced for safety in the sub-levels backstreets. They rounded a corner into a maze of pipes and ventilation tubes, hastily avoiding the determined pursuit of Quintus and his allies. Narla cried out as foot slipped on a damp pipe, the s=accident nearly spraining her ankle. Hoping to slow his pursuers Arl tested several of the conduits hoping to find something loose he could topple in their path but there was nothing easy at hand. Onwards they fled, moving through a busy intersection and down an empty mall until they were within sight of a packed bazaar, the myriad stalls and vendors attracting a huge riotous crowd filled with colour. Feeling their pursuers closing Arl forced his way through the crowd while Narla tried her best to blend in to the surroundings. Ordering the Enforcer after the Sororitas, Quintus continued after Arl, sprinting through the bazaar to witness the Dusk-born climbing into the back of a servitor-powered rickshaw, before the ex-guardsman could finish waving farewell to his pursuer as the carriage pulled away down the road, Quintus was hastily yelling into his vox-link. Within seconds the power transmission to the sector was interrupted and Arl cried out as the Rickshaw wobbled and toppled over, the long metal rod connecting it to the overhead power-lines falling sideways with a clang, the suddenly unpowered vehicle spilling him into a small stand of good belonging to the Cab'badge Company. Up the guardsman leapt, sprinting across the darkened street just ahead of pursuit, spotting an access to the storm water system beneath the street Arl levered aside the worn grate and dropped into the tunnels below the street, rushing thorough the enclosed space as Quintis again yelled into his uplink, this time the Mechanicus representative for the sector unsure of following his orders to reroute the city's water systems. Arl grinned brightly as he turned a corner hoping to get a few streets away from his pursuer before heading topside before his ears caught the sound of oncoming water. In a rush he headed for the nearest exist and as the water completely flooded the tunnel he heaved aside another grate and stumbled into the street panting for breath. Closing his eyes for just a second the guardsman frowned as the loud echo of a riotbike engine growled up to him. Opening his eyes he found himself nose-to-shotgun with an Enforcer. - Raith
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Dark HeresyTHE SEARCH FOR VICTORY Chapter 2: By Tooth and Nail Session 3 + 4: Calixis Sector, Malfian Subsector, Malfi, Hive Malfi, Refinery Complex Excetur-1Y, 231.799.M41 Nader's contact was to meet with the acolytes in the middle of a busy market place sprawling between three Hab-Conglomerates outside of the Manufactorum into which the group would soon descend. The guild-masters description combined with additional Pict recordings provided by Giovanna narrowed down the search to a single man, lounging just outside of a small confectionary shop. Arl, standing a head above the clustered mob of humanity, drew the rest of the teams attention and directed them closer just as the retort of a powerful weapon discharge set the crowd screaming, men and women pushing their way to safety, the epicentre of the attack a small circle of space, Nader's man, faceless from a close range shotgun blast, lay slumped against the shops front window, his assailant trying to rush their way through the panicked crowd. The Acolytes gave chase as best they could shoving people out of the way, not willing to loose someone they assumed related to the Gang-war they were attempting to stop, all except Ashram who clambered free of the throng up onto the pedestal holding aloft a representation of the Emperor. Working methodically the assassin set up his hunting rifle and sighting down the barrel. He fired once hoping for a disabling hit but was forced to concede as the crowd perpetually spoiled his aim for another attempt. The young pimple-faced youth soon disappeared and the Acolytes returned to their dead contact, the local scavengers already eying off his clothes and boots. A quick check revealed little to identify the man or those he was supposed to lead the acolytes too. After a quick discussion the group agreed to pursue the only lead they had, a rather general heading from the fleeing assailant. Once they forced themselves through the press of humanity and out into the quieter stretches of the Conglomerate the group soon detected another following their trail. While Ashram pulled a "Cheshire Cat" routine, the rest prepared to confront the tail as he boldly stepped into the light. Dressed as an outlandish fop the green-eyed man gave the assembled Acolytes a slight bow and introduced himself, claiming that for a modest sum, he would gladly lead them to their quarry as he knew whom the man represented. The modest fee of course was insanely outrageous, 100 thrones which made Arl choke in disbelief as Ashram slipped back into the alley and turned over the money with little a thought. An hour later the guide was threading his way through low, conduit lined corridors of Refinery Complex Excetur-1Y Hive Malfi's one and only in-city Promethium-Works. The air stank of fumes and the guide cautioned the group about discharging weapons with a reassuring pat of the knife strapped to his waist. After pressing deeper into the Manufactorum's labyrinthine hallways it was clear that some investigation would need to occur. At several points the group had bypassed clusters of workers, usually in groups of six, five worked and an armed lookout, demonstrating the local crime-hangs control of the facility. Arl suggested if they were to accomplish their task without open warfare they would need to track down the leaders of the controlling gang. With the assent of their guide Arl acting as hired muscle simply walked up to one of the various foremen scattered around the complex and demanded an interview with the local recruiter. It didn't take much more negotiation than the group's guide cutting down the youth with the shotgun while he reached from a pointed length of steel on the ground and the foreman known as Jeorge was congratulating the pair on their new job and talking about introducing them to a man named Kal Araya who was the groups second in command and previously the head of volatile bottling. Kal had the look of hard working man dressed as he was in stained work-clothes, were clearly out of place against the backdrop of a busy secretary and accounting office near the bottom of the refineries primary bottling floors. Kal expounded upon the introduction from his friend, he and the people working at the refinery had taken control of the facility for themselves when their controlling house Kristiansen had fallen silent three months before. Now they held the facility not for furthering the wealth of any nobles but so that the "simple man" could once again take control of their destiny and work to make a living solely for themselves. This had in turn forced Kal to proactively protect much of the interests of the Refineries workers by hiring armed guards and equipping the work crews to defend themselves. Kal took his leave and moved back out into the primary bottling-room to speak with one of the other foreman desperately begging for his attention leaving the pair to mull over their situation just as all hell broke loose. Ashram whispered into his micro-bead. He had been on watch keeping an eye on the rest of the Acolytes olt-hole in the refinery was groups of armed professionals infiltrated the complex. They moved with a precision the Assassin had witnessed before but could not place, dressed in dark blue flak armour and carrying modernized crossbows so as not to risk accidently igniting the atmosphere of the Promethium Works, they swept through the sporadic response aimed at stopping them. When the first group broke out onto the elevated gantry running around the upper level of the bottling room Kal called out a warning, a attempting to summon resistance. Arl took his opportunity racing in to support Kal as deadly quarrels lanced through the air smashing through workbenches and skewering those to slow to take cover. For a few moments Kal stood his ground before the ex-Guardsman convinced the worker to quit the room and see to his leader's safety in person. Kal agreed indicating that the group's chief was deep below monitoring the underground promethium extraction devices. Arl looked around quickly seeing no sign of his guide before sprinting after Kal into the next room and then through a hatch followed closely by a pair of the attackers. They raced down passageways and ducked through a blast door slamming it closed in their wake before entering a service elevator, Kal yanking on the descent leaver to activate the counterweights. In another part of the refinery Ashram unleashed precise shots with his hunting rifle at a small group of the armour assailants attempting to attack Sister Narla and Enginseer Hack, holed up in a small dormitory. Their choice to use firearms kept the attackers pinned down despite the fue filled air igniting at several points leaving Ashram and Narla lightly scorched. Bullets and a blazing las-shot gave way to close quarters combat before the Acolytes managed to wear the last opponent down and they breathed a sigh of relief. The lift rattle down through the bedrock of the promethium factory, as quietly as possible Arl manoeuvred himself into position behind Kal. The Dusk born savage raised the pommel of his sword and struck a viscious blow aimed at the back of the foreman's head…
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Dark HeresyTHE SEARCH FOR VICTORY Chapter 2: By Tooth and Nail Session 2: Calixis Sector, Malfian Subsector, Malfi, Hive Malfi, District 216, 230.799.M41 Heeding the caution from Giovanna, the Acolytes stayed close to home that night, at Arl's urging, Sister Tzarine stayed in the Safe-House while he went looking for some more discrete clothes than the bright red robes of Enginseer Hack and the Sororitas' emblazoned cassock. With the tech-priest and assassin in tow they headed out down to the lower floors of "Hern's Hab" which were given over to the local sustenance market. While Arl went in search of clothing, Ashram kept a practised eye out for suitable munitions for his weaponry. The events on the Blessed Rembrance and earlier on Hive Tarsus had reduced his stockpile of special rounds. Alas the limited market could only offer the more common calibres of ammunition, though they had that in copious quantity. Hours wore by as Hack made a diligent search of the market after a purveyor indicated he had just sold a working Auspex to a client. In a similar lack of progress to Ashram the robed tech-adept walked around in circles, returning back to their temporary quarters during the small hours of the morning having discovered the item he had been chasing was not an auspex but a Chrono. To top the evenng of shopping off by the time Arl finally located some suitable clothing someone or ones had managed to make off with the majority of his cash, his rural senses not detecting the skilled hands pilfering his wealth throughout the evening. Giovanna barged into the small 4 room complex early the nex morning a Arbites summary-dossier in her hads. House Syreen was a major stake-holder in the Hive as well as several smaller holdings in nearby star-systems and a number of ancestral pacts with several Rogue Trader dynasty's, their primary tithe for which the Arbites concerned themselves was the manufacture of a particularly powerful matriculation-engine for use in Cogitator cores, specifically those for deciphering complex equations and ciphers. Still clad in her rumpled grey overcoat and black bodysuit the Arbite explained how the House very carefully made sure to keep an iron grp on the technology loaned to them from the Mechanicum and made doubly sure to meet all the required tithes and taxes levelled by the greater Imperium. In short their was little out of place in te Arbitrators files, nothing to warrant a bigger investigation. Still even with the official word, Giovanna knew of a man to speak to about any underhanded dealings the House might have and the group set out in the womans armoured town-car, keeping to the under-streets and tertiary roadways, not bothing to deal with the congestion of the Hives main roads. Two hours later the group parked at a small satellite prescient manned by a dozen Arbites and walked the last 10 minutes through the border of House Syreen's territory and into the chaos of a massive open air distribution hub. People and vehicles where everywhere, along with loading servitors and buzzing servo-skulls while midst the crowd units of guardsmen from house Syreen patrolled and Arl kept an eye out, hoping to spot a unit badge of some kind while Giovanna lead them through the milling activity. Their brisk journey ended at a point of relative calm in the organised chaos. As previously agreed Giovanna approached a bear of a man seated behind a trestle table dotted with scrolls of paper and plates of food, around him workers circled moving crates onto the back of mass-haulers or unloading them in turn. It didn't take much to notice that for every crate packed another came off in short order, the cycle clearly just for show. Giovanna's conversation with the seated man was quick and familiar, with a feeling that the stevedore wished he could lay his hands on the buxom official in a less than professional manner while the Arbitrator kept him at arms distance. For a few moments the conversation seemed about to break into violence as the Investigator unleashed a powerful open handed slap at the man staggering him before he grunted in laughter and returned to his seat rubbing his jaw. The man was called Nader Al-Effendi one of the primary stevedores of the distribution-hub and a well-known informant with significant criminal ties. The type whom made sure they never broke the laws of the Imperium but was more than happy to ignore any local authority. He had answers for the group, explaining that House Syreen and the Malfi 122nd irregulars were definately up to something. The license they held was for a STC data-pattern something normally protected by the Mechanicum in person rather than simply leased for such public use. Nader went on informing the group that while all the surrounding area was controlled by the Household troops and sponsored PDF units of House Syreen, they kept the 122nd close to home, guarding a single large manufactorum. The troops and their officers where carefully screened and well paid to be unfortunately nigh-incorruptible to Nader's earthly ways. The recidivist went on to describe how unlike many of Malfi's houses they had somehow managed to retain a shred of their former power, mostly through close ties to several Rogue Traders and the high quality goods they produced. When Arl asked if the house might have any ruinous connections the fat man scoffed at the notion saying that while Malfi was commonly known as such a corrupt place, he did not believe in man needing to blame the supernatural for the state of the planets decay. Begging for a few minutes to confer with his companions Arl assessed what they knew. In their possession, back on Scintilla, were two data-crystals each containing a third of a star-chart. One recovered from a house slaughtered to the last man by apparent psychic means, the other recovered from a long abandoned Mechanicus facility were they had encountered the false Imperial Guard imposters of the Malfi 122nd. It was still unclear what was happening with House Syreen's involvement, but it was possible that there were links between the House and the Cult of the Skull. The Acolytes agreed they needed to meet the information broker known to Nader, who could in turn get them access to the well-guarded manufactorum of House Syreen. The payment requiered the Acolytes to deal with some opposition to Naders activities, another group like his was making too many waves in the local area and his business worked best when everyone was convinced to ignore their presence, just like the roving patrols which Nader made a point of waving outlandishly toward. Too many times this new organisation had been heavy handed in making sure the members of their guild stayed in line or that they weren't bothered. On top of all this they were not even local to the area, having moved in from off-world. Nader of course could have the problem settled on his own, but he did not want the action to be traced back to him and he had been considering his options when the Acolytes arrived to offer him a perfect solution. Their meeting concluded Nader offered once more for Giovanna to quit working for the Emperor and to join him before informing the Acolytes to return home, he would send a guide the next day to show them where this troublesome guild operated. - Raith
Raith replied to Ghaundan's topic in Dark HeresyDesire is a really big part of Roleplaying, the desire to play the more "intellectual" or spiritual careers often requiers someone who really likes playing that occupation. What i highly suggest is not to try and force that option onto your group, its usually an indicator of the type of game your players want to experience based on the classes they take. My game for instance is really heavy on the combatants, and I need to constantly remind myself that I can't run a large intellectual conspiracy or investigation, my players dont think that way so they avoid playing classes that might force them ot think like that. Sure there are plenty of ways to entice player to try a different class, for me I like to point out that Clerics in the Imperium can be just a psycho as a Moritat and they get access to Flame weapons really early on, thier is no need for them to play up the Preacher aspect to being a Cleric, just that they have a faith and to quote a particular move "Are on a mission from God". Adepts are a bit trickier, the biggest benefit is thier breadth of skills. They are the go to guy for knowledge but thier is no need to make then jsut a walking library, they can easily become the front-man of a Acoltye cell with the right alternate level or really go dark and become a Sorceror. I would say the best thing about Adepts is that out of all the career's they are the most likely to know what is really going on and just how dark the night really is. If you get a good player you can feed off that fact and use the adept to feed terror to your players. But it really is all about personal desire. If you want to see the religious aspect of the Imperium and your players dont want to experience it first hand, use your adventures themselves to highlight that aspect. Bring in religious NPC's and a attatch Adept when they need answers froma dusty tome of lore. Let that slide a little and move on with what your group wants, that way no one feels like thier playig something they didnt originally intend, AND you get the added bonus that showing off NPC;s this way will help to encourage a player to try out that class, when they are out of Fate Points. - Raith
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Dark Heresy"For all those who came in late…" - Lee Falke Hi all, its been a very busy 18 months and pretty much 2 years since I last ran this campaign, but after juggling some things and pushing some others I am getting back into running my campaign. With the amount of time between this and my last post I figure it is time to begin a new chapter and a new session count. So far we have had 1 short session as people become re-familiar with their characters and while some will probably be fading away (the players have moved on) I will be bringing in a new player in Session 2. THE SEARCH FOR VICTORY Chapter Two: By Tooth and Nail Session 1: Calixis Sector, Malfi, Starport to Hab-Block 401-15-A "Hern's Hab" 229.799.M41 Crewmen scurried around the Blessed Remembrance as cogitators clicked over calculations. A week-long trip covering hundreds of light years had taken a total of 52 days to complete planet-time according to the communications from the Malfi orbital controls. To the hail of thanks from the pilgrims they had saved from certain immortal doom the acolytes gathered their gear and disembarked via a much more private shuttle than the massive and rickety bulk transfer-vehicles that the nearly 250,000 penitents would take. A blanket of dark grey storm clouds and belting rain obscured any view the Acolytes might have had as they descended to the planet-side dockyards. Safely enclosed within a strangely underpopulated hanger they proceeded from their transport and into the long line of passengers slowly worming its way through customs checkpoints staffed by local enforcers who clearly were fleecing the new arrivals for whatever bribes they could. The Acolytes had spent what little time they had aboard the Remembrance preparing themselves for the ordeal ahead either through personally refining their fighting styles and checking over equipment or even beseeching the ship's crew for assistance as did Enginseer Hack currently bedecked in the most unobtrusive Mechnicum robes rather than displaying his newest badge of approval, granted by the Remembrance's Enginseer Prime following the standard 36.45 hour qualification trials. The rest were similarly down-dressed, though some more than others. The group's limited experience with running their own investigations left them a little directionless as they closed on the transfer point. Just as they began to worry if their over-abundance of arms and equipment would somehow either cost them more than they could afford or attract undue attention a thin tanned woman in a rumpled grey overcoat pushed through the cordon of enforcers flashing her identity. The newcomer passed her gaze of the queue and settled on Sister Tzarine. Striding over she identified herself in High Gothic as Giovanna Arico, the black armoured body-glove beneath the rain-coat clearly that worn by Arbitrators when not clad in full carapace. The woman surreptitiously teased the appropriate pass-phases given to the group back on Scintilla by Marshal Blac from them using the more formal language of the Imperium to provide an additional level of protection from any eaves droppers. Cutting any questions short she marched the group out of the starport and into a waiting grav-transport, their luggage stowed into a second smaller servitor controlled vehicle to tail them. Ensconced in the rear of the armoured car Giovanna answered what questions she could explaining how almost everything on Malfi was the property of the decaying noble houses and that with the decline of the planet so to had the resources of the Arbites. Similarly this slow decay of the planets society combined with a decreasing population as various imperial tithes were leveled but never offset had led to a perpetual abandoned feeling all throughout the hive. Despite the massive eight four-layer highway the group traveled and the previous sprawling dock the traffic was light and the crowds obviously thin. Arl questioned her as to their destination when it became apparent they were not heading for the primary Precinct Fortress. With the location under constant surveillance the detective had instead elected to house the group within one of the more run-down Hab's of the hive, a little four room apartment with enough beds to keep the group comfortable but with little to distinguish it as a place agents of the Inquisition might be discovered at. As the grav-car sped through the driving acid rainstorm lashing the area the group could glimpse the Solar hive that would in the morning become their new hunting ground. Massive hab-blocks reached skyward making the divide between the rain forest, which had regrown quickly once the planets industry had ground to a near halt, and the city abundantly clear as organic trees reaching towards the elevated highway suddenly gave way to towering man-made edifices of steel and glass, the sky-scrapers packed close together but sprawling for endless miles ahead. Soon after the grav-car took an off-ramp doubling back around beneath the highway to wind through various lesser arterial streets and roads, what little grey daylight existed strobed as the car passed through the ravines cast by the looming buildings. Finally at ground level the Acolytes and their contact arrived at their apartment and with a warming from Giovanna not to wander to far the detective bid the group a pleasant evening, promising to return on the morning to begin their investigation into House Syreen. - Raith
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Anima: TacticsDEMONSTRATION EVENT #30 CELEBRATORY EVENT Saturday October 15th 2011 With the conclusion of my latest campaign, Dark is the Fallen Sky its time to relax and have some fun with Anima so for one day only I will be in Mind Games and I plan to run a special event with as many players in a single game as I can! Each player will get either 150 levels, 100 levels or a single figure to command (Depending on player numbers). Players will be divided into teams to play each other en masse. There will be two rules in effect, first round to round something special will happen randomly. Second, players can only talk tactics with another player if their character is within control zone range! This isn't a serious event and is a bit short on notice but it should be a great little break. Their might even be a second event for the winner of the Campaign... if theirs time. To top all that off it will still be a Demo Day so new players are welcome, I'm more than happen to show how the game works. Location: Mind Games, Melbourne,. 244 Swanston Street in the heart of the CBD, Victoria, Australia. Time: 12:00noon till 5:30pm, Saturday October 15th For specific information post questions here or email: email@example.com - Raith
Raith posted a topic in Anima: Tactics"For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falk This thread is to announce the various Demonstrations and other non-convention Activities I will be hosting unlike the previous threads this one doesn't have a date attached and I'll use it till I get back to a regular schedule. Not only is this thread for announcing anything I am running but if you need to get in touch with ne here is a great place, on top of that if anyone else wants to run an (Anima Tactics) event in Australia and would like to post their day here, feel free. Location of Demonstrations: Mind Games, Melbourne,. 244 Swanston Street in the heart of the CBD, Victoria, Australia. For specific information post questions here or email: firstname.lastname@example.com - Raith
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Anima: TacticsCAMPAIGN UPDATE CONCLUSION After Action Report ***** ...cracks of light rippled over the surface of the pillar like lightning. One moment everything had been as before as the blood soaked Abominations towered over the assembled Wissenscraft and Samael forces. With a shudder the pillar shattered falling in half with a terrible moan as a blast of grave chilled air swept out to blanket the land. Its taken a little more time than originally planned though not too many more weekends than I had thought for a conclusion to finally be reached in Dark is the Fallen Sky, and what a conclusion! Following a short game to get some final points we had three players all paused to make a run for the final mission of their separate tasks, Mecha (Wissenscraft), sen (Samael) and Jordan (Azur). All of them had struggled with their missions, for Sen and Meha they felt the pain through their regular missions while Jordan scraped through his goals. In the end while fighting off the other two Jordan claimed victory using a slightly modified scoring system to take into account Victory Points and the number of turns each team took in thier final match. For his efforts Jordan won a LE Khaine, a $50 Gift Voucher and his choice of an "As yet to be decided" Advantage Card. ***** Match 1: 300 Levels (Jordn v Mecha) Azur Alliance verses Wissenscraft Special Battle: The Wake Azur Forces: High Arbiter Aizen, Maximo Ligori, Les Jaeger Wissenscraft Forces: Assault Team, Hiro, Khaine D'Lacreu, Cordellia Rosalind The Azur forces proceeded straight forward, their mission, to take a specific enemy amungst their opponents. Wissenscraft headed up onto a short ruined wall to take firing positions. Ligori and Kyler moved out n front the big warrior hoping to draw fire and the assassin using his stealth to keep unseen. Despite their efforts Wissenscraft broke through the heavy combatants of the Alliance and managed to sneak away to safety. Azur Score: 135 Wissenscraft Score: Inspiration - Command Presence Match 2: 300 Levels (Mecha v Jordan) Special Battle: Neo-Abomination Wissenscraft Forces: Assault Team, Hiro, Goethis (x/Mauser), Sophia Ilmora Neo-Abomination: Aizen The Pillar had crashed amid a series of sprawling ruins that forced the leader of Wissenscraft to break up his team into a pair of smaller forces. While seeming like a good strategy their opponent was more than eager to close with the smaller groups and despite the thunderous attacks from Lorenzo and Hiro knocking the abomination about the field it proceeded to rip apart its opponents completely. Abomination Score: Inspiration - Distraction Match 3: 300 Levels (Sen v Jordan) Special Battle: Neo-Abomination Samael Forces: Fallen Angel Dinah, Janiel, Momiji, Konosuke, Dark Cheshire, Nahimana Neo-Abomination: Aizen In some form of strange synchronicity the Black Pillar soon spat out the same Abomination to face its enemies in another battle. The change in terrain and a more coordinated assault by the agents of Samael keep the Abomination back and forced it to constantly fall away from conflict and use its dark powers to cloak its form and even adopt the powers of those previously slain. After a final assault by the Abomination, Samael was finally able to bring its heavy hitters to bare and scrape in a victory for their forces. Samael Score: Special Result (Victory after 9 turns) Match 4: 300 Levels (Jordan v Mecha) The Azur Alliance versus Wissenscraft Special Battle: Unholy Atmosphere Azur Forces: High Arbiter Aizen, Les Jaeger, Maximo Ligori Wissenscraft Forces: Assault Team, Hiro, Sophia Ilmora, Goethia (w/Mauser) For what was sure to be the very last match and with Sunday afternoon quickly dying both teams pulled out all the stops employing all their accumulated Inspirations and any excess Exploration points. Jordan marked in battle with 3x A Good Nights Sleep, 1x Acrobatics Training (for Maximo), Kirsten acting a Distraction for the Wissenscraft men while enacting her Draconic pact while Maximo used the reward Energy Break. Having suffered a number of significant downs in the previous battle Mecha revived his men with Inspiration rewards and counted his blessings as the Beryl's Mikael and Uriel provided their Marks for his cause. Dark clouds of energy sapped the life from the very air as the Alliance took to their field. Their opponents battered from earlier confrontations rallied and called upon the hidden Beryl's for help but quickly found themselves at a disadvantage as Lorenzo succumbed to the unholy atmosphere and the doom emanating from the Pillar. Under the cloak of clouds Aizen waded into the enemy and brought his talents to the fore crushing his opponents in short order, enough to secure the Pillar for the Alliance to study at their leisure and finally determine a way to either harness their corrupting power or to prevent them from falling into other hands. Final Score: Azur Victory (after 6 turns) ***** Each player in the campaign selects a force of 400 levels, while they do not have to fully their roster at the beginning of the campaign once a purchase is made it is fixed unless a reward from a match allows a change. These 400 levels allow for an additional 40points of Advantage Cards, 1 Leader class unit and 2 Organizational advantages. The following information is the various Teams so far participating in the Campaign. The Teams: Mecha – Wissenscraft Character Pool: XII, Lorenzo, Rayne, Alessa Raincross, Goethia (Pilot: Mauser), Hiro, Sophia Ilmora, Khaine D'Lacreu Organizational Advantages: The Process, Lost Loggia Advantage Cards: Nullem Lusec, Ord of Power, Fate Clock, Greater Life Potion, Aura, Raphael's Gift, After Image, Dragons Blood, Supernatural Traps, Supernatural Weapon. Team Cards: Assault Team Final Exploration Points: 3850 Exploration Rewards: Seek New Horizons (Used) x5, Mark of Mikael (Used) x2, Mark of Uriel (Used) x2 Influence Rewards: Discredit (Used) Jordan – Azur Alliance Character Pool: High Arbiter Aisen, Reinhold, The Colonel, Kyler, Kirsten, Claude Valmore, Cenette, Drake Organizational Advantages: Shadow Lords, Organization Advantage Cards: Dragons Blood, Tactical Advantage, Covert Operations, Nue, Piercing Weapon, Clock of Kronos Team Cards: Les Jaeger Final Exploration Points: 5060 Exploration Rewards: Mark of Gabriel (Used) x4, Seek New Horizons (Used) x5, Change of Orders (Used, Elhaim), Change of Orders (Used, Arkeid & Elhaim), Good Nights Sleep (Used) x3, Acrobatics Training (Used) Influence Rewards: Command Presence (Used), Seals of the Dragon (Used), Energy Break (Used), Distraction (Used) Fallecs – Wissenscraft (Team Swap) Character Pool: XII, Lorenzo, Rayne, Valis, Allessa, Cordellia Organizational Advantages: The Process, Lost Loggia Advantage Cards: Orb of Power, Healing Potion, Supernatural Weapon, Combined Combat, Doom Clock Team Cards: Assault Team Final Exploration Points: 105 Isaac - Samael Character Pool: Fallen Angel Dinah, Bael, Momiji, Nahimana, Shinigami Ayl, Konosuke, Janiel, Cheshire (5 points unspent) Organizational Advantages: Mystic Advantage Cards: Protective Shield, Supernatural Weapon, Control Bound, Combined Combat, Nephiros (15 points unspent) Team Cards: None Final Exploration Points: 2020 Rewards Bought: Seek New Horizons (Used) x2 Andrew - Empire Character Pool: Daniella, Erika, Claire, Lilian (225 points unspent) Organizational Advantages: Combat Mastery, Imperial Armour Advantage Cards: 2x Supernatural Weapon, Gabriel's Gift, Pool of Life, Mikael's Tears Team Cards: None Final Exploration Points: 455 Influence Rewards: Exodus, Illusion of the Mirror Sen - Samael Character Pool: Cheshire, Momiji, Bael, Konosuke, Shinigami Ayl, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Nahimana, Janiel, Fire Demon (45 points unspent) Organizational Advantages: Supernatural Mastery, Mystic Advantage Cards: Dawn of the Dark, Life Potion, Aberration, Nephiros, Raphael's Gift (10 points unspent) Team Cards: None Final Exploration Points: 4255 Exploration Rewards: Seek New Horizons (Used) x2 Influence Rewards: Protection (Used), Beyond Reality, Curse (Used), Toll (Used), Fascination, Prince of Thieves Kyris - Empire Character Pool: Samiel, Kronen, Daniella, Iosara (215 points unspent) Organizational Advantages: Empresses Chosen, Critical Mastery Advantage Cards: Life Potion, Logistics, Tactics (20 points unspent) Team Cards: None Final Exploration Points: 1210 Ayo - Church Character Pool: Damien, Justina, Xavier, Marchosias, Saint Hazael, Church Agent (30), Church Agent (30), Alius (40), Alius (35) (0 points unspent) Organizational Advantages: Divine Mediation, Unshakable Faith Advantage Cards: Elemental Weapons, After Image, Energy Orb, Power Source (0 points unspent) Team Cards: Damien and Justina Final Exploration Points: 805 Exploration Rewards: Seals of the Dragon Influence Rewards: Change of Orders ***** Finally, while not related to the campaign during the afternoon on the second day I actually got to play a match. Empire (Samiel, Odin, Cerberos Division, Grevier) verses Black Sun (Promethia, Styx, 3x Type 5, Raziel, Clover, Arkham) It was an awesome little match while it lasted, I made an early mistake and didn't deploy Daniella with a clear enough line of sight so she had to run away from Clover, effectively skipping a turn of shooting, but she did manage to take down a Type 5 and the exploding fun began. Samiel and Grevier jumped into the fight with Raziel, Arkhamm the remaining Type 5's and Clover. Using power core kept Samiel alive for a little but the detonations from the Type 5's and Arkham's attacks did a lot of damage to everyone, except Odin who waded into the brawl and Samiel died completely. At the point the game was called the overwhelming melee skill of the Empire seemed to have the upper hand... ***** For now the campaigning is over but soon their will be a new campaign beginning. For those who have been keeping track of this thread thanks! I know some of you are wanting to use the rules from this campaign, in the next couple of weeks I will be reviewing the rules with all the little clarrifications, spelling corrections, oversights and odd and ends I've missed to represent a nice rounded out set for use by others, their wont be much of a change, though the Abomination will be getting its own set of stats! For anyone in the Melbourne (Australia) area in the meantime, check out my Demo thread to see if anything is happening, this coming weekend I'm having a special little party for those who joined the campaign and anyone else who wants to come along. Details will appear in the other thread. Thanks for reading! - Raith
Raith replied to Raith's topic in Anima: TacticsCAMPAIGN WEEKEND #16 THE END GAME New Dates! October 8th and 9th For all those who came in late... There are some new dates for the final of this Campaign, October 8th and 9th are the new days, time and location remains the same! - Raith- Raith


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To make the Muppets, first Jim Henson gilded puppetry with an unmistakable shimmer of stage magic: Any great Muppet sketch has a "How'd-they-do-that?" element to it. You can't help but crane your neck to look in vain for the puppeteer hiding somewhere in the scenery or dedicate several minutes to wondering how Henson, say, got Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy to pedal around Central Park on bicycles without any human assistance.
Second, Henson infused his felt-skinned creations with the manic timing of vaudeville, as perfected by early Warner Bros. cartoons. Every minute of a worthy Muppet endeavor manages to fire off three different jokes—one broad laugh for the kids, one sly nod to the adults while the kids are busy laughing, then a clever sight gag in the background to catch on repeated viewings.
I'm pleased to report that Jason Segel, who cowrote and stars in The Muppets, absolutely understands the necessity of both sides of Henson's two-pronged approach. As they return to movie theaters for the first time since their five-film losing streak ended in 2005 with the unmemorable Muppets' Wizard of Oz, the Muppets are in very good hands (and very good hands are in the Muppets, too).
Segel reportedly talked new Muppet owners Disney out of a (gasp!) CGI approach—one can imagine the pair of programming schlubs on the Hollywood back lot who devoted years to perfecting the look of digital felt before the Mouse, with its infamous cold-bloodedness, finally pulled the plug on them. With CGI out of the picture, Segel went about enlisting the best talent he could to make a top-notch movie.
The riskiest move is in the script: Segel went meta, writing a plot in which he and his puppet "brother" Walter have to reunite the Muppets in order to save their old theater from a greedy businessman named Tex Richman (a delightfully game Chris Cooper). The beginning is a little too nostalgic and reverent—nostalgia and reverence are anti- Muppet—but once Fozzie and Animal and all the rest show up, the self-importance deflates and everything starts running smoothly.
I don't want to get into too many specifics, because The Muppets is packed with surprises, and you should absolutely experience it without spoilers. Segel stuffed the movie end-to-end with entertainment: Celebrity cameos abound, Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie contributes genuinely catchy songs, and Segel and costar Amy Adams dance their hearts out. (Adams is as charming as she's ever been as the love interest, but she's not given a whole lot to do; The Muppets, it must be said, is a bit of a sausagefest.) There's a little CGI trickery—we're not supposed to see Muppet feet as often as we do here—but the best sequences are showcases of good old-fashioned puppet ingenuity, the Henson way. While the children laugh at a scene where Kermit and company have to sit on toilets at a plumbing factory, the adults are laughing because they're picturing the poor Muppeteers who have to lie on their backs and snake their arms through toilets to make the scene work.
Segel remembers that every Muppet movie has real emotional heft, too. In addition to the straightforward stick-it-to-the-businessman plot, the movie asks some serious thematic questions: Is it possible for an intellectual property to be bought by a huge corporation and still maintain the integrity that made it so worthwhile in the first place? Can a grown man cling to his childhood and still be a grown man? Does a fart joke belong in a Muppet movie?
The answer to that last one is a little tricky; some Muppet purists are already upset about it. And Frank Oz, the original actor behind Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, has been very vocal about his displeasure with Segel's script. Unfortunate as it is to imagine an upset Frank Oz, this is as it should be. Any entertainment property that lasts for 40 years (40 years!) survives by moving forward, and you can't move forward without leaving parts of the past behind. The Muppets is more than respectful of what has come before, and the new elements Segel inserts—jokes about the 1980s, a slightly more ADD-friendly directorial style, the aforementioned farts—are all part of the evolutionary process. (Nothing here is as jarring as the weird mid-'90s Muppets Tonight TV show, with its unlovable Jar Jar Binksian host, Clifford, for instance.) Anything less irreverent would have left the film with a strange trapped-in-amber quality.
The Muppets isn't perfect—Fozzie and several other Muppets at times sound like they have sore throats due to the new voice talent, and because of the up-with-Muppets tone of the film, there's not really any way for grousier elements like Statler and Waldorf or Sam the Eagle to get their moments in the spotlight—but it's pretty damn close to perfect. It introduces the Muppets to a new generation of kids while reminding the generation before exactly why they loved them so much. Hopefully, Segel will stick with this for a while longer; the next movie, which won't have to explain why we should give a damn about the Muppets, has the potential to live up to what Segel originally wanted to title this one—The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever.