TEXT: Idyll Heresies
  By Daniel R. Robichaud
  
  Introduction & Game Master's Section
   
  Idyll Heresies is a brief scenario designed for a group of 
  Acolytes near the end of their first Rank or at the beginning of 
  their second.  Its mysteries plunge these Acolytes into one of 
  Malfi's Underhive urban hells, tracking a heretical drug, Idyll.  
  Following this narcotic will be no easy task, as it is the focal 
  point between a silent conflict between a cult of decadent, 
  noble family born, pleasure worshippers and a degenerate 
  murderer plagued with dark ambitions.  This challenging 
  adventure melds investigation with healthy doses of violence, 
  pitting Acolytes against foes both natural and malefic in 
  origin.
  Adventure Background
   
  Though the action leading into and carrying throughout much 
  of this scenario revolves around the drug Idyll, at the heart of 
  this particular plot are two men's obsessions.  First of these 
  is Liam Kensington, the prodigal son of nobility.  Tired of 
  toiling for a distant, unseen God-Emperor, Liam Kensington 
  discovers a new cause:  the pursuit of selfish amusement.  To 
  this end, he forms the Ecstatics, a cult dedicated to unabated 
  pleasures.  While their existence is not common knowledge -- 
  such a cult is, of course, heresy -- word spreads among certain 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 2
  
  circles.  Only the beautiful but morally weary souls are invited 
  to participate.  While not quite harmless fun, it is most 
  certainly a means of escaping day-to-day drudgery.
   
  Few understand day-to-day drudgeries quite so well as 
  Durante Gagne, one of the vast numbers of Ordinates pushing 
  papers within the sprawling bureaucratic madness of Malfi's 
  Administratum.  Even bureaucrats, however, have interests for 
  what brief spans of time constitute their lives outside the 
  offices, and Gagne's often revolve around the pursuit of women.  
  He seldom finds success at this with anyone other than 
  professionals, since his prosaic personality seldom generates 
  the attention he craves.  Failure breeds fury, but Gagne keeps 
  his feelings well hidden.  When his latest interest, a fellow 
  Administratum coworker named Esthe LeGans, unknowingly rejects 
  him by returning the flirtations of slumming noble Liam 
  Kensington, Gagne's unspoken rage swells further than ever 
  before.  He adopts a policy of covert observations, and 
  expresses his fierce rampages the one way he can:  bedding and 
  beating scum prostitutes.
   
  Unfortunately for Gagne, he chooses the wrong scum from the 
  Imperial Arms dance hall, contracting HerSy-double-delt, a non-
  lethal (but certainly unmanning) viral disease.  The blame for 
  this, Gagne also lays at Kensington's feet.  Thus, from hatred 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 3
  
  and embarrassment, Gagne pledges himself, body and soul, to 
  revenging himself upon Kensington.  From darkness, an answer 
  comes.  In a fit of passion, Gagne consummates a Dark Pact with 
  the Fly Lord, Nurgle.
   
  After the pact, Gagne's road to revenge comes together in 
  short order.  He uncovers Kensington's cult but chooses not to 
  expose the group to The Arbiters or the Inquisition.  Instead, 
  he plots to use the Ecstatics to bring one of Nurgle's minions 
  into the world.  But, he wonders, how?
   
  Prim Venkateswaran is Liam Kensington's primary connection 
  to illegal substances.  Gagne has made it his mission to keep 
  Prim's chief courier on his payroll.  When he discovers that 
  Kensington is paying to receive a quantity of Idyll, a solution 
  to the Ecstatics quandary arrives like a revelation.  First, he 
  will intercept the shipment and spike it with psychotropic 
  drugs, to render all who take it completely out of their minds.  
  Then, Gagne will take Kensington's three most important lovelies 
  as the final sacrifices in the Chaos Ritual.
   
  In the week prior to the events of this adventure, Gagne 
  has already sacrificed four souls to his dark lord, transforming 
  the sublevels of the now defunct and abandoned Imperial Arms 
  into his personal worship chambers.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 4
  
   
  Unfortunately, Gagne's dedication to Nurgle is having an 
  effect on his body.  Every sacrifice he has made has invited a 
  new mutation.  What started as signs that might have been hidden 
  beneath his day-to-day uniform has quickly escalated into a 
  situation beyond reasonable concealment.  Once he has had 
  completed his plot, Gagne must disappear from the life he has 
  known or else risk destruction by the Imperial Inquisition.  He 
  feels the need to close off as many loose ends as he can 
  tonight, using and then disposing of anyone who might be traced 
  back to him.  
   
  This may well prove his undoing, inviting the attention of 
  Acolytes on the trail of Kensington's Idyll request...
  An Overview of the Adventure
   
  The scenario is composed of six scenes.  Scene 1 should be 
  run first, as it provides the narrative thrust for what follows, 
  while Scene 6 offers the climactic endgame and should, 
  therefore, be played last.  However, the remaining four 
  interlude scenes can be pursued (or not) in whatever order the 
  Players choose.  While brave (or foolhardy) bands may choose to 
  split their resources to pursue multiple leads simultaneously, 
  they should do so at their own peril.  The threat levels of 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 5
  
  individual scenes may be too great for such splintered parties 
  to maneuver alone.
   
  Following the scenario is an appendix offering detailed 
  statistics for major NPCs and encountered creatures.
   
  The scenario breaks down as follows:
   
  Scene 1:  Idyll Foreboding
   
  Operating on their orders, the Acolytes find themselves 
  outside the abode of Prim Venkateswaran.  Unfortunately, they 
  are too late to gain any meaningful information from questioning 
  him, as Prim has been murdered.  However, there are still clues 
  to be had and an encounter with Gagne's monstrous guardians.  
  Ultimately, the Acolytes discover a quantity of the heretical 
  narcotic Idyll is unaccounted for, dispatched via Courier.
   
  Scene 2:  Idyll Pursuit
   
  The Acolytes pursue Prim's Courier, ultimately finding that 
  he, too, has been murdered.  However, observant gangers have 
  some additional information, including the partial identity of 
  Prim's Murderer.  As well, the gangers reveal that a scum looter 
  (named Giuseppe Orne) is taking some Idyll to the Floating Sub-
  Market, an Underhive bazaar of sorts where anything and 
  everything can be sold.
   
  Scene 3:  Idyll Marketeering
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 6
  
   
  In this scene, the Acolytes pursue the Idyll into the 
  Floating Sub-Markets.  There, they find their quarry attracting 
  still more unwanted attention.  If the Acolytes are to recover 
  the Idyll, they must find a way to extricate it from Giuseppe 
  and his enemies.
   
  Scene 4:  Idyll Ecstatics
   
  Pursuing the largest portion of Idyll leads to the 
  Terraceton Suites, a hotel catering to slumming nobles.  
  Kensington has let the entire twelfth floor, though his pleasure 
  party has gone terribly out of control.  Heresies abound, but 
  the hint of something far worse than simple Idyll is to be 
  found.
   
  Scene 5:  Idyll Foe
   
  This brief scene details Durante Gagne's living space, and 
  acts as clue central for any missed leads.
   
  Scene 6:  Idyll Worship
   
  In the Imperial Arms, the Acolytes discover Durante Gagne's 
  plan:  the sacrifice of seven souls to Nurgle, and the summoning 
  of a daemon.  The Acolytes have a chance to fulfill the Ordos 
  Hereticus and Ordos Maleficus tenets by destroying both Gagne 
  and a newly born Plaguebearer.  Should the Acolytes fail in 
  either regard, then this Hive is doomed.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 7
  
  Involving the Acolytes
   
  Idyll Heresies is constructed under the assumption that the 
  Acolytes are already on Malfi.  If this is not the case, Game 
  Masters are encouraged to construct scenes or scenarios to act 
  as a Prologue, building up to the following action.
   
  The aim of this scenario is to skip unnecessary preamble 
  and begin as close to the action as possible.  Therefore, when 
  beginning the scenario, read or paraphrase the Mission Briefing 
  and then begin play with the Acolytes outside of Prim's hideout 
  (Scene 1).
  Mission Briefing
   
  Greetings, Acolytes.  
   
  Over the last year, a new heresy has been moving between 
  the worlds:  the drug called Idyll.  Though much effort has been 
  made to suppress this substance, it continues to find its way 
  into heretics' hands.  A recent interception of a large quantity 
  of the Xenos derived narcotic has led to news that a smaller 
  shipment may already be on Malfi.
   
  In fact, we have learned that this material has been 
  delivered to one Prim Venkateswaran, a scum supplier who dwells 
  in the Underhive.  This substance must be destroyed before it 
  leads to irreparable damages.  You will venture to the currently 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 8
  
  known lair of this malefactor, document his holdings, and then 
  destroy it.  Reports indicate it to be 100 kilograms, but any 
  amount no matter how small is too much to ignore.
   
  Should you also learn the identity of those who might seek 
  out such a foul substance, it would behoove you to relieve them 
  from the burdens of their heretical lives.
  Scene 1:  Idyll Foreboding
   
  Every Hiveworld is different, yet they all share 
  commonalities.  One of these is the simple fact that every Hive 
  offers plenty of shadow drenched cracks from which scum like 
  Prim Venkateswaran can run their operations.  He does not so 
  much have a permanent lair as he has a series of hang outs, 
  staying until such time as either his danger sense or wandering 
  feet tell him to find another.  For his latest hideaway, Prim 
  converted a three room apartment into his personal storage and 
  distribution house.  
   
  Rooms 1 and 2 of the apartment have three windows, each 
  reinforced by hastily bolted, salvaged hull plates from shipyard 
  scraps and autocar junkyards (providing 4 AP of cover).  The 
  walls are also reinforced with more of the salvaged armor plates 
  (providing 8 AP of cover).  A salvaged blast door (offering 8 AP 
  of cover) stands as Room 1's front door.  When the Acolytes 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 9
  
  arrive, the front door is unlocked, merely pulled closed to 
  create the illusion of security.  A pict recorder is positioned 
  overhead.
   
  Of course, the Acolytes should have the opportunity to 
  design a plan of entry to Prim's current locale, and be granted 
  the option to pursue whichever means they wish.  Sketch out the 
  perimeter of Prim's hideout for the Players and providing only a 
  few answers to questions while demanding a quick plan for entry 
  to heighten the dramatic sense of little time.  Whether they aim 
  to come crashing through the walls/ceiling/windows like 
  Ultramarines (see Damaging Cover on page 199 of Dark Heresy) or 
  follow a more diplomatic route, the end result is the same.  
   
  When the Acolytes gain entry to either Room 1 or Room 2, 
  read or paraphrase the following:  
   
  Already cramped living quarters have been rendered even 
  more claustrophobic.  Dozens of two meter tall, purple or 
  gunmetal blue cargo crates have been haphazardly arranged 
  throughout the room, breaking the open spaces into cramped 
  aisles.  The serial codes have been scraped off of these crates, 
  though occasional vessel stamps are still visible, revealing 
  them to be the property of Imperial freighters.  Long, 
  motionless, black tendrils wind across the floor around the 
  crates and sometimes between or beneath the pallets:  power 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 10
  
  cables from some unseen, coughing motor.  Overhead wait the 
  unblinking eyes of pict recorders.  The air here is rife with 
  the stink of dried sink traps, the heavy reek of distant sewage 
  backups, and the ozone exhalations of poorly maintained 
  electrical equipment.  The crates, sometimes stacked to the 
  ceiling, sometimes not, offer plentiful places of concealment, 
  and every blind corner silently promises danger.  Shadows dance 
  from as yet unseen lights, but at the moment there is no 
  certainty as to whether these are simply the flickers of open 
  flames or the promise of hostile scum readying to receive 
  unexpected guests.
   
  What awaits the Acolytes in either room of these converted 
  quarters are cramped, winding labyrinths of aisles built from 
  walls of stacked, two meter tall crates of hijacked cargo.  An 
  already claustrophobic set of rooms is made nightmarish by the 
  sheer number of potential ambush points.
   
  The flickering lights are due to covered candles 
  occasionally placed through the passages.  These have been 
  burning a while, reduced to mere stubs now, on the verge of 
  going out.  Game Masters interested in maintaining a creepy 
  atmosphere may well have a few of these lights extinguish ahead 
  or behind the Acolytes' progress.  Though the ceiling holds 
  mounts for track lighting, any such bulbs have been removed.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 11
  
   
  Maneuvering through these cramped aisles of cargo crates is 
  relatively straightforward, but treacherous.  This terrain is 
  the equivalent of Difficult.   The crates themselves do not 
  respond well to being bumped, and properly adjusted Agility 
  rolls to escape occasional collapsing crates may be called for 
  at the Game Master's discretion.
   
  In fact, there are no operational defenders in either of 
  these rooms.  Proceeding through the aisles, Acolytes encounter 
  a total of four deactivated battle-servitor drones.  Examining 
  them and succeeding at an Easy Tech Use Test reveals a powerful 
  electromagnetic pulse has ripped through each drone's shielding 
  and corroded the circuitry inside.  Not one of the units has 
  fired even a single round.  With at least 2 degrees of success, 
  an Acolyte learns that though the units are obviously salvaged, 
  they are still in a good enough repair that a simple EMP should 
  not have penetrated their chassis.  Something highly unusual has 
  rendered these units inoperable.
   
  Room 3 is different than the previous areas.  Fewer crates 
  take up the space here, leaving room for both a sputtering 
  generator (source of the power cables) and a sleeping area 
  (including a recently emptied chamber pot, sagging cot, and 
  lumpy pillow).  A single, fallen lamp lies near the sleeping 
  area, throwing light along the back wall of the room.  The stink 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 12
  
  of generator fumes and lamp scorched floor mix with something 
  worse, the room's single occupant.  Prim awaits his uninvited 
  guests here, though not in any condition the Acolytes might have 
  hoped to find him in.  Read or paraphrase the following:
   
  What's left of the scum once called Prim Venkateswaran 
  awaits you, lounging in an open, half empty crate.  His glassy 
  eyes take no particular note of you.  Prim has not been dead 
  long, judging by the sounds and stink of gasses still escaping 
  from his corpse.  On the floor, near his grisly remains, lay a 
  trio of burst translucent, transfusion sacs.  Instead of plasma, 
  however, brown flakes spill from these onto the gory floor.  
  This, then, is the Idyll you have been seeking.
   
  Should the characters approach him, they will get more 
  details.
   
  Prim was butchered, his throat opened by several savage 
  cuts.  His forehead, nose and the flesh around his eyes are a 
  mess of pustules.
   
  Acolytes succeeding at an Ordinary Medicae test note that 
  Prim's corpse seems oddly fat for such an otherwise lean scum.  
  Though the cheeks on his face are gaunt, Prim's belly fairly 
  bulges around his gun belt, swollen like a sausage.  An 
  autopistol is holstered at his side, untouched.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 13
  
   
  The blood on floor and inside either crate is not quite 
  clear and normal either, but is flecked with greenish black 
  globules, like burned spice seeds.
   
  The closer the Acolytes get to the body, the more prevalent 
  becomes the rot stink.  A Routine Medicae Test will determine 
  that it is too soon for the body to be quite this fragrant as 
  Prim has been dead for little over an hour, yet he is still the 
  stench's source.  
  Swarmed by the Unclean
   
  By simply arriving at Room 3's entry, the Acolytes trigger 
  an encounter.  Several of Gagne's Peste Ticks hide among the 
  crates, watching and waiting.  Wary characters may notice their 
  presence with a Challenging Awareness Test opposed by the Ticks' 
  Concealment.  The Peste Ticks will observe the Acolytes' 
  progress until 1) the Acolytes tamper with the body, 2) the 
  Acolytes search the sleeping area or 3) the Acolytes try to 
  leave the room.
   
  Should the Acolytes touch the body, they will trigger the 
  emergence of a Peste Swarm, which is even now ready to burst 
  free.  Read or paraphrase the following:
   
  Suddenly, Prim's body seizes, heaving up as though trying 
  to rise to his lifeless feet.  The head lolls awkwardly 
  backward, revealing the spine in the corpse's throat, and waves 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 14
  
  of decay-stink roll off him, bathing you in unclean vapors.  
  With the tearing of a dozen separate sheets of parchment being 
  simultaneously shredded, his body comes apart.  The boils on his 
  face open like flowers and his swollen belly bursts, releasing 
  streams of crawling carrion.  Swarming insectile creatures, each 
  as wide as a thumb's tip, scamper free, dragging ribbons of 
  flesh with them.  Their bodies are predominantly green, though 
  speckled with dull red spots.  Then, the globules in Prim's 
  bloody trail reveal hidden legs and scamper to creeping life, as 
  well.  
   
  One round after the swarm comes to life, the Peste Ticks 
  emerge from hiding and join the fray.  The number of Peste Ticks 
  depends upon the number of characters (there are 2 Ticks plus 1 
  additional Tick per 2 Acolytes).
   
  During combat, the Peste Ticks attempt to use surprise and 
  their pestilence bites to harangue the party, while the Peste 
  Swarm mindlessly attacks whomever is nearest Prim's body, 
  burrowing into exposed flesh or biting and crawling through 
  cracks or cuffs in armor/clothing.
  Leads
   
  Beneath Prim's pillow is a hand sewn dolly in poor 
  condition.  An effigy of a young girl, with large brown eyes and 
  a grime crusted macaroni mouth.  The stitch work is poor, 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 15
  
  stuffing bulges through gaping holes along the doll's throat and 
  sides.
   
  The open crate in which Prim's body sits holds several full 
  sacs of Idyll (90 kilograms total).  An Easy Search Test 
  suggests that some is unaccounted for, perhaps as much as 10 
  kilograms.
   
  A cache in the wall (not well hidden, since the generator's 
  wires go right inside) hides the receiving equipment for the 
  pict recorders.  Though the equipment is currently off (A 
  Routine Tech Use Test reveals them shut down by a power spike 
  occurring about seventy minutes before the Acolytes arrived), 
  the recordings are still accessible enough for the Acolytes to 
  see a courier (named Goplan Srinivasan) receiving a several sacs 
  of Idyll (10 kilos worth).  He takes these from the building, 
  and shortly after he leaves, a cloaked figure arrives.  This new 
  figure opens the front door with a key and then stares directly 
  into the cameras overhead.  His eyes are clouded by lesions and 
  ringed with pustules.  They gaze as though into the viewer, 
  before a flash of energy washes out the image, ruining the 
  recordings.
   
  The cache also holds an attaché case containing 1500 
  Thrones and a dog eared sheaf of papers hand sewn into a 
  fascicle.  Within these pages are a catalog of customers (an 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 16
  
  Easy Ciphers Test can translate the scrawled code).  The last 
  entry in this book identifies 10 kils Gland, dispatched to K, 
  1200 Terrac, 5000th.
   
  10 kilograms of Idyll (Gland) delivered to someone 
  identified as "K" (Kensington, identifiable as a regular 
  customer) at #1200 of the Terraceton Suites, for a sum of 5000 
  Thrones.
   
  Tracking either the courier or picking up and following the 
  murderer's trail will both lead the Acolytes to Scene 2 (as 
  Gagne and Srinivasan rendezvoused after Prim's demise).  
  Venturing to 1200 Terraceton Suites leads the characters to 
  Scene 4.  Unlikely as it is, Acolytes may even puzzle out 
  Durante Gagne's identity from the pict recordings, leading to 
  Scene 5 (never underestimate Player resourcefulness).
  BEGIN SIDEBAR
  Idyll
   
  Weight:  -- 
   
  Cost: 200  
  Availability:  Scarce
   
  Idyll appears to be a brown flake, and it can be smoked (in 
  Lho-Sticks), dissolved in saline and injected, or snorted raw.  
  It is actually constituted from the secretions of xenos pineal 
  glands.  Idyll has the effects of breaking down a mind's 
  inhibitions as well as instilling hallucinations in its users.  
  Whether or not there is any truth to the rumors that it can 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 17
  
  break through the doors of perception enough to allowing a 
  glimpse of the warp itself is still hotly debated.  Idyll is 
  highly illegal, possession is grounds for purging.
  END SIDEBAR
  Scene 2:  Idyll Pursuit
   
  Acolytes succeeding at a Routine Track Test will find 
  Goplan Srinivasan's trail relatively easy to pick up and pursue.  
  In fact, the courier has only gone five blocks away from Prim's 
  hideout, for a rendezvous with Gagne.  Though Gagne has long 
  since departed, Goplan remains exactly where he was.  Since 
  Gagne's departure, a band of gangers arrived and are currently 
  bickering over his remains and gear.
   
  The courier's trail leads the Acolytes to the mouth of a 
  murky alleyway.  When they arrive, read or paraphrase the 
  following:
   
  The mouth of this alley is barely illuminated by the 
  phosphorescent glow of the nearby streetlamps.  Mist hangs in 
  the air like a miasma.  Though the passage itself is straight 
  enough, it offers neither clear nor clean progress.  Five meters 
  inside, a blue biohazard waste receptacle dominates one of the 
  walls, standing a good two meters tall, three meters wide and 
  four meters deep.  Its closed lid is connected to either 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 18
  
  building by a complex snare of half meter thick trash delivering 
  umbilicus pipes.  The system has not been properly maintained, 
  and through three sizeable rends in storage unit's lower half 
  bleed waste fat and half digested foodstuffs, the consistency, 
  color and texture of day old vomit.  Overhead pipes leak 
  translucent coolant and clear water into a puddle-pool filling 
  the garbage strewn ground.  Currently five meters in diameter, 
  the pool is slowly growing because a film of filth and clotted 
  hair blocking the sewage grate prevents any reasonable outflow.  
  Floating near the grate is a ruptured, transfusion sac of Idyll.  
  After 10 meters, the alley opens into a courtyard between four 
  of the anthill tenements.  Even now, you can hear the sounds of 
  grousing voices from somewhere around the corner.
   
  Should the characters venture inside, Silent Move Tests are 
  Difficult to make.  Though the gangers are distracted by their 
  loot, the splashing of boots through the filthy murk will put 
  them on guard.
   
  The alley opens into a courtyard of sorts, ten meters in.  
  This place is home to a quartet of rusty stairwells, which 
  crisscross the rears of all four anthill tenements.  At the rear 
  of one building is a round table frame -- the steel network that 
  might once have held a glass patio table, with a colorful 
  umbrella in the center -- as well as three patio chairs.  The 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 19
  
  glass surface is gone, the umbrella leans like a drunken 
  soldier, and the cushions have long since been stolen from the 
  chairs.  Near to this is a second bio-waste receptacle box, 
  which is leaking almost as badly as the alley's unit.
   
  Near the furniture, a figure lies splayed on the ground.  
  This is the remains of Goplan Srinivasan, the courier for Prim 
  Venkateswaran.  Around him are several gutter dwelling scum (two 
  more than there are Acolytes) and their harshly lovely leader 
  (Sabina Carlando), picking over his corpse.  
  Encounter
   
  The gangers are standoffish; however they are not above 
  talking.  Depending on the Acolytes' methods, Sabina will step 
  forward and take charge, offering up the remains for a little 
  bit of flash or aid.  That the Acolytes are Inquisition 
  officials means little.  She has stared down death every day of 
  her life and only by staring it in the eye and perhaps spitting, 
  can she hope to better herself.
   
  So long as the Acolytes do not act particularly 
  belligerently, Sabina will answer any questions with a haughty, 
  take-no-guff tone.  The Table Below shows her Disposition 
  dependant upon the interpersonal skill being Tested.
  Skill
  Disposition
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 20
  
  Charm
  Indifferent 
  (+0)
  Command
  Resentful (-10)
  Deceive
  Accepting (+10)
  Intimidate
  Courageous 
  (-20)
   
  If the Acolytes choose to be terribly belligerent or 
  achieve 4 cumulative degrees of failure via Interpersonal skill 
  Tests, Sabina may ultimately decide to send her scum into 
  battle.  They will engage the Acolytes as well as they can.  
  Sabina fights as a Skulker (see Dark Heresy page 344), while her 
  men are all Dregs (see Dark Heresy, pg. 338).  Should Sabina be 
  dropped in combat, the others will flee or surrender, and give 
  the Acolytes an opportunity to learn the same information as 
  above.
   
  Area complications to the combat:  the ground itself it 
  slick due to the constant urban "rainfall" of leaky conduits and 
  such granting slick sheens to everything.  As such, it acts as 
  Difficult treacherous terrain.  Cover in the courtyard itself is 
  minimal.  Only three people can use the waste container (8 AP of 
  cover) at a time (one of these will always be Sabina) leading to 
  a pretty clear kill zone, should the Acolytes retreat to the 
  alleyway.
  Leads
   
  Did you kill this man?
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 21
  
   
  Nope.  Never touched him.  Gagne did it.  And we didn't rob 
  him neither.  Gagne and that sucker Giuseppe took everything of 
  value off him.  We're just redistributing what's left.
   
  Who's this Gagne?
   
  The guy who hid his face in that cloak, the one maybe five 
  years past the fashion grave?  Heard this one call him "Gagne."  
  I'm thinking this little dead man knew him, maybe was expecting 
  something a little different than slugs to brain and balls for 
  his troubles.  Can't say as I blame him, he must've been waiting 
  down here for forty, fifty minutes.  He sure was mad, too.  "If 
  that's where it's going, why'n't you just let me finish the 
  delivery?"  "Bam!" says Gagne.
   
  Who's Giuseppe?
   
  Giuseppe's a joke.  Harmless scum with designs to be a 
  trader.  He got something off this sucker to trade, all right.  
  Lucky bastard looked like he might've scored some Lhu-sticks.  
  Real primo product, though I've never seen the like before.
   
  Should the Acolytes describe the Idyll or produce a sample, 
  then Sabina will verify that Giuseppe made off with a sac.  She 
  also mentions that Gagne made off with more of the same.
   
  If pushed about how they know all this, Fellowship Tests 
  netting four cumulative degrees of success convince the gangers 
  to share the full story:  Sabina and her crew live in one of the 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 22
  
  buildings above.  When Goplan met his fate, they were sharing a 
  bottle of Amasec on one of the stairwell balconies, and observed 
  the goings-on.  When Gagne made his move, shooting Goplan first 
  in the belly and letting him beg for a while, they just sat and 
  watched.  After a few minutes, Gagne finally popped a slug into 
  Goplan's forehead and took his spoils, they continued to watch.  
  Only after the killer had gone did Sabina finally decide it was 
  safe to see what might be left.  During their descent, Giuseppe 
  arrived and looted the body, finding a stashed sac of Idyll, 
  which he took away with him.  If asked to speculate where 
  Giuseppe might have gone, one of Sabina's crew will mention 
  "going to the Float", though he quickly shuts his mouth at 
  Sabina's disapproving glare.  If asked for more, Sabina may 
  grudgingly share information about the Floating Sub-Markets, 
  leading to Scene 3.
   
  Searching the body itself reveals a few more details.  The 
  courier has been shot twice, once in the gut and once in the 
  head.  The wounds are both grievous, and ringed with some form 
  of premature decay.  In fact, the body is starting to show signs 
  of boils and bulging, tell tale traces of Peste Swarm 
  infestation.  Though this swarm is still gestating, the body and 
  its possessions should be burned to prevent contagion.  In one 
  of Goplan's pockets, Acolytes find a scrap of paper with the 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 23
  
  full address referenced in Prim Venkateswaran's ledger (1200 
  Terraceton Suites) and the buyer's name (Kensington).  This 
  leads to Scene 4.
   
  Searching for Gagne may allow for a Hard Inquiry Test and 
  lead to Scene 5.
  Scene 3:  Idyll Marketeering
   
  Pursuing Giuseppe requires the Acolytes either have direct 
  information leading them to the Floating Sub-Markets (or simply 
  "The Float"), a successful Difficult Track Test, or a 
  Challenging Inquiry Test.
   
  The Sub-Markets are so named because they are literally 
  found  below street level, in the complex warren of sewage 
  treatment tunnels and transport tube passages mostly ignored by 
  the more loyal or affluent citizens of the Hive.  Though the 
  Sub-Markets operate without authorization, they are not 
  necessarily criminal ventures.  Most simply offer unusual goods 
  for barter or cash.  The Floating Sub-Markets, however, are much 
  more aligned with the traditional black markets.  They "Float" 
  or move about regularly, and through a series of graffiti codes 
  and word of mouth, scum can find their way there to buy or sell 
  just about anything.  Particularly zealous Acolytes may view the 
  entire operation as heresy, and seek to destroy it.  Such an 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 24
  
  undertaking is monumental, for a majority of the persons 
  involved with this place's night-to-night operations are born 
  survivors, able to sniff trouble before it rears its head, 
  clearing out quickly and leaving the bruisers and crazies to go 
  toe-to-toe with the well armed authorities.  Should this happen, 
  the Floating Sub-Market will close only briefly, resurfacing 
  elsewhere after a week.  In a place like the Hive, desperation 
  will always find an outlet.
   
  Providing the Acolytes keep their eye on the prize of this 
  particular visit to the Floating Sub-Market, however, they have 
  a better chance of success.
   
  Though he longs to be something more than gutter trash, 
  Giuseppe Orne is no savvy businessman.  He has not had the 
  practice (and he lacks natural talent), but he knows a trick or 
  two about moving hot goods, quickly.  He learned much while 
  slave-laboring for one of the market's Biggest Fish, Eduardo 
  Simion.  Employed as a general laborer in Simion's operation, 
  Giuseppe tried to absorb as much technique as he possibly could, 
  before he escaped.  Now, he hopes to employ his observations in 
  the Float's "Hot Spot."
   
  The Open Quarter is a catch as catch can area with heavy 
  seller turnover.  No matter where the market ends up, The Open 
  Quarter is located in the worst conditions, in this case beneath 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 25
  
  a quartet of thermal couplers, making for "Hot Deals, Over In 
  Minutes!"  Individual traders will move into the central square 
  (The Hot Spot), and start shouting offers, wowing with buzzwords 
  and picts, striving to get the best deals from prospective 
  buyers who ring the Hot Spot before passing out from the 
  concentrated heat and exhaust fumes from the overhead units.  
  When an acceptable offer arises, the seller bails out and an 
  exchange of goods is made.
   
  Giuseppe did not count on his old employer's continued 
  interest in him.  Unfortunately, Simion has decided that 
  anything his former employee possesses is open season for 
  swiping and reselling.
  Encounter
   
  Depending on what sort of drama the Game Master would like 
  to visit, the Acolytes might arrive to find a sweating Giuseppe 
  in the Open Quarter, in the Hot Spot trying to move his sac of 
  Idyll.  Alternatively, the Acolytes might arrive in time to see 
  Giuseppe being escorted away by Simion and his two, heavily 
  armed thug guards, or Giuseppe might already be taken away to a 
  dark corner, where Simion can ask about the origin and 
  additional quantities of Idyll.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 26
  
   
  Depending on where the Acolytes encounter Giuseppe, they 
  will find a different set of terrain and interpersonal based 
  challenges.
  The Hot Spot
   
  The Hot Spot itself is the simplest setup, located in the 
  heart of the Floating Sub-Market.  In the center is a five meter 
  wide square, marked off with chipped white paint.  The markings 
  are actually intended to designate the proper positioning of 
  thermal coupling repair and regulation machinery, but it also 
  serves to determine the danger zones.  The conduits above do not 
  simply give off immense amounts of potentially damaging 
  temperatures.  As well, carcinogenic leakage and a slow 
  radiation leak offer another few ways to die.  Remaining too 
  long in The Hot Spot is a recipe for disaster (characters must 
  make a Toughness Test every three rounds or take 1d10 Toughness 
  Characteristic Damage).  In addition to environmental damage, 
  Acolytes wading into the seller mass will have one round of free 
  action before anyone knows that they are intruding Outsiders.  
  At that point, someone will yell a raid warning, and a riot will 
  ensue.  Sellers and buyers make hasty exits from the area, 
  trampling anyone who gets in their way.  The Acolytes will need 
  to wade through stampeding masses to locate their prey (who is 
  an expert at losing himself in masses).  Wary characters may, 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 27
  
  using Awareness, discover Simion's thugs moving to intercept 
  Giuseppe as well.  Should the Acolytes get to Giuseppe first, 
  they will open fire through the crowds, trying not to hit 
  Giuseppe himself initially.  However, their specific orders 
  include making sure no one speaks with Giuseppe but Simion, this 
  can be regarded as killing Giuseppe before anyone else has a 
  chance to speak to him.
  A Fine Privacy
   
  Should Simion's gang gain possession of Giuseppe, they take 
  him from the Float, into the nearby tunnels.  There, Simion can 
  ask questions, get answers, break Giuseppe's limbs, or have him 
  shot without interference.  Simion is no fool.  The stretch of 
  tunnel he chooses is one that is defensible against either side.  
  This particular passage is relatively straight, flanked by 
  walkway grates a good meter over the four meter deep stream of 
  foul drainage below.  A three meter long grate connects both 
  sides of the passage, providing a meter wide bridge across the 
  fast running sludge below.  Though this offers no cover on its 
  own, it is an easy means of traversing the flowing filth streams 
  (see the Leaping Rules on page 214 of Dark Heresy).   The 
  tunnels' "walls" are actually messes of jutting pipes and 
  conduits, positioned such to provide some cover to Simion and 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 28
  
  his bruisers.  One of the thugs waits on the grating opposite 
  his boss, acting as look out for any approaching persons.
   
  Simion and his other bruiser are questioning Giuseppe, 
  whose terror stricken protests carry.
   
  Should a firefight break out in this stretch, Simion will 
  try to make as clean a getaway as he can.  However, he is not 
  above diving into the muck and swimming for his life.  Of 
  course, this will expose him to possibly mutagenic and toxic 
  effects, but so long as he can escape, he can seek treatment 
  later...
   
  Should Simion get away, the Player Character may well have 
  an enemy for life.  Should they save him, Giuseppe will happily 
  give the Acolytes anything they want (so long as he believes he 
  can escape punishment).  See below for the motivations of the 
  various NPCs in this Scene of the scenario.
  Motivations
   
  Giuseppe (treat him as Scum, as found on page 344 of Dark 
  Heresy) wants first and foremost to escape any major troubles 
  with his life.  If he can make a little money from the 
  situation, then he is all for doing that.  If he can steal 
  something on his way out the door (something he believes he 
  might be able to exchange for money), then he is more than happy 
  to do that.  Ultimately, he is an agreeable enough fellow, so 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 29
  
  long as whatever he's agreeing to has the happy option of saving 
  his butt and/or putting a little lucre in his pocket.
   
  Eduardo Simion (statistically identical to a Recidivist, 
  page 343 of Dark Heresy) is an old hat at the black marketeering 
  game.  There is not a crime he has not participated in (if not 
  committed himself), though he knows how to tie up loose ends to 
  keep his hands clean.  He wants Giuseppe's Idyll, wants to know 
  where Giuseppe got the Idyll, and wants to know how much more he 
  can expect to find.  His ultimate driving goal is profit, and 
  there are few steps he is unwilling to take in order to secure 
  this.  He will bully, backstab or bargain, so long as he comes 
  out ahead.  He is hesitant to work very closely with perceived 
  authorities, since that is a slippery slope to lockdown (or 
  worse).  Should the authorities forcefully involve themselves in 
  his affairs, he will respond in one of two ways:  If the 
  Acolytes bargain from a position of strength, Simion will choose 
  to work with them long enough to remove himself from the 
  situation.  However, if the Acolytes demonstrate any weakness, 
  then Simion will have his men gun them down, while making good 
  his own escape.
   
  Simion's bruisers (treat as Gun Servitors, page 340 of Dark 
  Heresy) are pretty near to mindless.  They are essentially 
  tactical computers, capable of performing individual actions to 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 30
  
  achieve a desired goal (that is, whatever Simion has ordered 
  them to do), but they have no identities of their own.  
  Unwilling to surround himself with threats, Simion breaks the 
  wills of those he works with, through drugs or cheap cortex 
  implants.  He wishes only perfect soldiers, not collaborators.  
  Should the bruisers be ordered to destroy the Acolytes, they 
  will not behave foolishly (charging into boltguns, say), but 
  will use terrain and cover.  They are not necessarily suicidal, 
  but they will put themselves in no win outcomes if doing so 
  means accomplishing their goal.
  Leads
   
  In addition to the sac of Idyll, Giuseppe overheard Goplan 
  and Gagne's argument over the destination for the remaining 
  Idyll:  Terraceton Suites.  Also, it was to be delivered to 
  someone called Kensington.
   
  Furthermore, Giuseppe heard Goplan refer to the killer by 
  the name Gagne.  Giuseppe describes the killer as ugly, perhaps 
  even diseased.
  Scene 4:  Idyll Ecstatics
   
  When the Acolytes arrive at the Terraceton Suites building, 
  read or paraphrase the following:
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 31
  
   
  The lingering aura of sin hangs in the smoke around the 
  four towers of this sprawling hotel.  The façade is hidden 
  beneath ashen gray mirrors coated in a grime of the none-too-
  distant chemical factory's spumes perverting any images like 
  some enormous fun house display, behind this façade awaits a 
  series of nondescript rooms let to fictional identities, false 
  nom de plumes adopted by slumming nobility seeking privacy for 
  their debauchery.
   
  Through the front doors sit a pair of doormen, dressed in 
  heavy coats to conceal the autoguns beneath.  The smiles they 
  offer to any and all visitors are uniformly disingenuous.  If 
  the Acolytes demonstrate their authority, these men will direct 
  them on to the front desk.  If not, then the doormen will stop 
  the comers, asking whom they wish to see.
   
  These doormen are not suicidal, but they are reassigned 
  arbitrators, accustomed to procedures and protocols.  Anything 
  deviating from this process is frowned upon.  Should the 
  Acolytes mention Kensington, then the doormen will glare silent 
  warnings to one another.  A successful Challenging Fellowship 
  skills Test will get the Acolytes past (as Kensington is 
  expecting quite a few guests for his orgy.  A failed Test will 
  result in the Acolytes being detained, until the doormen are 
  satisfied.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 32
  
   
  Interrogating the doormen about Gagne will result in no 
  positive identification.  However, deliveries for Room 1200 
  would undoubtedly go through the rear entrance.  The Front 
  Doormen will scoff at any useful information being had from the 
  Rear Door, however, as the personnel at that side are renowned 
  for being slipshod...
   
  Visiting the rear entrances, Acolytes encounter two more 
  doormen and a receiving clerk.  The men working here are much 
  less rigorous in their security protocols than the front desk, 
  asking only cursory questions and never once meeting anyone's 
  eyes, unless forced to do so.  If questioned about Gagne or 
  package deliveries, they Doormen and Clerk become suddenly 
  nervous.  A successful Interrogation Test yields the fact that, 
  yes someone matching Gagne's cloaked description did arrive with 
  a delivery for Room 1200.  An Awareness Test will note that 
  information is being withheld.  A second successful Fellowship 
  Test reveals that Gagne did not leave alone.  Three scantily 
  clad beauties, blissfully drugged out of their minds, followed 
  him like a retinue.  Gagne dropped enough Thrones to keep all 
  involved mouths shut.  Neither Clerk nor Doormen have any idea 
  where he might have gone.
  Venturing Upstairs
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 33
  
   
  A short lift ride will bring the Acolytes to the twelfth 
  floor, and Kensington's Suite (ought-ought), is at the furthest 
  end of the corridor.  As soon as the lift doors open, the 
  Acolytes are surrounded by cacophony.  Loud music -- throbbing 
  bass lines running beneath the angelic wails of a tortured 
  harpsichord -- fills the space, rendering regular conversation 
  nearly impossible.
   
  The hallway itself is lined with open doors, and dark rooms 
  beyond.  Within these rooms, lust drunk Ecstatics either paw at 
  each other or couple, frantic and frenzied.  Turning on any of 
  the lights reveals something altogether more than simple dark 
  room shenanigans.  Lovers are driven past any consideration, 
  turning rough and bloodthirsty.  Dark passions, dripping 
  scratches, bloodied knives, and weeping bites are no stranger 
  here.  The participants also remain ignorant to distractions, 
  behaving like living dolls, their broad leers widening with 
  every torment they inflict or endure.  Their glassy eyes are 
  wide and staring into space, as though seeing into some world 
  removed from this realm of flesh and its tortures.  Though they 
  do not speak, the sound of their orgiastic rutting is like some 
  unholy choir, imploring the attention of something wholly 
  heretical...
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 34
  
   
  Despite the Ecstatics actions, they are truly beyond 
  understanding.  The effects of Idyll have made them vessels for 
  pleasure, filling them with base desires.  Should these people 
  sober up, they will little recall the night's activities as 
  anything more than pleasures that broke the boundaries...
   
  How the Acolytes handle the drugged Ecstatics is certainly 
  a quandary.  Heresy abounds here, and should they gun down the 
  participants, it will be as simple and danger free as cutting 
  down legless cattle.
  Traversing Room 1200
   
  Through Suite 1200, the Acolytes find a gala ball 
  degenerated into blood sports.
   
  In the main room, a lone madman bangs away at a 
  harpsichord, performing tuneless renditions of classical pieces, 
  while a collapsed beat box music system runs on, endlessly 
  repeating looped bass lines.  Four cellists have abandoned their 
  instruments, and three of the members run their bows across the 
  fourth's opened ribcage; all bob their heads to inaudible music.
   
  The dance floor is awash with blood and a dozen collapsed 
  dancers.  Dressed in once fine and colorful gowns and occasional 
  masquerade masks, these victims lie far apart from each other, 
  and are in the process of mortifying their flesh.  Many wear 
  eerie grins as they peel the flesh from limbs or chew holes 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 35
  
  through their own cheeks.  Two weep inconsolably, staring at 
  their bloody hands as though the flesh were somehow horribly 
  transformed.  One wails in singsong fashion with the music, her 
  plucked eyes resting on the floor like macabre marbles.  
   
  None of these people respond to the Acolytes whatsoever.
   
  Through a final pair of double doors awaits a massive 
  bedroom.  At the sizeable bed's foot lies a pretty girl, nearly 
  nude and shivering amidst half a dozen empty sacs of Idyll.  
  Upon the bed, Acolytes find a bound Liam Kensington.  He bears a 
  single cut along the base of his abdomen, and his belly is 
  swollen.  He is infested with a Peste Swarm, but unlike Prim 
  Venkateswaran, Liam Kensington is still quite alive and enduring 
  the agonies of the damned.
   
  Though in direst agony, Kensington is not drugged, so when 
  the Acolytes enter, he begs them for aid.  He offers anything 
  and everything he can, including the Kensington Family fortunes 
  for their help.  He even offers information.  However, should he 
  deliver on this offer, the Peste Swarm will emerge from within 
  him and attack.  Only by killing Kensington outright can the 
  Acolytes hope to destroy the threat, however any information he 
  knows will certainly die with him.
  What Kensington knows
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 36
  
   
  Kensington was the man to request the Idyll, to pay for its 
  shipment to the world.  He wanted it as a means to experience 
  unbridled pleasure.  He was not a true believer in the occult 
  powers, wanting only to know what lay beyond the limits.  He 
  knows he is a debased man, and though he repents often he cannot 
  help himself.  He is a victim to desire.
   
  Kensington was surprised when Durante Gagne arrived as 
  courier.  Not because Kensington recognized him, but because 
  Esthe did.  She even called him by his full name.
   
  Kensington asked if Gagne would like to remain behind to 
  partake of the Idyll.  Gagne demurred, and Kensington was glad 
  (since the man looked pretty sick).  However, once the Idyll had 
  made its rounds, and the Badness filled all the gathered guests, 
  Gagne reappeared.  He rendered Kensington mystically immobile, 
  and then bound him.
   
  Then, Gagne sat alongside him, humming in time to the 
  harpsichord, until such time as the music became absurd.  
  Kensington tried to reason and then to threaten, but Gagne 
  remained beyond these.
   
  Eventually, Gagne tired of wasting time.  He cut 
  Kensington's gut and stuffed him like a prized fowl with 
  squirming larvae.  He then claimed a quartet of drugged, bound 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 37
  
  girls (Esthe and the Pashook twins, Kensington's favorite 
  lovers), and led them out.
   
  Minutes after they had gone, one of the girls -- Katriona 
  Fiore -- returned and collapsed at the foot of Kensington's bed 
  weeping and repeating "Where are we going?"  No matter how 
  Kensington called for her to help him, however, she remains 
  unresponsive.
  A Useful Witness
   
  While Kensington does not know about Gagne's ritual plans, 
  Katriona Fiore does.  Though he did not know her, Gagne decided 
  to bring her along with the three women he wanted as a spare 
  sacrifice, an eighth body in case something went awry.
   
  On the elevator ride, Katriona found enough clarity to ask 
  "Where are we going?"  Though Gagne remained tight lipped at 
  first, she continued to ask until, he finally snapped, "To the 
  Imperial Arms."  Though drugged, the girl knew that this 
  particular dance hall had been closed for almost a month.  
   
  By the time the elevator arrived at the rear lobby of the 
  building, however, she was taken with the flight reflex, and 
  fled deep into the hotel.  Why Gagne did not chase her, she will 
  never know (in fact, he decided she was too much trouble).  When 
  the hotel's perceptive personnel identified her as part of 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 38
  
  Kensington's retinue, Katriona was returned to the twelfth 
  floor.
   
  If asked where Gagne meant to take her, Katriona wails, 
  "But the Imperial Arms is closed!"
   
  If she can be saved from the Peste Swarm, Katriona Fiore 
  will become possessed of a newfound faith, renouncing all vice 
  and sin and pursuing a pious life.  The same cannot be said for 
  Kensington or his other guests.  In the grim darkness of the 
  future, there is often little hope.  Katriona Fiore, however, 
  might be one of the few instances.
   
  Seeking out Durante Gagne leads to Scene 5.  Venturing to 
  the Imperial Arms leads to Scene 6, and the scenario's 
  conclusion.
  Scene 5:  Idyll Foe
   
  The front door of Durante Gagne's quarters is locked, but 
  gaining entry should be no problem for the Acolytes.  Gagne is 
  not here, of course, as he is beneath the Imperial Arms dance 
  hall, performing his ritual.
   
  Gagne's Quarters are a trio of rooms: a living space, a 
  sleeping space, and a claustrophobic WC.  Read or paraphrase the 
  following:
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 39
  
   
  These quarters are choked with seventh-hand possessions.  A 
  water stained scrivener's desk and a cracked dining table 
  dominate the front room.  A tattered sitting sack leaking tiny 
  styrene balls and half a dozen broken chairs make up this room's 
  available seating.  Across from the main door, a loudly humming 
  refrigeration unit and pantry cabinets barely contain bulging 
  canned goods or perishable food supplies.  The bedroom is barely 
  large enough to hold a pallet covered with rumpled bedding and a 
  dresser whose drawers overflow with so many wadded up garments 
  that the drawers cannot be properly closed...  A closet reveals 
  itself to be a narrow toilet and shower stall, all breeding 
  grounds for the blackest mold.  Nothing is new or particularly 
  well tended, but for a pair of Administratum uniforms, which 
  hang over the kitchenette sink, their hangers hooked to the 
  rusty corner of the wall mounted, refuse incinerator.
   
  This Scene has been designed to be "action-lite", allowing 
  the Acolytes something of a clue obtaining breather.  Game 
  Masters can plant any clues they like here, including those the 
  Acolytes may have missed up until this point.  Should the Game 
  Master wish to spice things up, however, having a few Peste 
  Ticks hiding in the place is not completely outside the realm of 
  possibility.
  Leads
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 40
  
   
  Amongst the pallet's soiled bedding, the Acolytes will find 
  several still picts of attractive women, obviously taken without 
  their knowledge.  One wears an Administratum uniform from the 
  same department as Gagne (this is Esthe LaGrans).  The others 
  feature a pair of gorgeous, dark skinned twins on some noble's 
  arms (Sabine and Natla Pashook).  The noble's face has been 
  gouged out (and replaced with Gagne's own), but there is a crest 
  ring still visible on a hand slung low over one woman's waist 
  that identifies the wearer as belonging to the Kensington 
  family.  The women can each be identified from these images 
  (given a little time), and tracked to Scene 4.
   
  In a pile of crumbled parchment is a singular note "Get 300 
  Thrones?  Meet Goplan," and a scrawled address.  This leads to 
  Scene 2.
   
  In the incinerator chute is a page of ancient parchment 
  written in blood displaying a partial summoning ritual.  A 
  Forbidden Lore Test identifies signs of Nurgle's worship.  The 
  page bears the impression of Gagne's handwriting.  If made 
  visible, then the words Imp Arms can be read.  This clue leads 
  to Scene 6.
   
  The WC's medicine cabinet holds pharmaceuticals aplenty, 
  including Cimitidine tablets, acyclovir gels, and zilactin 
  paste.  A successful Chem-Use or Medicae Test identifies these 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 41
  
  treatment drugs for herpes simplex delta-delta.  Medicae 
  Knowledge also reveals there is no known cure for "HerSy-double 
  delt", though its outbreaks can be controlled through multiple 
  medications (until such time as natural resistances develop).  
  Though this does not lead to a particular Scene of the scenario, 
  it does highlight Gagne's motivations:  Diseased as he is, he 
  will never gain the love he so craves.
  Scene 6:  Idyll Worship
   
  The Imperial Arms dance hall was rather well designed and 
  appointed in its time.  Unfortunately, the location was not 
  enough of a draw, so it finally shut its doors, one standard 
  month before the scenario.  The Arms, however, has a certain 
  resonance for Gagne, as it was where he first met the carrier of 
  the viral disease that lead him to Nurgle.  As such, it is the 
  site of his dark rebirth, and the perfect place to enact his 
  ritual.
   
  The dance hall has two levels, a cathedral like main floor, 
  and a cramped and dank dungeon-like sublevel.  Gagne has 
  transformed one corner of the sublevel into a Chaos Ritual pit.  
  By the time the Acolytes arrive, Gagne will be murdering Sabine 
  Pashook.  By the time the Acolytes gain entry to the main floor, 
  they hear to people's screams from below, as he then moves to 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 42
  
  her.  By the time the Acolytes find his den of darkness, he will 
  have finished Natla as well, and be moving on to Esthe LaGrans.  
  When the Acolytes arrive at Gagne's ritual chamber, read or 
  paraphrase the following:
   
  You smell the place long before you reach it, for the 
  lingering stink of rotting corpses fills the hallways of the 
  lower levels.  A lone woman's terrified shrieks rebound off the 
  walls of the place, seemingly thickening the air itself, and 
  amongst them you can hear the ponderous sounds of a lone voice 
  chanting.  These scents and sounds lead you to the final 
  encounter.  
   
  The room is circular, its floors cast in obsidian, and its 
  walls featuring newly installed steel rings.  From these hang 
  manacles, each attached to a body.  Six corpses, ranging from 
  several days rotten to murdered only a moment earlier.  Only one 
  prisoner remains alive, drugged blind yet squirming and 
  screaming, eyes wide and locked upon her tormentor.  He is a 
  hunched figure; his gore splashed skin home to dozens of 
  clusters of sores, lesions, and inflamed papules.  He is a 
  walking disease, sweating pus and weeping a wholly 
  unidentifiable ichor.  The twisty knife in his fist is designed 
  for inflicting as much pain as possible before it finishes its 
  work.  
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 43
  
   
  This horrifying scene requires the Acolytes to pass a Fear 
  (2) Test.
   
  Though he may appear alone, Gagne is not.  A Challenging 
  Awareness Test reveals Peste Ticks amongst the four oldest 
  corpses (there is one Tick for each Acolyte).  Should Gagne 
  notice the intruding Acolytes, he turns his lesion covered eyes 
  toward them and issues a silent commanding gesture.  At this, 
  the Peste Ticks emerge and engage.
   
  Gagne will not attack the Acolytes until he has sacrificed 
  Esthe.  What he does not know, is that should any life be spent 
  in this room, it will signal the completion of the spell.  
  Gagne's death will also trigger the culmination and climax of 
  the ritual.
   
  Though still drugged, Esthe is painfully aware of much of 
  what is going on.  Her fragile psyche has completely snapped, 
  retreating into the welcoming arms of absolute madness.  There 
  is little hope for her recovery, should she be saved.
  A Plague Upon the Living
   
  When the final sacrifice is performed (be it Esthe, Gagne, 
  or one of the Acolytes), there is no immediate reaction.  In 
  three rounds, however, something will begin.  Read or paraphrase 
  the following:
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 44
  
   
  The corpses begin to twitch as though receiving electric 
  shocks.  The manacles clatter like macabre bells as wrists and 
  ankles tug within the steel loops.  Fearful tales of the 
  restless dead fill your minds, but the situation is altogether 
  different.  The corpses are all sweating, and their sweat is a 
  phosphorescent, sickly green jelly.  This stuff flows from them, 
  pooling around them and slowly spreading across the floor.
   
  Though the Acolytes may suspect this to be another Peste 
  Swarm, the truth is much more terrifying.  Acolytes passing an 
  Awareness Test note that this gelatinous goop is flowing counter 
  to the designs of the room, expanding not toward the lowest 
  point of the room (which would be the doorway the Acolytes used 
  to gain entry, handily enough) but toward the other pools, 
  merging into a single grand puddle of disgusting ooze.  This is 
  Gagne's victory:  an incarnated Plaguebearer.
   
  This flow takes only two rounds.  The puddles may be 
  damaged by fire and holy weapons, but while it is in this 
  transitional phase, the daemon takes only a single wound from 
  such sources, and is completely immune to other forms of attack.
   
  The round following this coming together, the Plaguebearer 
  explodes from the murk, howling mockeries of a newborn's wails.  
  At this point, the creature is flesh and may be dealt with 
  normally.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 45
  
   
  After it has come into the world, the Plaguebearer will 
  take a round to survey the situation.  If it deems the Acolytes 
  appropriate converts, then it will attempt to bring them into 
  Nurgle's service.  If the Acolytes act even remotely 
  aggressively, the Plaguebearer will attempt to crush its 
  enemies.  
   
  Use the information for Plaguebearers, as presented on page 
  354 of Dark Heresy.
   
  The creature's tactics are quite straightforward.  The 
  Plaguebearer blasts its most offensive foes with the fluids of 
  the dead, infecting the living with whatever plagues the Game 
  Master Chooses.  For those foes not worthy of a quick death, the 
  Plaguebearer renders its foes powerless through long term 
  diseases or melee attacks.
   
  By such close proximity to the previous battle, the 
  Plaguebearer encounter promises to be quite dangerous.  However, 
  faith and firepower may see the Acolytes to victory.
  In Conclusion
   
  While the Inquisition will demand a full report, how much 
  information the Acolytes share will determine whether or not the 
  families of those nobles involved in the Ecstatics become 
  enemies down the road.  Of course, not including all details in 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 46
  
  official reports will make an enemy of the Inquisition itself, 
  so Acolytes should tread carefully in making this decision.  
  Therein lays the joys of discovering what might be the lesser of 
  two evils solutions to a situation.
  Rewards
   
  The Acolytes should receive between 50 and 200 experience 
  points per scene that they participate in.  Triumphing over the 
  Plaguebearer should also net a bonus 100 experience points to 
  each survivor.  As well, for accomplishing such a feat, Acolytes 
  deserve a Fate Point.
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 47
  
  Major Non Player Characters and Creatures
  Peste Ticks
  Born from the blood boils of Nurgle itself, the Peste Ticks are 
  a predatory menace scuttling through the dark, slavishly devoted 
  to sating their lust for warm blood.  Roughly the size of a 
  toddler, their carapace is black mottled green and marked with 
  the triangular ring sigil of their lord and master.
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  Peste Tick Profile
  WS
  BS
  S
  T
  Ag
  Int
  Per
  WP
  Fel
  35
  -
  33
  40
  40
  7
  40
  20
  --
  Movement:  4/8/12/24 
   
   
   
  Wounds: 10
  Skills:  Awareness +10 (PER), Climb (Ag), Dodge (Ag), 
  Psyniscience (Per), Silent Move +20 (Ag), Tracking (PER)
  Talents: --
  Traits:  Crawler, Daemonic, Dark Sight, Fear(1) , From Beyond, 
  Natural Armor (Carapace 2), Natural Weapons (bite), Pestilent 
  (Bite)*, Scrawny
  *Pestilent (Bite): The effects of this trait are exactly like 
  those of the Toxic Trait.  However, in terms of flavor, this it 
  closer kin to a viral disease than a simple poison.
  Armor:  Natural Carapace (All 2)
  Weapons:  bite (1d10+3 I, plus Toughness Test or 1d10 Damage; 
  Pen 1)
  Threat Rating:  Malleus Minima
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 48
  
  Peste Swarm 
  A wave of larval Peste Ticks, this is the natural extension of 
  the birthing process.  In time, the swarm will run out of 
  external food sources and begin to feed upon itself.  After a 
  long enough time, the swarm is gone, and a handful of adult 
  Peste Ticks enter the world.  (The profile and stats for the 
  Peste Swarm are adapted from the Plague Swarm, found in 
  Disciples of the Dark Gods)
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  Peste Swarm Profile
  WS
  BS
  S
  T
  Ag
  Int
  Per
  WP
  Fel
  35
  --
  10
  30
  40
  10
  30
  15
  --
  Movement:  4/8/12/24 
   
   
  Wounds:  25
  Skills:  Awareness +10 (Per), Dodge (Ag), Psyniscience (Per)
  Traits:  Bestial, Daemonic, Dark Sight, Fear 2 (frightening), 
  From Beyond, Natural Weapons (An Insatiable Bloodthirst), Swarm 
  Creature
  Swarm Creature:  Any attack from a weapon that does not either 
  have the Blast, Fire, Scatter, or Holy qualities only inflicts 
  half Damage.  In most circumstances, a swarm creature cannot be 
  Grappled, Knocked Down, or Pinned, and the swarm may pour 
  through suitable small openings such as ducts, vents and the 
  like, but they may not Jump.  The swarm is counted as being 
  destroyed once all its Wounds are lost.  The swarm's attacks 
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 49
  
  have a variable Penetration value (roll each time an attack 
  lands) representing its ability to engulf their victims and 
  attack vulnerable areas.  Because of its diffuse natural, Peste 
  Swarms suffer double Damage from Blessed attacks.
  Weapons:  An Insatiable Bloodthirst (1d10+1 R; Pen 1d5; Tearing)
  Threat Rating:  Malleus Minoris.
  Durante Gagne 
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  Durante Gagne Profile
  WS
  BS
  S
  T
  Ag
  Int
  Per
  WP
  Fel
  W
  28
  32
  30
  31
  35
  33
  31
  29
  30
  13
  Movement:  3/6/9/18  
   
  Wounds:  13
  Skills:  Awareness (Per), Ciphers (Occult) (Int), Common Lore 
  (Imperium) (Int), Deceive (Fel), Secret Tongue (Administratum) 
  (Int), Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int), Trade (Ordinate) 
  (Int).
  Talents:  Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Training 
  (SP), Resistance (Psychic Powers), Strong Minded, Unshakeable 
  Faith, "Psy" Rating 2.
  Sorcerous Powers (act like Psychic Powers):  Hold Body (operates 
  like the Psychic Power Dominate, but causes an opponent to be 
  rendered completely unable to move), Machine Blight
  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 50
  
  Mutations/Unholy Changes:  Boils, Corrupted Flesh, Peste Larval 
  Breeding Ground (grants the bearer the ability to inflict/infect 
  helpless foes with a Peste Swarm), Tough Hide (1 AP)
  Armor:  Mesh vest (Body 4), Tough Hide (Body 1)
  Weapons:  Sacrificial knife (3m; 1d5+4 R; Primitive), Stub 
  Automatic (30m; S/3/--; 1d10+3 I; Pen 0; Clip 9; Reload Full).
  Gear:  Stub automatic clip, Administratum ID
  Threat Rating:  Hereticus Majoris
  Begin Sidebar
  Machine Blight
  Threshold:  14
  Focus Time:  Full Action
  Sustained:  No
  Range:  10 meters
  Channeling Nurgle's power, you render machines within your range 
  powerless, corroding circuitry beyond use.  Damage against 
  machines is 1d10+WB, Pen: 5.
  End Sidebar
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  Robichaud / Idyll Heresies / 51
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dark Heresy [multi]/Scenarios/Dark Heresy Scenario - Idyll Heresies.pdf