Blackthorn/Swordhand: Data-Slate Thread

[Commissar Molotov]

Blackthorn/Swordhand Information Thread

+++ Edited January 22, 2021 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

EPISODE I: A WORLD AFLAME
Episode 1 starts on post #2 and ran from February 2018 until February 2019.

 

After assembling aboard Watch-Station Azurea, the newly-incorporated Kill-Team Blackthorn received a briefing from Watch-Captain Diocles and Interrogator Ryken. The KIll-Team was to be dispatched to the agri-world of Syndalla, in an effort to locate the missing Inquisitrix Lythea and to support her in prosecuting her campaign against a Genestealer Cult insurgency. 

 

Travelling through the warp aboard the Imperial Navy vessel Voice of Thunder, The Kill-Team elected Khyber Vaidan of the Novamarines as their Watch-Sergeant and prepared for combat. 

 

 

 

Upon their arrival at Syndalla, the Kill-Team uncovered evidence that the system's defence vessels had destroyed one another in an act of apparent betrayal. Before the import of this could be fully digested, a pair of Kraken scout bio-ships attacked the Voice of Thunder. The Battle-Brothers of Blackthorn were forced to launch a defense action to hold the cruiser's dorsal spine against Tyranid invaders. Through skill at arms, the Deathwatch were able to hold off the Tyranids long enough for the Voice of Thunder to draw close to the planet. 

 

 

 

• Escaping the death of the Voice of Thunder in a Naval shuttlecraft, the Kill-Team was attacked by an orbital defense cannon. Brother Thorvald Hammerhand of the Space Wolves was lost and the shuttle crashed within Syndalla's capital city, Beregar.
• The warriors of Blackthorn recovered and supported the PDF defenders of the capital's grand Cathedral, meeting with PDF Captain Haltreme and receiving vital information on the state of the Genestealer uprising.
• Although initially seeking to split up to achieve multiple objectives simultaneously, Watch-Sergeant Vaidan unified the team when the Planetary Governor's manse came under attack from purestrain Genestealers. The Kill-Team was able to hold off the Genestealers but were surprised when the Broodlord itself killed the Governor and stole a valuable memento from Brother Greysight.
• The Kill-Team arrived at the Tower of Echoes, the compound holding the planet's astropaths, to find that the choir had been executed by cultists - all, that is, except for one. She was able to send a message into the warp requesting further reinforcements from the Deathwatch and the Imperium.
• With little time to rest, Interrogator Ryken contacted the Kill-Team to report that a nearby PDF barracks was close to collapse and that the Battle-Brothers of the Deathwatch would need to lend their aid before the walls fell.
• Having eradicated the cultist hordes and secured the PDF positions, the Kill-Team was tasked with uncovering the location of the Broodlord with Beregar City.
• Unraveling the Astropath's cryptic prophecies led Blackthorn to an abattoir within Beregar City. The Battle-Brothers were able to assault it with the aid of Interrogator Ryken and the Beregar PDF. Beneath the slaughterhouse, the Deathwatch forces found the Broodlord within a profane sanctum, a mockery of an Ecclesiarchal church, killing the creature despite Watch-Sergeant Vaidan being severely injured.
• The Kill-Team were faced with the realisation that the Genestealer Cult were only the first harbinger of the encroaching Tyranid swarm, and that the war to defend Syndalla was far from over.

Edited February 1, 2021 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

EPISODE II: THE BELLY OF THE BEAST
Episode 2 starts on post #1100 and ran from February 2019 until February 2021.

• On the Deathwatch frigate Xenocide, the battered survivors of Kill-Team Swordhand regroup and take stock after their disastrous assault on a Tyranid hive ship. Despite their grievous losses, the Battle-Brothers of Swordhand agree to assist Kill-Team Blackthorn when they receive an astropathic transmission warning of the impeding danger facing Syndalla.
• On Syndalla, the brothers of Kill-Team Blackthorn attempt to broker a peace between the politicking factions; the hot-headed General Wrex of the Syndallan Levy, the austere Fleet-Captain Sevora Locke of the Imperial Navy and the mysterious Rogue Trader Desiato.
• Brother Akkad discovers that a mysterious painting of a vessel named the Dark Lantern has been stolen from the Governor's Manse.
• The Xenocide enters Syndallan space, allowing the two Kill-Teams to reunite and coordinate Syndalla's defense. Multiple strategies are proposed, and the Kill-Teams are able to come to some consensus, ascending to the Xenocide to repair and rearm in the face of the oncoming storm.
• Brother Akkad remains on Syndalla, recruiting a refugee levy from those who have fled to Beregar City. In the meantime, Brother Greysight proposes a thermobaric shield over the city that might dissuade the Tyranids from attacking directly.
• Brother-Librarian Montesa and Brother Ghent visit the Rogue Trader Captain Desiato aboard the light cruiser Glory Be to Him-on-Earth, where they suspect the Captain is hiding a secret. Unable to discern the Rogue Trader's motivations, they return to Syndalla.
• Whilst touring a refugee camp of survivors from Akkad's recruitment purges, Brothers Tyber and Atratus are targeted by a suicide bomber from the Genestealer Cult. In response, the Deathwatch begin a thorough purge to ensure that none of the cult survive. Brother Solastion declares the original mission of Blackthorn completed, in honour of the fallen Brother Vaidan.
• On the dawn of the twenty-third day on Syndalla, the void-war begins as Fleet-Captain Locke engages advanced scouts of the Tyranid horde. The frigate Saint Orestes is damaged and almost overwhelmed before Captain Desiato forces the Tyranids back with a Nova Cannon that had been mounted on his vessel. It is a victory nonetheless for the Imperial defenders.
• Brother-Librarian Montesa attempts to discern the origins of the strange tome located by Brother Tyber. It is wreathed in psychic resonance and shrouded in sorrow, and he catches glimpses of the cries of women. Unable to interpret these strange portents, he is greeted by Brother Greysight, who has had similarly strange dreams.
• Taking advantage of a lull in combat, a small strike team of the Deathwatch scours the surroundings of Beregar City in an attempt to locate the body of their fallen brother, Thorvald of the Space Wolves. Unable to locate him, they are ordered to PDF Outpost 43, which has fallen silent. The Deathwatch finds that the entire garrison has been slaughtered, leading them to suspect that Lictor bio-forms are operating on Syndalla.
• Akkad's Demi-Squad follow the Lictor's trail of destruction to Outpost 37, which had been similarly wiped out, and then to Outpost 15. Here, amidst a burning field of wheat, the Deathwatch face the Lictor in open combat. The beast is injured, but manages to escape before it can be killed.
• Meanwhile, Solastion is forced to lead the remaining warriors of the Deathwatch against a group of criminals who have taken hostages in order to have their demands listened to. This dissent is ruthlessly crushed and the surviving criminals are executed.
• As the Tyranid fleet finally reaches Syndalla, the Deathwatch enact a plan to erect a thermobaric shield across Beregar City, preventing the Tyranid forces from making landfall directly on the city.
• Meanwhile, Akkad, Greysight, Sabaan, Ghent and Yeng travel to Syndalla's sister-planet, Vinov. Vinov is in the late stages of consumption by the Hive Ship. It serves as a stark warning to the Deathwatch of the fate that awaits Syndalla. The elusive Interrogator Ryken has sent the Deathwatch a signal requesting aid from this world of death. Descending to the planet, the Stormraven Spearcast is attacked by a flying beast known as a Harridan. The Deathwatch are able to escape and arrives at the source of Ryken's signal. Ryken dispatches the squad on a dangerous mission to plant a gene-keyed toxin into a Tyranid Digestion Pool, in the hopes it will poison the Hive Ship. The Deathwatch are attacked by a Tyranid creature later codified as the "Shroudmistress of Vinov." The Demi-Squad is able to defeat the beast and to administer the gene-toxin to the hive ship.
• Sanguinary Priest Solastion strikes at a hydroelectric dam in the Valshari Mountains - planning to demolish the dam and flood a swathe of Syndalla to prevent the Tyranids from striking at the city. After planting their charges, the Demi-Squad is rerouted by Librarian Montesa to the hidden base of Interrogator Adrielle Haldane, the pupil of Inquisitrix Lythea. Perplexingly, Haldane claims to have no knowledge of Interrogator Ryken's identity. She does, however, bring welcome news: her forces have recovered the comatose body of Brother Thorvald Hammerhand.
• Brother Tyber, assigned to watch over the defense of Beregar City, is forced to intervene when the Imperial Navy cruiser Adamant arrives in-system, demanding that Fleet-Captain Locke and her squadron depart from Syndalla. It transpires that Locke received orders from Segmentum Command to abandon Syndalla, and refused to follow them. Tyber's solution is blunt: executing the Adamant's Captain and ordering the Adamant to contribute to the system's defense.
• The so-called Interrogator Ryken disappears from Vinov, leaving behind only the rosette of Inquisitrix Lythea.
• Solastion returns the body of Thorvald Hammerhand to the Xenocide, where he attempts to restore him to life. He also takes the opportunity to administer to the distempered Codicier Montesa, exhorting him to return to his brethren and fulfil his duty.
• On the thirty-fourth day, the Deathwatch gather aboard the Xenocide, preparing themselves for the assault upon the Hive Ship. Launching their assault via boarding torpedo, the Deathwatch brethren of Blackthorn and Swordhand can only watch as a massive Imperial Battleship translates in-system, inadvertently destroying the frigate Saint Orestes and firing on the Tyranid Hive-Ship. The Battleship appears to be the Dark Lantern, the vessel Blackthorn discovered on the painting from the Governor's Manse.
• Arriving within the Hive Ship, the Deathwatch traverse through capillary-corridors and sphincter-portals. They reach a Spore Flume Chamber that sustains the Hive Ship's spore shielding, but elect not to attack to avoid the Hive Ship's immune response. As the atmosphere within the Hive Ship becomes increasingly corrosive and acidic, the Deathwatch enter the Hive Ship's digestive tract and discover the partially-digested hulk of the Voice of Thunder, the cruiser that conveyed Kill-Team Blackthorn from Azurea to Syndalla.
• Aboard the Voice of Thunder, the Kill-Team is able to instigate a critical chain-reaction in the vessel's weapons magazines which will - they hope - inflict a critical blow to the creature. Sabaan is able to locate and activate a wonderous relic - a working Teleportarium - that transports the Kill-Team closer to their objective before the Tyranids are able to swarm them.
• Teleportation is a gruelling process, and one that takes a toll upon many of the Kill-Team.
• The brothers of the Deathwatch reach the Synapse Chamber, where they engage in a gruelling fight the Hive Tyrant Overlord and a clade of Warrior-killers.
• The fighting is gruelling, but the Deathwatch are victorious. Unfortunately, Rodrik Ghent of the Invaders is laid low and many of the other Brothers suffer grievous injuries.
• The Brothers are able to rendezvous with the Storm Raven Spearcast, piloted by Thorvald Hammerhand, and returned to the Xenocide before the Voice of Thunder detonates, crippling the bio-ship.
• Some of the brothers are able to turn their attention to the mysteries of the Dark Lantern, the mysterious battle-ship that has escaped into the warp leaving no trace as to its destination.
• Brothers Akkad, Tyber and Thorvald launch counter-boarding actions to repel Tyranid creatures from the surviving Imperial vessels.
• Codicier Montesa acts on his suspicions of the Rogue Trader Captain Desiato, but is unable to catch his quarry; the Rogue Trader's vessel escapes, but not before a mysterious Aeldari passes a cryptic warning to the Librarian: a broken sword must be made whole.
• Brothers Greysight, Atratus and Thorvald manage to capture and kill the injured Lictor that escaped from the burning field. It has been terrorising the citizens of Beregar.
• Two weeks later, the brothers of the Deathwatch are honoured in a mighty parade to celebrate the saving of Syndalla.

 

Finally, the Star Phantoms Battle Barge Clepsydra arrives within the Syndallan system, carrying Watch-Captain Diocles. The Star Phantoms bring the shocking news of the Badab War to the brethren of Blackthorn and Swordhand. The Star Phantoms' Librarian, Parmenion, insists that Akkad come with them - and to avoid bloodshed, the Astral Claw agrees. 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

EPISODE III: THE SUNDERED HOUSE

Episode III starts on Post #2179 and began in February 2021.

 

Nine weeks after Blackthorn and Swordhand returned to Watch-Station Azurea, the mood is one of discontent. The Star Phantoms' Battle-Barge, Clepsydra, remains at anchor above the station. No word has been received on the condition or fate of Brother Akkad.

 

The arrival of a new crop of recruits to the Station brings together the Astartes in an initiation ceremony presided over by Watch-Captain Diocles. There is a great deal of surprise, however, when it is revealed that one of the new recruits is a member of the Star Phantoms that presided over Akkad's capture.

 

Watch-Captain Diocles tasks Chaplain Helgrim and Codicier Achillion with returning both Blackthorn and Swordhand to fighting form, suggesting that deployment will be imminent.

 

The Kill-Teams are convened for a briefing with the newly-arrived Inquisitor Grist, who informs the Battle-Brothers of the origins of the mysterious Battleship Dark Lantern - the fallen Sunder Dynasty. A mysterious and powerful Rogue Trader clan, the Inquisitor believes that tracking down and securing the Dark Lantern is of utmost importance.

 

Kill-Team Blackthorn:

Chaplain Helgrim oversees the former comrades of Daon Akkad, seeking to direct their fury towards the enemies of the Imperium whilst looking for any sign that the Battle-Brothers might have been corrupted by their association with the Astral Claw. His first act is to select a new Sergeant for the Kill-Team; after some deliberation, he chooses Brother Tyber.

 

Inquisitor Grist and Watch-Captain Diocles assign Blackthorn to the apprehension of Captain Desiato. It appears that Desiato is an actuality a Chartist Captain posing as a Rogue Trader. Blackthorn are to travel with Inquisitor Grist to the Hive World of Meggdon Prime, near the heart of the Dalthus Sector. Blackthorn descends upon House Desiato in a furious assault, easily overcoming the troopers stationed to defend the household. It transpires that a Kroot Kindred resides within the household, alien mercenaries who have bartered their services to Desiato's name. Although the Kindred are wiped out, the Kroot Master Shaper executes an ambush against Brother Atratus, who narrowly escapes death but takes the alien Warchief's life.

 

Whilst searching the household, Brothers Solza and Helgrim discover a hidden chamber within Desiato's chapel. After discerning the locking code, they discover...

 

-

 

Kill-Team Swordhand:

Codicier Achillion, customarily eager to fight in the Emperor's name, oversees a punishing training regime that pushes the brethren of Swordhand to their limits. He oversees the election of Vorkys Kol to the position of Watch-Sergeant.

 

Inquisitor Grist and Watch-Captain Diocles assign Swordhand to travel to the Baltarian Abyss, the site of the void-battle that destroyed the Sunder Dynasty entirely.

 

Travelling aboard the Xenocide, Swordhand ...

 

 

As the brethren of Swordhand made to return to Xenocide, the Riches Untold unexpectedly came under enemy fire before being boarded by an Ork Warband. Swordhand engaged in a short but brutal firefight in the cruiser's docking bay before re-establishing contact with the Xenocide and learning that a Deffskull warband known as the "Slagjaw Wrekkas" were looting the shattered hulks of the Sunders' final battlefield in order to construct the Slagjaw, a titanic vessel formed from the spaceframe of Lady Obelia Sunder's Grand Cruiser.

 

-

-

-

 

The Trial of the Last Astral Claw:

At the behest of Watch-Captain Diocles, Codicier Montesa boards the Star Phantoms' Battle-Barge, Clepsydra and meets with Chief Librarian Parmenion, a veteran of the Badab War sworn to eradicate the Astral Claws for their treachery. Montesa is able to successfully argue that Akkad should be judged for his actions, rather than those of his fallen kin. It is agreed that Akkad will undergo a Trial by Ordeal.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

Dramatis Personae of Watch-Station Azurea

 

Watch-Station Azurea hangs in orbit of a swollen and bloated gas giant, just as it itself is orbited by smaller craft - whether Imperial Navy vessels departing on patrol or cruisers returning from faraway campaigns. It is the sole staging point for the Deathwatch in the Taurelian Expanse, and the Brothers of the Deathwatch are regularly granted great latitude in performing their duties.

 

The Watch-Station is situated within the Outer Swordpoint Stars, a region over which the Imperium has fragmentary control.

 

 

 

 

Watch-Captain Diocles

Chapter of Origin: Servants of the Throne

Role upon Induction: Chapter Master

 

Appearance:

The Captain's face is regal and patrician, the platinum servo-studs on his brow gleamed beneath his close-cropped, storm-grey hair.

 

His armour is ornate, as befits his position, bearing the insignia of the Inquisition upon his breastplate. Gilded saints can be seen praying and exhorting the Emperor in alcoves along his gorget. The Captain's shoulder pauldron is no common armorial depiction, but a mural of intricate artistry bearing the image of a skeletal figure, haloed, astride a golden throne. A stylised image of the Emperor of Mankind. Beneath, a scroll bears the Imperial gothic 'SERVI AUTEM'.

 

Personality:

Diocles serves as the Watch-Captain and commander of the Watch-Station, dispatching the Brothers under his command across the Expanse and the outer Swordpoint Stars as he sees fit. He must often listen to the petitions and demands of the Inquisition; he must often refuse them, such are the demands upon his warriors.

 

History:

Diocles was said to be Master of his Chapter before his departure to the Deathwatch. What circumstances would make such a storied warrior leave a position of such honour and glory are only for the Brothers of Azurea to speculate.

 

 

Forgemaster Fasumé

Chapter of Origin: Lions Regent

Role upon Induction: Techmarine

 

Appearance:

XXXXX

 

Personality:

XXXXX

 

History:

XXXXX

Edited January 22, 2021 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

Dramatis Personae of the Inquisition

 

Inquisitrix Lythea, the Lady Amaranthe

Affiliation: Ordo Xenos Taurelius (DECEASED c.918.M41)

 

Inquisitrix Lythea served as an Inquisitor Ordinary of the Ordo Xenos Taurelius. She had served with distinction for many decades, and had established networks of agents across the Dalthus Sector. In the early 900s of .M41, Inquisitrix Lythea uncovered a nascent Genestealer Cult on the world of Syndalla. Unfortunately, her body was discovered by the warriors of Kill-Team Blackthorn among the debased abattoir of the Genestealer Cult.

 

Lythea's Inquisitorial seal was taken by Brother Akkad, who passed it on to Interrogator Ryken. Ryken left the seal when he disappeared from the world of Vinov, and it was eventually passed to her pupil, Interrogator Adrielle Haldane.

 

 

 

 

Interrogator Adrielle Haldane

Interrogator Haldane

Affiliation: Ordo Xenos Taurelius

 

Appearance: Her hair is braided and up, and she wears a carapace breastplate across her torso that displays the sigils of the Inquisition and the Ordo Xenos.

 

History: Although born into the wealth and privilege of the Hyadean hive-spire, the young Adrielle Haldane lived a childhood of discipline and purpose. Her father had served the Inquisition in his youth, and the young Adrielle heard many stories of their exploits.

 

She grew up bored and disaffected with the life of a young noblewoman.

Haldane accompanied her mistress, the Lady Lythea, to the world of Syndalla in an effort to root out the genestealer cult.

She and her forces found the injured body of Brother Thorvald Hammerhand.

After the Tyranid splinter fleet assaulting Syndalla was repulsed, Interrogator Haldane joined the service of Inquisitor Grist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interrogator Ryken

Interrogator Ryken'

Affiliation: Ordo Xenos Taurelius

 

Appearance: The Interrogator wears a hooded robe, inscribed with wards and runes that exhort the Emperor and decry the alien, that shrouds most of his form. He wears a breastplate emblazoned with a holy warrior spearing a xenos of indeterminate form. At his neck he wears a golden medallion of the Imperial Inquisition. At his waist he wears a sword.

 

History: The Deathwatch forces of Azurea first encountered Interrogator Ryken when he vociferously petitioned Watch-Captain Diocles to fulfil the Inquisitrix Lythea's request for aid. He accompanied Kill-Team Blackthorn to Syndalla, co-ordinating the defense against the Broodlord. During the defense of the world from the Hive Ship, Ryken disappeared mysteriously for several weeks. He eventually sent a signal to the Deathwatch forces from Syndalla's neighbouring world, Vinov. Here, amidst the destruction of the Tyranid consumption process, Ryken introduced the Deathwatch Battle-Brothers to Magos Erlan, who had produced a toxin to poison the Hive vessel.

 

It was at this time that the Deathwatch were informed by Interrogator Haldane that she did not know Ryken, and that he had never been a pupil of Inquisitrix Lythea.

 

 

 

Inquisitor Nahun Grist

"The Master of Chamber XIII"

Affiliation: Ordo Xenos Taurelius

 

Appearance: Grist is an old man, clothed in grey robes with a variety of soiled shawls across his lap and his shoulders. His hair is lank and stringy; his face deeply-lined, with a blade-thin nose and sharp chin. It seems as though his body is dissolving, as though he is the victim of some terrible wasting disease. His palsied hands rest in his lap, the translucent skin stretched tight against the knuckles as he clasps a golden icon - the Inquisitorial rosette that reveals his true power. His amber eyes shine with a sharp intelligence and an incredibly strong will. His voice rasps like crackling parchment.

 

History: The brethren of Watch-Station Azurea first encountered Inquisitor Grist in the wake of the Syndallan campaign.

 

Associates: A gaunt woman, wearing a stiff-backed dress and a severely-boned corset. Her head is entirely shaven, and tattoos in strange lettering mark her scalp.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

Notes: Episode 1, Episode 2

 

The World of Syndalla

 

Tithe Grade:

Climate/Geography/Biosphere:

Governmental Type:

Planetary Governor:

Adepta Presence:

Military:

 

 

[PLACEHOLDER]

 

 

 

 

 

Dramatis Personae of the World of Syndalla

 

Acting-Governor Vortis:

 

General Demetryos Wrex

Commander of the Syndallan PDF Levy

Marshal Solaria Thrace

Adeptus Arbites

 

Fleet-Captain Sevora Locke

Commander of the Imperial Navy cruiser King of Kings, Locke contributed her vessel and its escort frigates to the defence of Syndalla. When the Battlefleet Command demanded that the Imperial Navy abandon Syndalla, Locke elected to ignore her orders.

 

Captain Algor DuRanes

Captain DuRanes arrived in-system aboard the Imperial Navy cruiser Adamant, demanding that Captain Locke and her squadron leave under orders of the Battlefleet Command. Brother Tyber of the Deathwatch intervened and demanded that DuRanes desist and contribute the Adamant toward the defence. When DuRanes refused, Tyber executed him and turned command of the Adamant over to the vessel's Executive Officer.

 

 

 

The Defence of Beregar

 

 

The Defense of Syndalla

DAY	Detail
1	Blackthorn arrives at Syndalla and kills the Broodlord

 

2Week 1 of Operations on Syndalla3Week 1 of Operations on Syndalla4Week 1 of Operations on Syndalla5Week 1 of Operations on Syndalla6Week 1 of Operations on Syndalla7Week 2 of Operations on Syndalla8Week 2 of Operations on Syndalla9Week 2 of Operations on Syndalla10Week 2 of Operations on Syndalla11Week 2 of Operations on Syndalla12Week 3 of Operations on Syndalla13Week 3 of Operations on Syndalla14Week 3 of Operations on Syndalla15Week 3 of Operations on Syndalla16Week 3 of Operations on Syndalla17Swordhand arrives at Syndalla.

The gathered Deathwatch Marines travel to their Strike vessel, Xenocide.

Akkad remains on the planet and begins to evacuate the Fallows, leading a cull of the weak and elderly.

18The brethren of Swordhand and Blackthorn gather allies in securing the planet.

A suicide bomber from the Genestealer Cult kills themselves within a refugee camp of Fallows evacuees, injuring Tyber and Atratus.

19-20The forces of the Deathwatch enter the Metallican District and eradicate the last forces of the Syndallan Cult.21-22-23Tyranids reach the system limits; the naval war begins.24A strike team of the Deathwatch scour the countryside around Beregar looking for the corpse of Thorvald Hammerhand.25-26The strike team searching for Thorvald receives a distress call from Levy Outpost 43. Finding the garrison slaughtered, they travel to Outpost 37, where the same has happened. The Demi-Squad is able to head the xenos threat off at Outpost 15, where they encounter a Lictor assassin-beast amidst burning wheat-fields, injuring it before it can escape. In Beregar City, the attentions of Apothecary Solastion are drawn to a group of criminals who have taken hostages. The Deathwatch act ruthlessly to crush the dissent, and the surviving criminals are later executed. 27The Deathwatch take the opportunity to secure Syndalla's defenses.28As Fleet-Captain Locke predicted, the Tyranids make planetfall upon Syndalla. In space, the Imperial Navy and the Deathwatch Strike Cruiser Xenocide conduct delaying actions until the thermobaric shield above Syndalla can be ignited.29-30-31On Syndalla, a strike force led by Sanguinary Priest Solastion heads to the Valshari Mountains in an attempt to demolish a dam that will submerge the flood plains leading to Beregar, denying the Tyranids easy access to the city. Managing to plant the charges without resistance, Solastion's Demi-Squad are directed by Librarian Montesa to a remote farmstead, where they encounter Interrogator Adrielle Haldane, an agent of the late Inquisitrix Lythea. Haldane reveals the injured body of Thorvald Hammerhand, lost to the Deathwatch since the earliest days of the mission to Syndalla. In conversation with Brother Solastion, Haldane reveals she has never heard of Interrogator Ryken, and that he was never a student of the Lady Lythea.

 

Meanwhile, a second force of Deathwatch head for the mining moon of Vinov to answer a plea for help from the newly emergent Interrogator Ryken. He reveals that he has been working with the Adeptus Mechanicus to develop a gene-toxin that could cripple the Tyranid hive-ship. The Demi-Squad elects to attack the Tyranids in their heart, delivering the toxin to a digestion pool via their Stormraven, Spearcast. A most unsual Mawloc (later codified as the 'Shroudmistress of Vinov') attempts to halt the Deathwatch, but it is slain. Akkad and Greysight administer the bio-toxin. Upon returning to Ryken's facility they find the so-called Interrogator gone, with only the Inquisitrix Lythea's rosette left behind.

 

The Imperial Navy cruiser Adamant arrives in-system and demands that Fleet-Captain Locke and her squadron return to Battlefleet Command. It transpires that Captain Locke has received orders to abandon Syndalla - and that she had ignored them. Brother Tyber travels to the King of Kings and executes Captain DuRanes, forcing the Adamant to remain in-system and contribute to the defense.

32Solastion brings the fallen Thorvald to the Xenocide, where he attempts to restore him to life.33-34The Deathwatch gather in the Strategium of the Xenocide, where they plan the assault upon the Hive Ship.X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Edited January 22, 2021 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

Two Weapon Wielding (from FFG Forum)

TWF has two talents, Two Weapon Wielder: Melee (TWWM) and Two Weapon Wielder: Ranged (TWWR).

 

TWWM only affects melee actions/talents, though TWWR is a requirement for some ranged talents which cannot be used while engaged (Dual Shot for instance.)

 

 

 

You are correct in stating a character can only use melee subtype actions when engaged.

Pistols, however, are allowed to make a single shot attack, with no bonuses for size or distance, using BS as a melee subtype action.

 

This pistol attack can also be used with multiple attack actions (Swift/Lightning Attack).

 

 

 

TWF works in the following manner. You may make a single extra attack with a second (usually off-hand) weapon in addition to your normal attacks (including Swift/Lightning). But all attacks (main-hand and off-hand) suffer -30 to hit.

 

If a character has TWWM and ONLY attack with a melee weapon the penalty drops by 10.

If a character has TWWR and ONLY attack with ranged weapons the penalty drops by 10.

 

IF a character attacks with both a melee AND a ranged weapon using TWF, it needs BOTH TWWM AND TWWR to have the penalty drop by 10.

 

If you have the ambidextrous trait, the penalty for TWF drops by 10.

 

 

 

For example a character with TWWM:

 

Attacks with a melee weapon and a pistol weapon, it makes all attacks at -30.

 

Attacks with only 2 melee weapons, it makes all attacks at -20

 

 

 

The character then gains the ambidextrous trait:

 

Attacks with a melee weapon and a pistol weapon, it makes all attacks at -20.

 

Attacks with only 2 melee weapons, it makes all attacks at -10

 

 

 

The character then gains the TWWR talent:

 

Attacks with a melee weapon and a pistol weapon, it makes all attacks at -10.

 

Attacks with only 2 melee weapons, it makes all attacks at -10

[Commissar Molotov]

Notes: Episode 3

(Placeholder)

 

 

The Sunder Dynasty

The Sunder Dynasty were a clan of Rogue Traders who were among the first to chart the stars of this area of space. The Sunder Dynasty claimed hereditary dominion over many of the worlds that would grow to form the Dalthus Sector. They grew rich on their conquests, delving into the void and further from the light of the Emperor. While Rogue Traders are afforded certain allowances due to the nature of their calling, the Sunders were dogged by accusations of heresy and degeneracy for centuries.

 

The Sunders destroyed themselves nearly four centuries ago in internecine conflict. Petty squabbles erupted into open warfare as kin turned against kin, trying to claim the warrant that was the source of their power. Every extant branch of the family fell to mercenaries and bounty hunters, until the survivors of the Dynasty clashed in a grand naval battle in the Baltarian Abyss.

 

 

The Dark Lantern

Battleship

The Dark Lantern was a battleship in the service of the Sunder Dynasty. It was believed by Inquisitorial agents that the Dark Lantern had been fitted with Xenotech of unknown provenance.

 

 

 

 

Captain Desiato

Chartist Captain, False Rogue Trader

 

Kill-team Blackthorn first encountered Captain Desiato during the defense of Syndalla, where he presented himself as a Rogue Trader and commander.

 

Vessel: Refitted Dauntless-class Light Cruiser Glory Be to Him-on-Earth

 

The Desiato Household occupied holdings across several levels of a sub-hive on Meggdon Prime, a hive-world nestled near the centre of the Dalthus Sector.

 

Associates:

- Unidentified Aeldari

- Abhumans (cf. Ogryn)

- Kroot Kindred

 

 

 

Slagjaw

Designate: Kill-Krooza

Affiliation: Deffskullz Clan ("Slagjaw Wrekkas")

 

Kill-Team Swordhand, investigating the demise of the Sunder Dynasty, encountered a Deffskull warband known as the "Slagjaw Wrekkas." The Wrekkas were looting the shattered hulks of the Sunders' final battlefield in order to construct the Slagjaw, a titanic vessel formed from the spaceframe of Lady Obelia Sunder's Grand Cruiser, the Worthy Venture.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Commissar Molotov