Escape From Hadrian IV: Freeform Warhammer 40,000

[Urbanzorro]

Ok, given that Wintercat's game seems to have stopped recruiting I think it's safe to put this up without hijacking any of his potential players so here it is.

In Character Intro

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defense forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods…

Deep within the Holy Imperial Palace, past the outer walls, beyond the areas normally traveled, and within sections of the palace so ancient and unused that the layers of dust on the ground were thick enough to rival the finest carpets. Sebastian Oster had finally come to a realization that, at least for a lowly scribe such as himself, was both world shattering and freeing all at once... He had been forgotten!!

Roughly two weeks ago his direct supervisor, Curator Issacs, had ordered him to retrieve scroll VRT-5789071 from supplementary archives room number 347394. After what had felt like an entire day of searching the halls for the room and then searching the room for the scroll Sebastian had finally found what he had been sent to retrieve. But it was only as he exited the archives that he realized he had forgotten to leave some way of finding his way back to a familiar area of the palace and he was now lost.

The next few days had been a blur as Sebastian had wandered the halls of the palace trying to find his way back. All the while growing hungrier and hungrier, eventually the scribe had found his way to a room that he could not bring himself to leave. The room was a large library, but to call it such was to take away from its true beauty.  Two of the room’s walls were lined with massive bookshelves that reached from the room’s floor to its ceiling, which was at least 10 meters high. Each of these bookshelves was packed with countless volumes of books containing unknown quantities of knowledge.  The far wall was dominated by a large glass window oriented to allow the sunlight to enter the room during sunset. But perhaps even more stunning than this was the room’s center which boasted a large patch of living grass as well as two trees, all of which was centered around a small body of water. These things combined to create what was, in effect, a small park within the library. In addition to this an ornately crafted wooden table and chair sat on the grass in optimal position to allow anyone who used them to enjoy the view of the area to its fullest.  The area was serviced by a single servitor  which was equipped to care for the room’s flora.  But all these things weren’t what kept Sebastian from being able to abandon the room. What inspired him to stay within the library was a small machine that upon activation provided Sebastian with a ration pack.

Now that he was no longer in danger of starving to death and with the belief that he would not be caught, or even looked for, firmly in his head. Sebastian was for the first time in his life able to indulge a part of him that until now he had been too fearful to even admit existed. His natural curiosity!

He’d found a large red boon on the room’s table the other day but had been far too afraid to open it. But now….now he was seated at the table with his hand resting on the book’s cover, he’d read the title ‘Collected Record of Events Involved in the History of Sub-Sector Lumaria’ and it had sounded interesting. As he prepared to open the book a slight chill of excitement ran though him. After savoring it for a moment Sebastian slowly opened the book and began to read…



Hadrian IV was a peaceful Imperial hive world. As hive worlds go Hadrian IV has always been strategically unimportant. With its greatest export being it’s surplus of human beings for service in the Imperium’s many organizations. Since its founding Hadrian IV has gone unnoticed and ignored by the enemies of man. Because of this Hadrian IV has never known the horrors of war, that are so common throughout the worlds of the Imperium of Man.  Until now…

Hadrian IV is suffering under an invasion by a large Ork Waagh! led by Warboss Grotrippa. Due to a logistical error, the amount of Imperial forces that had been marshaled to defend Hadrian IV are in fact many times smaller than they should have been.  And now, as the Ork invasion begins the massive numbers of Ork forces attacking the planet are set to quickly overrun Hadrian IV’s defenses.

The situation is in fact so dire that Sector Command has authorized a full withdrawal of major Imperial forces from Hadrian IV in order to regroup and await re-enforcements.  It is under these circumstances that a lone inquisitor has found himself within the hive world’s southern hemisphere, where the Ork forces are the most concentrated. Even as the invasion began, his attempts to complete the task which brought him to Hadrian IV led him to Hadrian Secundus, the planet’s southernmost and second largest hive city.  But now, with most of his retinue killed by Orks, he is in grave danger of being unable to complete his objectives. Using what few resources he has the inquisitor must gather a new retinue, escape Hadrian Secundus, make his way across the planet, achieve his goal, and escape the doomed plane before it is too late. 

Out Of Character Stuff

SO, this is my attempt at putting together a game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It will focus on an Imperial Inquisitor(played by myself) and his retinue (our other player characters). As they attempt to survive and escape a doomed planet in the midst of a massive Ork invasion. A few key points about the game are listed below. Followed by the character sheet.

• This Game Will Be FreeformYep, this game will be totally freeform, provided that we can agree that the GM(myself) has final say on large events. Such as when a major villain dies, etc.
• Types of Characters I’m Looking For I’m looking for basically any Imperial affiliated characters you can come up with, and logically place within the situation. For instance, players could be Imperial Guardsmen(or women), Sisters of Battle, Arbites Officers, Hive Gangers, etc. They can either be surviving members of the Inquisitor’s retinue or people he will run into and recruit within the first few posts. ON a small side note to this, I’m looking for this game to have more of a ‘Inquisitor and his group of followers survive and escape an unstoppable situation’ feel rather than ‘Inquisitor and space marines slaughter every Ork in their path and turn the tide of the war’ feel. So I’ll only accept 1 Space Marine at most.
• Faithfulness To Setting:That having been said, I do ask that we please remain faithful to the WH40K setting when creating characters and playing them out. I honestly don’t think we will have any issues with this but it does need to be said. 
• Character Acceptance Policy: I will be accepting characters on a mixture of first completed first served and individual merit. This means that as soon as your character is completed I’ll let you know if any changes need to be made/if it fits with the story. If it does then they are accepted. If not I’ll ask you to make any alterations needed and so long as there are still open slots you can re-submit your character.
• The Group for This Game Will Be Small I’m thinking no more than 6 characters total (including my Inquisitor). Though I’ll be willing to start with a minimum of 4 (once again including my guy)
• Communication: For any game to work OOC communication is vital. So I’m asking that everyone be willing to actively attempt to collaborate on making this game great. I also find that this helps cut down on drama.
• Please Be Polite: Which brings me to my next point. Please be polite and respectful to everyone OOC. Thanks.
• The Game’s Pace: I’m looking for this game to have a pace of at least a post or two per person per day. So please be able to commit to such a pace.
• Posting Order[b/]: Generally I don’t like them very much so I won’t be using one for this game unless an issue arises.

Character Sheet
With all that out of the way here is the character sheet.

Code Select Expand


[float=left][img]Place your character’s Image link here[/img][/float]
[b]Name[/b] What’s your character’s name?
[b]Age[/b] How old are they?
[b]Gender[/b] Male? Female?
[b]Affiliation[/b] What are they? A hive ganger? A soldier? Sister of Battle? Civilian? Etc.
[b]Position[/b]: What job do they do? For example a Sniper, or a close combat specialist, etc.
[b]Retinue Member:[/b] Are they a surviving member of the Inquisitor’s retinue or someone who will be recruited during opening scene?
[b]Appearance Details:[/b] Any specifics about their appearance that the image doesn’t show.
[b]Personality[/b] What is their personality like? How do they interact with others?
[b]Biography[/b] What’s their story so far?  And how did they wind up here?
[b]Skills & Abilities[/b] What special skills and/or abilities do they have? For instance, are they psyker? Are they expertly skilled in marksmanship, negotiating with others? Etc.
[b]Wargear[/b] What weapons and equipment do they have?


[PhantomVector]

NameThane "Vexer" Hecarim
Age Twenty Three
Gender Male
Affiliation Imperial Grenadier, 78th Hadrian Support Regiment
Position: Recon
Retinue Member: Recruited
Appearance Details: In addition to his Carapace Armor, he also a black camo cloak around his shoulders. Vexer is blonde and has brown eyes. He is relatively handsome, although few people ever see his face, as he always seems to be in full armor.
Personality He is quiet, and observant, as is expected of him. Despite his quiet demeanor he is a little too confident in his abilities as one of the best. He isn't as fanatical as many of his brethren about the God Emperor, although he does believe in the advancement of the human race. He is not as Xenophobic as many others of his race are. He is not above working with Xenos if it means a better chance for survival.
Biography There is very little to his story growing up on Hadrian IV. For all his life he has survived in the towering hives doing his best to avoid the gangs, and other low lifes that inhabited much of the city. When he was of age he joined the ranks of the Imperial Guard. He excelled at stealth tactics, and recon, during his tenure as a whiteshield. When he was granted the rank of Guardsman, he was assigned to the Recon element of the 78th Support Regiment. As a promising guardsman he was selected to become one of the elite Grenadiers. Only obtaining this rank shortly before the Ork invasion of his homeworld, and with the lack of troops to defend the planet against the Ork invaders, Vexer was assigned to a frontline position as a spotter for artillery strikes, and as light infantry. Right along the frontline, he and his squad were ambushed by Orks. They are trapped in a building fending off multitudes of Orks.
Skills & AbilitiesVexer is a decent marksman, and combatant, however his main skills are stealth, and recon.
WargearVexer is equipped with the standard equipment for a Hadrian Guardsman. His main protection in the form of Carapace Armor and protective mask. He also has been issued a black Camo Cloak to assist in recon missions. His primary weapon is a Lasgun, and he also carries a bayonet for this weapon. As a secondary weapon he also carries a Laspistol.
[/quote]

[Datawych]

I feel inclined to ask before I spend a bunch of time making a character bio. I was thinking of playing a psyker who has just recently attracted the attention of the Imperium (who I imagine would want to get to her before something else did), but by the time they find her, Slaanesh has been whispering in her mind, and she's on the verge of becoming a daemonette. If that's alright, let me know and I'll get her more fleshed out.

[Urbanzorro]

I like the concept, go ahead and cook something up.

[Datawych]

Name: Praxedes "Prax" Krueger
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Affiliation: None
Position: Psyker/witch
Retinue Member: Captive

Appearance Details:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Biography: Prax is an example of the untold millions who have had the misfortune to have "fallen through the cracks" of society on a hiveworld. Her parents were killed by cultists when she was extremely young, but for some reason she was spared. It was a cult dedicated to Slaanesh, the prince/ss of pleasure, and the dark god made it known to the cultists that she was not to be hurt. That one day she would grow into a powerful servant. She was kept captive as a slave for most of her life; performing menial gruntwork for her cultist captors until she was of sufficient age to be used in Slaanesh's more perverse and debauched rituals. Her psychic powers first began to manifest partway through adolescence, and continued to grow in strength as she got older.

Soon she began to hear Slaanesh whispering in her mind, attempting to awaken deep, primal desires within her and corrupt her into one of his daemonettes. However, the cell she was kept in was made with materials laced with warpstone, and by the time Slaanesh had taken notice, she was already well on her way to being a daemonette physically, but she had yet to completely lose her mind to the chaos god's whispers.

She managed to escape her captivity when the Orks attacked, and has since been in hiding, lest she be killed for what she looks like.

Personality: Having been a captive - and subject to everything that entails - for so many years, Prax has a rather subdued personality. In fact, she has slowly been rediscovering herself since her escape. Because of this she is often uncertain of herself, and has a strong aversion to making any decisions herself; she is too used to just following the commands of others. She has long since stopped believing in the Emperor's divinity, but knows that to reveal this to anyone (especially when combined with how she now looks) would most likely just speed her to her death.

Skills & Abilities: Being held captive most of her life, Prax does not have many particularly useful abilities. She does, however, have an insider's knowledge of the inner workings of chaos cults, and can fluently speak the language of chaos. She also has an extensive knowledge of the lowermost levels of the hive cities, which are often massive and labyrinthine.

Wargear:
Cultist vestiges of Slaanesh: The obscene garments she was forced to wear by her captors; some foul magic keeps her from removing them. However, they instill her with the unnatural speed and dexterity followers of Slaanesh are often known for.

Claw: One of Praxedes' arms has mutated into a long, incredibly strong and sharp claw-like appendage.

Talismans of Slaanesh: Several of Praxedes' piercings have been granted profane blessings of Slaanesh. Their arrangement on her body projects an intangible field of protection around her, causing blows to miss when it seems they shouldn't. Prax does not know this herself; she only knows that even though she looks like a daemonette, she's managed to stay alive thus far.

How's that? Let me know if there's anything that needs more clarification or if any changes should be made.

EDIT: Added a personality section.

EDIT2: Expanded wargear section

[IrishWolf]

Warhammer 40,000, gotta love that! I'll have a hive ganger up sometime after I get some sleep!

[IrishWolf]

Name Jacky "Two Hands"
Age 21
Gender Male
Affiliation hive ganger
Position: close combat and scavenger
Retinue Member: recruit
Appearance Details: (I couldn't find a good pic really, so its really just for an idea of what I kinda want, lol)
Two Hands is of average height, with a build of lean muscle, wrapped tight around his bones. Not a scrap of flesh is wasted on his often, malnourished body. His skin is pale, from his entire life in the underhive, never having seen the sun and is covered with tattoos, including a blue swirl around his right eye with a dagger going through it, the grip starting at his hair line and the tip on his jawline. His red hair is shaved down to stubble, save for a mohawk, running down the middle of his head and ending in a long rattail, which is braided and dyed blue. Like the rest of his gang, he dresses in black boot, blue pants (more then a bit torn and ragged) with a white t-shirt (also torn and dirty), with a steel shoulder guard, which is worn on the left and a red bandanna, his worn around his neck.
Personality: Like so many other gangers, Two Hands is prone to violence, addiction and running his mouth but is very loyal to his gang. He happens to have a taste for Lho-sticks, Grinweed and Amasec.
Biography: Born in the underhive, Two Hands never knew his father or if he had a last name, just that his mother called him Jacky, before she died when he was the tender age of nine. From that day, he was forced to scrap out a life by himself, nearly starving to death or getting killed several dozen times, until he was recruited by the Blue Knives, into who's territory he had wandered. He had finally found a family, a violent, crude, drug fueled family, that valued his abilities to move around the tunnels. Over the passed seven years, he has proved himself time and again to his chief, until the arrival of the orks. Like the other gangs, the Blue Knives put up the best fight they could but were overwhelmed by numbers and the survivors forced to scatter, Leaving Two Hands (the name he earned from his practice of welding two pistols), without anyone and a heart full of the thirst for revenge.
Skills & Abilities: Having lived in the underhive, he has a well honed ability to find the parts and ammunition he needs for his weapons or at least fashioning his needs from that there is about. He can move quietly and see well in the dark. He is also well versed in close combat, perfecting the use of two pistols at once and the fast draw. More then good shot too.
Wargear: Two stub automatic pistols, a long knife and a Lawbringer pattern shotgun

[Urbanzorro]

Here's my character, I'll be starting us off sometime this week. So if anyone is lurking I'd suggest getting a character up ASAP.

Name Marcus Praxis
Age 54 (Appears to be in early 30’s due to Rejuvenat Therapy)
Gender Male
Affiliation Imperial Inquisitor of The Ordo Hereticus
Position: Marcus serves as the leader of his retinue. 
Retinue Member: He is the leader of the retinue.
Appearance Details:Marcus has a scar on his forehead, above his bionic eye.
Personality Marcus is utterly dedicated to the Imperium, like many inquisitors this devotion is an unshakeable part of his identity. It is what fuels his drive to accomplish his tasks and what guides him in his decisions. He is normally very straight and to the point with his thoughts and words, viewing things such as flattery and political games as a waste of time. He very much feels that the ends justify the means and as such there nothing he will not do to preserve the Imperium.
Biography Marcus was born to a noble family on Kara III, an Imperial Knight World. For most of his life he was raised to eventually pilot a Knight war-machine as was his birth right and duty. But all this changed with the discovery of a Heretek cell on Ragar, the forge world which Kara III was sworn to, during the same year as Marcus’s 16th birthday.

By the time he had reached the age of 21 a full scale inquisitorial review of Ragar and its associated planets was under way. The investigation was both thorough and brutal, with none of the noble families escaping review. As fate would have it there was in fact a small heretical cult on Kara III that, when revealed, attempted to assassinate the inquisitorial presence on the planet and escape justice by fleeing off world.

It was during these events that Marcus came to the attention of Inquisitor Isabella Ventress when he led a group of loyal nobles against the heretics. The loyalty and skill that the young man demonstrated during these actions proved enough to convince the inquisitor that Marcus had potential as a possible inquisitor and at the end of the conflict she took him on as an acolyte.

Over the years Marcus learned much from Isabella, he was finally promoted to the rank of inquisitor roughly three years ago. The investigation that has led him to Hadrian IV is in fact his first investigation of his own rather than one taken as Inquisitor Ventress’s acolyte.
Skills & Abilities Marcus is highly skilled at both marksmanship and close combat. In addition to this he is an expert investigator and has a keen sense for finding the truth in nearly any situation.
Wargear
Accatran Pattern Mk X Shotgun A standard pump action shotgun with a shortened barrel and stockless pistol grip.
Power Sword  A power weapon in the shape of a single handed blade.
Rosarius Produces a small conversion field around Marcus
Bionic Eye A replacement for one of Marcus’s eyes, it allows him better vision in dark areas than naturally possible.

[Belisuavious]

I've got a character who is almost done, just had to go to class before posting him. I'll have him up later, if you're still accepting members

[Urbanzorro]

Sure am though do try to hurry.

[Belisuavious]

Name Gunney Halleck

Age 24

Gender Male

AffiliationImperial Guard, 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, 5th Company of  the 22 Aldemar Regiment

Position: Lt. of 2nd platoon and personally in charge of 1st squad due to being short staffed after the first bit of fighting.

Retinue Member: Recruited on the way

Appearance Details: Pretty similar to the image, has a tattoo of a dragon along the left side of his torso (like a chinese style dragon) with the head coming up over his shoulder.

Personality Halleck generally tries to balance the lives of his men against the mission and does his best to bring as many back as he can. He is loath to sacrifice any of his men and has often put himself in danger for their sake.

Biography Halleck was nothing more than a simple shopkeepers son, expecting to take over the family business when his father decided to retire.
This was interrupted by the invasion of nearby Hadrian IV and the subsequent raising of an expiditionary force to send to the beleaguered planet.
Since he had some education he was given a Lieutenants commission and went through the training acceptably well. The death of one of his Sargents during the landing gave him additional command of a squad but he managed to cope with the extra responsibilities. His company took up postions in an apartment block and proceeded to hold off a couple of probing attacks from the orks. 

Unfortunately, due to a couple of mix ups in the mighty war machine that is the Imperium and his building was far too close to a zone that was being shelled. An attack by the orks coincided with the bombardment and he stayed behind to make sure the last of his men got out before the building collapsed. He was trapped in the collapse for several days and has only just managed to get out.

Skills & Abilities Halleck is a fair shot and a middling hand at close combat. Overall he is very average in his abilities, but doesn’t really shine anywhere except at commanding his troops. Of course they’re far away (hopefully) by now so this ability is of questionable use.

Equipment Gunney has a flak jacket and his helmet for protection, and a chainsword, lasgun and an autopistol for weapons.

[IrishWolf]

So we gonna start soon then boss?

[Urbanzorro]

As soon as I finish typing the IC post

[Urbanzorro]

The threads are up and open. Let's get playing

IC Thread
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=165370.0

OOC Thread
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=165373.0