By Whose Authority: Perfectly Understandable Reactions to Revelations.
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Dynamesmouse
Bzzzzzz
Perfectly Understandable Reactions to Revelations.
You've revealed more of your strength than you care to admit, yet the respect Munetsi has earned should be enough to stop the many Tzeentchians from mustering a real attempt at usurping your "shackles". Doubtless there will be attempts. Tzeentchians are ambitious to the point of insanity, and fools and cultists are renewable resources in any land ruled by Chaos.
Munetsi's ship, the Bo'tzivan, is a strange ship. Stealthy, with significant onboard manufacturing capabilities. It requires little in the way of crew, so long as Sherlock can maintain a connection, or several of Munetsi order the countless machines and dozens of crew. With a warp engine made by the First Worldship, and some minor additions, you can match the speed of Chaos, at an unreasonable expense.
Still, good and fast spycraft is not cheap.
Munetsi has earned a following of cultists, and even a young psyker who wish to ride her coattails to the top.
With the Ghost Legion doing background checks, the psyker probably isn't a spy, but they've managed to catch about four spies, individuals who are taking payments from someone else. They believe they've identified 3 spymasters, but there is still a fourth unknown.
Munetsi needs to make her own spy network. It's only natural for every single ninefold to manage their own spy network. The nice thing about having nine bodies is that you can do nine jobs at once.
There are countless configurations for how ninefolds manage themselves, just as there are roles and jobs for them to excel in. Spymaster, manager, researcher, sorcerer, diplomat, teacher, negotiator, ritualist, infiltrator, strike team leader. While Munetsi was fighting on Nurgstasch, she was mostly a strike team, leaving her ninth at the flagship, to be kept abreast of the larger situation, and to negotiate for assistance, and to boast of her accomplishments before her peers.
Something each ninefold learns in short order is that nine bodies is not even remotely enough.
There's one job that Munetsi needs to perform on a semi-regular basis that has you concerned. Namely, that of the "hostage".
In order for Tzeentchians to trust each other, they give each other "deposits", of a sort. Valuable books, loaned to another. Gold, or useful slaves. Betrayal and theft are common, of course. Just as much as fool's gold or shapeshifting assassins.
For ninefolds, little has changed in that regard. However, as they have multiple bodies, they can have others "host" them. Treated as visiting royalty by a fellow ninefold, they are in truth valuable collateral.
Countless are the stories of a ninefold leaving a body in the care of their host, only for the visitor to simply kill themselves under their care. Either to protect the soul from retribution, or to implicate their host in a crime. Or, that they were simply spying on their host.
Munetsi will, as part of her duties in this crime ridden hellhole, have to offer up part of her to a ninefold. Treated as royalty, but ultimately, every ninefold mind knows that they are semi-disposable.
Naturally, it's entirely likely that you'll have to hitch a ride with a borderlion at high speed, in order to perform an extraction. Fortunately, you've got a good working relationship with She Who Darts Swiftly, a speed specialist. Unfortunately, many of the areas the hostage will be in will be warded. You're going to need different ways of breaching wards, and rapidly. Demolition charges at key points work, and you've been practising on cutting through the Warp. There's also the old standby of just crashing through a ward with physical force, as they focus more on keeping the immaterium out more than the materium.
With enough respect, there's less odds that a ninefold will do something untowards to your charge. Still, you will need to practice constant vigilance to protect her, as the Tzeentchians are ever watchful for opportunities to work against their enemies. Thank you, Atum Dynasty.
This part of the operation will likely be easier than invading a demon world, but now? Munetsi is going to have to spread out, as she searches for valuable intel, and gets entangled in the affairs of the ninefolds. Countless dangers await her.
She will be making multiple retinues, working closely with the Shifters and the odd Ghost Legion Librarian. She's earned a reputation as a great Technomancer, and will be developing one as a shaper of life in short order. It turns out, with a little bit of human sacrifice, making someone into a psyker is easier than you thought. She insists that Alkehestery isn't human sacrifice, and you can't dismiss her arguments out of hand.
You're headed toward the Bava'ria's system, where the second of the Nine Jewels you'll be visiting is located. Home of multiple merchant empires, you're sure to get an interested buyer for the two Aspiring Nurglites Munetsi has sealed away.
Entering the system 47
Munetsi is able to enter into the system without much more than a small bribe. The tolls change by the day, with countless exceptions for traders and the like. Tzeentchians proudly state that Change is the only constant, yet it seems to have a competitor in corruption. Still, being a ninefold who's coming back from a Hopebringer Crusade is paying some dividends already.
Looking for VIPs 80
In between the countless conglomerates, allied duopolies, merchant caravans, and the countless enchanting and sorcerous guilds, there is a name that stands out, rising above their peers.
Tepel Abdur, the Magnificient.
That's not "Magnificent". They made up their own word to describe how great they are. Born to high nobility, they were always destined for greatness. Much like you, they are a sword mage. She inherited her mother's company, and rose to greatness on the backs of cultists who thought that investing in her would make them rich.
Still, she's made herself the center of all these merchant companies.
It's not easy to get concrete information on her. Nearly everyone agrees that she's well organized. She seems to spend most of her time on her capital world. Nearly every ninefold has at least one trinket manufactured by one of her partners. She specializes in magical equipment of all stripes.
The Bava'ria system is oddly superstitious, in regards to numerology.
Munetsi spreads out, doing minor trade deals, giving and receiving gifts (almost all of which are somewhat useful, but usually contain some means of spying on the user), socializing with her peers.
Finding a Host
As Munetsi is a xeno who practices a non-sorcerous tradition, she is not fully welcomed by the system. Still, she finds someone who is willing to host her, for a simple price of "collaboration". Namely, giving up some of her prized drone blueprints. She has many, and the Technomancer loves designing more, but still, it stings.
It's stressful, to be forced to trust someone untrustworthy. As you are a witch hunter, you can not be by her side. Still, you can have the Shifters set up in positions, and Munetsi can relay the building layout.
Looking for an unwitting ninefold
27, 39
Ninefolds like to spread themselves out, or otherwise concentrate themselves. Both strategies present difficulties in kidnapping them. In addition, body double is a common enough profession in the Nonarchies. Few have anyone who could pretend to be a clone to a Tzeentchian at the level of a ninefold, but there's enough body doubles and ambiguity that your field agents can never be certain.
Spying on the industry 90
Munetsi has identified this system as one that contains many personnel that should be eliminated. The conglomerates are richer than they appear. Special care should be made to destroy the industries.
Spying on the mages 60
The sorcerers seem to be getting ready for some kind of banishment ritual. You can't imagine the target, but they are the ones most peculiar about numerology.
Spying on the ninefolds 91
Munetsi is not the only Hopebringer of note in the system. One "Sekera the Brilliant" has just completed a vision quest, after being gifted the entire set of bodies. An ex Tjapan (probably not another Be'lakor sleeper agent), they displayed phenomenal psychic power before their conversion. They claim that they intend to reveal something important, but are keeping it under wraps.
Looking for good targets for the mind controlling nanomachines 21, 25
There are countless possible targets for the Mind Scarabs, yet not many that stand out. Munetsi intends to keep looking.
Trouble that is looking for the Ghost Legion/Shifters 43, 52
The Alpha Legion is also here. That's not surprising in the slightest. Here, an Alpha Legionnaire is simply a Tzeentchian who prefers spycraft over magic. By the standards of this land, they are not much more dangerous than the spy networks.
Still, the Ghost Legion had some cats paws change hands, but it's nothing too unexpected.
~
As Munetsi is scattered about this world, you can feel a terrible power make itself known.
11 rolls, each with a +30 bonus
49 = 79, 29=59, 11!, 44=74, 100!
27=57, 76=106!, 61=91, 48=78, 71=101!, 29=59
All rolls succeed over 50! Two natural criticals! Two rolls above 100.
"HARK, YOU DAMNED FOOLS! TAKE A LOOK AT THE DUST AND DESOLATION THAT YOUR GOD SURROUNDS YOU WITH! BROTHER BETRAYS BROTHER, AND SISTER SLAYS SISTER! NONE OF YOU CAN TRUST EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE TRUE WILL OF TZEENTCH! NOT THAT YOU RISE, BUT THAT EACH OF YOU FALL LOWER, SO THAT HE MAY TREAD UPON YOU."
This world becomes shrouded in black clouds. By your reckoning, an Honored by Malal is trying to press through the veil. Some damned fool has managed to successfully cast 11 rituals, to initiate an incursion of Malice.
"HE IS NOT SOME GREAT PLOTTER. HE IS SIMPLY THE WORST DECEIVER IN THE GALAXY, A PARASITE UPON THE SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE! YOU ARE SHACKLED BY AMBITION, SO THAT ONE MAY RISE ABOVE YOU. NOTHING HE HAS TO OFFER IS WORTH IT."
Tzeentch's gaze turns to this world. His viewpoint is far away from you, several dozen miles high. He does not specifically focus on you, so you think you are safe.
"I SEE YOU, AND I KNOW THAT I CANNOT FREE YOU FROM THESE SHACKLES. BUT I HAVE A GIFT, FOR EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU. COME, MALAL! MALICE, HEAR ME! LET DEATH FLOW OVER THESE LANDS! DEATH BEFORE DAMNATION FOR US ALL!""
Insectoid demons of Malal pour from the ritual sites, and begin tearing open holes in the veil, most using the bodies of Sekara the Brilliant as a useful sacrifice.
You've revealed more of your strength than you care to admit, yet the respect Munetsi has earned should be enough to stop the many Tzeentchians from mustering a real attempt at usurping your "shackles". Doubtless there will be attempts. Tzeentchians are ambitious to the point of insanity, and fools and cultists are renewable resources in any land ruled by Chaos.
Munetsi's ship, the Bo'tzivan, is a strange ship. Stealthy, with significant onboard manufacturing capabilities. It requires little in the way of crew, so long as Sherlock can maintain a connection, or several of Munetsi order the countless machines and dozens of crew. With a warp engine made by the First Worldship, and some minor additions, you can match the speed of Chaos, at an unreasonable expense.
Still, good and fast spycraft is not cheap.
Munetsi has earned a following of cultists, and even a young psyker who wish to ride her coattails to the top.
With the Ghost Legion doing background checks, the psyker probably isn't a spy, but they've managed to catch about four spies, individuals who are taking payments from someone else. They believe they've identified 3 spymasters, but there is still a fourth unknown.
Munetsi needs to make her own spy network. It's only natural for every single ninefold to manage their own spy network. The nice thing about having nine bodies is that you can do nine jobs at once.
There are countless configurations for how ninefolds manage themselves, just as there are roles and jobs for them to excel in. Spymaster, manager, researcher, sorcerer, diplomat, teacher, negotiator, ritualist, infiltrator, strike team leader. While Munetsi was fighting on Nurgstasch, she was mostly a strike team, leaving her ninth at the flagship, to be kept abreast of the larger situation, and to negotiate for assistance, and to boast of her accomplishments before her peers.
Something each ninefold learns in short order is that nine bodies is not even remotely enough.
There's one job that Munetsi needs to perform on a semi-regular basis that has you concerned. Namely, that of the "hostage".
In order for Tzeentchians to trust each other, they give each other "deposits", of a sort. Valuable books, loaned to another. Gold, or useful slaves. Betrayal and theft are common, of course. Just as much as fool's gold or shapeshifting assassins.
For ninefolds, little has changed in that regard. However, as they have multiple bodies, they can have others "host" them. Treated as visiting royalty by a fellow ninefold, they are in truth valuable collateral.
Countless are the stories of a ninefold leaving a body in the care of their host, only for the visitor to simply kill themselves under their care. Either to protect the soul from retribution, or to implicate their host in a crime. Or, that they were simply spying on their host.
Munetsi will, as part of her duties in this crime ridden hellhole, have to offer up part of her to a ninefold. Treated as royalty, but ultimately, every ninefold mind knows that they are semi-disposable.
Naturally, it's entirely likely that you'll have to hitch a ride with a borderlion at high speed, in order to perform an extraction. Fortunately, you've got a good working relationship with She Who Darts Swiftly, a speed specialist. Unfortunately, many of the areas the hostage will be in will be warded. You're going to need different ways of breaching wards, and rapidly. Demolition charges at key points work, and you've been practising on cutting through the Warp. There's also the old standby of just crashing through a ward with physical force, as they focus more on keeping the immaterium out more than the materium.
With enough respect, there's less odds that a ninefold will do something untowards to your charge. Still, you will need to practice constant vigilance to protect her, as the Tzeentchians are ever watchful for opportunities to work against their enemies. Thank you, Atum Dynasty.
This part of the operation will likely be easier than invading a demon world, but now? Munetsi is going to have to spread out, as she searches for valuable intel, and gets entangled in the affairs of the ninefolds. Countless dangers await her.
She will be making multiple retinues, working closely with the Shifters and the odd Ghost Legion Librarian. She's earned a reputation as a great Technomancer, and will be developing one as a shaper of life in short order. It turns out, with a little bit of human sacrifice, making someone into a psyker is easier than you thought. She insists that Alkehestery isn't human sacrifice, and you can't dismiss her arguments out of hand.
You're headed toward the Bava'ria's system, where the second of the Nine Jewels you'll be visiting is located. Home of multiple merchant empires, you're sure to get an interested buyer for the two Aspiring Nurglites Munetsi has sealed away.
Entering the system 47
Munetsi is able to enter into the system without much more than a small bribe. The tolls change by the day, with countless exceptions for traders and the like. Tzeentchians proudly state that Change is the only constant, yet it seems to have a competitor in corruption. Still, being a ninefold who's coming back from a Hopebringer Crusade is paying some dividends already.
Looking for VIPs 80
In between the countless conglomerates, allied duopolies, merchant caravans, and the countless enchanting and sorcerous guilds, there is a name that stands out, rising above their peers.
Tepel Abdur, the Magnificient.
That's not "Magnificent". They made up their own word to describe how great they are. Born to high nobility, they were always destined for greatness. Much like you, they are a sword mage. She inherited her mother's company, and rose to greatness on the backs of cultists who thought that investing in her would make them rich.
Still, she's made herself the center of all these merchant companies.
It's not easy to get concrete information on her. Nearly everyone agrees that she's well organized. She seems to spend most of her time on her capital world. Nearly every ninefold has at least one trinket manufactured by one of her partners. She specializes in magical equipment of all stripes.
The Bava'ria system is oddly superstitious, in regards to numerology.
Munetsi spreads out, doing minor trade deals, giving and receiving gifts (almost all of which are somewhat useful, but usually contain some means of spying on the user), socializing with her peers.
Finding a Host
As Munetsi is a xeno who practices a non-sorcerous tradition, she is not fully welcomed by the system. Still, she finds someone who is willing to host her, for a simple price of "collaboration". Namely, giving up some of her prized drone blueprints. She has many, and the Technomancer loves designing more, but still, it stings.
It's stressful, to be forced to trust someone untrustworthy. As you are a witch hunter, you can not be by her side. Still, you can have the Shifters set up in positions, and Munetsi can relay the building layout.
Looking for an unwitting ninefold
27, 39
Ninefolds like to spread themselves out, or otherwise concentrate themselves. Both strategies present difficulties in kidnapping them. In addition, body double is a common enough profession in the Nonarchies. Few have anyone who could pretend to be a clone to a Tzeentchian at the level of a ninefold, but there's enough body doubles and ambiguity that your field agents can never be certain.
Spying on the industry 90
Munetsi has identified this system as one that contains many personnel that should be eliminated. The conglomerates are richer than they appear. Special care should be made to destroy the industries.
Spying on the mages 60
The sorcerers seem to be getting ready for some kind of banishment ritual. You can't imagine the target, but they are the ones most peculiar about numerology.
Spying on the ninefolds 91
Munetsi is not the only Hopebringer of note in the system. One "Sekera the Brilliant" has just completed a vision quest, after being gifted the entire set of bodies. An ex Tjapan (probably not another Be'lakor sleeper agent), they displayed phenomenal psychic power before their conversion. They claim that they intend to reveal something important, but are keeping it under wraps.
Looking for good targets for the mind controlling nanomachines 21, 25
There are countless possible targets for the Mind Scarabs, yet not many that stand out. Munetsi intends to keep looking.
Trouble that is looking for the Ghost Legion/Shifters 43, 52
The Alpha Legion is also here. That's not surprising in the slightest. Here, an Alpha Legionnaire is simply a Tzeentchian who prefers spycraft over magic. By the standards of this land, they are not much more dangerous than the spy networks.
Still, the Ghost Legion had some cats paws change hands, but it's nothing too unexpected.
~
As Munetsi is scattered about this world, you can feel a terrible power make itself known.
11 rolls, each with a +30 bonus
49 = 79, 29=59, 11!, 44=74, 100!
27=57, 76=106!, 61=91, 48=78, 71=101!, 29=59
All rolls succeed over 50! Two natural criticals! Two rolls above 100.
"HARK, YOU DAMNED FOOLS! TAKE A LOOK AT THE DUST AND DESOLATION THAT YOUR GOD SURROUNDS YOU WITH! BROTHER BETRAYS BROTHER, AND SISTER SLAYS SISTER! NONE OF YOU CAN TRUST EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE TRUE WILL OF TZEENTCH! NOT THAT YOU RISE, BUT THAT EACH OF YOU FALL LOWER, SO THAT HE MAY TREAD UPON YOU."
This world becomes shrouded in black clouds. By your reckoning, an Honored by Malal is trying to press through the veil. Some damned fool has managed to successfully cast 11 rituals, to initiate an incursion of Malice.
"HE IS NOT SOME GREAT PLOTTER. HE IS SIMPLY THE WORST DECEIVER IN THE GALAXY, A PARASITE UPON THE SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE! YOU ARE SHACKLED BY AMBITION, SO THAT ONE MAY RISE ABOVE YOU. NOTHING HE HAS TO OFFER IS WORTH IT."
Tzeentch's gaze turns to this world. His viewpoint is far away from you, several dozen miles high. He does not specifically focus on you, so you think you are safe.
"I SEE YOU, AND I KNOW THAT I CANNOT FREE YOU FROM THESE SHACKLES. BUT I HAVE A GIFT, FOR EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU. COME, MALAL! MALICE, HEAR ME! LET DEATH FLOW OVER THESE LANDS! DEATH BEFORE DAMNATION FOR US ALL!""
Insectoid demons of Malal pour from the ritual sites, and begin tearing open holes in the veil, most using the bodies of Sekara the Brilliant as a useful sacrifice.
