Rithy

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

Adrianne was unable to entirely hide her smirk as she watched the governor politely shuffle them out of his office as fast as decently possible. She had a feeling that the man had not quite been expecting the whole crew to take him up on his offer of aid so eagerly.

"He may be a shy man, but that is hardly an indication of heresy. In most cases at least."

She reflected, following the rest of the retinue as they boarded the Typhoon and began their journey to the safehouse, which Andromedai had already managed to generate quite a bit of hype for.

*

"Emperor be praised!"

Adrianne thought as she breathed out a sigh of relief behind her skull faced helmet, just as a sudden decomination shower sprouted from the walls around them, along with an unhealthy dose of holy incense being released somewhere. Only her supernatural prominition had warned her to put on her helmet in time to avoid being dashed by the stuff in the face.

"Perhaps Andromedai wasn't exaggeratin,- ohh. Actually, I _could_ get used to this."

The Psyker's train of negativity abruptly stopped when she entered the main room and got a proper sight of the strange yet comfortable looking decoration of their safehouse. It certainly had a lavish flair to it, but it was different from most imperial interior design. In fact, it almost made Adrianne think of Tau design in some places. The thought made her instinctively peer towards their resident tech priestess Medaira out of fear she might explode into accusations of tech-heresy, but then Adrianne remembered that their particular tech priestess had about as many loose bolts in her noggin as an ork flying machine.

"Aviza. I am glad to see that you are still alive, and looking well even." Adrianne said with a nod of her head, looking even a little impressed as she smiled sheepishly; removing her skull faced helmet with a hydraulic click and hiss.

But the surprises wouldn't end there. Once Adrianne was introduced to the food waiting for them, she almost fell sideways in surprise. But then quickly righted herself again. Of course, she should have remembered Aviza's less-than-ascetic tastes when it come to life in general. And she certainly wasn't going to object to such a treatment.

"What a lovely taste. Perhaps we have more in common than you know."A voice like poisoned honey seeped into the back Adrianne's head.

"Yes, you wouldn't have the slightest... wait." Adrianne spoke, before abruptly pausing and waving a hand in front of her; as if trying to chase away a fly.
"That's a wonderful meal you have prepared. While Stukov may enjoy his cup of stoic Tannan suffering, I think I will just take some wine myself."

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

@Andromedai

Has anyone ever tried to play as a Servitor? -.^

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

Adrianne paused, tilting her head slightly as she eyed the curious scribe for a moment as he hurried away and into the shop as quick as decorumly-possible.

"What a strange one... "

She thought to herself as she watched Titus go, making a mental note of keeping a close eye; not to mention safe distance; from the peculiar scribe. As well as requesting a file on the scribe from Andromedai. One of the key ingredients of being a succesful psyker was to have a healthy level of scepticism to all people, whether they be from the materium or the immaterium.

She heard Stukov's reply, tilting her head to face the shorter armsman and smirked.

"You are a far too reliable teammate for me to need to coddle you, Stukov. But if you are requesting me to come up with some more interesting names, then I'm sure I'll be able to oblige." Adrianne replied with a mischiveous smile, before she turned and walked into their waiting ship.

Sauntering inside, Adrianne nestled herself into one of the slightly-undersized co-pilot chairs; leaving the routine flying to the rest. She had a different job in mind. As they began to soar down through the planet's atmoshpere, Adrianne leaned back in her restraint harness; letting her eyelids droop as she focused outside of herself, touching her mind to the energies that surrounded this new planet.

She could sense the currents flowing from the immaterium, with two main tides being represented. They both converged on the planet like a roiling storm around a single isolated lighthouse. Although the planet itself might have looked peaceful, the warp was in turmoil; and Adrianne could sense the distant eyes of countless spectactors watching the planet from the other side with keen interest; eager to see what the next step would be in a show that had started long before Adrianne and her team had even known about the planet.

She opened her violet eyes again, and let out a sigh; biting her lower lip. She did not wish to stay on the planet, even before they had even set a foot on it.

"A bit too late for that now I suppose... not that the inquisition has ever cared too much about personal preference."

She thought, mentally resigning herself to their current situation and mentally reciting a small prayer to the emperor that she was just being too skeptical in her assessment of the planet.

*

As they entered the governor's quarters, Adrianne was still in her almost dream like state; her eyes looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She was aware of the grandiose architecture all around her, but it all paled in ocmparison to many of the sights she had seen back on Terra.

The planetary governor was an interesting character. He lived in a den of opulence, yet he was surrounded by and carried himself much like a guardsman would.

"How long has he been the governor of this planet?" Adrianne whispered quietly to Medaira, leaning towards the unstable tech-priestess; too consumed by her questions to care about the mental state of their hybrid-technological companion, and hoping that she could dredge up the information from some cogitator bank somewhere in her cranial compartment.

"If that is what you wish, then so be it. I must ask though, are there any questions any of the retinue has before you are dismissed to do as you see fit upon my wonderful world?"

"Actually... " Adrianne started, whilst focusing in on the aura of the man; with the result that her violet eyes seemed to be halfway on him, and halfway peering right through him.
"Governor Nickolai, I would like to meet your chief astropath. Are they available?"

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I feel as if I'm being singled out here. O.o

@Guy0fV4lor

I think it's called the "New guy syndrome" :>

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I'll be posting either today or tomorrow. :D

New rule going in place, you have 7 days since my last post to get one up before I move the story forward.

@Andromedai

I think it might even be better to set the limit at just 4 days, that way the story doesn't get bogged down because of one slowpoke and helps keeps peoples' enthusiasm alive :>

You could probably make some smaller posts between your major story moving ones, even if it's just things like replies to certain character actions etc.

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

"I believe the appropriate throne-sanctioned term is 'tunnel rat', Stukov." Adrianne mused with a sly smile as she tilted her head, eying the stoic armsman.

That was when her attention was drawn to their resident tech priestess; violet eyes zeroing in on the bizarre woman. Of course, as far as the mechanicus was concerned; bizarre was par for the course. But this particular half-human-half-machine was a different level entirely, and a brief scan of the surface of the mind made Medaira out to be just as strange if not stranger than some of the things she had seen in the immaterium.

"Throne's blood. Where did you even find this tech priestess, Celestian?!"

Adrianne glanced at Andromedai with a look that verged on disbelief, yet she managed to keep her thoughts for herself. Andromedai was by far one of the most radical and open-minded sisters of battle Adrianne had ever seen. Not that it meant that much given the average level of stuck-up in the Orders Militant, but Adrianne knew to appreciate it about her superior.

Plus, anyone willing to let a psyker ride shotcut outside of a navigation throne would instantly end up on Adrianne's good side!

... and it was aaaaaaalmost enough to counteract the mental groan that echoed through her mind and likely the warp as well when she heard about the suspected cult affiliations.

"Tzeentch and Slaanesh... why can't it ever be just regular khornates for a change?" Adrianne groaned, though straightened up.

Whilst the followers of Khorna had a fetish for indiscriminate orbital bombardment, nigh-ork levels of firepower and a particular love for all things axes and chainswords; and especially chainaxes; their lack of tact made them predictable. And most importantly, Adrianne had a fair suspicion whatever warp entity she had been sensing recently was not affiliated with the blood god!

She turned sharply and marched towards the ship; staff in hand. Had her recent 'visits' been purely coincidental, or was there something more about it? First they had grown in frequency, and now they were tracking down a chaos cult associated with tzeentch or slaanesh. Sure, working with the inquisition had a tendency to increase your likelyhood of you running into trouble; especially the chaotic kind of trouble. But even within the inquisition, this coincidence seemed a bit _too_ coincidental!

So caught was she in her consternations that she completely failed to notice the smaller, unassuming scribe; the taller psyker walking right into Titus and only stopping when she felt her breastplate crash into something.

"Oh... " Her violet eyes opened; awakening from her reverie to; before narrowing to peer down on Titus.
"What,- who are you... ?"

She asked, her senses honing in on the aura of the scribe's soul.

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

Adrianne stood alone on the observation deck, the normally grim and dark interior around her lit up by the mesmerizing pink and yellow light of the warp outside the viewing ports. She was not wearing her helmet, her pale skin glowing in reflection to the unearthly light; whilst her snow white hair hung in a long ponytail that ran down to her back.

She was not sure why she had come. Perhaps it was simply to get away from the rest of the blunt crew. Perhaps it was to give that poor navigator some room. Or perhaps it was just her own curiosity.

Whatever subconscious reason might have drawn her to this deck, Adrianne let her violet eyes run across the fortified glass panels, where the currents of the warp lapped against the forms of the gellar field outside. Most of the shapes were little more than vague drifting mists or sparks of energy, but Adrianne could occasionally see small humanoid or bestial shapes; their distorted forms briefly appearing as they seemed to crawl over the ship, before vanishing as soon as they had appeared.

"It's a whole universe out there, living parallel to our own. So close, yet so distant." Adrianne muttered in her own private reflections, leaning against her staff-blade; the purple currents of the warp gleaming against the burnished gold of the eagle head decorating the hilt emblazoned with an open eye.

"Perhaps closer than you think." Another voice suddenly spoke in Adrianne's mind.

That was when all of the tiny figures crawling across the surface of the glass suddenly vanished simultaneously. Adrianne raised an eyebrow, but she had not heard that they were making ready to leave the warp.

She took a step forward, and just as she did; she could see another shape come into vision outside of the ship. Its distorted form was massive, with a vaguely human shape. What might have been its mist-wreathed head gazed down towards her window, extending a single clawed digit that rested harmlessly against the gellar-field. Adrianne tilted her head. She had seen many strange things whilst observing the warp, some greater and more majestic than this entity. But they had all been singular and isolated events.

She had seen this entity multiple times however. A fact that disturbed something at the core of Adrianne's being, and caused the psyker to produce a scowl.

"What... exciting places... going... now?"

The voice asked again in Adrianne's head, but it was distorted and fractured; presumably an effect of the gellar field.

"Why would you want to know? You can't come with us anyway~" Adrianne teased in her own voice, whether or not the entity would even be able to hear her. She thought to continue, when suddeny the chime from her wrist mounted computer warned her of an incoming message.

"This is Celestian Superior Andromedai Morgenstern, to the members of my retinue, you are to finish your current actions, gather your equipment for the mission at hand, and meet me in hanger bay Four-Two-Seven-Three-Three for final mission briefing and departure, that is all."

"So much for peace and quiet." Adrianne mused, before turning to look back up at the observation deck glass. But the entity outside the glass was gone, leaving only the roiling clouds of the warp. With violet eyes narrowing into a suspicious frown, the psyker studied the glass for a moment. Possibilities swirled around in her head, but she pushed them down; if only because some of them were too terrible to contemplate. By Terra's golden gates, she was an accomplished psyker; not a novice!

"I am on my way." Adrianne replied as she turned on her heels and marched off, using her vox bead instead of her telepathy so as to not unnecessarily vex her commander; who was at the end of the day a sister of battle! On her way to the hangar bay, she veered off the most direct path; taking instead a longer detour that would keep her a good distance away from the bridge. The reason for this detour was because of a certain navigator living on the bridge. While all psykers were sensitive to the warp, the sensitivity of navigators was on a whole different level to Adrianne's own class. But it was not always a blessing. In her previous encounters with the navigator, he had complained ceaselessly about her own aura being like a noisy storm that blocked his vision. While she had her pride, Adrianne had from there on decided to keep her distance from her fellow mutant; if not because she felt some sympathy to the man, but also just as importantly because she had no desire to strand them in the warp!

Having come close enough to the hangar bay, Adrianne decided to speed up her path. Channeling her powers, her body would suddenly vanish in a sparkle of violet energy. To Stukov who had been observing the doorway, he would suddenly see a flash of violet flame in the side of his vision as Adrianne appeared perpendicular to him and Andromedai.

"Celestian." Adrianne nodded towards Andromedai as she sauntered over, her violet eyes passing to Stukov.

"Stukov... how come you always beat me to these me to these meetings?" She inquired with a small smirk, peering around the mostly empty hangar bay.
"Or the rest of the team for that matter!"

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I've added Adrianne's sheet to the CS section, might make a few adjustments; but it's mostly as I intend it ^^

Adrianne Valenthin

Name: Adrianne Valenthin
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Class: Sanctioned Psyker

Psyker Power
Divination & Telekinesis are her main fields of psychic talent, but she also possesses two other abilities such as Smite and Storm of Lightning, as well as a rudimentary form of mental communication. Does not possess any noteworthy healing abilities, and she is just as likely to send someone to the warp as she is to heal a minor scratch.

Appearance:



7ft tall, pale skin and snow white hair. Sturdy and heavy frame, but still retains her feminine figure despite adhering to a strict physical training regime.

The base of her outfit consist of a simple yet elastic skin tight jumpsuit in dark brown color that is capable of withstanding the vacuum of space as well as provide a decent protection against the elements, though offers little protection versus physical threats. Overlayed on top is a series of armaplas plates that form a chestguard, cuisses, knee-high boots, shoulderpads and gloves stretching back and up to her elbows where they form into a sharp point. They offer good locational protection, especially from the front, but leave her jumpsuit exposed in other places, particularly from her lower back and down to the back of her knees where her boots cover both sides of her ankles. The plates are polished to a light gray color, and almost look like silver. The surface is covered with a series of intricate design and artwork in typical imperial fashion, featuring numerous flutes and ridges across the plates, as well as a couple skull imprints. Above her armor she wears a satin blue silk cloak that hangs down from the back of her left shoulder, as well as a silk loincloth hanging from the front of her belt of similar color. Thrown sideways around her torso is a series of books and scrolls attached by chain.

Running up along the spine of her chestguard is a refractor field generator built into the plate itself, taking form of a small generator emitting a series of horizontal, blue lights up along the back of the chestplate, and shaped much like a human skeletal spine. When activated, a faint, blue and almost invisible barrier appears around her figure.

Her helmet is made out of the same material as that of her armor, and it takes the form of a gothic plated helmet, with a narrow but wide blue glass visor and a longer neck guard extending out behind her helmet. Two plastic tubes are attached to a rebreather device at the bottom mouth piece of her helmet, that stretch out on each side of her neck and down into a small, highly pressurized air tank built into the back of her chestguard.

Her boots are magnetic, and her entire suit when worn enables her to survive in space, and also provides immunity to most chemical and biological attacks. She carries enough oxygen to last for almost an hour.

Equipment:

Main Weapon: Her primary weapon is a two handed power-weapon in the form of an oversized saber with a sleek blade and an extended handle which doubles as a psyker staff, and adorned with sigils, trinkets, technological gadgets and inscriptions. She often uses her weapon in conjunction with her telekinetic powers to amplify its destructive potential.

Calisto. Plasma Pistol.

Ceremonial Dagger. In essence, just a normal albeit flashy dagger with an adorned handle. Typically only carried for show, but is sharp enough to slice through unprotected skin with ease, and small enough to be concealed without much problem.

Refractor Field. Description under Appearance.

2x Servo-Skulls: Familiars. Mostly used to store events, data, recordings and scrolls and provide reconnaissance.

Notable Deeds and Events

Savior – Saved an influential nobleman by foreseeing his assassination, tossing him out of the way of the sniper’s bullet with her telekinetic powers and into a big wedding cake instead.

Guide – Saved a band of arbiters from the underworld of a hive world during an uprising by using her powers of divination to avoid the roaming mobs and gangs and reached safety without incident. Not a single shot was fired during their escape.

Fireteam – During an Ork incursion, she helped a fireteam of six guardsmen hold off a much larger band of orks after their sergeant was injured through using her powers of divination to guide their fire, turning what had been originally green recruits into seemingly crack shots. Any Ork that left its cover was immediately put down from long range, and when they mounted a frenzied charge together, they didn’t make it more than halfway across the field to the trenches before they were wiped out by precision fire.

Warpstorm over Mordran V - Adrianne was assigned to aid the planetary imperial garrison with culling a lesser greenskin uprising, assisting local Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle forces with the purging when a warpstorm suddenly appeared over the otherwise peaceful colony world of Mordran V. Trapped on the planet, Adrianne found herself fighting for survival alongside her imperial guard as Chaos Ships appeared in orbit, and unleashed a ferocious invasion of the planet! Though the warpstorm only lasted for two weeks, by the time it had lifted, Mordran V had been transformed from a lush, promising garden world into a lifeless, daemon-infested hellscape, with most of its original population killed except for a few imperial strongholds that managed to weather the storm. Her experience from Mordran V would change Adrianne for ever. What had been a cautious girl that had stepped onto the planet would instead emerge a seemingly reckless with little to no restraint on her powers!

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

Adrianne Valenthin

Name: Adrianne Valenthin
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Class: Sanctioned Psyker

Psyker Power
Divination & Telekinesis are her main fields of psychic talent, but she also possesses two other abilities such as Smite and Storm of Lightning, as well as a rudimentary form of mental communication. Does not possess any noteworthy healing abilities, and she is just as likely to send someone to the warp as she is to heal a minor scratch.

Appearance:

7ft tall, pale skin and snow white hair. Sturdy and heavy frame, but still retains her feminine figure despite adhering to a strict physical training regime.

The base of her outfit consist of a simple yet elastic skin tight jumpsuit in dark brown color that is capable of withstanding the vacuum of space as well as provide a decent protection against the elements, though offers little protection versus physical threats. Overlayed on top is a series of armaplas plates that form a chestguard, cuisses, knee-high boots, shoulderpads and gloves stretching back and up to her elbows where they form into a sharp point. They offer good locational protection, especially from the front, but leave her jumpsuit exposed in other places, particularly from her lower back and down to the back of her knees where her boots cover both sides of her ankles. The plates are polished to a light gray color, and almost look like silver. The surface is covered with a series of intricate design and artwork in typical imperial fashion, featuring numerous flutes and ridges across the plates, as well as a couple skull imprints. Above her armor she wears a satin blue silk cloak that hangs down from the back of her left shoulder, as well as a silk loincloth hanging from the front of her belt of similar color. Thrown sideways around her torso is a series of books and scrolls attached by chain.

Running up along the spine of her chestguard is a refractor field generator built into the plate itself, taking form of a small generator emitting a series of horizontal, blue lights up along the back of the chestplate, and shaped much like a human skeletal spine. When activated, a faint, blue and almost invisible barrier appears around her figure. Her helmet is made out of the same material as that of her armor, and it takes the form of a gothic plated helmet, with a narrow but wide blue glass visor and a longer neck guard extending out behind her helmet. Two plastic tubes are attached to a rebreather device at the bottom mouth piece of her helmet, that stretch out on each side of her neck and down into a small, highly pressurized air tank built into the back of her chestguard.

Her boots are magnetic, and her entire suit when worn enables her to survive in space, and also provides immunity to most chemical and biological attacks. She carries enough oxygen to last for almost an hour.

Equipment:

Main Weapon: Her primary weapon is a two handed power-weapon in the form of an oversized saber with a sleek blade and an extended handle which doubles as a psyker staff, and adorned with sigils, trinkets, technological gadgets and inscriptions. She often uses her weapon in conjunction with her telekinetic powers to amplify its destructive potential.

Calisto. Plasma Pistol.

Ceremonial Dagger. In essence, just a normal albeit flashy dagger with an adorned handle. Typically only carried for show, but is sharp enough to slice through unprotected skin with ease, and small enough to be concealed without much problem.

Refractor Field. Description under Appearance.

2x Servo-Skulls: Familiars. Mostly used to store events, data, recordings and scrolls and provide reconnaissance.

Character trait: Haunted. Through past deeds, Adrianne has had the great misfortune of gaining the personal attention of an entity in the warp that now stalks her from the other side. Whether this is because of revenge, amusement, desire or hunger; the entity's attention leads to danger for anyone around Adrianne, whether friend or foe; and this danger is in direct relation to the weakness of the barrier between the physical world and the immaterium. Of course, Adrianne would never admit to this; because something like this could _never_ happen to a talented psyker as herself!

Notable Deeds and Events

Guide – Saved a band of arbiters from the underworld of a hive world during an uprising by using her powers of divination to avoid the roaming mobs and gangs and reached safety without incident. Not a single shot was fired during their escape.

Fireteam – During an Ork incursion, she helped a fireteam of six guardsmen hold off a much larger band of orks after their sergeant was injured through using her powers of divination to guide their fire, turning what had been originally green recruits into seemingly crack shots. Any Ork that left its cover was immediately put down from long range, and when they mounted a frenzied charge together, they didn’t make it more than halfway across the field to the trenches before they were wiped out by precision fire.

Warpstorm over Mordran V - Adrianne was assigned to aid the planetary imperial garrison with culling a lesser greenskin uprising, assisting local Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle forces with the purging when a warpstorm suddenly appeared over the otherwise peaceful colony world of Mordran V. Trapped on the planet, Adrianne found herself fighting for survival alongside her imperial guard as Chaos Ships appeared in orbit, and unleashed a ferocious invasion of the planet! Though the warpstorm only lasted for two weeks, by the time it had lifted, Mordran V had been transformed from a lush, promising garden world into a lifeless, daemon-infested hellscape, with most of its original population killed except for a few imperial strongholds that managed to weather the storm. Her experience from Mordran V would change Adrianne forever. What had been a cautious girl that had stepped onto the planet would instead emerge a seemingly reckless with little to no restraint on her powers!

Who Do You Write Like?

Apparently I write like Agatha Christie, but I've never read any of her work o.O