Roland

Warhammer - Tilea - A Dogs of War RP

I'd be interested.

Age of Marvels - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

I'd be interested by this. I have not RP'ed here in quite a while, but this feels like my alley.

Stumped by my own premise

@BrokenPromise Right. I've talked to a few co-workers. One of them suggested that I'd ste... borrow plots from movies, and see if the players start to notice the pattern.

Stumped by my own premise

@Lord Orgasmo Afgter pondering the premise, I might use a wizard to kidnap the whole tavern - there will be some locals, and my character from another campaign that the wizard has a beef with. The players are stuck in the tavern with the NPCs, while the wizard plane shifts the tavern to a pocket dimension.

Stumped by my own premise

Or, depending on how much magic you like, maybe there's some weird planar influence and the tavern just so happened to get sucked into a different plane, and now you have to find your way back?

There's the old fashioned "barkeep was an evil wizard who works for a demon" approach and you guys were meant to be sacrifices, but the spell sent the whole ass tavern and now you're in hell, and you have to survive there.

There's endless possibilities. Maybe don't have a plan and fly by the seat of your pants. Your players can't know what you're planning If you don't have a plan.

@Lord Orgasmo

The barkeep is Vecna. Nobody can see it. And I typo'd by writing a mage twice! I was thinking using a hag!

I could use my current PC from other campaign as an NPC here as an agent sent here to investigate. Perhaps the tavern has already vanished, and the players arrive after the incident.

Stumped by my own premise

I am starting to DM a new D&D of mostly new players, most not having much experience of the game. I volunteered to be the DM as I have the most years with the game under my belt. I gave them a few pitches for the intro, and the players, of course, showed interest in the most absurd.

The premise was "The players sleep at a tavern, and the tavern disappears into the night." How would you approach this premise as a table top RPG DM? I'd have an idea to use either a hag or a mage as the antagonist, who took the tavern... for some bizarre reason, which eludes me.

Warhammer 40k: Wheels within Wheels, an Inquisitorial RP

Sister Julianna

Name: Sister Julianna
Age: 24
Gender: Female

Appearance, history and personality:

Julianna is quite tall for a woman – almost 184 centimetres with a muscular build, mostly owing to her rigorous training and budding life as a Sister of Battle. When clad in her power armour, she can look quite intimidating. Her hair is coloured white. She has scars all over her body from training and battles. She has always been shy and introverted, but behind her calm exterior, she has a deep pool of hatred for any Xenos.

Sister Julianna has survived harsh training from a Schola Progenium, and she views those who don’t give their best in adversary liabilities. She has doubts about her faith, but usually keeps them to herself, although some of her sisters have taken notice of her absent-minded prayers. She tends to see the world morally in black and white colours with no grey shades in between. To her, Imperium offers security and a way to avenge her family.

The Order of the Fiery Thorn has in recent times lent its support for the different branches of the Inquisition. One of their members was heard of taking part in a purging of a hive city, but reports are still fragmented and compiling a definite account on the operation is still under way for the Order’s archives. The Sisters of Battle at large rarely lend their support for the Ordo Xeno – often fighting the Xenos by themselves or in cooperation with other imperial regular forces. However, cooperation between imperial forces is paramount, but the Order of the Fiery Thorn is an exception from the many Orders. The Order mostly specialises in close combat, wielding chainswords, powerswords and boltpistols to great effect, but a minority of them specialise in using ranged weapons to provide fire support for their Sister on a battlefield, although they too must learn how to fight with powerswords and chainswords. All Sisters are expected to excel in close quarters combat and CQC training is an integral part of their training.

Sister Julianna has not seen a great many of battles in her life yet. She started her life on a remote agri-world of Pannonia Secundus, where the world was devastated by a great warband of Orks. The planet never recovered from countless battles between imperial forces and Ork bands. The planet eventually was obliterated, when an Ork-rigged asteroid collided with the planet. She was barely a teenager when the “Skyfall” happened. Julianna has many happy memories from growing up on Pannonia Secundus, which the training at the Schola Progenium did not wholly burn away with relentless training. Sometimes, she wishes that she could return to the life she once had but enacting a vengeance on any Xeno is distilled to her mind sharply. Suffer not a Xeno, a heretic or a mutant to live.

Julianna, a child of former Imperial Guard officers, was inducted into a Schola Progenium after some of the civilian population had been evacuated and resettled to other worlds. Her parents were left to fight against the Orks, and later reported killed in action after the asteroid was dropped on the planet. She also has a little brother, but as part of the Imperial Guard and the distances involved, they are rarely messaging each other.

Julianna was drilled and trained to become a Sister of Battle, showing enough fanaticism and religious zeal in her training. Julianna was inducted to the Order of the Fiery Thorn only a couple years ago, and she has been mostly training and getting used to the power armour and the weaponry of the Order.

Why Sister Julianna was given for Inquisition’s service? What made her skills valuable? Sister Julianna, in her own eyes, sees herself as quite ordinary Sister of Battle, but according to her superiors, she lacks a certain sense of religious commitment to the God-Emperor. She prays for her sins and the God-Emperor’s guidance and attends sermons and masses, but to her superiors her attitude appeared as if she didn’t have her whole heart behind the cause.

Someone might find her lack of faith disturbing from a Sister, but as the Order of the Flaming Rose has done cooperation with the Inquisition, perhaps her skills and training could be utilized by the Ordo Xeno to protect an Inquisitor from external threats and act as their muscle. Her superiors have recommended her to serve the Inquisition for the time being. After all, Sister Julianna has a deep-rooted hatred for any Xeno lifeforms, after witnessing her home world succumb to the Ork menace.

Equipment:

- Sisters of Battle Power Armour: A scaled down version of a “proper” power armour worn by the Adeptus Astartes, it still enhances the strength and mobility of the wearer and offer superior protection against small arms fire. While Sister Julianna lacks the enhancements of an Astartes, she has trained for few years wearing the armour.

- Sabbat Pattern Helmet: The standard helmet for the Order, providing visual aids in bright and low-light conditions, a rangefinder and infrared visualization. Offers life support in contaminated areas when used with the power armour.

- Godwyn-De’az Pattern Bolter: The standard bolter for the Orders Militant of the Sisters.

- Combat Knife of the Order: Every member of the Order has the right to carry a combat knife on their person. It is emblazoned with carvings depicting roses. Every member is issued one when they are initiated after they pledge their vows to the Order

Skills/Attributes

- Close quarters combat: Sister Julianna has trained to master fighting in close quarters, unarmed or with a chainsword. While clearly still not an expert, her training and power armour provide an edge over most human-sized foes.

- Markswomanship: Sister Julianna has trained to use the most common types of weapons of the Imperium, becoming a decent shot with most of them.

- A Spartan Training: Julianna has gone periods of bitter and harsh training to become a Sister – she has a short temper for weakness in battle and carelessness, even if she might appear shy and introverted. The day you stop training is the day you die, she believes.

Prompt

Sister Julianna hurried through the corridors and tunnels of the sanctuary. Her squad had finished their training for the day, and Julianna had been called to meet the Commandery’s leading sister, the fierce Canoness Commander Cornelia. Cornelia hated if someone was tardy, and Sister Julianna had no intentions of letting her down. She had something important to tell her specifically.

The sanctuary had been built on hallowed ground on moon Scylla of a gas giant Thracian IV, it’s gravity close to the Holy Terra. A saint had been killed and martyred on the spot hundreds of their years ago, before the Order had been founded. Saint Victoria had fought off several waves of Orks while the Imperial Guard maneuvered against the Greenskins. Victoria had bought the land for the Imperium with her blood. The Guard smashed through the Ork lines, breaking their back.

Victoria, in the end, could not see the victory; the Orks had slain her, but not before dozens of them falling down. Or so the story told. History and myth often intertwined and grew in the telling. Saint Victoria’s powersword the Furious Rose had been awarded to the Order and passed down from Sister to Sister who deserved it.

The moon had been settled thousands of years ago for mining the gas giant’s atmosphere. Nowadays, it boasted small cities and a convent of the Order of the Fiery Thorn to train new Sisters and mediate and worship the God-Emperor. The moon was heavily wooded with high highs and fells dotting the landscape. New sisters would be hiking and running the hills and fells during their training and in penance for whatever sins they had acquired. One of the trails, Victoria’s Gauntlet, had been named after a saint, who hailed from Scylla and made her stand against an unrelenting horde of Orks.

There still were Orks on the moon, but they were largely feral and hunted for sport and training nowadays. A place rarely could not ever be truly free of Orks once they made their precense known, as they spawned more Orks as they were felled. Sister Julianna still remembered hunting her first Ork down on her own. It was a straggler, but still as large and strong as a hardened veteran of a Guard regiment. It had not been an easy hunt for her, but she had prevailed.

Sister Julianna passed more corridors and tunnels, decorated with statues, mosaics and altars. She had changed her power armour for her robes after the day’s training, her combat knife on her hip. Her hair had been whitened, as she still was one of the novices of the Order. It was a tradition for the Order. The novices’ hair was whitened until they had proven their worth in the service of the God-Emperor, and Sister Julianna had barely two years under her belt in the Order.

Sister Julianna finally made her way to the door of Cornelia’s chamber. Most sisters lived in shared chambers, sleeping, praying, eating and training together. Senior Sisters had their own private chambers. Cornelia led one of the commanderies on Scylla. She was approaching middle age, but she was as formidable fighter as any younger Sister. Cornelia had led the commandery with distinction in many campaigns, and Julianna would follow her into hell and highwater.

Just in time, Sister Julianna thought. She knocked at the wooden door. It was carved with an Imperial Aquila, and soon after, a voice called her in “Wait in the antechamber”, the voice added. Sisters were rarely invited beyond the antechamber. An empty antechamber greeted her. The antechamber was as bare bones as most other rooms in the sanctuary. There was mosaics depicting Saint Victoria’s birth, life and last stand on the walls, and a chairs. Sister Julianna gazed at the mosaics. She had studied Victoria’s life on countless nights. Her sacrifice inspired Julianna. She died protecting others and killing vile Xenos. Julianna desired vengeance for a life, a family and a home lost.

Cornelia’s voice woke Julianna from her thoughts. “Sister Julianna, you are finally here” she said. “I am sure you are thinking why you are here.” It was not a question, Julianna knew. She turned towards Cornelia. She was leanly muscular, with sharp features and dark hair. Her posture and voice echoed authority.

“I have not pondered it”, Julianna said. Do not assume, for it is dangerous. A mantra had been drilled into her thinking by a Drill Abbess early on. Observe, calculate, and act. Assumptions cloud you thinking and hinder your actions. “Assumptions can delude your thinking.”

Commander Cornelia weighed her words and presence. “Very well”, she replied after few seconds. “I will then go the heart of the matter. I have been given reports of you by Sister Superior Iona the Elder, among others. It appears you have been… absent minded of late in service. How is your faith, Sister?” she asked bluntly, her eyes again weighing her again.

This does not bode well, Sister Julianna thought herself. She weighed how to answer. She had had doubts of her faith for quite some time, but she could not uphold the façade forever, could she? Better to confess now than to hold guilt longer. “I have been thinking many things lately”, Julianna replied. “My faith has been wavering, as I believe my prayers have not been answered by the God-Emperor. I have not gained insights or visions of wisdom from Him.”

“I see. And this worries you”, Cornelia said. She shifted her posture, crossing her arms and moving closer. “We all have our doubts and wavers, but we must hold strong and believe in His blessings. One must be patient when worshipping the Emperor.”

“I have not been anything but patient for a decade, Commander Cornelia” Julianna said. “I have waited to avenge my life and family.”

“Your life – what you had before – is over. Your life now belongs to the God-Emperor. Your family now is the Sisterhood. Most of your Sisters have had similar tales to you” Cornelia sad to her in her usual stern voice. “But only you have been reported in my tenure in many years. Someone else might reprimand you and order a penance march through the Victoria’s Gauntlet, but you have also been lauded with praise in training” Cornelia pointed and gazed at the mosaics. Julianna’s eyes followed. “How well do you know the tale of Saint Victoria?”

“It is one of the first things I learned when I joined the Order, before learning the prayers and hymns and sermons. It was told vividly and in detail.”

“Would it surprise if I told you that Victoria had doubts? She travelled far and wide, searching for answers and purpose. She finally became a Sister, just like us. At the end, Saint Victoria had her prayers answered by the Emperor. She had prayed to protect others, to die so others could live in her stead.”

Sister Julianna had been thoroughly lectured on Saint Victoria’s life. She knew all of this. “What does it have to do with me, Commander?” she asked.

“We all serve the Emperor, one way or the another. Our Order finds a way to protect others from whatever horrors the galaxy throws at us. Our Order has cooperated with the Inquisition as far as I know, and they have been asked for a new Sister to assist of their Inquisitor of the Ordo Xeno. I believe it would suit you talents… and taste for vengeance for your family in another life. The Order will be attaching you to the Inquisition for the time being. You will be sent off tomorrow morning.”

Sister Julianna pondered it a second. She did not have a choice in the matter, it appeared, but it would carry her towards revenge ad helped to safe keep other planets from the same fate as her home world Pannonia Secundus and her family. “I will do it gladly, Commander, if it helps the Imperium.”

An inspirational Image

Warhammer 40k: Wheels within Wheels, an Inquisitorial RP

Sister Julianna

Name: Sister Julianna
Age: 24
Gender: Female

Appearance, history and personality:

Julianna is quite tall for a woman – almost 184 centimetres with a muscular build, mostly owing to her rigorous training and budding life as a Sister of Battle. When clad in her power armour, she can look quite intimidating. Her hair is coloured white. She has scars all over her body from training and battles. She has always been shy and introverted, but behind her calm exterior, she has a deep pool of hatred for any Xenos.

Sister Julianna has survived harsh training from a Schola Progenium, and she views those who don’t give their best in adversary liabilities. She has doubts about her faith, but usually keeps them to herself, although some of her sisters have taken notice of her absent-minded prayers. She tends to see the world morally in black and white colours with no grey shades in between. To her, Imperium offers security and a way to avenge her family.

The Order of the Fiery Thorn has in recent times lent its support for the different branches of the Inquisition. One of their members was heard of taking part in a purging of a hive city, but reports are still fragmented and compiling a definite account on the operation is still under way for the Order’s archives. The Sisters of Battle at large rarely lend their support for the Ordo Xeno – often fighting the Xenos by themselves or in cooperation with other imperial regular forces. However, cooperation between imperial forces is paramount, but the Order of the Fiery Thorn is an exception from the many Orders. The Order mostly specialises in close combat, wielding chainswords, powerswords and boltpistols to great effect, but a minority of them specialise in using ranged weapons to provide fire support for their Sister on a battlefield.

Sister Julianna has not seen a great many of battles in her life yet. She started her life on a remote agri-world of Pannonia Secundus, where the world was devastated by a great warband of Orks. The planet never recovered from countless battles between imperial forces and Ork bands. The planet eventually was obliterated, when an Ork-rigged asteroid collided with the planet. She was barely a teenager when the “Skyfall” happened. Julianna has many happy memories from growing up on Pannonia Secundus, which the training at the Schola Progenium did not wholly burn away with relentless training. Sometimes, she wishes that she could return to the life she once had but enacting a vengeance on any Xeno is distilled to her mind sharply. Suffer not a Xeno, a heretic nor a mutant to live.

Julianna, a child of former Imperial Guard officers, was inducted into a Schola Progenium after some of the civilian population had been evacuated and resettled to other worlds. Her parents were left to fight against the Orks, and later reported killed in action after the asteroid was dropped on the planet. She also has a little brother, but as part of the Imperial Guard and the distances involved, they are rarely messaging each other.

Julianna was drilled and trained to become a Sister of Battle, showing enough fanaticism and religious zeal in her training. Julianna was inducted to the Order of the Fiery Thorn only a couple years ago, and she has been mostly training and getting used to the power armour and the weaponry of the Order.

Why Sister Julianna was given for Inquisition’s service? What made her skills valuable? Sister Julianna, in her own eyes, sees herself as quite ordinary Sister of Battle, but according to her superiors, she lacks a certain sense of religious commitment to the God-Emperor. She prays for her sins and the God-Emperor’s guidance and attends sermons and masses, but to her superiors her attitude appeared as if she didn’t have her whole heart behind the cause.

Someone might find her lack of faith disturbing from a Sister, but as the Order of the Flaming Rose has done cooperation with the Inquisition, perhaps her skills and training could be utilized by the Ordo Xeno to protect an Inquisitor from external threats and act as their muscle. Her superiors have recommended her to serve the Inquisition for the time being. After all, Sister Julianna has a deep-rooted hatred for any Xeno lifeforms, after witnessing her home world succumb to the Ork menace.

Equipment:

- Sisters of Battle Power Armour: A scaled down version of a “proper” power armour worn by the Adeptus Astartes, it still enhances the strength and mobility of the wearer and offer superior protection against small arms fire. While Sister Julianna lacks the enhancements of an Astartes, she has trained for few years wearing the armour.

- Sabbat Pattern Helmet: The standard helmet for the Order, providing visual aids in bright and low-light conditions, a rangefinder and infrared visualization. Offers life support in contaminated areas when used with the power armour.

- Godwyn-De’az Pattern Bolter: The standard bolter for the Orders Militant of the Sisters.

- Combat Knife of the Order: Every member of the Order has the right to carry a combat knife on their person. It is emblazoned with carvings depicting roses. Every member is issued one when they are initiated after they pledge their vows to the Order

Skills/Attributes

- Close quarters combat: Sister Julianna has trained to master fighting in close quarters, unarmed or with a chainsword. While clearly still not an expert, her training and power armour provide an edge over most human-sized foes.

- Markswomanship: Sister Julianna has trained to use the most common types of weapons of the Imperium, becoming a decent shot with most of them.

- A Spartan Training: Julianna has gone periods of bitter and harsh training to become a Sister – she has a short temper for weakness in battle and carelessness, even if she might appear shy and introverted. The day you stop training is the day you die, she believes.

Prompt

Sister Julianna hurried through the corridors and tunnels of the sanctuary. Her squad had finished their training for the day, and Julianna had been called to meet the Commandery’s leading sister, the fierce Canoness Commander Cornelia. Cornelia hated if someone was tardy, and Sister Julianna had no intentions of letting her down. She had something important to tell her specifically.

The sanctuary had been built on hallowed ground on moon Scylla of a gas giant Thracian IV, it’s gravity close to the Holy Terra. A saint had been killed and martyred on the spot hundreds of their years ago, before the Order had been founded. Saint Victoria had fought off several waves of Orks while the Imperial Guard maneuvered against the Greenskins. Victoria had bought the land for the Imperium with her blood. The Guard smashed through the Ork lines, breaking their back.

Victoria, in the end, could not see the victory; the Orks had slain her, but not before dozens of them falling down. Or so the story told. History and myth often intertwined and grew in the telling. Saint Victoria’s powersword the Furious Rose had been awarded to the Order and passed down from Sister to Sister who deserved it.

The moon had been settled thousands of years ago for mining the gas giant’s atmosphere. Nowadays, it boasted small cities and a convent of the Order of the Fiery Thorn to train new Sisters and mediate and worship the God-Emperor. The moon was heavily wooded with high highs and fells dotting the landscape. New sisters would be hiking and running the hills and fells during their training and in penance for whatever sins they had acquired. One of the trails, Victoria’s Gauntlet, had been named after a saint, who hailed from Scylla and made her stand against an unrelenting horde of Orks.

There still were Orks on the moon, but they were largely feral and hunted for sport and training nowadays. A place rarely could not ever be truly free of Orks once they made their precense known, as they spawned more Orks as they were felled. Sister Julianna still remembered hunting her first Ork down on her own. It was a straggler, but still as large and strong as a hardened veteran of a Guard regiment. It had not been an easy hunt for her, but she had prevailed.

Sister Julianna passed more corridors and tunnels, decorated with statues, mosaics and altars. She had changed her power armour for her robes after the day’s training, her combat knife on her hip. Her hair had been whitened, as she still was one of the novices of the Order. It was a tradition for the Order. The novices’ hair was whitened until they had proven their worth in the service of the God-Emperor, and Sister Julianna had barely two years under her belt in the Order.

Sister Julianna finally made her way to the door of Cornelia’s chamber. Most sisters lived in shared chambers, sleeping, praying, eating and training together. Senior Sisters had their own private chambers. Cornelia led one of the commanderies on Scylla. She was approaching middle age, but she was as formidable fighter as any younger Sister. Cornelia had led the commandery with distinction in many campaigns, and Julianna would follow her into hell and highwater.

Just in time, Sister Julianna thought. She knocked at the wooden door. It was carved with an Imperial Aquila, and soon after, a voice called her in “Wait in the antechamber”, the voice added. Sisters were rarely invited beyond the antechamber. An empty antechamber greeted her. The antechamber was as bare bones as most other rooms in the sanctuary. There was mosaics depicting Saint Victoria’s birth, life and last stand on the walls, and a chairs. Sister Julianna gazed at the mosaics. She had studied Victoria’s life on countless nights. Her sacrifice inspired Julianna. She died protecting others and killing vile Xenos. Julianna desired vengeance for a life, a family and a home lost.

Cornelia’s voice woke Julianna from her thoughts. “Sister Julianna, you are finally here” she said. “I am sure you are thinking why you are here.” It was not a question, Julianna knew. She turned towards Cornelia. She was leanly muscular, with sharp features and dark hair. Her posture and voice echoed authority.

“I have not pondered it”, Julianna said. Do not assume, for it is dangerous. A mantra had been drilled into her thinking by a Drill Abbess early on. Observe, calculate, and act. Assumptions cloud you thinking and hinder your actions. “Assumptions can delude your thinking.”

Commander Cornelia weighed her words and presence. “Very well”, she replied after few seconds. “I will then go the heart of the matter. I have been given reports of you by Sister Superior Iona the Elder, among others. It appears you have been… absent minded of late in service. How is your faith, Sister?” she asked bluntly, her eyes again weighing her again.

This does not bode well, Sister Julianna thought herself. She weighed how to answer. She had had doubts of her faith for quite some time, but she could not uphold the façade forever, could she? Better to confess now than to hold guilt longer. “I have been thinking many things lately”, Julianna replied. “My faith has been wavering, as I believe my prayers have not been answered by the God-Emperor. I have not gained insights or visions of wisdom from Him.”

“I see. And this worries you”, Cornelia said. She shifted her posture, crossing her arms and moving closer. “We all have our doubts and wavers, but we must hold strong and believe in His blessings. One must be patient when worshipping the Emperor.”

“I have not been anything but patient for a decade, Commander Cornelia” Julianna said. “I have waited to avenge my life and family.”

“Your life – what you had before – is over. Your life now belongs to the God-Emperor. Your family now is the Sisterhood. Most of your Sisters have had similar tales to you” Cornelia sad to her in her usual stern voice. “But only you have been reported in my tenure in many years. Someone else might reprimand you and order a penance march through the Victoria’s Gauntlet, but you have also been lauded with praise in training” Cornelia pointed and gazed at the mosaics. Julianna’s eyes followed. “How well do you know the tale of Saint Victoria?”

“It is one of the first things I learned when I joined the Order, before learning the prayers and hymns and sermons. It was told vividly and in detail.”

“Would it surprise if I told you that Victoria had doubts? She travelled far and wide, searching for answers and purpose. She finally became a Sister, just like us. At the end, Saint Victoria had her prayers answered by the Emperor. She had prayed to protect others, to die so others could live in her stead.”

Sister Julianna had been thoroughly lectured on Saint Victoria’s life. She knew all of this. “What does it have to do with me, Commander?” she asked.

“We all serve the Emperor, one way or the another. Our Order finds a way to protect others from whatever horrors the galaxy throws at us. Our Order has cooperated with the Inquisition as far as I know, and they have been asked for a new Sister to assist of their Inquisitor of the Ordo Xeno. I believe it would suit you talents… and taste for vengeance for your family in another life. The Order will be attaching you to the Inquisition for the time being. You will be sent off tomorrow morning.”

Sister Julianna pondered it a second. She did not have a choice in the matter, it appeared, but it would carry her towards revenge ad helped to safe keep other planets from the same fate as her home world Pannonia Secundus and her family. “I will do it gladly, Commander, if it helps the Imperium.”

The Emperor's Duty: A Warhammer 40K RP

Battle-Sisters of the Fiery Thorn

“To the gangs of the Hive City VI, you have been condemned to death on the grounds of heresy against the Emperor and His government. Surrender, drop your weapons and your execution will be quick and merciful” blared out the transport’s loudspeakers. Sabine had no illusions the gang would oblige her message, but at least the district’s civilians would have a warning to stay out of the Sisters’ way. Not that they were any less innocent of heresy.

“Thirty seconds to the site. Prepare for drop”, the pilot’s voice echoed in Sabine’s helmet. “There are zero hostile contacts or activity on site.” “Understood”, Sabine responded. She ran her fingers on the hilt of her sword and the grip of her bolt pistol. “Sisters, you know your duties. Be prepared for anything.”

The transport spacecraft thundered across the sky, weaving between mile-high buildings and slums. There were no windows, but Sabine could imagine the sorry state of buildings. The Silver Fang gang was one of the largest of the hive city and held the district under its heel. “Ten seconds to touchdown. Opening hatch” the pilot said. Their drop site was a square with barely enough space for their craft, but the pilot knew his job, and Sabine trusted him. The Sisters rose up to stand. The dim lighting of streetlights poured through the hatch. Their Sabbat pattern helmets could filter bright light and help them see in darkness.

There was no one at the center of the square, but a few civilians scattered and huddled on the sides of the nearby buildings. The Sisters drew their weapons as their left the transport. It is quiet, Sabine thought. A bit too quiet for my taste.

“Sisters, follow me. We are crusaders in unholy territory from now on. Communicate only when necessary.” She drew her power sword and activated it. The Furious Rose had a red hue, when it’s power was activated, and it hummed noticeably when Sabine moved it through the air. It felt like it was made into her arm. She loaded and locked her bolter pistol. They started to make their way to their target. The transports ascended from the drop site and blared a message from its loudspeakers. The Sisters of Battle have entered the district. If you into their way, you will be mercilessly cut down. Do not resist.

The district could be described as a sprawling maze of slums and deserted warehouses, but their helmets received navigational data for their target. They found the warehouse in no time at all. Sabine stopped her squad at a junction just before the warehouse. “Now”, Sabine said. “Sister Emilia, take Sisters Adriana and Anais and attack from the side.” Sabine pointed her power sword to a nearby street. “The side entrance I spoke of is that way and to the left.”

“Understood. The Emperor’s Will will be done” Sister Emilia said and led her detachment to the warehouse’s flank. Sabine turned to Iona and said “Sister Iona, with me. We are going the rough way in through the main entrance.” The young Iona nodded, and they left for the entrance. It was guarded by half a dozen gangsters in street clothes and what looked like rudimentary low calibre stubbers. They seemed on alert. Good, it is not going to be too hard.

Sabine walked upright towards the entrance. The gangsters saw her, towering over them in her power armour. They weren’t very tall people compared to Sabine. Hivers rarely were. It took them a good few seconds to start removing the safety from their weapons. Sabine shouted to them. “In the name of the Emperor, I am here to execute his will! The pain for your heresy is death!”

Sabine broke into light running and raised her bolt pistol, removing the safety. Iona came closely behind, revving up her chainsword. The gangsters’ eyes widened from the sight. A larger gangster shouted commands in heavily accented Low Gothic Sabine barely understood, but the intent was clear. Shoot at them!, he clearly said.

Her power armour caught a few rounds, but they barely scratched her armour before she closed the distance to the nearest gangster. She cleaved his arm almost cleanly off and shot the next one to the head. The first one fell to the ground, shouting in agony, the other’s body just stayed on it’s feet for a half a second before falling down like a sack of potatoes. Sister Iona brought one down with a nasty strike from her chainsword. A gangster went down with a ugly chest wound. Soon enough she scored another hit with her chainsword to another gangster, sawing his head off.

The last two were barely a challenge. Sabine attacked with a ferocity worthy of an Ork. She had fought Orks quite a few times, and gangsters were not much of an obstacle for her. In few seconds, the sounds of the skirmish went down. They could hear the sounds of distant chainsword in the background. Sister Emilia clearly had flanked the gang and getting the better of them, too.

The ground was littered with the bodies of half a dozen dead gangsters. Sabine examined her surrounding and saw no other movement from nearby buildings. She went to the main entrance and inspected the great warehouse doors. They were locked by a simple chain and a lock. She hit the lock a few times with the Furious Rose and it gave way, breaking down at no time at all.

The doors opened into a great storeroom with many shelves of contraband goods and weapons. The gang’s main income was from extortion and selling contraband goods as far as Sabine knew. Sabine could move through the shelves, but her power armour knocked a few shelves off balance. “Be careful, Sister”, she said to Iona.”

Sabine could hear the gangsters shouting and running at a distance. They probably were organising resistance and bringing the heavier weapons against them. Lighter stubber rarely could punch through power armour, but heavy stubbers could inflict great damage on them.

The whole warehouse was dimly lit, but it proved nothing to hinder Sabine and Iona. They moved with a fast pace though the storeroom, moving deeper into the warehouse. A handful of gangsters without weapons stood in their way, but they were swiftly and mercilessly cut down.

The next storeroom had many more gangsters, almost ready with their defences. They had brought a few shelves and piled all kinds of obstacles to act as improvised cover. A heavy stubber provided overwatch on a balcony over the room. There were at least a dozen gangsters in the room, as far as Sabine saw. No matter, they shall fall!

“You shall not escape this place alive, Daughter of the Emperor!”, a heavily muscled gangster at her. He was taller than most other gangsters. It seemed to Sabine that he had an archaic looking powered exoskeleton on him and a chainsword in his hand. The gangster had a battery pack strapped to his back. The exoskeleton had armoured plates bolted into arms and the stomach, but Sabine could tell it could not provide much protection against her powersword. “You and your whores will die here!”

“Then I shall join His side! You shall not, heretic” Sabine replied to him. She had planned that Sister Emilia’s element would come at any moment now from the flank, but it seemed they had been delayed. No matter, plans never work as well as you make them.

A hail of bullets hit her surroundings as soon as Sabine moved towards them. A shot from the heavy stubber hit her arm. The bullet did not go through but left a noticeable dent in her armour. She had to take cover. Her power armour could take punishment, but her intention was not to catch every bullet the gangsters had in their armoury. Sister Iona followed suite. Iona had started to chant one of their battle hymns with her clear voice. It didn’t carry well over the sound of booming stubbers and bullets hitting all around them, but it did provide courage to the young Sister under fire.

They moved from cover to cover towards the gangsters’ positions. A few hails of bullets hit them, but the gangsters firing, and accuracy was shoddy at best. They clearly trusted in the quantity of fire more than in the quality of their aiming. “Sister Emilia”, Sabine hailed with her commlink. “What is your situation?”

“On our way, Sister Superior” her voice answered. It was steady as it always was. “Sister Anais took a hit from a heavy stubber to her side, but otherwise we are good and heading your way.”

“Good. May Emperor watch over you” Sabine responded. She put her bolter pistol aside and took a frag grenade, pulling its pin and threw it at pack of gangsters in a one smooth well-drilled movement. “Grenade!” Sabine heard one of the gangsters shouting and jumping out of the way. She also heard the explosion and at least a couple of the heretics blowing up.

They were finally close enough to charge at the heretical gangsters. Sabine rose from behind her cover and pointed her bolter at a gangster and firing a short burst at him. The bolts crashed at him and burst into small explosions in front of her. She charged towards a few of them and swung the Furious Rose. The powersword cut flesh and bone almost like it was thin paper. Sabine heard Iona’s chainsword biting into flesh near her. Her chanting had not stopped for a beat.

They cut down most of the gangsters in what felt like seconds. Stubbers fell silent after one another, and after a short while, only the exoskeleton wielding brute was left. Sabine pointed her power sword at him. “Pray for your salvation, for I shall cut you down, heretic. Sister Iona, leave him to me.”

The brute pounded chest with his fist and revved his chainsword to speed. He had fury and anger in his voice. “I will avenge my men and make you bleed for what you have done today, bitch!”

The brute tried to strike Sabine with a fast swing, but she had trained sword fighting for most of her life, ever she had joined the Schola Progenium. You are too slow, maggot, she remembered her Drill Abbess scolding her a lifetime ago. She barely remembered her face, but her training had stuck in her muscle memory. Slowness will kill you and turn you into worm food.

The brute was strong, but also quick in his feet. He changed his footing and tried again and again in quick succession. Sabine took a hit, leaving nasty marks into her armour, but it still held on. She countered and parried his attack, making a riposte and striking his plate in the stomach. The blow made a deep dent in the plate and punched the air out of him. The brute fell down into his knees. The brute could not produce any intelligible words or sounds.

“Pray for your salvation, heretic, for I shall not” Sister Sabine said to him and drove the Furious Rose through him. The brute fell down with a dull look on his face. The sounds of battle echoed in the hall for few good seconds. A ghostly silence fell in place. After a while, Sister Emilia’s element joined Sister Sabine. “Warehouse has been cleared, Sister Sabine. No casualties”, Emilia said in a matter of fact tone. Her armour had taken hits and dents, and all of their armours had been drenched in blood and intestines. “We have been victorious today.”

Sabine nodded with approval and said to her Sisters. “Yes, we have. Let us call for our transport and move out to the extraction point. The Inquisitor is waiting for our report. Better not to keep her waiting.”

The Emperor's Duty: A Warhammer 40K RP

Battle-Sisters of the Fiery Thorn

Sister Sabine’s squad was almost ready to board the transport to planetside. They had donned their armour and finished their prayers to the God-Emperor. No doubt clouded their minds, and Sabine was ready to commence her sacred duties.

She would brief her squad on the situation. They stood over a map of the city district. The gang’s hideout was an old warehouse. The building had fallen out of use, and the gang had taken it for their main base of operations. It had lots of open spaces inside, and a few dead corners. Its main entrance was on the southern wall, while the eastern wall had the emergency exits. The gangers did have antiquated weapons, but most could not punch through their power armour if the intelligence proved correct. She now talked with her squad to assign their tasks.

“Sister Iona”, Sabine said to a young, auburn-haired woman. Sister Iona the Younger, as her name suggested, younger than her namesake. There was already a Sister Superior named Iona in the Preceptory, and the elder one had suggested to give the nickname to denote the Sisters from each other. Sabine had served under the elder Iona for a while. Iona the Younger was the newest member of her squad, though all had served the Order for years. “Yes, Sister?” she answered to Sabine.

Sabine gazed her back. Sister Iona clearly had fire in her eyes. “We are going to split into two segments and enter the gang’s hideout from two sides in a pincer movement. The plan hinges on keeping their numbers in balance and attacking with great surprise. I want you to look after my back, while the rest of the Sisters attack from the eastern side.”

“I will do it gladly. I will have your back.” Iona had the clearest singing voice of Sabine’s squad, and she liked to sing and hum their battle hymns in the heat of battle. It was not quite orthodox, but Sabine enjoyed it.

“Sister Emilia, you shall lead the flanking element. I trust in your ability to strike terror in their hearts.” Siter Emilia was almost as dark haired as Sabine, but she was quite pale in comparison to her. She had been born on a irradiated planet, where the population spent most of their lives in bunkers beneath the earth. She was almost as old as Sabine and had served the Order almost as long.

“I shall not leave any of them alive” Emilia said. She had a quiet sister’s reputation, as she did not talk much, but she kept her calm in the thickest of fights. She would one day make a good leader for her own squad.

“Any questions on the tasks?” Sabine asked, shifting her gaze from sister to sister. Sister Adriana opened her mouth. Her face had the longest scars, after an ork had struck her helmet off her head. If the God-Emperor had not willed it, she would have died that day. “Has the drop site been scouted? I wouldn’t like to get into nasty surprises.”

“No, it has not been, but most of the nearby buildings only house civilians. It is a small square near the warehouse.” Sabine pointed the space two streets from the warehouse. “It should take only a moment to close the distance between the square and the warehouse, and the gang will be surprised with our wrath.”

“Hmm. I have a bad feeling about this insertion” Adriana said to the squad. She had an uncanny sense for foreboding danger. It had saved her quite a few times on the battlefields. “They have been announced that they will be purged, and they probably have taken the nearby streets for themselves. If I were in their shoes, I would have rigged most of the nearby streets with whatever explosives I have got in my hands.”

“You are right, but we must not suffer these heretics to live”, Sabine said. Adriana’s concerns had been often been correct in the past. “Every moment we talk here will give them more time to prepare their vile hive. And we have the rightful faith on our side.”

“The God-Emperor will know His own”, Adriana said, ending her questioning.

Ave Imperator, blessed be Your name, Sabine thought in her head and felt the hilt of the Furious Rose in her fingers. She would finally get to test the blade on the enemies of the truly faithful. “If you do not have further questions, be ready to board the transport.”