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Snowden's Folly

Through feats of valour, reports of extraordinary sacrifice and courage, or pure dumb luck, you

have caught the eye of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition. Recruited by Constantine Mithras,

Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, you have joined your fates to that of an organization whose

sole reason for existence is the protection of the entire human race.

With the unimaginably vast resources of the Inquisition to call upon, Mithras has a staff and

retinue numbering in the thousands. He has Acolyte teams active on half the worlds in this

sector, his own private flotilla of starships, and access to technology and secrets the likes of

which the average Imperial citizen could never hope to dream of... Or dare to fathom.

You have all been in his service for several years, serving under various Prefects and

Interrogators as parts of different warbands or strike teams. This is the first time most of you

have crossed paths, however. You've all just recieved transfer orders from Mordechai Hastus,

Interrogator Prefect to the Inquisitor, instructing you to journey to Snowden's World, a frontier

planet in the Josian Reach. The orders instruct you to meet your new team at Snowden's Folly, a

bar in the town that has grown up adjacent to the main planetary spaceport. Your contact there is Solomon Grak, a local magistrate, and a regular at Snowden's Folly. He has

a regular table there where he often gambles. The identification phrase is "Do you know Calixian

Hold 'Em?" The correct response is "Five card, or seven?" The abort code response will be "Does

this look like Scintilla to you, pal?" In the event of the abort phrase being given, the Acolytes are

to immediately leave the planet if possible, rendezvousing with Inquisitor Mithras' flagship

Wrath of Sabbatin orbit around Malfi. Should the spaceport be unreachable, your orders are to

go to ground in the hinterlands, get a message to the Inquisitor, and await further instructions.

Solomon Grak will appraise you more of local conditions, and will personally lead you to your

new Acolyte-Primus, 'Frak' MacKenzie, something of a legend among the Calixian Ordos. He is

currently imbedded in the local scene as part of a secret-ops mission which you will be

appraised of once you're on the scene. All further instructions will come through him.

A further study of the briefing material reveals to you that Snowden's World is a harsh planet,

whose elliptical path through the solar system sears and bakes it as it passes near the sun, and

then turns it into an inhospitable frozen hell as it passes into the outer regions of the system.

Human life is only maintained by a vigorous and short lived crop season lasting for several

months each year during the times of delicate balance between the two extremes of it's path.

The political atmosphere is likewise troublesome, as the planet writhes on the brink of serious

internicine turmoil. The major population centers, the domed cities and spire-towers, are

generally regarded as hotbeds of cult activity and depravity, at least in the eyes of the rural

people. In return, the urbanites, administrators and rulers look upon the outer towns and cities

as hotbeds of sedition, full of inbred bumpkins and religious extremists.

A great number of religious movements have begun in these hinterlands, fueled by a growing

hatred and distrust of their uncaring and distant rulers. The corrupt and decadent

administration, they claim, has turned their backs on the Emperor, and may indeed have turned

towards something even darker.

The Governor has declared these religious movements to be "Hotbeds of Sedition," but has

taken no further action as of yet.

7/31/2019 Snowden's Folly Briefing 1

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