The Inquisition Chronicles

Introduction

The following is a collection of missions undertaken by Agents of the Inquisition to purge followers of Daimondom in the glory of the Veiled Goddess. Their stories serve as a reminder to the faithful: heresy, in all its forms, will never be abided by, and shall be rooted out with extreme prejudice.

The Inquisition serves as the Judicial Branch of the Sacred Obia'Syela, tasked by the Oracle and lead by the Grand Inquisitor to police the lands for any activities of heresy.

These are their stories.

Law & Order sound

Inquisitor Adolphus

Orders from Jessica Gildre

Official Documentation of the Offices of the Grand Inquisitor The Offices of the Grand Inquisitor Jessica Gildre charges Inquisitor Adolphus with the investigation of possible necromancy in the vicinity of Avengmil and Ardmore. Inquisitor Adolphus, report your findings to the Inquisition upon completion. "There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt." Official Documentation of the Offices of the Grand Inquisitor

Jessica Gildre

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Adolphus raised an eyebrow as cartloads of corpses were dumped in his camp. Apparently, the Grand Templar's men had hoped to test his fortitude with the most disgusting, rotted, bloated bits of flesh they could find. He smiled grimly. It would take a lot more than that to make him squeamish. His cursed bloodline had seen worse than this, caused worse than this, and he'd be damned if a little rot got to him. "Strip them, take note of physical characteristics, and any anomalies. I am going to ensure no more shenanigans occur. I will have answers." Adolphus said, his tone detached, and he came to a sudden stop. "Funny. Several of them bear the coat of arms of Caelint upon their gear and clothing. I wonder what else we'll find."

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

"Finally..." Adolphus muttered. A simple formality, assuming command of an investigation, and met with fierce resistance. Couldn't they just understand all he wanted to do was his damned job? "Templars, and their touchy pride." he mumbled under his breath. He didn't care about any of that, he just wanted to be an effective instrument. He stalked the battlefield, organizing men and carts, as the wights were stripped of their gear, and the bodies examined before being carted off to be burnt. He made a beeline to where the Grand Templar's men had been, and noticed with a tinge of disgust, some of the dead had been burnt before examination. The fires were guttering out, and he poked one of his swords through the ashes, and dragged it back out. "By Obeah..." he gasped. "Get 6 men, all of the Inquisiton. Bring them here, now!" he barked at his scribe.

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

"S**t." Adolphus breathed, upon seeing the nigh endless ranks of the dead arrayed before the palisades. He stepped forward, to take his place among his men, drawing one of two swords upon his back. A brilliant blade of blessed silver, all the better to send the dead back to their graves. "Purge the unclean. Die a good death." Adolphus said calmly, as the dead breached the palisades. The ensuing melee was chaos. The bit of steel upon gobbets of rotten flesh, the screams of men drug down by the hordes, and the terrible sound of men being ripped apart. Adolphus fought, and kicked, and spat. He whirled about, and his blade flashing in a brilliant arc, taking the head off a particularly bloated corpse. He went to step forward and put down his next next foe, but felt something grab his ankle. His eyes went wide, and he gasped. "By Obeah, not like this..." He whispered, and was abruptly pulled to the ground. His sword fell out of his hand, and he took to kicking and biting and shouting. He felt himself dragged along, and after a few moments he realized that he was not being torn asunder, but instead carried off. He struggled until he could struggle no more, but to no avail. Darkness took him, and when he awoke he found himself in the confines of a cell, completely intact. He had not even been relieved of his remaining sword. Adolphus paced his cell, examining every inch of it for weakness. He found none. He made his way to the door, and stared out the bars. Two banners hung in the hallway outside of his cell. One depicted a skull beside a crescent moon. "Angmar..." Adolphus growled. The other was the unmistakable shield of Caelint. The day drug on, and he could hear activity from near his cell. Men, and women being thrown in cells, some being drug out. The ones that were taken from their cells, he did not know what became of them, but soon after they were taken, screams would echo the halls. He lingered, for days, with no food. No water. He kept his sword at his side, at all times, waiting for his chance. It came. A man came, and after a whispered exchange, Adolphus handed him some gold. "They will come for you soon. I will leave the inner and outer doors unlocked. From there it is up to you, Inquisitor." Adolphus nodded, and readied himself. He pried a rock from the floor, and waited, sword in one hand, the rock in the other. Hours dragged on, and suddenly he heard the rattle of a key in the lock. The door creaked open, and Adolphus lept, smashing the rock into the face of the man on the other side, his sword thrust into the eye socket of a wight. "Not today, bastard." He growled, and leapt to his feet. Please Obeah, let these doors be unlocked. Let this stranger be true to his word. He prayed as he ran, and smashed into the door. It crashed open, and Adolphus shouted with glee. He sprinted down the next hallway, and his sword scythed out, laying open the throat of a guard, and soon he was at the next door, and he threw his shoulder at it... Only to recoil in pain as lightning arced down his arm, to his shoulder. Bastard! Adolphus thought to himself, the cries of the guards and the thundering of their footsteps echoing not far behind him. He looked about, and noticed a window. It was narrow, but it lead outside. He darted towards it, threw his sword out of it, and them himself at it next. He became stuck, and squirmed. He felt hands on his leg, and he kicked with the other, pulled and strained, and was free! Freedom was not all it was cracked up to be, as he fell a good ways, landing upon his sword, luckily overly suffering a few bruised ribs and a nasty cut. He stumbled to his feet, grabbed and his sword, and staggered away from the tower as quickly as possible. He knew not where he was, but he'd be damned if anything stopped him now.

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Adolphus rode ahead, his hood pulled down over his head against the beating rain. Hooves clattered down the cobbled streets of Rines, and he reigned in his horse before the residence of the Grand Inquisitor. It was a dark night, and the torrential downpour did not help any. He handed the reigns of his stallion off to his squire, and approached the doorway. He pounded heavily upon it.

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Jessica Gildre

Bryant, Jessica's chief scribe, hustled towards the door. Who in the name of Obeah could be calling at this hour? he wondered. Swiftly, he unlatched the bolt and creaked the door open. The light from the sconces inside illuminated the front step, and the man banging on the door. "Inquisitor Adolphus?" Bryant asked in surprise, "I assume there is an urgent matter at hand, sir? Shall I rouse the Grand Inquisitor?"

Jessica Gildre

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

A fork of lightning revealed the Inquisitor to be a grim sight. The gold braiding that secured his black jacket over his breastplate was stained with gore, and Obeah knew what else. The breastplate underneath was likewise dinged and stained. The leather jacket signifying his station was torn in places, but likely do to the torrential downpour, fairly clean. "Please, at once." Adolphus growled.

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Jessica Gildre

Jessica stepped carefully down the stars to her parlor, lead by Bryant. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. Why would I do that? she mused to herself, Force of habit, one would assume... She smiled as she entered the room. Servants had arrived before her, laden with towels, a dry black cloak, and a pitcher of water. She stood patiently, allowing Aldolphus to attend to himself, and explain the nature of his unexpected visit.

Jessica Gildre

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Adolphus waited some time, was finally shown in to see the Grand Inquisitor. "Forgive the late hour, your eminence." Adolphus gravely intoned. "I bring dire news. My brief investigation, interrupted by my captivity, which I doubt was coincidental, has revealed some startling news, along with what I observed during my incarceration." Adolphus gestured towards the pitcher of water. "May I? The roads have left me rather parched."

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Jessica Gildre

Jessica felt her way forward until her hand touched a chair. Using it to guide herself, she slipped down onto it, and then gestured towards the empty air in front of her welcomingly. Bryant sighed, grabbed the back of the chair and turned it while she sat, facing her towards the table and other chair. "Inquisitor, please help yourself. Dry yourself and drink," he said, nodding towards the other chair, "When you are ready, the Grand Inquisitor shall hear your tale." He bowed to the two of them, and stepped back.

Jessica Gildre

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Adolphus gratefully helped himself to some water, shrugged off his battered coat, and hung it upon the chair before sitting down. "Your eminence. My findings, I do believe to be dire. I will refrain from speculation, and jumping to any conclusions." He paused to greedily gulp down his water. "The majority of the corpses found upon the battlefield were determined to have originated from Angmar, based on style of dress, equipment and what could still be recognized as regional features in more well preserved examples. Smaller minorities of the corpses, still sizeable in number showed examples from Angband, and Caelint, and aside from one notable exception which I will come back to, the remainder appeared to be randomly gathered or simply were too old to determine. The units appeared to be organized by national origin, but what I found to be particularly interesting was that the leader of each unit of the deceased, not only showed the signs of experimentation, of surgical nature and in some cases, even darker experimentation still, but were exclusively dressed in the styles of Caelint, and in many cases, their equipment bore the coat of arms of the realm." Adolphus paused to let the Grand Inquisitor digest. "As for the notable exception, that is the reason for the urgency." his voice becoming dark as he trailed off.

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Jessica Gildre

Jessica leaned back in her chair slowly as Adolphus finished his report. She could understand "groups" of undead all from the same place. If a bunch of soldiers from one realm were resurrected, it would be natural that they would be wandering in a group together, more or less. These other abominations... these "surgically" enhanced wretches... she was unsure of what to make of them. Someone was certainly reaching past the Veil, into time-space where they did not belong, stealing secrets of a power they could not control. A necromancer? Some sort of brilliant, mad, scientist? Was this the doing of Caelint? Or was it a ruse to throw suspicion off of the real perpetrator? She needed more. She snapped her fingers and Bryant moved forward with a piece of parchment. They had prepared a series of questions for interviews such as this. "You have concluded your investigation?" Bryant asked. Jessica shook her head. "Ok, you must continue your investigation?" Jessica nodded. Bryant looked at Adolphus. "Do you need additional finances?" Jessica shook her head, "Do you require assistance from more Agents?" Jessica nodded. She then tapped her lip with her finger. She wanted to know more about the Caelint origins.

Jessica Gildre

Roleplay from Adolphus Schwarzherzig

"That isn't quite everything, Eminence. Most of the evidence was destroyed when the Grand Templar ordered destruction of the dead... But I was able to recover items which refused to burn." Adolphus unceremoniously dumped the contents of a satchel on the table. Blackened from the flames, they carried the stench of death and burnt flesh still. An amulet, commonly worn by the followers of Obeah, a badge bearing the coat of arms of the Grand Templar, and the twisted, rent remains of a shield, bearing the emblem of the Templars. "Bryant, if you would so kindly describe the items I have laid out for the Grand Inquisitor. These were pulled out of a burn pile confirmed to have contained only wights."

Adolphus Schwarzherzig

Roleplay from Jessica Gildre

"Of course," Bryant leaned forward, pinching his nose against the assault of scents, and continued in a high pitch tone, "We have a pile of burnt refuse..." he poked around with a handkerchief, "What appears to be a Heralds amulet... a piece of the insignia of the Grand Templar... and, what is this? The remains of a wooden crate? It bears the same insignia." Jessica breathed deeply. She smelled the charcoal scent. The scent brought her back to the crushing defeats in Avengmil, and the burning of the undead army. Surely soldiers of the Templars could be risen to fight for the darkness, much in the same way other realms could? She would have to consult the Heralds on the subject. And certainly the Grand Templar had fought in enough battles to leave an impressive amount of dead bodies, ripe for the picking... She leaned back again and waited. She was growing increasingly interested in the direction Adolphus' investigation had taken.

Jessica Gildre