Blue Lamp
A Dark Heresy 2E: Malice Adventure
Introduction
The hives, wastelands, and underhive of Desoleum are left behind. They are being left to better hands; although that's not a very hard metric to reach. The acolytes being united with their inquisitor are now on a trek through the stars to collect the pieces of the Theoclast, the weapon that the Tarot craves with the ability to destroy a god. On the Silk Spinner, their inquisitor's personal voidship, the acolytes will be introduced to their expanded assets, allies, and living quarters while preparing for the mission upon the planet Hrax. Hrax is a feudal world consisting of warlords owning several intertwining fertile valleys within a great network of canyons, ruling from crashed voidships of eons past. Upon Hrax lies the valley of Charganal, a place the cultists of that fell local god call sacred. Within the valley in an ancient chamber lies another piece of the Theoclast. The acolytes must travel across the planet form port to this chamber in small company to not alert the great and powerful Oniboshi, a Tzeentchian sorcerer and one of the hands of the Tarot. They must transport a teleporter beacon to break up the warzone created by loyalist janissaries and corrupt soldiers and cultists kept at standstill in front of the valley of Charganal. Then, they must confront Oniboshi, the traitor librarian of the dead Emperor's Flames chapter, and defeat him in a showdown before his ritual to create a large gate of infinity to steal away the Theoclast piece can end. They will travel through the dry canyons, verdant valleys, colorful market places, oases, and a battlefield while they fight off threats domestic, heretical, and xenos in nature. They have in their power the ability to crush an entire section of the Tarot with the destruction of one of its leaders. The acolytes finally have this organization on the backfoot. Make them trip.
Outline
The acolytes will start their adventure upon the Silk Spinner. Here they will have an introductory session to meet with their new allies, enjoy their new privileges, flex their new powers, and speak with their inquisitor. Finally arriving above Hrax's surface, they will start at Port Dahlia, a popular port for stellar-to-aero transport. After Port Dahlia, they will begin their journey to the Valley of Charganal. Along the journey they will meet unique figures, deadly enemies, and new encounters. Arriving in the valley they will witness a great battle taking place. Using the locator beacon they will have had to drag along or have someone move for them, they will transport in a great force of their inquisitorial retinue to break up the battle. Then they will move across the base of the heretics into the temple of Charganal to fight Oniboshi and his constructs then claim the Theoclast piece for themselves.
Index
1 - Upon the Silk Spinner
2 - Port Dahlia
3 - Mark of the Sun
4 - Marked Marketplace
5 - Road Ambush
6 - In the Shadow of the Oasis
7 - Pursued
8 - The Battle of the Valley
9 - The Heart of the Beast
10 - The Temple Showdown
1 - Upon the Silk Spinner
The acolytes will be introduced to their new living quarters. These are sizable suites in magnitude similar to a civilized world penthouse or a smaller mercantile hab. They have all the amenities one could think of from a kitchen to personal bathrooms to self-sealed air scrubbing and temperature control units. They may outfit and decorate their spaces in any way they deem fit.
One thing that they cannot decide is their group of escorts accompanying them across the voidship. They are to be accompanied by six members of the black levied Krieg division at all times. This is for their protection and the protection of the ship from shapeshifters, spies, sudden attacks, and the like. Their quarters are their own but their electronic locks may be lifted at any time for any reason in the pursuit of vigilance against their manifold enemies. The Krieger may be aware (and ecstatic) that their purpose may only be to die to slow down possible enemies for the inquisitor's acolytes to form a plan to escape or fight back with the time given. They are under the control and watch of Commissar Richten von Fausten, an Armageddon native that has taken well to the Kriegers' espirit-de-corps and is almost indistinguishable were it not for his commissar cap, red sash, and power sword. He lays withering screeds against the Krieger's past layered with praise for their regimental bravery in the same sentence. Like many Krieger commissars, he is there mainly so that the deathcorpsmen do not just throw themselves to death at every opportunity but instead live long enough to serve value to Emperor and Imperium.
Alongside the Krieger division numbering several thousand strong, a force of around two thousand Cadians of the disgraced "Decap" division serve as guards for the voidship. These are the recruited veterans and children of those that fought on Cilleathe (See Cilleathe, the Decaps, and The Rook). Having been given an offer to serve the Inquisition in exchange for choosing a planet to honorably muster out on, they serve the same function as naval security and are not expected to fight planetside. However, many volunteers have already been noted of those who would wish to fight in similar capacity as they once did. This group was gathered from a large outreach program by Inquisitor Rondos's major handler on Desoleum, Harkonn Straussheim, and the acolytes' personal pilot Colastia Myri, herself a veteran pilot that escaped Cilleathe.
Alongside the guardsman are machines of war found adjacent to various hangar bays in the Silk Spinner. Leman russes, chimeras, sentinels, basilisks, hydras, and more to be used in overwhelming force against their foes. Although, the Silk Spinner is not quite equipped to deal with sustained combat. These forces would be used in an overwhelming presence over a short period of time to quell the questioning hearts of the unsure and silence the lies of heresy from the impure.
Of the overwhelming presences on the ship, there are the Astartes. Continuing his path of vengeance is Togo Katoichi, last of the Emperor's Flames. He has his own quarters on the ship, much less auspicious than the acolytes' by his want. He finds himself getting closer to his once-brother marine Yoshihiro Takane. Chasing his presence and his followers on Desoleum, he feels a hair's breadth away from the traitor librarian. With his hunt on Desoleum he found that his feelings of shame, hatred, sorrow, and guilt soared to new heights. His decades of fighting alongside his brothers in the Deathwatch did not blunt them. The new comradery he found and the accomplishments he made feel like they have withered in the back of his mind. To the point that the new Astartes on the ship, only numbering a dozen, are distant in his mind. Of these included are a Storm Warden, a Mantis Warrior, a Cachorodon, a Reclaimer, a Ravenguard, and oddly a Fighting Tiger. The Mantis Warrior is an oddity to Katoichi. His mannerisms, chapter culture, and physical features under his armour remind him of figures from ancient Yaketsukujin history, far before the Imperium found the planet. He mainly keeps this to himself but has an odd pang of confusion and regret when he sees the Warrior named Fujiwara Sozen. He may let the acolytes know this at their questioning.
Until them, he feels he has a duty to the acolytes to see this mission to the last and train them in how to kill an Astartes. To this point, he will take them to a sparring room in the Silk Spinner and have them come at him at once with him unarmored and armed with a boken. The point of this bout, as they will see, is that even without his armour and weapon, they cannot fight an astartes hand-to-hand or even in a straight firefight and hope to win. They have to cheat. They have to find every advantage they can. Every trap they can spring. Every weakness they can exploit. Even past that, three of their greatest foes are powerful psykers. They need to be prepared to fight those that rival their inquisitor whose power is legendary amongst the new and still surviving circles of inquisitors around Askellon.
Alongside these legendary warriors come old and new faces. Of the old, they know of Enoch Perrin, Inquisitor Ziddayne's interrogator and master pyromancer. They will also see the cryomancer Inspector S.R. Dec and the knowledgable scribe Canta Firma on the ship having been lent by their puritan inquisitor, Encenzo Fidele. The above come with their own forces in a makeshift cabal between Rondos, Ziddayne, and Fidele including Ziddayne's Order of the Fang and Fidele's personal zealous forces. Furthermore, there is Major Oz Swein, formerly Rosco Tyruss or the Rook. Having been mindwiped and his face reconfigured by the Selvanus Binarian magos Kaecipher, he now acts, talks, and believes he is a stormtrooper and agent of the Inquisition. Believing his time on Desoleum to be part of an elaborate sleeper agent operation, along with his past memories being altered or dampened in their traumatic essence, he is a new man. Not so new that he has lost his marksman's edge in the firing range or his ability as a sapper and saboteur to make and plant explosives. He still sometimes displays ticks of his old persona, and the acolytes may worry about what triggering those past experiences could mean for his newly constructed form. He is now closer to the sanguine, kind, macho, poetic, and romantic soldier he started as when he was a whiteshield fresh from Cadia. With marginal loss to his killing power.
There are new assets and acolytes in the mix. First is Rolf Sternn, highborn duelist and shrewd and abrasive operator. Sporting a medium-length cut with raven-haired bangs alongside half his face he still cuts the air with his power rapier with no loss of precision. Always dressed to impressed complete with silk gloves and extravagant coats, Sternn is not afraid of showing off his prideful ways. He's earned the right to show off, being a proficient acolyte to Rondos. Second, of the prominent new people is Jeremiah Alsley. Alsley came from simple beginnings and was a learned scribe beginning work in the administratum when Rondos collected him from a situation on his home planet. A somewhat new and naive member of the retinue, Alsley pairs his wide knowledge of the galaxy and Imperium with a kind of boyish charm and excitability. Similar to his master, he is curious about a manner of things but unlike his master, he holds himself back to keep from dangerous thoughts or perilous situations. He is a chief logger of information in the librarium of the Silk Spinner along with being head of the scribes and assistants of the ship. He is a kind and fair boss but does get into bouts of mouthy yelling he learned growing up when his underlings make mistakes or go too far. His accent is somewhat odd. He keeps his red hair short with a well-kept ginger goatee and is often found in his scribe robes. Not much of a fighter, he often leaves violence to others carrying a loaded stub revolver only for personal protection. He doesn't really know how to use it but knows to keep it pointed away from friends.
Finally and certainly least of the new faces is Ratboy. Ratboy is a weedy, small-statured, nervous little rat beastman. His origins are not well known, his mannerisms are odd, he has no sense of personal space, and is often found scrambling around the ship for one thing or another in dark corners and confined spaces. He is undyingly loyal to Inquisitor Rondos, however. He also serves as an assistant to the acolytes.
The acolytes can finally see what Inquisitor Rondos does for the majority of his time. They will find him suspended in an antigravity field with holo-projecting touchscreens all around him. In deep concentration, he makes seemingly hundreds of actions a minute as he reads the screens for information and makes decisions. Here he chooses actions his acolytes will perform. Here he commands astropaths to speak to further chains of astropaths in a link of communications reaching outside of the sector. He communicates with a number of his handlers, spies, assets, and allies. This is the web of the Silk Spinner, an everchanging, extremely intricate, and complex patterned web. He requires total isolation and silence to do his work for hours upon end. At the end of each day, he is exhausted. He would ask for nothing else, however, as his natural curiosity and drive for new information keeps him going in his neverending pursuit of inquisitorial work. He loves his job.
Korudon will explain to the acolytes the next steps of his plan to gather the Theoclast going forward. Their first stop out of the immaterium will be the feudal world of Hrax. Hrax is a world with a desert surface broken up by a series of gargantuan canyons with fertile valleys, large fortress cities, desert pathways, oases, rivers, and colossal cave structures. After their weeks travelling through the warp, the acolytes job will be to land on the main port of the planet, the trade city Dahlia. Named after a local saint that was a member of the Missionaria Galaxia that first proselytized on the planet, it is a moderately busy aero-to-stellar port and the second most prominent one outside of Hrax's capital. The acolytes will have to travel the valleys in a subtle manner. Through his scrying of the skeins of fate for a number of weeks, Rondos knows that Oniboshi, the head of the Tzeentchian suite of the Tarot, is on the planet. In rare fortune, he seems to be also relatively alone. Rondos believes that the Tarot head sought to make a desperation play after their failure on Desoleum to create a domino effect of falling planets to busy the sector with war and treachery while they continued their business. With the knowledge gained from the Litany Unto Dawn, the acolytes will know that the Tarot had knowledge of the Theoclast piece on the planet. Now, the location is certain. It lies in the valley of Charganal, a hellish local god worshipped by cultists and the corrupted on the planet. Oniboshi must be trying to transport it without running into the battlefield that has erupted outside the valley. The cultists of the planet have become emboldened by some power they now wield wreaking devastation across a loyalist army sent by the loyal planetary governor of the planet. Grand swathes were destroyed by tendrils of energy given to them by an unknown weapon. This weapon is supposed to be the Theoclast piece. The battlefield is at a standstill now with a glacially paced war of attrition taking place.
At this time, Inquisitor Rondos will introduce their mission. They are to transport a locator beacon to the valley of Charganal. The beacon is heavy, cumbersome, and would require transport by cart. They have assets that could carry the cart for them, but they would have to scout ahead and make sure the way is clear. Along with that, they are not in the position to use their overwhelming assets on the planet. If the Tarot thinks they're there, and with their own divinators, spies, and resources they could find out, then they will be sure to unleash their assets on those that ruined their plans before. So they cannot march down the valleys of Hrax with Leman Russes and lockstep marching deathcorpsmen. What they can do is get the beacon to the valley and then allow the deathcorpsmen to crash into the traitors of Hrax using their discipline and better weaponry against the low-tech and line fighting of corrupted janissaries and cultists. They won't be able to get any war machines through the teleporter, but smaller weapons such as multi-lases, biomechanical mounts, heavy bolters, mortars, missile launchers, and the like.
To this purpose, they could task one of their allies to travel with the cart behind them aways. They could ask Major Swein, Sternn, Dec, Firma, or Perrin alongside a disguised retinue of troopers. They can't just fly to the valley as it is inaccessible by air and it would alert its defenders to the presence of the acolytes. They can't just get closer then go on foot because the corrupted of Hrax are spread throughout the valleys in secret and will alert Oniboshi. Although, the Tarot is not the only force with interest in the Theoclast they have to worry about.
The acolytes can finally see what Inquisitor Rondos does for the majority of his time. They will find him suspended in an antigravity field with holo-projecting touchscreens all around him. In deep concentration, he makes seemingly hundreds of actions a minute as he reads the screens for information and makes decisions. Here he chooses actions his acolytes will perform. Here he commands astropaths to speak to further chains of astropaths in a link of communications reaching outside of the sector. He communicates with a number of his handlers, spies, assets, and allies. This is the web of the Silk Spinner, an everchanging, extremely intricate, and complex patterned web. He requires total isolation and silence to do his work for hours upon end. At the end of each day, he is exhausted. He would ask for nothing else, however, as his natural curiosity and drive for new information keeps him going in his neverending pursuit of inquisitorial work. He loves his job.
Korudon will explain to the acolytes the next steps of his plan to gather the Theoclast going forward. Their first stop out of the immaterium will be the feudal world of Hrax. Hrax is a world with a desert surface broken up by a series of gargantuan canyons with fertile valleys, large fortress cities, desert pathways, oases, rivers, and colossal cave structures. After their weeks travelling through the warp, the acolytes job will be to land on the main port of the planet, the trade city Dahlia. Named after a local saint that was a member of the Missionaria Galaxia that first proselytized on the planet, it is a moderately busy aero-to-stellar port and the second most prominent one outside of Hrax's capital. The acolytes will have to travel the valleys in a subtle manner. Through his scrying of the skeins of fate for a number of weeks, Rondos knows that Oniboshi, the head of the Tzeentchian suite of the Tarot, is on the planet. In rare fortune, he seems to be also relatively alone. Rondos believes that the Tarot head sought to make a desperation play after their failure on Desoleum to create a domino effect of falling planets to busy the sector with war and treachery while they continued their business. With the knowledge gained from the Litany Unto Dawn, the acolytes will know that the Tarot had knowledge of the Theoclast piece on the planet. Now, the location is certain. It lies in the valley of Charganal, a hellish local god worshipped by cultists and the corrupted on the planet. Oniboshi must be trying to transport it without running into the battlefield that has erupted outside the valley. The cultists of the planet have become emboldened by some power they now wield wreaking devastation across a loyalist army sent by the loyal planetary governor of the planet. Grand swathes were destroyed by tendrils of energy given to them by an unknown weapon. This weapon is supposed to be the Theoclast piece. The battlefield is at a standstill now with a glacially paced war of attrition taking place.
At this time, Inquisitor Rondos will introduce their mission. They are to transport a locator beacon to the valley of Charganal. The beacon is heavy, cumbersome, and would require transport by cart. They have assets that could carry the cart for them, but they would have to scout ahead and make sure the way is clear. Along with that, they are not in the position to use their overwhelming assets on the planet. If the Tarot thinks they're there, and with their own divinators, spies, and resources they could find out, then they will be sure to unleash their assets on those that ruined their plans before. So they cannot march down the valleys of Hrax with Leman Russes and lockstep marching deathcorpsmen. What they can do is get the beacon to the valley and then allow the deathcorpsmen to crash into the traitors of Hrax using their discipline and better weaponry against the low-tech and line fighting of corrupted janissaries and cultists. They won't be able to get any war machines through the teleporter, but smaller weapons such as multi-lases, biomechanical mounts, heavy bolters, mortars, missile launchers, and the like.
To this purpose, they could task one of their allies to travel with the cart behind them aways. They could ask Major Swein, Sternn, Dec, Firma, or Perrin alongside a disguised retinue of troopers. They can't just fly to the valley as it is inaccessible by air and it would alert its defenders to the presence of the acolytes. They can't just get closer then go on foot because the corrupted of Hrax are spread throughout the valleys in secret and will alert Oniboshi. Although, the Tarot is not the only force with interest in the Theoclast they have to worry about.
They will arrive in system in three days. They will take a flyer to the planet aways from conventional stellar space.
2 - Port Dahlia
Port Dahlia should be a short visit. The only real things to get here are surplus equipment that the rare charter merchant may have dropped off on-planet and items one could get on the planet in a moderately sized port. The Silk Spinner has equipment the acolytes may requisition. There are some things they can just get via their rank privilege (see MO) but there may be some things the quartermaster or even Inquisitor Rondos wants saved for certain situations. Port Dahlia should be their introduction to the planet but otherwise they'll be hitting the road pretty quickly. The locator crew will be following a good distance away.
This isn't really a survivalist adventure so rations and water shouldn't me much of an issue. Their main opposition will be the Tarot aligned forces against them. Along with one or two possible surprises.
This isn't really a survivalist adventure so rations and water shouldn't me much of an issue. Their main opposition will be the Tarot aligned forces against them. Along with one or two possible surprises.
3 - Mark of the Sun
A day into travel will find the acolytes staring at a figure on a bridge. This dark crimson-clad warrior will announce themself as the Mark of the Sun, a chosen executioner of the Emperor. They are covered head to toe in a strange armour set with an airy crimson cloak on top. In their hand they clasp what is known as the Sun-Struck Shard, a poleaxe made out of the metal of a meteorite that touched the sun. The acolytes will recognize it as a Best Quality Power Halberd which may possibly be the only power weapon on this technologically stunted world. Equally interesting is the grip itself. It appears to be some odd magnetically attuned metal lined gauntlet. If the Mark has to show off their prowess either to impress or cow, they can throw the thing and return it to their hand.
The Mark announces themself as the successor of Igdru ibn Jahad, the former Mark. They are the chosen of the sun aspect of the Emperor to send worthy warriors to him in his forever war and to send the unworthy and heretical to hell. They require tribute for the acolytes to pass the bridge. The Mark is actually hungry and starts with three fatigue, having not eaten for a few days. They are a warrior of very high skill but they are also not a raider or thief and would not take from the local villages amongst the valleys.
Those villagers would also not gladly give up their food. The Marks of the Sun and the cult they lead is looked down upon as a bunch of dangerous death cultists. They are not an accepted fixture into the local Imperial cult. However, since their cult's code also will not have them strike down those that are not worthy to be sent to the emperor or to the warp, a devout Mark of the Sun will not strike down and steal from those that refuse them that do not fit that criteria.
The acolytes and whatever companions they have do fit that criteria. The Mark will allow them to pass freely if one of them fights them in one on one combat and bests the Mark. If it comes to the point that the Mark is defeated (and they have two fate points with at least one to burn to justify their survival mechanically or they will give up once critical damaged is reached) they will yield to the acolytes and tell them they are subject to their judgment. The acolytes could just kill the Mark there and take their weapon and the Mark would accept this with their belief that they will join the Emperor in his heavenly war. However, and make this clear as GM, they could also have the Mark swear fealty to them as agents of the will of the Emperor.
They could also just pay them in rations or food and let them pass. If they do this, the Mark will become curious in their journey and if they reveal they are inquisition or let it be known they are on a mission to fight heretics they will ask if they can join.
If the acolytes allow the Mark to join, eventually (because they do not take off their armour frequently) that the Mark is a woman with short black hair, deep olive skin, and is named Ragdri ibn Talsur. She will explain the history of the Marks and her gear.
*Possibly rework this story* Long ago, a meteor was seen in the sky with the trailing flames of the sun. It had passed the sun of the system and its trajectory was changed to strike Hrax. It struck the surface. The inhabitants of Hrax kept well away from the meteor for fear of what it brought to the planet. They assumed some sort of toxic disease that would destroy the fertile valleys. The meteor itself instead held a metal of extreme quality. It could not even be cracked at until a rogue trader and his retinue of enginseers could mine it out. He brought it to a fabricator and from it forged a might power poleaxe. Along with it he crafted a piece of equipment that would allow the user to throw and recall the weapon. He thought to use the weapon as a bribe toward the planetary governor to allow him to delve in forbidden parts of the planet without having to just bombard the planet. The local adeptus organization would be rather irate with him disrupting the tithe, taking away guardsmen, and basically surely causing a civil war on the planet. It already had a previous tension built between the line of planetary governors and local lords that was not helped by the governor's shortage of janissaries due to their use in the Imperium myriad wars. So the rogue trader needed to be smarter. Unfortunately, the weapon was lost during travel due to an upsurge in cultist activity ambushing the traveling captain and his retinue in great numbers. The superior firepower of the retinue beat them back, but not before losing the poleaxe down a series of crevices. The zealotry of the techpriests of his retinue and his avarice for those places caused them to begin a mining operation immediately. The techpriests would keep on for the power weapon but eventually, the Rogue Trader broke from spending too many resources on this one planet. The techpriests dug until their joints were rusted and their tools dulled. They died in those crevices. Funnily enough, they were very close to the weapon before they died as a team of Hraxian miners found it. They fought over it. It was possibly the most valuable thing on the planet at the time. They knew the legends around the thing. The Star Struck Shard is what they called it. One of the miners emerged from that series of crevices alive with the shard in tow. Struck by guilt having seen the blood engulf him with the raising of the sun he dedicated himself to a lifelong penance. However, his rites would involve murder of what he saw as the wicked. His time in the mines had muddied his mind. Others, knowing the legend of the shard, followed. The thing gave immense power to those that could wield it well in a world of primitive blade and shot. Those followers of the first Mark hoped to inherit the blade. This went on, and with martial prowess instilled in their burgeoning cult, a new rite was added. Those that would serve the Emperor well in the afterlife would be felled as the duty of the Mark of the Sun and those that followed it. The cult was never large, but it sustained itself for decades. That was until the last holder before the current holder, Igdru ibn Jahad, had killed his followers out of paranoia that they would kill him to inherit the shard. Ragdri was the last survivor and the killer of Igdru. She inherited the Mark bloodily and decided to keep the Shard and disallow any to follow her. She kept up the rites of slaughter and has destroyed heretic and strong warrior alike. She has had to defend herself from assassins, bounty hunters going after her for killing a janissary that attempted to arrest her who fought her to a near stand-still, and would-be cultists of both the death variety and the Chaotic variety-seeking the armour and blade of the Mark for power.
Ragdri was able to keep the mark and recall gear working with the passed down teachings of the first Mark having learned the rote maintenance of the priests. With them they kept scrolls of rituals on their persons. Along with this, over time the blade has been upgraded by the rare techpriest that has been on the planet. There have been decades of the cult's existence where the blade was dulled and the powerfield fading. In this time the Mark would use other weapons and travel to find those that would regain blessings of the Emperor for what was considered to be a cursed time that they were without His grace. Rather, they would find the blessings of the Omnissiah when those rare individuals were on the planet for one reason or another. For these blessings, they would give favors to these holy men. They did these on the condition that they would be taken back to Hrax if they were to leave in order to continue their originator's penance and rites. The techpriests had very little reason to honor the requests but they did either reluctantly or were forced to return them through the action of the cult of the Mark.
Ragdri found a techpriest in Port Dahlia that would fix her weapon if she would lead them to a strange out-of-the-way valley. She did, and he kept his promise and descended into it. She has not seen him since.
The Mark announces themself as the successor of Igdru ibn Jahad, the former Mark. They are the chosen of the sun aspect of the Emperor to send worthy warriors to him in his forever war and to send the unworthy and heretical to hell. They require tribute for the acolytes to pass the bridge. The Mark is actually hungry and starts with three fatigue, having not eaten for a few days. They are a warrior of very high skill but they are also not a raider or thief and would not take from the local villages amongst the valleys.
Those villagers would also not gladly give up their food. The Marks of the Sun and the cult they lead is looked down upon as a bunch of dangerous death cultists. They are not an accepted fixture into the local Imperial cult. However, since their cult's code also will not have them strike down those that are not worthy to be sent to the emperor or to the warp, a devout Mark of the Sun will not strike down and steal from those that refuse them that do not fit that criteria.
The acolytes and whatever companions they have do fit that criteria. The Mark will allow them to pass freely if one of them fights them in one on one combat and bests the Mark. If it comes to the point that the Mark is defeated (and they have two fate points with at least one to burn to justify their survival mechanically or they will give up once critical damaged is reached) they will yield to the acolytes and tell them they are subject to their judgment. The acolytes could just kill the Mark there and take their weapon and the Mark would accept this with their belief that they will join the Emperor in his heavenly war. However, and make this clear as GM, they could also have the Mark swear fealty to them as agents of the will of the Emperor.
They could also just pay them in rations or food and let them pass. If they do this, the Mark will become curious in their journey and if they reveal they are inquisition or let it be known they are on a mission to fight heretics they will ask if they can join.
If the acolytes allow the Mark to join, eventually (because they do not take off their armour frequently) that the Mark is a woman with short black hair, deep olive skin, and is named Ragdri ibn Talsur. She will explain the history of the Marks and her gear.
*Possibly rework this story* Long ago, a meteor was seen in the sky with the trailing flames of the sun. It had passed the sun of the system and its trajectory was changed to strike Hrax. It struck the surface. The inhabitants of Hrax kept well away from the meteor for fear of what it brought to the planet. They assumed some sort of toxic disease that would destroy the fertile valleys. The meteor itself instead held a metal of extreme quality. It could not even be cracked at until a rogue trader and his retinue of enginseers could mine it out. He brought it to a fabricator and from it forged a might power poleaxe. Along with it he crafted a piece of equipment that would allow the user to throw and recall the weapon. He thought to use the weapon as a bribe toward the planetary governor to allow him to delve in forbidden parts of the planet without having to just bombard the planet. The local adeptus organization would be rather irate with him disrupting the tithe, taking away guardsmen, and basically surely causing a civil war on the planet. It already had a previous tension built between the line of planetary governors and local lords that was not helped by the governor's shortage of janissaries due to their use in the Imperium myriad wars. So the rogue trader needed to be smarter. Unfortunately, the weapon was lost during travel due to an upsurge in cultist activity ambushing the traveling captain and his retinue in great numbers. The superior firepower of the retinue beat them back, but not before losing the poleaxe down a series of crevices. The zealotry of the techpriests of his retinue and his avarice for those places caused them to begin a mining operation immediately. The techpriests would keep on for the power weapon but eventually, the Rogue Trader broke from spending too many resources on this one planet. The techpriests dug until their joints were rusted and their tools dulled. They died in those crevices. Funnily enough, they were very close to the weapon before they died as a team of Hraxian miners found it. They fought over it. It was possibly the most valuable thing on the planet at the time. They knew the legends around the thing. The Star Struck Shard is what they called it. One of the miners emerged from that series of crevices alive with the shard in tow. Struck by guilt having seen the blood engulf him with the raising of the sun he dedicated himself to a lifelong penance. However, his rites would involve murder of what he saw as the wicked. His time in the mines had muddied his mind. Others, knowing the legend of the shard, followed. The thing gave immense power to those that could wield it well in a world of primitive blade and shot. Those followers of the first Mark hoped to inherit the blade. This went on, and with martial prowess instilled in their burgeoning cult, a new rite was added. Those that would serve the Emperor well in the afterlife would be felled as the duty of the Mark of the Sun and those that followed it. The cult was never large, but it sustained itself for decades. That was until the last holder before the current holder, Igdru ibn Jahad, had killed his followers out of paranoia that they would kill him to inherit the shard. Ragdri was the last survivor and the killer of Igdru. She inherited the Mark bloodily and decided to keep the Shard and disallow any to follow her. She kept up the rites of slaughter and has destroyed heretic and strong warrior alike. She has had to defend herself from assassins, bounty hunters going after her for killing a janissary that attempted to arrest her who fought her to a near stand-still, and would-be cultists of both the death variety and the Chaotic variety-seeking the armour and blade of the Mark for power.
Ragdri was able to keep the mark and recall gear working with the passed down teachings of the first Mark having learned the rote maintenance of the priests. With them they kept scrolls of rituals on their persons. Along with this, over time the blade has been upgraded by the rare techpriest that has been on the planet. There have been decades of the cult's existence where the blade was dulled and the powerfield fading. In this time the Mark would use other weapons and travel to find those that would regain blessings of the Emperor for what was considered to be a cursed time that they were without His grace. Rather, they would find the blessings of the Omnissiah when those rare individuals were on the planet for one reason or another. For these blessings, they would give favors to these holy men. They did these on the condition that they would be taken back to Hrax if they were to leave in order to continue their originator's penance and rites. The techpriests had very little reason to honor the requests but they did either reluctantly or were forced to return them through the action of the cult of the Mark.
Ragdri found a techpriest in Port Dahlia that would fix her weapon if she would lead them to a strange out-of-the-way valley. She did, and he kept his promise and descended into it. She has not seen him since.
4 - Marked Marketplace
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