Ref: Inq/072391366/TF
Subject: Verbal Transcript of Pict-Recorded Document
Date: 815.M41
Location: Private ship section of Inquisitor Sand on-board the Resurrected Faith- Adeptus Mechanicus Cruiser in orbit over Morwen VI with the Hippocrasian Agglomeration
Sector: Calixis (Adrantis Sub)
Original Transcription: Savant Falker, Ordo Xenos
Additional Notes: <awaiting>

+ EXTARCTED FROM THE MEMORY OF PERSONAL SERVO-SKULL IN SERVICE TO INQUISITOR GRAMEN SAND+

>[RECORDING STARTS]

[Stationary Pict-Source] Narrow angle view of an undecorated room with white-colored walls and flooring. A single bed is positioned in the room surrounded by various medical monitoring equipment attached to a prone figure laying on the bed [Subject I] who is being tended by a medical servitor. [Subject I] appears to be a beautiful woman in her early thirties of Malfian descent. She is wearing a hospital gown and her abdomen area is covered in bandages- positively identified as Du’Landra Melua, a minor noble from Malfi. [verified]
Sitting in a simple chair on one side of the bed, near [Subject I] [Melua] head is a handsome man [Subject II] with Scintillan noble features wearing a white and red robe holding a data-slate in his hands. An Inquisitor Rosette hangs from a silver chain around his neck- positively identified as Inquisitor Gramen Sand, Ordo Xenos. [verified]

VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Ughh! My stomach…it hurts.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: My Lady, careful not to move too much or else you will tear the stitches. I am instructing the servitor to increase you pain-killer dose three more units.
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Thank you…The pain is near unbearable…But thank you Inquisitor Sand- you and your Acolytes saved my life.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: The pain should subside in a moment. And you’re welcome…My Acolytes and I believe you are important to our investigation and may still have a role to play. Now I know that this is a difficult time due to your recovery my Lady but I must obtain what information I can from you to assist me in this investigation…
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Yes, yes…of course Inquisitor.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Let’s start from where we left off- you had all just received your invitations from the Spider Bride to attend the Revel of Darkness at the grand manse of Gabriel Chase.

VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Yes, yes, what a creepy place. Never before in all the manses on Malfi have I seen such a place full of such wealth and history, but something was strange about the place. There was an “off-ness” about it.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: An off-ness?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Its hard to explain…it was a feeling that things were not right but nothing specific that I can place. Once inside, the feeling was less noticeable due to all the costumed Revelers, their entourages, and the serving staff. There were hundreds in the Manse and the food and drink were excellent. While many at the manse were there to party and witness the Grand Conjunction, there were several there to settle scores with other attendees during the “Dark Hour”- the time of the eclipse when one’s deeds cannot be held to consequences of the law.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Red has briefed me on this ancient tradition that is unique to Quaddis at the time of the Revel. One can see how this would be a tempting venue to attend if one could afford an invitation. How did events unfold inside the manse?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Red said that it was important to find the Heron-masked Man and stop his plan. That bastard was responsible for all this! The death of Lar’ax and all those other people was his doing! The Pilgrims of Hayte are monsters. I heard the stories from my parents about the Bloody Solstice on Malfi but never could I imagine the destruction they seek to bring. These people are horrible and should not be allowed to breathe!
VOICE (2) [SAND]: I’m sorry for what happened to your brother…my Acolytes told me that they tried to restore him after you all found him in the manse in the zombie-state but unfortunately he was too far gone and the warp had taken his soul.
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: (sobbing for approx. one minute and thirty-three seconds)
VOICE (2) [SAND]: (Sand puts a hand on Melua’s shoulder) My Lady, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to track down this Heron-masked man and bring him the Emperor’s justice- for you and your brother.
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: (sobbing)…Thank you…thank you Inquisitor.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: (Sand takes a moment of pause before continuing) How did your search go?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: We spoke to several revelers, including Lord Tarrik Belasco from Malfi who was hunting his cousin Tobias. Guess he heard that Tobias was going to be at the Revel but he was not. We also met an old man and woman who had both been to a Revel before, the lady, Lady Obellia, she was really drunk but she showed us a secret passageways that were in the mansion’s walls. We saw the Theatre of Clocks- so many clocks on the walls of that room surrounding the central Steel Clock that counted down the hours to the thirteenth hours.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: This Steel Clock is where the stone that Quartiz (Quint) recovered was?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Yes, but that was much later on. There were several strange happenings before that as the hours counted down. People were throwing taunts and threats back and forth, people started going missing, we found dead bodies and servitors in the hidden passages, and the sun was steadily being blocked by the eclipse.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Sounds like tensions were running high. Did you ever see the Heron-masked Man or this “Widower?”
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: We never saw the Heron-masked Man until the final hour, but we saw signs of his presence- the remains of a strange warp ritual and his minions wandering the manse.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: We’ll talk more in-depth about the Heron Masked-man and the Widower, but lets talk about what happened when the clock struck the Thirteenth Hour. When those notes were struck, what took place?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: We were all in the Theatre of Clocks with other revelers when the Thirteenth Hour was struck. The Heron-masked Man was standing by the Steel Clock and he called out a challenge to the Widower who revealed himself. The two exchanged words and then the eclipsed happened, signaling the start of the Grand Conjuction, but the eclipse looked wrong- it was a bright burning sun of blackness. It was horrible to look at and many in the manse went mad.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: You were looking into the raw power of the warp I’m afraid. You must steel your will against its negative influence. We will continue to monitor you and the rest of the team for any lasting taint. What happened after the “Black Sun” appeared?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Pandemonium and chaos…the Heron-mask Man and the Widower engaged in battle on the plinth of the Steel Clock. Pilgrims of Hayte emerged from the crowd and started attacking everyone. Explosions and gunfire were tearing up the place. The dead and dying were everywhere. I lost sight of Quartiz in the mayhem but I could see Chad (Lysandros) and Uriel taking cover inside the Steel Clock and Red fighting some of the cultists. Some of the cultists attacked me. Eventually I was able to kill them with my pistols.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: I have spoken with my Acolytes and they told me how bloody the battle was. Chad (Lysandros) was critically injured by the Widower, Hadrian was severely wounded by the cultists and Uriel had a brief instance where she lost her mind momentarily. I heard that some of the nobles you met, like Lord Belasco, helped you in your battle.
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Yes, they helped us. I owe my life to the bodyguard of that drunk noble woman. He struck down some of my attackers. I know that Lord Belasco fought for us until he was struck down. Is he alive? I know that your men brought his body when we departed.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: He was critically injured but he is alive and recovering in the room next to yours. I will also speak to him about this incident when he is able. Back to the battle my Lady, how did it end?
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: The room was filled with dead people and the Widower was slaying the last of the survivors while Red was trying to free the pendulum from the Steel Clock. I saw the Heron-masked Man appear out of nowhere and attack the Widower and I started making my way to the battle. Something drew me to the Widower…a feeling or something. Is it true what your men said, that my family is distantly related to the Haarlocks?
VOICE (2) [SAND]: That seems to be what the research is showing but we will talk more about that later. Please, continue…
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: The Heron-mask Man was battling the Widower when Red finished cutting the pendulum keystone from the Steel Clock and with the separation of the pendulum, the Widower started unraveling into a blob of flesh that collapsed on the ground in the vague shape of a face that continued to talk and babble. The Heron-masked Man grabbed the Widower’s babbling remains and disappeared with them in a “door” that he created in the air.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: A “door?”
VOICE (1) [MELUA]: Yes, that best explains it. Red said it must have been a psychic power. We fled the manse after that, dragging the bodies of the wounded, and ran into your man- the guy named Pullo, who led us to you at the star port.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: So far everything seems consistent with the information I’ve obtained so far but there are some details that I want to revisit, and I would also like to talk to you about your initial investigation of your brother’s disappearance. But before we speak of that, I want to talk to you about a proposition I want to offer you…One that will change your life…

>[RECORDING ENDS]

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from Fantasy Flight’s “Tattered Fates” book by Alan Bligh and John French. It can be found here: