Scholariate at Arms

“We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the morally correct course. Mercy destroys us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of Inquisitors in the service of our Emperor. Praise His name, for in our resolve we only reflect His will.”
–The Book of Exorcisms, The Verses of Inquisitor Enoch
The Scholariate at Arms is a Chamber of the Ordo Malleus Calixis, and its members are amongst the most
driven and successful of all of the many Inquisitorial
cells active in the Calixis Sector. The Scholariate has existed
since the foundation of the Calixis Sector. It operates from
an extensive complex in the Tricorn Palace on Scintilla, as
well as other facilities across the sector. The current Proctor
of the Chamber is Inquisitor Lord Ghankus Dhar, a man who
has served as a Master of the Council on at least a dozen
occasions, and is said to be as close to Inquisitor Lord Caidin
as it is possible to be. Lord Dhar is a highly militant Inquisitor
and a veteran of numerous battles against the Ruinous Powers;
he rules his Chamber with a will as hard and unyielding as
granite. Though a renowned servant of the Ordo Malleus,
Lord Dhar has never revealed which, if any, of the factions he
supports. No outward clues of his allegiance can be discerned,
and it is not even clear what side of the Puritan/Radical divide
he occupies. Some have suggested that Ghankus Dhar is a
member of an otherwise unknown faction, and that he always
leads his Chamber in such a way as to advance his creed. In
truth, the Scholariate has always been led by men and women
such as Dhar: truly rare individuals able to cast off the shackles
of factional adherence and place the Ordo above all.
What makes Dhar’s Chamber so unusual is that it appears
to consist of Inquisitors drawn from many different factions,
both Puritan and Radical. Ordinarily, Inquisitorial cells
and the Chambers of the Ordo Malleus Calixis are drawn
from individuals of the same broad doctrinal leanings, yet
this is not the case with the Scholariate at Arms, and never
has been since its inception a thousand years ago. While it
might appear that such an arrangement could only succeed
if Inquisitors of the same mindset as the Master in Chamber
can be pooled together, this is not the case. The members of
the Scholariate are in fact bitter rivals, ever striving to outdo
one another even in the face of impending doom. Some
say that this arrangement creates a dynamic tension that is
the source of the Scholariate’s strengths. Others believe the
Chamber is some bizarre experiment, or even worse a plot
to undermine the Ordo by setting the factions against one
another in the worst possible way. Whatever the truth, the
results are undeniable---the Scholariate at Arms has been
counted amongst the most successful Chambers of the Ordo
Malleus Calixis since its inception.
==Roots of the Scholariate at Arms==
The Scholariate appears to have been in existence in a nascent
form at the foundation of the Calixis Sector. Much like the
earliest of Inquisitors moved in the shadows of the Emperor,
the Scholariate followed in the wake of the Angevin Crusade,
descending upon the peoples it had defeated and purging
them of any Warp taint they discovered. This self-appointed
task was truly gargantuan, for many of the worlds of the
Calyx Expanse had been blind to the light of the Emperor for
countless millennia, oppressed and corrupted by vile xenos
overlords. When Drusus was appointed the first governor of
the Calixis Sector, the Scholariate’s leaders made themselves
known to him, and told him of the true state of many of
the sector’s human worlds. For millennia, Drusus was told,
these worlds had been beyond the attentions of the Black
Ships and entirely at the mercy of Warp incursions brought
about by the existence of un-culled, unsanctioned psykers.
With the birth rate of psykers rising, all of the crusade’s great
works might collapse to nothing unless Drusus took control.
The Scholariate’s leaders knew Drusus to be a stalwart of the
Imperial Faith, who would not flinch at doing what must be
done, and in this they were correct. Drusus began to take
total Imperial control of the worlds in the Sector, and the
Scholariate moved with impunity amongst the newly cowed
populations, seeking out the deep, twisted roots of a taint that
had been allowed to grow for countless generations.
In its earliest form, the Scholariate was a cell of Inquisitor-
Savants, supremely learned men and women dedicated to the
task of tracking down and uncovering signs of Daemonic taint.
Once they set themselves to the task of purging the newly-conquered
worlds of the Calyx Expanse, the Scholariate
assumed a more militant form. Corruption, the Scholariate
discovered, was everywhere, and they needed more resources
to destroy it. Their ranks swelled with Daemon Hunters
and zealots, well-equipped for the deadly business of facing
daemons in combat and banishing them back to the Warp.
Thus, the cell became the Scholariate at Arms, combining the
scholarly traditions of its founders with the aggressive zeal
of its newer members. The result was, and still is a thousand
years later, a cell of bloodhounds: Inquisitors capable of
detecting the faintest scent of corruption from half a sector
away, tracking it down, and destroying it utterly.
==Structure==
The Scholariate at Arms exists as an extended network of
Ordo Malleus Inquisitors, operating under the firm, guiding
hand of Inquisitor Lord Dhar as its Proctor in Chamber. Dhar
himself spends most of his time in the Tricorn Palace, though
he often has cause to travel to one of the Seven Cloisters and
is thought to maintain his own, private citadel on one of the
airless moons of Quaddis. Beneath Lord Dhar is the Chamber
itself, consisting of twenty-three Inquisitors of the Ordo
Malleus. It is rare for all twenty-three Inquisitors to meet at
any one time, but attendance at any given Chamber meeting
is never allowed to drop below five as a matter of sacred
duty. Most of the twenty-three Inquisitors are the masters
of extended networks of Acolytes, servants, and contacts,
and contact between the servants of different Inquisitors
is extremely rare, and for a very good reason—they often
despise each other.
The Chamber is as diverse a body of servants of the
Emperor as it is possible to gather. Inquisitors of every creed
and philosophy are brought together under the Proctor, and
their differences set aside in the Chamber, under punishment
of death. In the Chamber of the Scholariate, Radicals
and Puritans face one another in grim silence, forced by
circumstance to endure the presence of their most hated rivals.
Factional debate is highly regimented within the Chamber,
a rule which the Proctor enforces ruthlessly. Some say that
even the presence of the despised and outcast Phaenonites is
suffered in the Chamber, and if this is true, it is probably the
only place in the Sector where this is so.
Exactly what compels the Inquisitors of the Chamber to
serve alongside those they hate remains a well-kept secret.
While some Inquisitors have left the Scholariate, most have
not. Either the Inquisitors have been convinced of some
truth so dire that they must set aside their differences, or the
Proctor has coerced them in some way, essentially holding
them ransom lest some detail of their past be revealed. To join
the ranks of the Scholariate, an Inquisitor must take terrible,
binding oaths, the substance of which he may never divulge
to another.
When the Chamber is gathered, it is invariably to hear
the pronouncements of the Proctor. Lord Dhar informs the
Inquisitors in Chamber of their duty, assigning one or more
cells to undertake a particular task to advance the Scholariate’s
aims and those of the Ordo Malleus Calixis in general. When
one or more Inquisitors are required to undertake a mission,
the Proctor invariably chooses those of opposing factional
doctrines. His choices appear at best capricious, and at worst
intended to deliberately undermine the mission.
When multiple Inquisitors of the Scholariate at Arms
undertake a mission together, their operations are invariably beset
with internecine rivalries. While violent dispute is forbidden at
the Chamber meetings, out in the field things are very different
indeed. Each Inquisitor focuses as much on undermining his
rivals as completing the mission. Perversely, this doctrine results
in far more successes than failures; the constant and bitter
competition only serves to drive the Inquisitors onward even in
the face of odds others would balk from.
==Members==
*Inquisitor Lord Ghankus Dhar
*Keramiah Tor, the Hollow Priest
*Maia Juno, the Blasted Angel
*Inquisitor Suresya, the Forsaken
*Inquisitor Octus Enoch
==Titles of the Chamber==
Each of the twenty-three Inquisitors in the Chamber of
the Scholariate at Arms is by ancient tradition granted a
title relating to the role he is expected to play within the
Chamber. There are in fact officially two hundred of these
roles, but as the Chamber’s membership is fixed at twenty-three,
only a portion of them are filled at any one time. These
roles include the Armorer in Chamber, Archiver in Chamber,
and Exorcist in Chamber, the responsibilities of which are
largely self-evident. Many more, far less clear titles exist,
including Inquisitor Pursuivant, Recaller, Writer of Names,
and Master of Seals. While the holder of each appointment
bears authority and responsibility in a specific field whilst
gathered in Chamber, all members except for the Proctor
are equal outside of it. Thus, an Inquisitor may be granted
access to the Scholariate’s armoury-vaults by the Armourer
in Chamber, only to turn his weapon upon the Armourer
later on. It appears that this arrangement is understood and
accepted, and the traditions adhered to, regardless of the
doctrinal stance taken by the holder of each rank.
The holders of many of these titles have particular areas
of responsibility. Often their own cadres assist them in their
duties, but in many cases the Inquisitors are entirely unaware
of their master’s role. The Armorer in Chamber, for example,
is responsible for the maintenance of the Scholariate’s most
potent relic-weapons (though only the Keeper of the Key
is able to grant access to the armory-vault). Many of the
Acolytes serving under the Armorer in Chambers are tasked
with assisting him in his work. The Warden of Writs maintains
extensive archives on behalf of the Scholariate, and his cadre
includes a great many adepts and savants. Conversely, the
Writer of Names is a lonely role, the holder responsible for
recording the many names of the Warp entities the Scholariate
has slain. This task is too dangerous to involve even the most
skilled and trusted of Acolytes, and so is always performed
in isolation.
==Holdings==
The Chamber maintains dozens of holdings across the Calixis
Sector, most of them falling under the category of Solitarium.
The largest and most visible to the greater Inquisition is to
be found in the Tricorn Palace, but these holdings are only
ever used to conduct the most inconsequential of Chamber
business. In truth, the Scholariate considers its mission of
such importance that not even other members of the Ordos
Calixis can be fully trusted.
The largest of the Scholariate’s holdings is the armory-vault
maintained by the Armorer in Chamber. Often referred
to by the members of the Scholariate as the Sepulchrum, it
lies ten kilometers beneath the lowest levels of Hive Sibellus
on Scintilla, and is accessible only to those granted access
by the Keeper of the Key. Those allowed to enter the
Sepulchrum step into an armored blister, and the moment
the hatch closes behind them a stasis field activates, capturing
them like a fly in amber. The blister descends into the silent
depths with its passengers frozen in time, and the stasis field
is deactivated once the descent is complete. The Sepulchrum
is a vast, armored storage facility, lined with shelf after
shelf of relics and artefacts, as well as hundreds of sealed
vaults, within which the most forbidden objects are stored.
The Sepulchrum is staffed by several hundred soul-cleansed
servitors, whose sole reason for living is to watch over and
maintain the contents of the armory-vault. Some servitors
spend their entire lives, which can last for centuries, polishing
sanctified armor and holy blades. Others renew the faded
text on faded prayer scrolls, mindlessly tracing and retracing
script written by the most holy saints. A cerebral charge is
implanted into the cranium of each servitor, linked to wards
that burn out at the first sign of Warp intrusion, tripping the
charge and destroying the servitor utterly.
The Pandaemonia are a number of hidden facilities
scattered across the Calixis Sector, some within the Seven
Cloisters, others elsewhere. Each is an impossible hybrid
of techno-arcana and psychic engineering, a great infernal
machine within which the Scholariate binds daemons too
powerful to banish. Some daemons, the savants claim, are able
to return to the real universe after a set amount of time has
passed since their banishment; by binding the daemon within
a Pandaemonia the fiend might be kept at bay forever, or so the
Scholariate hopes. Each of the Pandaemonia is maintained by
an Inquisitor and his staff and often guarded by a substantial
retinue of household troopers. Most of the Pandaemonia
are located where the members of the Scholariate can easily
get to them, but not so close to densely inhabited centers
of population that should the facility be compromised
great damage would be done. For example, a Pandaemonia
is maintained on Scintilla, the capital world of the Calixis
Sector and seat of its government, several hundred kilometers
out into the ash wastes and well hidden from prying eyes.
Other Pandaemonia are situated in interplanetary space, on
otherwise barren worlds, or in the trackless depths of a Death
world jungle, all distant and hidden, yet easily accessible to
the Scholariate due to their locations along key Warp conduits.
Unlike the Seven Cloisters, the locations of the Pandaemonia
are an ‘open secret’ within the upper echelons of the Ordos
Malleus Calixis, and even within the wider Ordos Calixis.
This is because any Inquisitor or Acolyte may be faced with a
daemonic incursion, regardless of which Ordo he is a member
of, and may therefore have need of the ability to bind the
daemon within a Pandaemonia. This is generally achieved
by way of a temporary binding, where the daemon is locked
within some form of vessel, either an object or a being. The
vessel is then transported to one of the Pandaemonia before
being interred within the infernal engine. The process utterly
destroys the physical body of the vessel, whatever form it
took, and the thing within is released into the engine’s arcane
binding matrix. The devices are also used to destroy tainted
relics such as daemon weapons. The weapon itself is shattered
and the fiend within it trapped.
The Hall of Canon is another facility maintained by the
Ordo Malleus Calixis under the auspices of the Archeaognost
in Chamber, an Inquisitor and holder of one of the Chamber’s
few permanent appointments. The Hall is located in Hive Ortak on Malfi, though its existence is kept secret from the
local government and its subjects. The purpose of the Hall
of Canon is to gather any and all possible references to the
activities of the archenemy, and to use that information to
predict future incursions. Most of the missions that the
Inquisitors in Chamber undertake are the result of some vague
piece of intelligence from the mighty cogitation stacks of the
Hall of Canon. These data-mills are attended by Tech-Priests
seconded from the forge world of JXMA18Z according to
ancient and binding pacts, and have by all accounts been
continuously active since the facility was built soon after
the founding of the Calixis Sector itself.
It is also believed that some form of ‘ætheric hyper-scribing’ connects the
Hall of Canon with the Administratum archives in the Prol System, somehow allowing the Ordo Malleus to access the
Decatalogues’ vaults from light years away. But the systems of
the Hall of Canon are far more than cogitation engines---they
are actually a hybrid ‘vaticination matrix’, an arcane device
built millennia ago by a cult of insane psy-coders long since
burned at the stake by the Ordo Hereticus. The matrix allows
the Ordo Malleus to introduce elements of foretelling
into the predictions of the device, combining data
processing and psychic prognostication in a
single machine that would be forbidden to
anyone but the Inquisition.
The Hall of Vestiges is a vast chamber
maintained by the Scholariate at Arms in
Hive Tarsus on Scintilla. The chamber
contains several thousand relics of the
Scholariate’s countless victories over the daemonic. Some
are seemingly insignificant while others are terrifying to
gaze upon. The largest are the flensed and polished skulls of
daemons, etched with warding glyphs and exorcised by the
most potent Banishers in the segmentum. At the center of the
chamber’s main wall are mounted the skulls of four Greater
Daemons, one from each of the Ruinous Powers, sealed within
a glittering stasis field. The Hall of Vestiges serves as a temple
in which the Scholariate’s members perform their most sacred
rites and worship the Emperor. It is also a trophy hall, where
the greatest of past Daemon Hunters can be remembered and
venerated. Most of the Inquisitors of the Scholariate at Arms
hope that one day, one of their own kills will adorn the walls
of the Hall of Vestiges.
The Crypt of the Nameless is a Scholariate holding known
only to the Proctor in Council and his most trusted servants
and subordinates. The Crypt is located at the heart of the First
Cloister on the outskirts of the Threnos Zone, and it is used
to contain those Inquisitors who have been driven beyond the
threshold of sanity by what they have seen, but who must, for
whatever reason, be kept alive. While most Inquisitors afflicted
by such mental wounds are killed mercifully or mind-wiped,
the Scholariate at Arms commonly spirits such unfortunates
away to be held within the Crypt of the Nameless. The
Inquisitor is announced dead, having laid down his life with
great honor in the name of the Emperor and the mission of
the Scholariate. Yet in reality, he lives still, ranting and raving
in irons in one of the crypt’s warded cells. His every word is
recorded by psychically dampened servitors and forwarded to
the Hall of Canon for processing. Many a Daemon has been
banished due to clues sifted from the words of their victims,
and so the terrible price is deemed worth paying. It is said
that as many as a hundred former Inquisitors are held within
the Crypt at one time, as well as several thousand Acolytes. It
is even said that several former Proctors in Chamber and at
least one former member of the Tyrantine Cabal are locked
within the Crypt, kept alive by forced rejuv treatments so that
their screams and gibberings might provide weapons for the
eternal war against the infernal.
==Unique Equipment==
Shock Staff
These staves are popular amongst the Scholariate at Arms,
feature a crackling electrical tip capable of delivering a highvoltage
shock. Nothing quells a volatile situation quite like the
sight of a would-be attacker writhing in pain at an Acolyte’s
feet, ready for interrogation. In addition to the obvious
martial benefits, the Shock Staff often finds utilitarian benfit
in the hands of aging Banishers or other Inquisitorial staff
that simply find walking long distances on foot exhausting.
When not activated the weapon is almost impossible to
distinquish from a simple iron or steel walking staff, imposing
a -20 modifier on any attempts to identify it as a weapon.
Melee, 1d10, I, PEN 0, Shocking, WT 4kg, Cost 250, Scarce
Imperium's Fervor
Commonly given to Brontian Longknives inducted into the
service of the Scholariate at Arms, this drug is a long-term
mind-altering substance which inures soldiers to some of
the horrors they might encounter while acting for the Holy
Ordos. Typically given as an injection, it is also available in
tablets although taking the drug orally reduces its duration
by half.
Users of Imperium’s Fervor gain a measure of resistance to
Fear and Insanity at the cost of their memories. While under
its effects all Fear Tests are reduced by one degree of severity.
Insanity points gained under the influence of the drug are
reduced by 2 (to a minimum of 1). Perception Tests while
using the drug have a –10 penalty, and users are prone to acts
of insane courage and have little instinct for self-preservation.
After the effects wear off, memories of any events that took
place while drugged become hazy. It requires a Hard (–20)
Intelligence Test to recall anything that took place while
under the effects of the drug, increasing to Very Hard after a
month. Each dose of the drug lasts for 24 hours and troopers
seconded to the Inquisition’s service are typically drugged
with Imperium’s Fervor before any missions.
Cost 20, Scarce