Chastener

"Who can truly return to the grace of the God-Emperor without the searing pain which accompanies having one's sin revealed in His just light? This brand I have here is but a small thing by comparison, but the pain you feel should serve as a sufficient representation. Now, shall we begin?"
–Marcus Danturian, Chastener of The Pendulum
The Arbitrators constitute the military might of the law, the
hammer with which the Imperium breaks lawlessness, but
Arbites doctrine accepts that not every reprimand must be lethal.
Lord Marshal Goreman professes that perfection only belongs
to divinity, and divinity only belongs to the Emperor---to claim
otherwise is heretical pride. And if none can be perfect, then
all must deserve rebuke, and if every rebuke brings death then
what of humanity would survive? Death-dealing will always
be part of the Arbites’ charter, but the many Judges believe
it cannot be all of it. While not all Precincts make use of less
than lethal punishment, the Scintillan Precinct trains some
Arbitrators for less deadly roles, and occasionally sends them
out to other Fortress Precincts to aid in legal investigations. The
role of capturing, questioning, and punishing without killing
falls to the specialists Goreman has named the ‘Chasteners’.
To be gunned down in the street, cornered by a squad
of black-armored Arbitrators, is the deserved end for
those who have threatened the stability and constance
of the Imperium of Man, but some Calixian Precincts believe
that this is not the only end. For every criminal who is laid
out on a hive street by the blast of an Arbites shotgun, there
are those who have warranted a different, though certainly
no less terrifying, fate. To warrant such an end one must only
show the briefest chance of rehabilitation or contrition, for
this is what Lord Marshal Goreman’s Chasteners demand. It
is the duty of the Chasteners to return the body and soul
of such criminals to the service of the Emperor, which
He so rightly requires. To achieve this, each Chastener is
trained within the Precinct Fortress on Scintilla in a
network of specialized simulation rooms to fight to
subdue and restrain any prisoner, regardless of the
environment. They are also skilled in torture
and coercive force, the better to exact
confessions and repentance from their
wayward captives. For those criminals
who would prefer a quick and heroic
death, standing against the might of
the Adeptus Arbites encountering a
Chastener will put a quick end to
their dreams of glory, for when one is
sought by the Chasteners, death is an
escape they will not be afforded.
The purpose of the Chasteners is
rooted in the needs of Lord Marshal
Goreman, who holds to the notion that each
man's first duty is to serve the Emperor in
life and deed. To act contrary to the law is
to not only disobey this duty, but to spit in
the face of everything the Emperor has built.
It is for this reason that Chasteners seek to
rehabilitate their prey rather than execute
them right off, as it is not the Chastener's
place to take from the Emperor one
who might still serve the purpose for
which he was born. If a Chastener
succeeds in his task, not only will he
have returned a wayward soul to the
service of the God-Emperor, but he will
have also saved a soul from damnation.
The Chasteners administer every aspect of the capture and
handling of living prisoners. While any Arbitrator can take down
a target in combat and bundle them into a strait-cape or barb-cuffs,
a Chastener spends hours training beneath the Precinct
Fortress on Scintilla learning how to disable and drag away a
target in any situation and by any means: from harpooning them
in the middle of a riot and winching them up to a coleopter
hatch; to moving silently through a guarded mansion, drugging
a sleeping mark, and spiriting them away without awakening
the spouse or concubine sleeping next to them. Training rooms
in a variety of locations, from the faux lava-slag flows beneath
Gunmetal City to orbital drop simulations, can be created in one
of the Precinct Fortress’ underground chambers, and no two
Chasteners undergo the same regiment.
The ways in which crime is punished non-lethally
are many and varied, but only a few outcomes exist for the
criminal. In the eyes of the Lord Marshal’s Chastener, the
most desired outcome is to return the prisoner to Imperial
society, entirely free of his lawless ways and truly repentant of
his crimes. This is a rarity, but it is not unknown. Less rarely,
a subject serves the God-Emperor in other ways, as servitor
candidates or service within the Penal Legions of Kommitzar
are always a viable punishment. Some may think this a
dangerous prospect, for who can say whether the Chastener's
torments ever truly succeeded, but the minuscule number of
released prisoners who have ever returned to their criminal
ways speak to the validity of the Lord Marshal’s decision.
The ministrations of the Chasteners have a direct use for
the Arbites, of course, since an important part of their work
is obtaining confessions and information that will incriminate
others in turn. Any citizen, a Chastener will say, has
information of interest, no matter how unaware they may be
of the importance of what they know. But these careful, will-destroying
punishments have a deeper purpose. The Arbites
punish crimes against the Imperium itself. To break their laws
is to affront the Imperium and the sacred order it enforces,
and so the punishments are not just correction, deterrent, or
retribution, but a symbolic reassertion of Imperial sovereignty,
the reconquering of a body and soul that rightfully belonged
in service to the Emperor and was stolen away from Him by
lawlessness and criminality.
For such a crime a simple eye-for-eye penalty will never
suffice. By the end of the punishment the Chasteners must be
sure that every last scrap of rebellious spirit has been burned
away, and the prisoner reclaimed for the rule of law. The
conclusion of a prisoner’s punishment (whether that be release
once their criminality has been broken, passage into further
servitude on a prison world or in a penal legion, or execution)
is usually marked by a short ceremony proclaiming the return
of the prisoner to the ways of the law. The convict is often
marked in some way, usually a brand, tattoo, or sometimes the
grafting of a plaque to the face or forehead.
Since the most likely fate for one taken by the Chasteners
is a term of service on a penal world or among the ranks of a
penal legion, the criminals who deserve this end are largely
those who serve the cause of the God-Emperor only under
extreme duress. It is likely that this sort of recalcitrant scoundrel
has thus far resisted the ministrations of the Chasteners and
is beyond hope of voluntary rehabilitation. The final option
left to criminals against the God-Emperor's Law is execution.
When it appears that no amount of coercion or torture will
have any lasting effect on a prisoner, they are instead put
to death in order to ensure that their treasonous ideas and
ways are eliminated once and for all. The Chasteners do not
hesitate to put a criminal to death, often weighting the efforts a
subject would require against more pressing duties, sometimes
executing a redeemable citizen for the sake of expediency.
To reach any of these ends is no easy thing, for those who
have started down the path of impiousness and criminality
have already forsaken their duty to mankind in the Lord
Marshal’s eyes, favoring their own desires, fears,
and cowardice. In order to return a prisoner to
the lawful path, the deviant mind
must first be broken free of the
taint of lawlessness. In order to do
this, Chasteners are masters of not
only physical torture but methods
of psychological readjustment.
Once a prisoner is in custody, more macabre skills come into
play, as the Chasteners go to work administering punishment
and breaking the prisoner’s will. Physical torture is one tool
in their armory, finely sharpened by instruction from some
of the greatest Interrogators in the Calixis Sector. Often,
these Inquisitorial Interrogators train Chasteners with the
understanding that they will spend time with Acolyte Cells
before returning to their Adeptus Arbites Precinct. While these
Chasteners are schooled in the scientific application of force to
the human body, it is only one tool in an array of careful torments
that erode away the pretenses and unmask the lawbreaker
underneath. The Arbites’ brutalized subjects suffer extremes
of noise and temperature; stifling, claustrophobic spaces or
frighteningly open ones; maddening solitude; or the crowded
company of dozens or hundreds of other prisoners for days or
more. They are deprived of sleep, paraded and humiliated before
other prisoners or the masses, and made to deliver endless pleas
denouncing their own weakness and criminality.
Breaking the subject's errant
spirit is only the first stage of the
process of rehabilitation, but an
important one. Only after they
have been reduced to little more
than gibbering shells of the
criminals they once were are the
prisoners prepared to be reforged
by the Chasteners into proper Imperial
citizens. This process has been known
to take years for truly heinous villains,
but can be done as quickly as a few solid
months for criminals less dedicated to
befouling the Imperium.
However, a Chastener's job does
not start in the interrogation room.
While Arbitrators are perfectly capable
soldiers of the law, they are merely
that—soldiers. The art of capturing
and detaining prisoners is one left to
Goreman’s Chasteners of the Arbites,
men who are trained with a mind to finesse and restraint
rather than overwhelming force. As a result, Chasteners
receive extensive training in all sorts of subdual weaponry,
including shock-weaponry, stun grenades, disabling toxins,
and grapple-nets. In addition, Chasteners are trained to
use their bodies as weapons with which to restrain their
prey. These agents of the Arbites are masters of martial
traditions which focus on grappling and holds to subdue
one's opponent. Chasteners are trained in a specialized form
of martial art which combines specific aspects of several
combat regimens in order to most effectively control and
restrict their quarry without endangering their life.
All of these skills combine to make Chasteners dangerous
foes to criminals and valuable agents of Imperial law.
Indeed, for these reasons, Inquisitors of the Holy Ordos
often conscript Chasteners to complete their retinues.
Their collection of skills and training makes them uniquely
capable for work as an investigator and interrogator for
their Inquisitorial masters. Truly it is no rare thing for
the target of a Chastener's mission to be the target of an
Inquisitorial investigation; a convergence of goals which is
rarely displeasing for either party.
The distinctive livery of a Chastener is a russet-brown sash,
tunic, or cloak worn over the standard Arbites armor and helmet.
Chasteners are also often marked out by their size: while there are
exceptions, the typical Chastener is bullish and broad-shouldered,
fully able to control prisoners through sheer brawn.
==Unique Equipment==
Strait Cape
The Chasteners of the Calixis Sector know that in order to
break the most hardened criminals it is important to carefully
manage every aspect of their incarceration. A key early step in
this process is to isolate and disorient them. Strait capes are used
to achieve this. These are specially made heavy sacks constructed
of strong synthetic canvas which are thrown over suspects. Their
limbs are then pulled through holes in the sack, immobilised and
hogtied using internal chains, and an attached hood containing
a blindfold, gag, and earmuffs is then thrown over the suspect’s
head. Completely helpless, the subject can then be attached to the
exterior hooks and clamps on Arbites vehicles and roared away
into the night to await the pleasure of the Chasteners.
Cost 100, WT 5kg, Scarce
==Alternate Career Rank==
Joining the ranks of the Chasteners is as much a choice as
joining the cadre of an Imperial Inquisitor. While some may
strive for the position, ultimately it is up to the Precinct
Command on Scintilla to choose capable men and women
for service. The time and effort placed into training these
individuals (who may be called upon to perform alone or in
the service of the Inquisition) makes recruitment a serious
affair. Those in charge of putting prospective Chasteners
through the program beneath the Precinct Fortress are
encouraged to create tasks that escalate in danger and require
ever increasing creativity on the part of the candidate.
Arbitrators who have shown significant skill in interrogation
and uncommon restraint in the apprehension of criminals
are natural candidates for the rank of Chastener. Few chosen
deny the position, for while many Arbitrators prefer a more
straightforward approach to dealing with criminals, the rank
and honor paid to a Chastener is a valuable asset to anyone
wishing to one day command a Precinct of his own.
Required Careers: Arbitrator, Assassin, or Guardsman
Alternate Rank: Rank 3 or higher (1,000 XP)
Requirements: Inquiry and Interrogation Skills