Mortiurge

“...The Guild-Dame was shot twice at close range while seated at her desk, once to the heart and once to the head, either wound would have been immediately fatal. The killer had gained access though the front door, posing as a Provost-Captain, and left the premises by walking calmly out the way he entered. Evidence recovered at the scene implicates the Guild-Dame and several other prominent Guilders of bribery of cinq-port officials and cadre enforcers. Arbites Castigation Detachments dispatched. See attached log of execution warrants Ω#77–134...”
–Excerpted from Case-file Monograph, Inhumation of Lady Clasis Hortva, Arbites Marshal Gregor Lund reporting
In the Imperium, totalitarian control and summary justice are
often the norm rather than the exception, particularly among
the teeming multitudes of a hive world, and that judgment
is uniformly harsh and often fatal. Accordingly, both the
Adeptus Arbites and many local enforcer cadres have need
of hardened men and women whose talent lays in dealing
death and summary execution rather than upholding the law
or maintaining order. These troopers make up the infamous
kill squads under the direct jurisdiction of the local Imperial
Commander and are used to guarantee their power; they also
form the feared Arbites Castigation Detachments tasked to
deliver the Emperor’s wrath on the recidivist and those who
would contravene high Imperial Law without fear or favor.
Even among these cold-blooded killers, however, there are
those whose particular skill and callous dedication to their
lethal duty makes them stand out from the ranks. Singled out
and specially trained to operate independently both as snipers
and close-quarter gunfighters, the Adeptus Arbites refer to
these specialists as Mortiurges.
By the nature of their work a Mortiurge works alone,
singled out from his fellows by his differences in purpose and
the blood on his hands. In truth little more than judicially
recognized assassins, they are often also employed to keep
other law-enforcers in check when needs require. As such,
these singular killers are often shunned by their colleagues
and quickly learn to keep their distance, lest one day they be
called on to slaughter a friend.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, some in the Holy Ordos, particularly
those Radical factions whose doctrines and intrigues take
them into direct and often covert conflict with the Imperium’s
own authorities, find ready use for these disreputable agents
of order and social control. Inquisitors find unique advantage
in a servant who is not only a highly trained killer, but who is
also intimately familiar with law-enforcement procedures and
willing to take out any target without passion or regret.
==Becoming a Mortiurge==
Arbitrators who take on the role of the Mortiurge seldom do
so voluntarily, as it makes them sanctioned killers rather than
servants of the law, but their presence in the Adeptus Arbites
itself is considered by most a necessary evil. Those that do
embrace becoming a Mortiurge often fall into two categories;
the embittered and jaded veteran whose skills make them a
valuable asset worth saving, perhaps despite their increasingly
disruptive and rogue attitudes, and the cold-blooded killer,
to whom the role of judge, jury and executioner appeals on
some dark and fundamental level.
Required Career: Arbitrator
Alternate Rank: Rank 5 or higher (3,000 XP)