Chekist

*"Does that hurt, comrade? I’m sorry; Sasha doesn’t know his own strength sometimes. Please believe that I will learn what you’re hiding from me; when I do, our next meeting will not be so pleasant."*

## Basic

(RotIQ) The principal goal of the chekist – the Ice Queen’s secret police – is to ensure the personal and political security of the Tzarina and her family. This task is performed by any means possible, regardless of local laws; after all, in Kislev, what the chekist deems as law, is law. Their techniques employed to investigate the various Chaos cults, revolutionaries, criminals, hostile organisations, spies, and manifold other “threats” are often brutal, leaving the chekist with an ugly reputation. Their headquarters squat in Kislev city, but rumours suggest they have offices throughout the Ancient Widow’s land, all siphoning information back to the capital. Some suggest the chekist even have agents in the Empire and beyond, each monitoring the activities of foreign threats to the Ice Queen and her rule; but this, of course, is denied.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Academic Knowledge (Law or Intimidate) (Int), Command (Fel), Common Knowledge (Kislev) (Int), Dodge Blow (Ag) or Shadowing (Ag), Follow Trail (Int), Perception (Int), Ride (Ag), Search (Int)

**Talents:** Disarm or Specialist Weapon Group (Gunpowder), Menacing, Strike Mighty Blow or Strike to Stun

**Trappings**: Chekist are all identifiable by their black uniforms. Most wear leather jacks and leggings, and they all have distinctive helmets. Chekist are armed with bronze-tipped cudgels (Hand Weapon) and ride black Kislevite horses equipped with saddle, harness, and saddlebags.

### **Career Entries**

Kossar, Protagonist, Streltsi, Thug, Watchman

### **Career Exits**

Jailer, Interrogator, Mercenary, Racketeer, Sergeant, Soldier, Spy, Veteran, Watchman

## Affiliations

Checkists have no official, structured organisations to speak of, save in their devotion and duty to the Tzarina herself. They rule through fear and intimidation – not qualities one seeks in a friend or drinking companion.

Very few men can take the strain of such constant vigilance; many chekist agents retire from the ranks after only a few years of active service. The ruthlessness necessary to do their job doesn’t come naturally for everyone, and only a few individuals truly have the utter lack of compassion and unthinking dedication to their Queen that allows them to forget the pain and suffering they inflict on individuals – some of them innocent of any crime – for the good of the State.

Because of their connections to the chekist organisation, as well as the many skills they honed while in the Tzarina’s service, retired chekists are highly sought-after by all of the crowned heads of the Old World. For the same reasons they are also prized by the criminal underworld, and can command fat salaries if their reputation is fearsome enough.

## Little Known Facts

Chekists are well known by reputation, but few claim to know anyone actually belonging to the ranks of the Tzarina’s secret police force. In the icy, wind-swept lands of Kislev, chekists are never spoken of openly, especially in public.

Each chekist has a network of informers that they cultivate wherever they go. These more frequently provide information for a little coin, but some do so for the good of the homeland and the Queen. Chekist’s informers provide regular reports, just as the chekists themselves must account for their own actions ona daily or weekly basis if at home, or weekly to monthly while in the field. Chekists have no desire to be needlessly cruel, and those within their ranks who are will ultimately find themselves suffering the same fate as those they tormented – at the hands of the checkist.