Post by MagusKariusPrelune on Sept 19, 2004 17:41:41 GMT -5
Originally posted by Drazh Marazel
++ Palatium Vampiris, Dark Earth ++
Darkness seemed to form itself into a tangible substance that clung to the corridors of the enormous Palatium like obsidian mist. Silently, statue-like, the hulking forms of the Obsidian Guard marched their patrol rounds endlessly, their force glaives held regally upright.
The Dark Emperor had, as he sometimes did, abandoned the hulking, Daemon-like form that he so often used. He was clothed in the body of a tall, gaunt noble, clothed in dark robes, his power concealed. An almost exact replica, save for the awesome power hidden beneath the surface, walked alongside him as they strode seemingly aimlessly through the hallways.
His name was Je-Lan Machiavelli. He was Patriarch of his Clan, which alone mattered little.
He was also the Dark Imperium’s Spymaster.
“The Ordos Terra are, if I may say so, a group of aristocratic dandies that would make the Delacroix look like Dark Angels. They are blasphemously like the Pureblood Council – buried in their own greed.” Such a statement would be counted heresy by many in the Dark Imperium, but the Spymaster enjoyed the favour and mutual respect of the Dark Emperor himself.
“The Pureblood Council and the Puritan Council. So little difference, both in name and in mindset.” The Dark Emperor smiled. “It should not be too hard, then. Have you our agent ready?”<br>
“Yes, sire. Your Majesty, meet Lord-Inquisitor Cervitus van Drayke.”<br>
A ageing man, clad in a majestic red suit of dress armour somewhere between carapace and power armour, stepped from the shadows and made a formal bow.
“Your Majesty.”<br>
“Lord-Inquisitor. You are of the Ordo Malleus, are you not? Currently returning to Terra after a diplomatic visit to the Ordo’s Castillum on Talasa Prime?”<br>
“That is correct, your Majesty. Officially, my ship is becalmed in the Immaterium.” A smile crossed the Lord-Inquisitor’s features.
“And your mindset is of the Puritan philosophies – the Thorian one, to be precise?”<br>
“Yes, Majesty. The Thorians are traditionally reckoned Puritans.”<br>
“Appraise me. Why is a Thorian present here?”<br>
Van Drayke smiled at this test. “Because, Majesty – you are the Emperor reborn. All the portents point to it – your Golden Crusade is beginning, and in your wisdom you have already created the Psychic Man, the Vampire. You intend to smash asunder the old, failing Imperium and create a new one, in tune with your visions as they have been shaped by ten millennia of swimming amongst the tides of the Warp.”<br>
Van Drayke knelt, head bowed.
“I am at your command, Majesty.”<br>
“Excellent. Here is your task...”<br>
++ Lion’s Gate Spaceport, Ancient Terra ++
“Atten-tion!” the lieutenant bellowed, and his thirty stormtroopers performed an elaborate salute.
Lord-Inquisitor Cervitus van Drayke strode down the lamp of his ship, the Lord-Inquisitor Erisyn, and squinted in the light of Sol. Behind him came his battle-choir of thirty gun-servitors, each one covered in golden and bronze plating painfully sculpting to resemble Saints and heroes of the Imperium. His acolytes, robed in grey and black and crimson, shuffled in tight rows behind him, Explicators Inisfah and Al-Sakhriz holding aloft the black banner on which was emblazoned the golden Hammer of the Ordo Malleus, the drake that was his personal insignia snaking around its hilt. The I of the Inquisition was fastened upon the hammer’s head. Then came his cadre of savants, his retainers and his menial girl-servitors, whose features bore the likenesses of fair Terran maidens.
Lord-Inquisitor van Drayke loathed them all. The relics of an Imperium too narrow-minded and old-fashioned to see that its Lord had returned. How he would enjoy the day when the Emperor once more sat foot upon Terran soil and took his old corpse’s place upon the Golden Throne!
He was rudely interrupted by the detail of Inquisitorial Wards, under his protegè Inquisitor Patrovich Gelbt, who met him at the entry to the Spaceport proper.
“Lord van Drayke. I trust your journey was safe?”<br>
Van Drayke smiled at him – falsely. “Indeed. I have been told that our journey was delayed by the shifts of the Immaterium, but rest assured. We were in no peril.”<br>
Gelbt nodded. “Lord, the affairs of the Ordo are, as always, pressing. Your limousine is awaiting you.”<br>
I am back, van Drayke thought. It was time for Terra to change...
++ Palatium Vampiris, Dark Earth ++
Darkness seemed to form itself into a tangible substance that clung to the corridors of the enormous Palatium like obsidian mist. Silently, statue-like, the hulking forms of the Obsidian Guard marched their patrol rounds endlessly, their force glaives held regally upright.
The Dark Emperor had, as he sometimes did, abandoned the hulking, Daemon-like form that he so often used. He was clothed in the body of a tall, gaunt noble, clothed in dark robes, his power concealed. An almost exact replica, save for the awesome power hidden beneath the surface, walked alongside him as they strode seemingly aimlessly through the hallways.
His name was Je-Lan Machiavelli. He was Patriarch of his Clan, which alone mattered little.
He was also the Dark Imperium’s Spymaster.
“The Ordos Terra are, if I may say so, a group of aristocratic dandies that would make the Delacroix look like Dark Angels. They are blasphemously like the Pureblood Council – buried in their own greed.” Such a statement would be counted heresy by many in the Dark Imperium, but the Spymaster enjoyed the favour and mutual respect of the Dark Emperor himself.
“The Pureblood Council and the Puritan Council. So little difference, both in name and in mindset.” The Dark Emperor smiled. “It should not be too hard, then. Have you our agent ready?”<br>
“Yes, sire. Your Majesty, meet Lord-Inquisitor Cervitus van Drayke.”<br>
A ageing man, clad in a majestic red suit of dress armour somewhere between carapace and power armour, stepped from the shadows and made a formal bow.
“Your Majesty.”<br>
“Lord-Inquisitor. You are of the Ordo Malleus, are you not? Currently returning to Terra after a diplomatic visit to the Ordo’s Castillum on Talasa Prime?”<br>
“That is correct, your Majesty. Officially, my ship is becalmed in the Immaterium.” A smile crossed the Lord-Inquisitor’s features.
“And your mindset is of the Puritan philosophies – the Thorian one, to be precise?”<br>
“Yes, Majesty. The Thorians are traditionally reckoned Puritans.”<br>
“Appraise me. Why is a Thorian present here?”<br>
Van Drayke smiled at this test. “Because, Majesty – you are the Emperor reborn. All the portents point to it – your Golden Crusade is beginning, and in your wisdom you have already created the Psychic Man, the Vampire. You intend to smash asunder the old, failing Imperium and create a new one, in tune with your visions as they have been shaped by ten millennia of swimming amongst the tides of the Warp.”<br>
Van Drayke knelt, head bowed.
“I am at your command, Majesty.”<br>
“Excellent. Here is your task...”<br>
++ Lion’s Gate Spaceport, Ancient Terra ++
“Atten-tion!” the lieutenant bellowed, and his thirty stormtroopers performed an elaborate salute.
Lord-Inquisitor Cervitus van Drayke strode down the lamp of his ship, the Lord-Inquisitor Erisyn, and squinted in the light of Sol. Behind him came his battle-choir of thirty gun-servitors, each one covered in golden and bronze plating painfully sculpting to resemble Saints and heroes of the Imperium. His acolytes, robed in grey and black and crimson, shuffled in tight rows behind him, Explicators Inisfah and Al-Sakhriz holding aloft the black banner on which was emblazoned the golden Hammer of the Ordo Malleus, the drake that was his personal insignia snaking around its hilt. The I of the Inquisition was fastened upon the hammer’s head. Then came his cadre of savants, his retainers and his menial girl-servitors, whose features bore the likenesses of fair Terran maidens.
Lord-Inquisitor van Drayke loathed them all. The relics of an Imperium too narrow-minded and old-fashioned to see that its Lord had returned. How he would enjoy the day when the Emperor once more sat foot upon Terran soil and took his old corpse’s place upon the Golden Throne!
He was rudely interrupted by the detail of Inquisitorial Wards, under his protegè Inquisitor Patrovich Gelbt, who met him at the entry to the Spaceport proper.
“Lord van Drayke. I trust your journey was safe?”<br>
Van Drayke smiled at him – falsely. “Indeed. I have been told that our journey was delayed by the shifts of the Immaterium, but rest assured. We were in no peril.”<br>
Gelbt nodded. “Lord, the affairs of the Ordo are, as always, pressing. Your limousine is awaiting you.”<br>
I am back, van Drayke thought. It was time for Terra to change...