
                              Chapter 20 - Assassin
                              =====================

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  |"For those that defy the Imperium, only the Emperor can judge your crimes.|
  | Only in death can you receive the Emperors Judgement."                   |
  |                                      - Motto of the Officio Assassinorum |
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20.1  Introduction
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 Ruling the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Mankind requires absolute authority, 
and this must be enforced by the use of absolute power.  In its crudest form, 
power means armies of warriors, war machines, and spacecraft, but it can also 
be applied in more subtle ways to achieve the desired end.  Coercion, bribery, 
threats, blackmail and murder are all weapons in the armoury of those who 
rule.  To this end, the Imperium has developed several institutions to study, 
perfect and exploit these weapons to their fullest, ancient institutions that 
trace their history back to the Great Crusade and the very birth of the 
Imperium.  One such organisation is the Officio Assassinorum.

 The Officio Assassinorum, or Office of Assassins, is one of the most 
secretive organisations in the Imperium.  Its hidden Grand Master of Assassins 
is one of the High Lords of Terra, the cabal of awesomely powerful individuals 
whose every decision affects untold billions of people and immense tracts of 
the Imperium.

 Only the High Lords themselves can sanction the deployment of the Assassins, 
for fear that their own weapons may be used against them.  It is said that in 
the distant past the Grand Masters used Assassins to further their own ends, 
and a reign of terror clutched even the High Lords themselves.  In the 
anarchic Wars of Vindication, the Grand Master himself fell to the Assassins 
knife.  Thereafter, the High Lords took special care to control the Officio 
Assassinorum so that, in theory, only traitors and Heretics need fear it today.

 The Officio Assassinorum is considered, by the few individuals who are even 
aware of its existance, to be the ultimate tool of destruction and diplomacy.  
In an Imperium that spans an entire galaxy, there are many who believe that 
they can defy its authority.  Some simply crave for independence away from the 
Imperial Cult, the Ecclesiarchy and a galaxy seemingly ruled by twelve 
faceless figures in the name of a lifeless Emperor.  Others have fallen under 
the domination of Genestealers or been seduced by the promises of Chaos.  This 
is the Assassins battleground - the misguided and the ambitious, the foolish 
and the perverted, all must be purged for the greater good of Humanity.  No 
Heretics can be allowed to stand against the Imperium or their foul thoughts 
would spread across the Galaxy like a cankerous infection, crippling what is 
already a very frail organisation.  Planetary rulers across the Imperium must 
understand that abuse of their power will result in them facing the justice of 
the sword and gun.  Some may be able to avoid the judiciaries of the Adeptus 
Arbites, fewer still may be able to face off against the Imperial Guard, 
Adeptus Sororitas and Adeptus Astartes, but none can stand against the Officio 
Assassinorum.


20.2  History
=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 The history of the Officio Assassinorum is a mixed one.  Created long ago, 
there can be no doubt it has proved its worth to the Imperium and stopped 
countless Heresies in their tracks.  Marking its birth back in a time when the 
Emperor still walked the Earth during the Great Crusade, it was formed when a 
group of individuals took it upon themselves to hunt down those who would 
bring ruination to the Emperors divine plan.  They followed him from world to 
world, silently ensuring promises were not broken, treaties and pacts adhered 
to.  The annals of the Officio Assassinorum record that they did this without 
the Emperor apparently being aware, though this is unlikely given his psychic 
abilities.  Finally, the annals say, they revealed themselves to him.  The 
records tell that great temples were constructed on Terra, and the Officio 
Assassinorum was formed.

 Prestigious and successful as its history may be, however, those studying the 
chronicles in the Imperial Vaults would discover it has a darker side to its 
history.  Following the reign of Lord Vandire over the Administratum, the 
Reign of Blood, took place what the history vaults call the Wars of 
Vindication within the Officio Assassinorum.

 During the Reign of Blood, Lord Vandire, by one means or another, took 
effective control of all the departments of the Administratum, including the 
Officio Assassinorum.  The then Grand Master of Assassins, High Lord Weiramon, 
resisted Vandire, striving to stop him gaining any foothold in the Officio 
Assassinorum.  But as Vandires hold on the Imperium tightened, it became 
obvious to Weiramon that vandire had somehow enlisted the help of the 
Officio.  Several reports of dead and missing officials and dignitories 
pointed toward involvement by the Officio Assassinorum.  Of course, all the 
assassinations concerned were carried out perfectly and with no obvious traces 
of Officio Assassinorum involvement, but Weiramon was familiar with the Modus 
Operandi of all the hidden temples of the Officio, be they the Vindicare, 
Callidus, Eversor, Culexus, Venenum or any other.  There were enough clues 
within the reports to detect a pattern.  In addition, all the deaths appeared 
to be terribly convenient for advancing Lord Vandires goals.

 So the question was, who was Vandires man within the Officio?  Looking at the 
reports of missing people and deaths, there was no one temple responsible.  
Some were the responsiblity of Weiramons own Vindicare temple, others horribly 
mauled by an Eversor Assassin, and many poisonings quite easily the work of 
the Venenum temple.  The list implicated many temples, making it impossible to 
point the finger in any one direction.  So to one of two conclusions - the first 
of which was that the Officio had been corrupted to its core by Vandire, by 
bribes and blackmail.  This was highly unlikely, with the culture of secrecy in 
the Officio, such that even Vandire could only know a few individuals in the 
organisation.

 The only other possibility lay with the Callidus temple.  Using the shape 
altering drug Polymorphine, the temple was notorious for infiltrating other 
Imperial organisations.  With such skills, the Callidus temple could easily 
infiltrate the Officio itself.  The final evidence was the presence of a man 
called Tziz Jarek.  As the Director Primus of the Callidus temple he was a 
powerful figure within the Officio, and Weiramons arch-rival.  When the time 
had come for a new Grand Master, Jarek was engaged on a mission infiltrating 
the Dark Eldar, and Jarek headed the mission himself.  A year had passed 
without word of or from Jareks team, and the position was given to Weiramon.  
When Jarek returned a year later, he was dismayed to find the post of Grand 
Master taken.  With both Jarek and Weiramon inducted at about the same time, 
at about the same age, by the time the event came for a new Grand Master, Jarek 
would be either dead or too old himself.  Unless Weiramon suffered a fatal 
accident in the meantime...

 Lord Vandire knew of this rivalry too, having been one of the High Lords 
giving Weiramon the post.  Having failed to get the Officio to do his bidding 
through Weiramon, Vandire used Jarek to get a foothold.  Jarek infiltrated 
several temples, removing a high ranking official from each and replacing them 
with a Callidus Assassin doing Jareks bidding.  When Lord Vandire fell, many 
offices of the Administratum were ordered to purge their own ranks.  The 
Officio was and is an unforgiving organisation.  A purge would be utterly 
ruthless, and Jarek pulled under even though only unwittingly helping Vandires 
plans.  The only way for Jarek to survive would be to assume the identity of 
the Grand Master himself.  Weiramon knew this also, and had a fake made of the 
signet ring that was the mark of office of the Grand Master, getting a loyal 
Callidus assassin to assume his identity.  One night Jarek and two other 
Assassins killed Weiramons double.  Weiramon elected to disappear.  He now 
knew what a weak organisation the Officio was - if it could fall victim to the 
corruption of a few individuals then the entire organisation needed 
restructuring.  To do that it would have to be utterly smashed first.

 Weiramon started his plan to bring the Officio to its knees, in the opinion 
that only then would it stand any chance of surviving at all.  Weiramon 
declared all out war.  Jarek was in the office of Grand Master, wearing the 
fake signet ring, but Weiramon was still the Grand Master and a High Lord of 
Terra.  Only he knew the codes that unleashed Eversor Assassins.  Only he knew 
the hidden identity of every single Assassin.  Only he could gain access to 
the Officio Assassinorums secret arsenals, containing some of the most 
devastating weaponry in the Imperium...  Day and night, Assassins loyal to 
Weiramon battled against the renegades.  Eversor Assassins stalked the 
corridors, the coded identities of renegade Assassins programmed into their 
subconscious.  Vindicare Assassins lay in air ducts and hid in the tall 
alcoves of the Imperial palace, gunning down traitors with impunity.  Hideouts 
were located and destroyed with lethal demolition charges.  Many Assassins 
risked using weapons from the Officio's secret arsenal, some so unstable as to 
equally dangerous to its user, or limited in the amount of ammunition 
available.  One by one, the rebel Assassins who supported either Vandire or 
Jarek were brought down, until only Jarek remained.  Weiramon confronted him 
in the chambers of the Grand Master.  Jarek was prepared, with the C'tan Phase 
Sword and Neural Shredder.  But so was Weiramon.  From the start he had 
planned for this. One of the Exitus weapons mounted on the wall was not merely 
a show piece and a haywire charge lay in the very fabric of the desk - one 
word and it would detonate.  Weiramon said the code word.  Jarek looked on in 
horror as the Haywire grenade sent an electro-static pulse draining the energy 
from his weapons.  Weiramon reached for the Exitus Pistol from the wall and 
fired.  The armament was special.  Firstly, it was programmed with Jareks heat 
signature, to follow him whichever way he dived.  Secondly, the rounds were 
bio-degradable, to leave no trace signature of the weapon that killed him.  
Jarek was taken out with shots in the head and chest, and the ammo clip was 
replaced with a conventional round.

 The Officio Assassinorum had been purged of corruption, but at great cost.  
The affected limb had to have been removed in its entirity, leaving the 
Officio Assassinorum in ruins.  At the outset of the Wars of Vindication, a 
signet ring was delivered to the Inquisition, along with a note in an 
anonymous hand.  The signet ring was an exact replica of the one worn by the 
Grand Master of Assassins, and the note proclaimed the one in the package to 
the original, while the one worn by the recently deceased Grand Master 
(actually the double installed by Weiramon) was a fake.  The Imperial machine 
moved to investigate the claims.  The ring on the Grand Masters body, in fact, 
was a data crystal.  This threw into doubt the identity of the body in the 
mausoleum.  If it wasn't the Grand Master, then who was it, who had penned the 
note and where was the real Grand Master?  The information in the data crystal 
was an Adeptus Administratum vault code.  Archive-Servitors were despatched to 
locate the vault.  When the vault was opened, several weeks had passed and 
Weiramon had killed Jarek in the chambers of the Grand Master.  In the vault 
what the Inquisition found was another dead body - the body of the Grand 
Master preserved in a stasis field.  Yet, upon genetic testing this too was 
not the real Grand Master (in fact, it was Jarek).  Stored with the body was a 
document claiming to be written by the real Grand Master, Weiramon, describing 
the corruption of the Officio Assassinorum by Vandire and the actions the real 
Grand Master had taken to bring the Officio to its knees and purge the 
organisation.  The document stated the Grand Master could not possibly 
continue in as much he was a part of that corrupt organisation and should have 
been more vigilant in stopping its corruption.

 The Inquisition concluded that the Officio Assassinorum was in dire need of 
reorganisation, and like many offices of the Administratum more rigourous 
monitoring by the Inquisition.  An order of the Inquisition was created to 
monitor the Officio Assassinorum, the Ordo Sicarius.

 To avoid further embarassment, no further traces of the incident came to 
light. Imperial records were amended to read
 "In the anarchic Wars of Vindication the Grand Master himself fell to the 
Assassins knife.  Thereafter, the High Lords took special care to control the 
Officio Assassinorum so that, in theory, only traitors and heretics need fear 
it today."

 The document the former High Lord Weiramon wrote, dated 02345208.M36 to 
0132288.M36, closed with the ancient line:

 "Exitus Acta Probat: The Outcome Justifies the Deed."


20.3  Assassins
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 Assassins begin their training in early childhood when they are chosen from 
the progeny of death worlds, feral societies and the most dangerous hive 
cities of the Imperium.  Training starts even as the ships return to Earth, 
with the Officio instructors testing their prospective pupils mercilessly.  
The weak and foolish are weeded out before they even board the ships, and as 
they journey to Terra the wilful and cowardly are excised in tests of 
determination and enforced discipline.

 The recruits must survive on limited food or air for days at a time.  They 
must constantly fight each other in armed and unarmed combat, in conditions 
of total darkness or blinding light, zero-G or crushing weight, stifling heat 
or freezing cold.  By the time of their arrival there may be only a tenth of 
the prospective Assassins left, or sometimes none at all if the instructors 
deem every recruit to be unworthy.

 On arrival at Earth the new recruits are divided amongst the hidden temples 
of the Officio Assassinorum.  Their training becomes ever more rigourous as 
the temples test each candidate to his or her utmost limits.  days are spent 
battling with bone-wrenching exercise engines, fighting in deadly bouts or 
mastering specialist weaponry and techniques.  Each temple has its own ancient 
ways and mysteries, each specialises in a different aspect of the art of 
murder.  There are many such temples, some of which are known and others that 
remain completely secret.  An example of the most thoroughly concealed is the 
Culexus temple with its horrifying psyker Assassins.  Thus, when the High 
Lords of Terra select their tools of death from the lethal disciplines of the 
secretive Officio Assassinorum, they are assured of only the most finely honed 
and efficient living weapons.

 The main temples of the Officio Assassinorum are the Vindicare, Callidus, 
Eversor and Culexus, though there are countless others, such as the Venenum 
temple, specialising in the fatal use of poison.  Temples are headed by an 
individual called the Director Primus of the temple.  Most enjoy a certain 
degree of autonomy within the Officio, in such areas as recritment, training, 
and even selection of missions.  The main exception to this rule is the 
Culexus temple.

 All Assassins use Synskin, a protective "spray-on" second skin which also 
feeds the Assassin counter-toxins to counter balance any foreign substance 
which gets into his body, making him immune to all non-alien toxins and 
substances.  In particular the Assassin is still vulnerable to Tyranid 
toxins.  The Synskin allows an Assassin to survive in vacuum for a short 
time.  It is airtight, watertight and proof against most gases and all 
gas-borne toxins.  The Assassin cannot be harmed by such grenades as Choke, 
Halluninagen, Scare, Toxin, Virus, etc.  They also all have highly 
sophistocated bio-implants to enable them to see in the dark or through 
dense smoke.


20.3.1  The Vindicare Temple
----------------------------

 The Vindicare temple specialises in sniper tactics.  Vindicare Assassins 
practise callous, unfeeling destruction which eliminates the target with 
contemptuous ease.  They aim to bring inglorious death to the enemies of the 
Emperor with a snipers bullet and have elevated the skills of the marksman to 
an artform.  To complement this, the Vindicare temple emphasises stealth and 
evasion techniques as well as weapons training.  One of the temples maxims is 
that a clean kill can only be made from an excellent firing position, and 
Vindicare Assassins have been known to occupy a position overlooking their 
target for weeks before finally taking their shot.  The skills of the temple 
are commonly used to slay those who use mob rule and rousing oratory, many 
false Messiahs have fallen with a Vindicare bullet through their brains as 
they preached.  Rebellious politicians and revolutionary leaders who speak out 
against the wisdom of the Imperium have good reason to fear being cut down on 
the rostrum.  When such figures die in this manner, rebellion and possible 
Heresy is often cut off at the source.

 Vindicare Assassins carry special armament in the form of the Exitus Long 
Rifle (short range 36 yds, long 72 yds, damage 1D6+5) and Exitus Pistol 
(12 yds, 24 yds, 1D6+5).  These weapons may load special Exitus Ammunition 
to either automatically overload a targets forcefield, give extra 
penetrating power (double damage caused), and hellfire ammunition (triple 
damage).  Other specialist exquipment of the Vindicare are the stealth suit 
(+20 to all Concealment skill tests) and the spy mask, containing cartridges 
of concentrated food and water for extended operations, a multi-channel comm 
sensor for monitoring enemy communications, and a wide-spectrum visor to pick 
up on heat and energy sources at tremendous distances.

  M  WS  BS  S  T  W   I   A  Dex Ld  Int Cl  WP  Fel
  4  70  70  5  5  12  60  4  60  40  50  60  50  30

 Weapons:  Exitus Rifle  - range 36/72 yds, to hit +10/+10, damage 4D6-5
           Exitus Pistol - range 12/24 yds, to hit +20/-10, damage 3D6+5
        Special ammo available for both:
           Shield-breaker - Overloads a target force field (refractor field, 
                            conversion field, etc.), requiring repair before 
                            the field can be used again.  In the meantime the
                            protective shield is useless in defence.
           Turbo-penetrator - Inflicts double damage.
           Hellfire  - Highly explosive shells that create a constrained blast 
                       wounding all within half a yard of the point hit.  
                       The main target takes double damage from the impact in 
                       addition to any fire damage that results.

 Motto: "Exitus Acta Probat" ('the outcome justifies the deed')


20.3.2  The Callidus Temple
---------------------------

 Callidus Assassins specialise in deception and infiltration tactics.  
Subtlety is key to the Callidus methods, and death is but one of a variety of 
options available to a Callidus Assassin in bringing down a target.  The 
Callidus temple undertakes many covert operations which may involve an 
Assassin infiltrating an enemy civilisation for months or even years.  Their 
aim is to get close to the chosen target, so that they can carry out their 
mission.  This could range from simply influencing important decisions to 
eliminating the target at a key moment.  To achieve this, the Callidus temple 
uses a drug called Polymorphine.  An injection of this allows a trained 
Callidus Assassin to completely change their appearance.  Under the influence 
of the drug the users body undergoes dramatic changes whch only a fully 
trained user can keep under control.  Essentially, at a cellular level, the 
bonds that hold the flesh, bone and nerve cells together are temporarily 
broken to allow the user to rearrange their cell structure.  They can lengthen 
bones, stretch skin, change the size and shape of their muscles, convert 
protein cells to fat cells and vice versa, etc.  Once the Polymorphine drug has 
done its work, the cells will not be changed into a new form until another 
injection of Polymorphine allows them to reassume their original form or change 
to another.

 In addition to the drug the Medicus Adepts of the Imperium have developed a 
range of surgical implants to allow Callidus Assassins to mimic alien races, 
like Orks and Eldar - even Tyranids!  The implants consist of flexi-cartilage 
and hardened synskin, similar to that used in the hardened rib cage of Space 
Marines.  When not in use the implants lie dormant under flesh and inside 
bones.  When Polymorphine is injected the implants react to allow the assassin 
to assume the form of an Ork, Eldar, or even a Genestealer!

 When using the drug Callidus Assassins must concentrate totally, and have 
complete empathy with the subject they are trying to replicate.  The Callidus 
temple has found the female form is better able to cope with these changes, 
and by and large the female novitiates tend to make better chaemeleons than 
the men.  Apart from Polymorphine, Callidus Assassins use other special 
weaponry.  Foremost is the C'tan Phase Sword, originally found on one of the 
dead worlds of the C'tan.  The Adeptus Mechanicus found numerous examples of 
highly advanced technology, but of the C'tans there was no sign.  The blade of 
the Phase Sword is able to phase in and out of reality by molecular 
realignment, so is capable of bypassing armour and protective fields.  If 
attacked by a C'tan Phase Sword a targets armour and protective fields provide 
no protection at all.  Callidus Assassins also carry a Neural Shredder, a 
small device which interferes with the targets nervous system by some unknown 
means.  It has a fairly short range (16 yds) but if the target fails a T test 
subject to a -10 penalty, damage of D6 Wounds is inflicted.  The Neural 
Shredders origins are unknown.  In addition, Callidus agents all have concealed 
poison blades, as they must often fight with little or no weaponry available.  
They are well trained in this field of combat.

  M  WS  BS  S  T  W   I   A  Dex Ld  Int Cl  WP  Fel
  4  70  70  5  5  12  60  4  60  40  50  60  50  60

 Weapons:  C'tan Phase sword - Close combat, 4D6+5 damage 
           Neural Shredder   - Affects cone shaped area extending 16yds and 
                               maximum width of 5 yds, or a single target, 
                               depending on setting.  Affects the nervous 
                               system of target(s).  Those hit must pass a 
                               T test or take D6 damage, regardless of armour.

 Motto: "To assume the shape of the accursed and deliver death from the purity 
         within you"


20.3.3  The Eversor Temple
--------------------------

 The Eversor temple of Assassins specialises in shock and terror tactics.  They 
are used against rebel governors who have plans to move against the Imperium 
with an armed force of renegades.  Rather than launch a costly war, an Eversor 
Assassin may be commissioned to go in and sow havoc and terror.  The Assassin 
just kills, kills anyone and everything.  The enemy is utterly destroyed by 
the Eversors unstoppable attack.

 Eversor Assassins are trained to be completely ruthless and dedicated to the 
Imperium.  Using specialised knowledge of genetics and human biology, every 
single Eversor Assassin is engineered to be a super-human killing machine, 
their bodies driven past normal human capabilities by genetic alterations and 
advanced bionics.  In combat drugs shift the assassins state of mind to that 
of a psychopath and push his body to its limit.

 Unfortunately, many of the drugs used are highly addictive.  Without them, 
the Assassin will die.  With them, he can't stop killing!  The result is an 
addiction to the killing....  The only way Eversor Assassins can be kept under 
control is to keep them in cryo-suspension until they are required for a 
mission.  Each Eversor Assassin is stored in a cryo-crypt on board one of the 
many hidden ships that the Eversor temple have scattered across the Imperium.  
These ships maintain a constant state of alert, waiting only for orders from 
the High Lords of Terra to unleash their deadly cargoes.  When selected, the 
Assassin is transferred from the cryo-crypt to a special drop-pod, where 
neuro-links feed the details of the mission to him while he remains in 
cryo-suspension.  The pod is launched at the target planet, as remote links 
with the spaceship reanimate the Assassin and ready his finely tuned body with 
all he needs to complete the mission.  When the pod impacts, the Assassin is 
awake and ready to work.  He will be totally unaware of the time spent in 
suspension, to the Assassin the gap between the mission and the last will be 
mere moments.  An Eversors assault is so swift and ruthless that his (most are 
men) foes are rarely aware they are under attack until the doors of their 
sanctuary are torn off at the hinges - by which time its too late...  When the 
Eversor is finished, a control signal is sent to the Assassins control 
systems, which initiate a shutdown so that the Assassin can be safely 
recovered.  The shutdown, however, is sometimes only reliable for a short 
time, so the Assassin must be quickly returned to cryo-suspension following 
recovery.

 Like Space Marines, recruits for the Eversor temple are chosen young.  This 
is because only a body which isn't fully developed is able to accept the many 
implants and alterations that the novitiate will undergo.  The process of 
becoming an Eversor Assassin is long with the extensive testing, genetic 
manipulation and drugs turning each Assassin into a living experiment.  At 
first, results from training exercises are used to determine which alterations 
are most suitable.  After that the real experiments begin...  The masters of 
the Eversor temple and the Medicus Adepts are constantly developing and 
adapting a special programme of genetics, bio-implants and chemical boosters 
to enhance the Assassins body beyond what a normal human could endure.  The 
Assassin undergoes endo-skeletal restructuring, gains a second heart, his 
brain is fitted with lobo-chips to change his state of mind, and so on.  This 
process is not without its dangers.  Many Assassins have died on the operating 
table, or experienced some unforeseen side effect of the drugs and 
alterations.  Some psyched-up Assassins have gone on a killing spree in the 
labs, while an incapacitated Assassin (if for example, his brain or heart(s) 
can no longer cope with the pressure) can become dangerous as he loses full 
control of the chemical concoctions in his body - with interesting or 
sometimes explosive results...

 Eversor Assassins wear a skull mask, whose dual function is to both terrify 
those the Eversor is assigned to remove and enhance his senses.  They carry 
the special Executor Pistol, which functions as a combi-weapon comination of 
a bolt pistol and needle pistol.  He wears a Sentinel Array, enabling him to 
sense movement on all sides around him and giving an effective 360 degree arc 
of vision and fire.  Finally he carries a Neuro-Gauntlet.  This is an 
exo-skeleton hyper-alloy glove with neuro-toxin injectors fitted to the 
fingers.  It injects lethal toxins that make targets die in a highly painful 
manner (halve all characteristics immediately on ingestion, death in D6 rounds 
if not killed by the strength of the attack).

  M  WS  BS  S  T  W   I   A  Dex Ld  Int Cl  WP  Fel
  4  70  70  7  7  20  80  5  60  40  50  90  90  0

 Weapons:  Executor Pistol - A combined Bolt Pistol and Needle Pistol.  Counts 
                             as a standard combi-weapon.  Only one of the two 
                             can be firedin any round.
           Neuro-gauntlet  - Close combat weapon.  An exo-skeleton hyper-alloy 
                             glove with neuro-toxin injectors on the fingers.  
                             Toxin is as above.


20.3.4  The Culexus Temple
--------------------------

 Have you ever met someone you just couldn't 'get a feel for'?  Someone you 
just didn't somehow feel wholely comfortable with?  Someone who, for some 
reason you couldn't quite pin down, made your skin crawl?  Whose very presence 
made you nauseous?  The chances are, that person was a Psychic Void.

 Most people exist partly in both the normal physical world and as a spark in 
the psychic sea of the Warp.  Psykers especially glow brightly in the Warp, 
and Eldar souls shine as bright as a star.  Other, rare, people, seem to have 
no Warp presence whatsoever - a psychic void, effectively soulless.  The basic 
human evaluation of someone you unconsciously make when you meet them reports 
nothing about these individuals, leading to extreme distrust and discomfort.  
This extremely rare defect occurs in less than one in a billion individuals.

 Tales have grown up around these people, of whom it is said that meeting 
their eyes is an experience one can never forget, seeming to draw you into a 
void, a pool of nothingness.  Even being near them can make the most hardened 
person uncomfortable.  It is hardly surprising, that these people, branded 
pariah, untouchable, are treated like outcasts or lepers, rejected from 
settlements.  Local superstitions warn against touching them, saying it will 
bring bad luck.  They are hunted by the Inquisition, and live lives as loners.

 However, the trait can also be occasionally useful.  Psychic Voids, properly 
trained, can psychically maim or even kill a psyker at the level of their very 
soul, and this is exactly the way the Officio Assassinorum uses them.

 When these individuals started appearing, they were at first rounded up and 
sent back to Terra aboard the Inquisition Black Ships.  There, they were given 
over to the Biologis department of the Adeptus Mechanicus for experimentation.  
It wasn't long before a large number of these Pariahs was languishing in the 
cells at the experimental labs.  Such a large number of Pariahs began to cast 
a shadow in the Warp, blocking out the psychic signal of the Astronomican.  
Other branches of the Administratum, especially those that relied on psykers 
or the Astronomican, were horrified.  Several High Lords of Terra were soon 
making moves to have Pariahs exterminated by the Inquisition.  A number of 
High Lords including the Paternal Envoy of the Navigators, the Master of the 
Adeptus Astra Telepathica, and the Master of the Astronomican pushed for the 
Master of the Administratum to make this an official degree to rid the 
Imperium of these freaks that threatened the very survival of their 
departments.

 This was all very unfortunate for the Officio Assassinorum, who had been 
secretly working with the Adeptus Mechanicus to see if they could be used to 
kill Psykers.  The work was going well and many years had been spent 
developing specialist wargear and training techniques.  And this was all about 
to be ruined by a religious witchhunt...  The decree of the Administratum 
never came - it didn't need to.  The Adeptus Mechanicus made a great show of 
closing down the laboratoriums and executing many of the specimens.  
Satisfied, the High Lords turned their attentions to other matters.

 But close study of the records would reveal the number of executions did not 
match the number of Pariahs contained within the labs at the time.  With the 
help of the Officio Assassinorum, the Adeptus Mechanicus moved some of the 
most promising Pariahs to a secretly constructed fortress on the edge of the 
Galaxy, beyond the reach of the Astronomican and the more zealous branches of 
the Adeptus Terra.  It is here the Culexus temple of Assassins was created and 
still operates from.

 The Officio Assassinorum is responsible for this fortress and ensuring all 
Pariahs are kept within its bounds.  Most of the other Assassinorum temples 
are allowed a certain degree of autonomy, but the Culexus temple is 
specifically run by the highest members of the Officio Assassinorum.  All 
Pariahs and Culexus Assassins are kept within the fortress, only allowed to 
leave under a veil of secrecy and security.  While it cannot be doubted the 
Culexus temple has proved itself useful on countless occasions, there are 
factions within the Imperium that would see every single Pariah executed and 
the Culexus temple utterly destroyed.

 When the Culexus temple receives a mission, an Assassin is chosen and 
transported to the field of conflict on board a specially shielded ship, much 
like the Black Ships of the Inquisition.  In addition, the Assassin wears a 
huge helm called an Animus Speculum.  This has the dual purpose of firing 
focused blasts in battle, and blocking out the Culexus Assassins natural 
abilities off the battlefield.  Even when worn, the helm is only partially 
effective in its latter function, and each Culexus Assassin is accompianied by 
a Custodian who operates the Animus Speculum and ensures his charge remains 
under control and does not arouse suspicion amongst other forces or 
organisations.

 The Culexus temple has found the slight natural distrust a Pariah naturally 
has can be trained and enhanced to the nauseous, head-spinning effect which 
is the trademark effect of a Culexus Assassin.  A Culexus Assassin carries no 
gun or other hand held weapon, for he needs none.  The Custodian, safely 
positioned in a command bunker or on an orbital battleship, releases his hold 
over the Assassin. The large eye in the Animus Speculum opens, and only then 
does the full scale of the Assassins abilities flood the battlefield.  He 
attacks using blasts of "negative" psychic energy, slipping through battle 
lines and bodyguards befuddled by the head-spinning effect of the Culexus 
Assassins presence.  A well placed psychic blast can strip an enemy psyker of 
their powers before the Culexus Assassin goes in for the kill, sapping the 
very life force from their bodies.

 On the battlefield, with the Animus Speculum open, the aura of a Culexus 
Assassin is so abhorrent that peoples minds often cannot properly take the 
stimulus in.  If a viewer of a Culexus Assassin whose Animus Speculum is open 
passes a secret WP roll, his mind can take the stimulus and he can see the 
Assassin. Otherwise the subjects mind refuses to take the information in and 
the Assassin is effectively invisible to the viewer.

 Culexus Assassins carry two items of wargear - an Etherium and his Animus 
Speculum.  The Etherium is a highly advanced form of Aegis Suit that links up 
with the Assassins Synskin.  Combined with the attributes of the Culexus 
Assassin, this makes psychic attacks pass right over the Culexus Assassin as 
though invisible (an application of fluid dynamics to psychic energy - the 
Etherium makes the energy flow round and over the Assassin).  Physical psychic 
weapons, such as Force Swords or Tyranid Boneswords, operate as only a normal, 
non-Force weapon providing the Assassin passes a secret WP test rolled by the 
GM.  Built into the Etherium is a Force Matrix, which attracts and captures 
any stray psychic energy in the vicinity of the Assassin - in many cases when 
a psyker uses a power he is not always efficient in using all the energy and 
much of it is simply left to dissipate.  This gives the Assassin, with no 
direct tap to the Warp, a source of Warp energy.  The closer a Culexus 
Assassin gets to a psyker, the more he can absorb.  When a psyker uses a 
power, a percentage of the energy equal to 100 minus his WP is lost, 
dissipated.  If near a Culexus Assassin, this is the amount of Warp energy 
that the Assassin will absorb (expressed in Psy Points).  The Culexus Assassin 
can then selectively use this stored psychic energy to make psychic blasts of 
his own.

 An Animus Speculum, as stated above, has a dual purpose.  Its primary purpose 
is as a restraining device.  On the battlefield it functions as a weapon 
capable of focusing the Assassins negative aura through the single large Eye 
on the front into a strong beam of energy, burning into the targets link to 
the Warp and sucking out their soul [Oo-errr - Ed.].  These blasts can be 
deadly to all, but psykers are particularly vulnerable.  In order to do this, 
the Assassin uses energy stored in the Force Matrix (see above) to power the 
Animus Speculum and channel his negative aura into a powerful "negative" 
psychic blast.  Each uses D6 Psy Points from the Force Matrix and no more than 
three such blasts may be made in any one round.  If the Assassin wounds a 
psyker there is a chance the targets link to the Warp may be damaged or even 
broken.  In game terms, both parties make a WP roll, which can be modified by 
+5 for every Psy Point the party spends (in the Assassins case, from the Force 
Matrix).  If both pass or both fail, the result is a tie.  If the Assassin 
passes and the psyker fails, the psykers special link to the Warp is weakened 
and he loses D6 points from both his current Psy Point score and his Power 
Level.  A psyker whose Power Level falls to zero has effectively lost all 
psychic abilities, and can never hold any Psy Points again.  Blasts from the 
Assassin can only be Nullified by the psyker they are aimed at, and count as 
having the same Psy Level as the psyker.  Blasts have a short range of 24 yds, 
a long range of 48 yds and cause 1D6+5 damage.

 The very presence of a Culexus Assassin can affect the operation of psychic 
powers.  His negative psychic aura causes the Warp to swirl around him in a 
vortex, creating a very small, localised Warp storm and making it very 
dangerous to use their powers.  Any psyker, including friendly psykers, within 
48 yds of a Culexus Assassin and who attempts to use a psychic power must roll 
on his WP.  If the roll is successful, the power works as normal.  If failed, 
the attempt is immediately nullified and, if he fails a T test, sustains D3 
damage.  In addition, many psykers actively use their psychic abilities in 
battle to augment their physical abilities.  Merely by moving into proximity, 
a Culexus Assassin complicates this process with his localised Warp turmoil, 
and can even if he chooses drain the psyker of his life force.  This works to 
maximum effect when the Culexus Assassin physically touches the target.  Both 
parties make a WP roll, which can be modified by +5 for every Psy Point the 
party spends (in the Assassins case, from the Force Matrix).  If both pass or 
both fail, the result is a tie.  If the Assassin passes and the psyker fails, 
he can drain 1 or 10 points, as appropriate to the characteristic, from the 
psykers WS, BS, S, T, Dex, Ld, Int, Cl, WP or Fel.  Usually S and/or WP is 
drained (if WP is drained, the psyker uses the new lower WP to defend himself 
on the next drain attempt of the Assassin).  If any characteristic is reduced 
to zero, the psyker dies.  Drained characteristics are lost for 48 hours, 
after which they return at a rate of 1/2 or 5 points per day up the previous 
level of the characteristic level minus 1 or 10.  For every yard of distance 
between the Assassin and the psyker, the Assassin takes a -10 penalty to the 
WP contest, and the psyker a +10 bonus.

 Perhaps surprisingly, the powers of a Culexus Assassin affect daemons and 
other Warp entities equally as well as human psykers, though joint, secret 
experiments by the Ordo Malleus and Officio Assassinorum are still in progress 
in this area.

 Many Culexus Assassins also carry Psych-out Grenades, as used by the 
daemon-hunters of the Ordo Malleus (see the Inquisition chapter).  Each 
grenade is shaped similarly to a Frag Grenade, but contains a payload only 
produced by the Golden Throne on Terra.  The dust-like substance is heavily 
impregnated with negative psychic energy and is very rare.  When some is 
collected, armourers use it to make Psych-out Grenades and Psycannon rounds.  
The grenades cause 1D6+3 Wounds in a 4 yds blast area, with the normal effects 
of a Frag grenade.  In addition, all psychic powers in use in the area are 
immediately, automatically nullified.

  M  WS  BS  S  T  W   I   A  Dex Ld  Int Cl  WP  Fel
  4  73  72  5  5  12  80  4  66  70  66  66  80  20

 Weapons:  Animus Speculum   - range 24/48 yds, to hit +10/-, 3D6 damage
           Psyk-out grenades - Similar to Frag grenade (see Wargear chapter).  
                               Blast range has property that no psychic 
                               power (other than the Culexes' "negative" 
                               psychic abilities) will work in the zone for D6 
                               turns.  Psykers hit in the blast take D6 
                               wounds, against which armour does not protect.


   -----------------------------------------------------------------------
     "I commit this message to crystal, as a record for eternity of my 
   last thoughts in this realm.  I have seen what will come to pass, and 
   I have seen the face of he who will end my life.  A black shadow is 
   even now stalking me across this barren, lifeless world.  I have seen 
   him only by his absence.  He is a void in the skein of time, a no-thing
   upon reality.  The Rune of Oblivion is his sign: the Rune of Ending is
   his destiny.  My Oblivion, My Ending.

    "It is a creature of utter abhorrance: of near unspeakable horror to 
   me.  Only the Humans could spawn such a creature, so debased are they, 
   so lacking in breeding.  Yet even they, as crude and blind as they are, 
   can see this creature, this thing, for what it truly is, though they 
   have no real understanding of its inexistence.  I know more about this 
   alien fiend than they do.  I know why it is a soulless monstrosity, for 
   I have spoken to the Solitaires who know so well about such things, 
   about the stealing of spirits from bodies that yet live on.  It is 
   unnatural, for it is not of the Chaos that binds all things together.  
   It has no life in the Otherworld, it has no existence except in the 
   physical.  It is a dead thing that thinks and breathes, a most hideous 
   abomination.  Even the Humans who tolerate the stench and squalor of 
   their own kind cannot bear this monster.  Ungifted as they are, their 
   latent psychic powers, of which they understand so little, warn them 
   of the danger it poses.  Their skin crawls with subconscious loathing.  
   Yet this is but a slight reaction compared to the disgust I feel when I 
   consider its non-existence.

    "Though they hate this creature that their own kind have spawned, the 
   Humans, so low and despicable as they are, would stoop to welcome it, 
   to make use of its vile properties.  Though their own near-sighted seers 
   would gladly see this creature eradicated for all eternity, the 
   double-faced and treacherous humans lie to each other and turn these 
   things upon their foes when eyes are cast elsewhere.  They send them to 
   hunt for those with the Sight, those such as myself.

    "For this creature is an anathema to the Gift of the Mind.  Its void 
   blankets the Flame of Life that burns in the Otherworld for all true 
   creatures.  It severs us from the stream of Chaos that allows us to 
   change realities, to create dreams and nightmares from the stuff of 
   reality.  It is the darkness that blinds; the silence of the grave; 
   the hand around the throat that stifles all breath.  It shatters ones 
   visions and befuddles ones mind, sowing confusion and terror wherever 
   it passes.  It drains the very spirit from your body, wrenching your 
   essence from the glories of the Otherworld and condemning it to the 
   ashes and dust of mundanity.

    "They try to control it with their clumsy technlogy, using devices 
   which they barely comprehend, to guard others against the hungering 
   maw which serves as its spirit.  To even consider harnessing such 
   unpleasant freaks of creation is to invite disaster.  I would laugh 
   at the irony of it, were it not so offensive - the Humans hunt and 
   kill those with the Gift, fearing for their own safety, when their 
   true nemesis, the real creature which will be their doom, is 
   nurtured upon their bosom.  How Human that is.

    "This thing stalks me now and I, I who have seen the birth of stars 
   and the death of galaxies, I am afraid."
                                         - Eldar Farseer Lithandros-Esmanthil
   -----------------------------------------------------------------------


20.3.5  The Venenum Temple
--------------------------

 The Venenum Temple is a Temple that, unlike many others of the Officio 
Assassinorum, does not specialise in combat related killings.  The Venenum 
Temple specialises in poisonings, and its Assassins are masters of the art.  
They learn to infiltrate, in a lesser way that that of the Callidus Temple, 
the places where their target is to be found, and at an opportune moment 
administer a fatal or debilitating poison to the victim.  Sometimes it is 
delivered by food or drink, other times by a poison dart delivered from a 
blowpipe (which they are trained to use).  Often it is not they themselves 
who deliver the poison, but others whom they bribe or convince to carry out 
the act, though they always ensure the deed is done cleanly and untracably, 
whomever does the final deed.

 Though they do not specialise in combat, like all Assassins they are 
trained in combat, for at some time every Assassin will sometimes need the 
ability to fight for his/her life.

  M  WS  BS  S  T  W   I   A  Dex Ld  Int Cl  WP  Fel
  4  73  72  5  5  12  80  4  66  70  66  66  80  20


20.4  The Ordo Sicarius
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 Following the Wars of Vindication, Inquisitor Jaeger created a new order of 
the Inquisition to monitor the Officio Assassinorum more closely, this was 
called the Ordo Sicarius.  At the Inquisitions request, the Officio 
Assassinorum agreed to the following changes:

  * The Assassin temples were distributed to various locations, so that should
    one fall to alien influence, daemonancy or heresy, the others would remain
    untainted.
  * Any Assassination to be allowed only by a two-thirds vote of assent in the 
    Council of High Lords.
  * All Assassinations to be followed by a detailed account of the mission 
    activity, subject to Inquisitorial inspection at any time.
  * All Assassins, with exceptions of those of the Eversor temple, to undergo 
    regularly repeated psycho-doctrination, again under the eye of the 
    Inquisition if deemed necessary.

 A major problem, however, was that the Officio Assassinorum was and is a 
highly secretive organisation.  To monitor such an organisation effectively 
one must work from within its confines, not from the outside.  Therefore, 
inducted into the Officio Assassinorum in various temples are some agents of 
the Inquisition, Assassin-Inquisitors, from whom the information the Ordo 
Sicarius needs to work is gained.  This is done during the regular 
psycho-doctrination sessions with these Assassins, with whom the Inquisition 
from time to time makes a point of being present at.

 The Ordo Sicarius has, to date, successfully uncovered and prevented two 
assassination attempts on the High Lords themselves and prevented the 
assassination of an Inquisitor who had been working closely with the Orks of 
Lamina sector.

