NPCAfter examining the pict, you realise that the symbols are connected through a strange logical sequence.
YOU"What are those symbols being scratched out by the convicts?"
NPC"It is hard to give these drawings any sort of intelligible definition. Unnaturally round circles connected by lines. The lines are interrupted by groups of dots. Some patterns follow a certain common logic while others are unique. I can provide Your Lordship/Ladyship with picts of them."
YOU"What are those symbols being scratched out by the convicts?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What do my advisors have to say?"
NPC(sequence)
NPC"I am detecting an intriguing pattern in the drawing of the symbols left by the prisoners. Hypothesis: they have a practical purpose. Requesting clearance for the Adeptus Mechanicus to access the mines and investigate the specimens."
end of branch
NPC"Disappearing prisoners? What is the point of running away from penal servitude if the entire world is a prison cell? No, shereen, these ashmags have found some sort of smuggling tunnel network and are hiding there. And the drawings are their secret language, which they use to give orders to their fellow prisoners. I know some guys who can find such secret places and decipher these languages."
end of branch
NPC"If the convicts continue to disappear for no reason, then unrest will soon follow — whether out of fear or hope for the possibility of escape. To stifle this, we must put pressure on the convicts' leaders — my experience suggests that such people can hold more sway than any overseer."
end of branch
NPC"A fish rots from the head, and a prison begins to collapse because of its overseers. It is suspicious that no one has managed to get to the bottom of the problem: lean on the senior staff to get the information we need — someone in the prison must be exploiting the situation for their own ends."
end of branch
YOU"The servants of the Omnissiah are hereby allowed to examine any convicts that demonstrate odd behaviour."
NPC"There is no sacrifice more worthy than one made in the name of the Quest for Knowledge."
NPCThe wise servants of the Omnissiah interrogated the strange prisoners. The examination of their brain tissue did not reveal any mutations. Those labourers who had completely lost their utility were granted servitorisation in order to maintain production levels. However, one discovery was made after all.
NPCThe prisoners' drawings were too... systematic. They could not be mere gibberish — the sets of repeating dashes and dots were far too similar. But if it was indeed a secret code, then, judging by its complexity and the impossibility of decoding it, this language was definitely not invented by a convict.
end of branch
YOU"We should investigate this anomaly. We may be dealing with something sinister here."
NPC"I will immediately pass your orders on to Vheabos VI, Lord Captain."
NPCSadly, the spirit of educated enquiry was in limited supply among the overseers — most of the strange prisoners were simply beaten to death during their interrogations. But one of the overseers, who possessed a gift for the artistic, did notice something unusual.
NPCThe prisoners' drawings were too... systematic. They could not be mere gibberish — the sets of repeating dashes and dots were far too similar. But if it was indeed a secret code, then, judging by its complexity and the impossibility of decoding it, this language was definitely not invented by a convict.continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Jae, have your savvy associates investigate exactly where my servants have wandered off to."
NPC"For a generous fee, my people could find even the smallest stone tossed to the bottom of the sea, shereen."
NPCA squad of daring smugglers slipped into the mines and discovered long-collapsed tunnels that had been cleared very recently.
NPCAn unnaturally even wall covered in strange symbols caught their attention. The tunnel went down deep and was not on any of the mining maps. The colony administration gave orders to conduct an archive survey, banned work in the sector, and had guards posted there until the origins of the tunnel could be established.
end of branch
YOU"Have the guards monitor where the workers disappear to."
NPC"I will immediately pass your orders on to Vheabos VI, Lord Captain."
NPCAlthough many overseers had to be removed from their posts to conduct the surveillance operation, it did eventually lead the investigators to a series of recently cleared tunnels.
NPCAn unnaturally even wall covered in strange symbols caught their attention. The tunnel went down deep and was not on any of the mining maps. The colony administration gave orders to conduct an archive survey, banned work in the sector, and had guards posted there until the origins of the tunnel could be established.continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Abelard is right. Have the convicts' leaders stop this mess, or else they are going to regret it."
NPC"Those who have been exiled to a penal world for atonement and yet continue to sow disorder deserve no pity."
NPCWorn down by sophisticated interrogations, the leaders ordered the rest of the convicts to exterminate anyone who showed signs of insanity. The purges wiped out many workers, but the disappearances and strange phenomena have stopped.
end of branch
YOU"Have the guards knock this love for cheap theatrics out of the inmates' heads."
NPC"I will immediately pass your orders on to Vheabos VI, Lord Captain."
NPCThe overseers interpreted the Lord Captain's orders in their own way — they simply beat every prisoner they deemed strange to death. Nevertheless, the disappearances and suspicious behaviour have stopped.
end of branch
YOU"We do as Solomorne said: we apply pressure to the senior ranks of the colony — they are clearly involved in what's going on."
NPC"We will restore order and expose the corrupt authorities at a single stroke."
NPCInterrogations revealed that a senior overseer had been obstructing the investigation and helping the fugitives to escape. He had hoped that the crisis in the colony would be a pretext for the ignominious dismissal of the colony's current head, against whom the traitor had nursed a personal grudge. Before his execution, the heretic gave up the coordinates of the recently cleared tunnels, from which he had cleverly diverted the enforcers' investigative efforts.
NPCAn unnaturally even wall covered in strange symbols caught their attention. The tunnel went down deep and was not on any of the mining maps. The colony administration gave orders to conduct an archive survey, banned work in the sector, and had guards posted there until the origins of the tunnel could be established.continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What do my advisors have to say?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"The servants of the Omnissiah are hereby allowed to examine any convicts that demonstrate odd behaviour."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We should investigate this anomaly. We may be dealing with something sinister here."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Jae, have your savvy associates investigate exactly where my servants have wandered off to."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Have the guards monitor where the workers disappear to."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Abelard is right. Have the convicts' leaders stop this mess, or else they are going to regret it."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Have the guards knock this love for cheap theatrics out of the inmates' heads."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We do as Solomorne said: we apply pressure to the senior ranks of the colony — they are clearly involved in what's going on."continues where this line first appears above
Entry point 12 of 15
NPCThe pict shows a completely absurd and miserable pattern made out of dashes and dots, illustrating the primitiveness of a peasant's brain.
YOU"What are those symbols being scratched out by the convicts?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What do my advisors have to say?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"The servants of the Omnissiah are hereby allowed to examine any convicts that demonstrate odd behaviour."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We should investigate this anomaly. We may be dealing with something sinister here."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Jae, have your savvy associates investigate exactly where my servants have wandered off to."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Have the guards monitor where the workers disappear to."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Abelard is right. Have the convicts' leaders stop this mess, or else they are going to regret it."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Have the guards knock this love for cheap theatrics out of the inmates' heads."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We do as Solomorne said: we apply pressure to the senior ranks of the colony — they are clearly involved in what's going on."continues where this line first appears above
Entry point 13 of 15
NPC(no text)
end of branch
Entry point 14 of 15
NPC(no text)
end of branch
Entry point 15 of 15
NPC"Lord Captain, a disturbing report has come from the quarries of Vheabos VI. The convicts have lost their minds: they forget how to use tools, they huddle together and continue to stare aimlessly into space, even under the lashes of the whips, ruining the mining deadlines."
NPC"Some are possessed with the urge to use their nails to scratch blasphemous symbols on tools, machines, and even their own bodies. The most mad have painted the walls of several mines from floor to ceiling with the symbols and then gone off deep into the mining tunnels. None of them could be found. The overseers consider it a ploy to divert attention away from the escapes and an impending rebellion."
YOU"What are those symbols being scratched out by the convicts?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What do my advisors have to say?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"The servants of the Omnissiah are hereby allowed to examine any convicts that demonstrate odd behaviour."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We should investigate this anomaly. We may be dealing with something sinister here."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Jae, have your savvy associates investigate exactly where my servants have wandered off to."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Have the guards monitor where the workers disappear to."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Abelard is right. Have the convicts' leaders stop this mess, or else they are going to regret it."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Have the guards knock this love for cheap theatrics out of the inmates' heads."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We do as Solomorne said: we apply pressure to the senior ranks of the colony — they are clearly involved in what's going on."continues where this line first appears above