StoneSixscore and eleven days after the feast of the passing of Nicomedes Keefe, the champion of faith, disquietude marred the calm of the monastery of the Order of the Hammer.
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Entry point 2 of 36
StonePrelate Hectarchius recalled the first missionaries to set foot on Foulstone's vast wasteland, led by their zeal for serving Saint Cognatius. And those missionaries had received the blessing of Nicomedes Keefe, the champion of faith who had travelled with them in their star-barque, to found in this place a humble and pure abode wherein to cultivate wisdom and piety.
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Entry point 3 of 36
StoneTheir wicked and cruel captain, the owner of the Naviica, had betrayed them; once the unknowing souls in his care had made landfall on the world's surface, he most deviously recalled his shuttles and left, thus ridding himself of his duty of care to the unfortunate lot.
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Entry point 4 of 36
StoneNot knowing how they would survive in Foulstone's grim wastelands, the forsaken people came to the monastery of Saint Cognatius, and there they surrounded its walls. They hammered their fists on its gate, and implored, and wailed, "Take us in! Protect us!" And what once was a place of serenity and grace was now full of din, disorder, and all manner of things despicable.
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Entry point 5 of 36
StoneThe monks fled beyond their walls, and rang the vox-alarum, and shut the gate, and commanded the armed guards to keep watch over that gate, slaying any who approached.
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Entry point 6 of 36
StoneLeft on their own, as orphans are, bereft of the Rogue Trader's wise judgement, monastery dwellers and interlopers alike were in sadness.
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Entry point 7 of 36
StoneAnd they spake further saying, "Without thy holy protection, we are doomed, for we fear annihilation at the hands of our kin who remained behind. For, having fallen away from the sublime light of the Emperor, they have descended into bloody sedition and become murtherers of no mercy."
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Entry point 8 of 36
StoneThen the warriors of the Order of the Hammer donned their flak-cowls, inscribed words of praise to the God-Emperor on their tactical visors, and went forth, ready to render service in battle. With lasguns and bolters they pierced the interlopers, with their chainswords and power flails they struck them, and a great and bloody harvest was reaped that day.
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Entry point 9 of 36
StoneThe brethren and sisters of the Order of the Hammer came forth to meet the strangers, carrying water and protein victuals and medicinal herbs and jugs of promethium. But the crowd came to blows over viands, and blood was spilt, and many were trampled or mauled in the stampede, some of them dwellers of the monastery.
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Entry point 10 of 36
StoneA quarrel broke out. The hungry and the sick lay siege to the monastery, begging for help; in their spite, they blocked the water collector and unpowered the generatorium. The faithful, in the meantime, made ready to resist.
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Entry point 11 of 36
StoneThe blessed Rogue Trader...
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Entry point 12 of 36
StoneThe strangers, prodigious in number, beseeched the Rogue Trader to take them in and give them shelter and protection as to his/her own servants. And spake they, saying, "Long have we wandered; swiftly have we fled; many a woe and ordeal has befallen us; of many a father and son are we bereft. Now the warp hath taken the last of our strength, and we shall flee no more."
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Entry point 13 of 36
StoneAnd there was a great battle, and the accursed miscreants lost their lives in great numbers; the rest fled swiftly to the wastelands, there to hide in fear.
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Entry point 14 of 36
StoneAnd the faithful rejoiced, for henceforth they would have an unwavering and mighty guardian; and they proclaimed it for all to hear.
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Entry point 15 of 36
StoneWith prayers and chants, the monks bid farewell to the Rogue Trader's star-barque.
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Entry point 16 of 36
StoneHumbly the Order of the Hammer heeded the God-Emperor's confidant, and unsealed the airlocks, and opened the gate of its abode, and brought forth gifts of virtue to relieve the suffering of the ill-stricken.
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Entry point 17 of 36
StoneSo was changed forevermore the life of the monastery of the Order of the Hammer and its brethren. Having waged a great battle and plundered mercilessly, the Rogue Trader claimed his/her wicked harvest and departed Foulstone, with nary a backward look.
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Entry point 18 of 36
StoneThus began the chronicle of Foulstone's woes and misdeeds that were to bring that world to ruin and oblivion.
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Entry point 19 of 36
StoneBut the interlopers, too, scant though their armament was and scanter their skill in battle, slew many among the monastery's dwellers, for great were their numbers and greater their desperation.
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Entry point 20 of 36
StoneSeized by covetousness, the monks and rabble clashed. Their need and their faith forgotten, they fought for greed alone. The fields of battle turned crimson, and the interlopers in terror fled, while the brethren of Prelate Hectarchius remained behind, standing upon the bones and performing the solemn rites. Then the Rogue Trader came down to them and showered them with gold without measure, and he/she took the surviving interlopers into bondage and gave them to the monks as beholden servants, and he/she drank wine with the monks and regaled them with seductive oration.
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Entry point 21 of 36
StoneAnd a miracle came to pass. The God-Emperor sent His champion, His confidant, His right hand — the Rogue Trader of the blessed House von Valancius, may the light of His grace remain upon it forever.
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Entry point 22 of 36
StoneThen quoth he, "If it be thy wish to confer land upon these wretches, confer it, for Foulstone has arid land in abundance. But make it not our duty to care for them, for that is not our path. Provide for them and provide for us, and we shall acknowledge thee as our planetary sovereign."
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Entry point 23 of 36
StoneAnd Prelate Hectarchius sent a vox-transmission to the Rogue Trader, beseeching, "Destroy us not, but extend a hand of protection over us, for these wicked people will return to exact their vengeance."
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Entry point 24 of 36
StoneSinging hymns of glory, they unsealed the airlocks and opened the abode's gates, for a great endeavour in the glorious name of the Rogue Trader awaited them. Foulstone was to be led to prosperity and faith, to triumph.
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Entry point 25 of 36
StoneAnd a new, yet righteous, way of life came to Foulstone, and the people rejoiced, and all was good.
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Entry point 26 of 36
StoneAs a farewell token of gratitude — a fairly hefty token indeed — Prelate Hectarchius gifted the Rogue Trader his own Cognatine Hammer, much though he was downcast by his failure to find a protector for the monastery, and by the premonition of the bloodshed to come.
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Entry point 27 of 36
StoneThe interlopers brought with them worldly futility and strife — and mayhap also the seeds of alluring blasphemies, if fiendly heathens lurked in their midst.
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Entry point 28 of 36
StoneSector: Koronus Expanse Region: Ascesar System Location: Monastery of Saint Cognatius, Foulstone Material: Chronicle compiled by the humble archivist Brother Petricos
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Entry point 29 of 36
StoneWith his/her words, he/she wove before the monks a vision of proud palaces in which they sat as kings and ruled over their flock with power absolute. Many were pleased with this vision. The brethren forgot humility, and took to sin, arraying themselves in gold, and adorning their hair with gems, and in their hearts trusting not in Saint Cognatius, but in the Rogue Trader. Those who did not know treason against the holy vows were dispraised and cast out, and we fled to the mountains, and suffered from cold and want of fodder. May the God-Emperor have mercy on us for our timidity and our sin.
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Entry point 30 of 36
StoneThe most exalted Rogue Trader...
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Entry point 31 of 36
StoneQuoth Prelate Hectarchius, "Ours is a pure and secluded abode; by worldly futility we are untouched and so we wish to remain. These unknowing souls seek to capture our abode. Avert this calamity of ours, for they are a people malicious, and multitudinous, and misfated."
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Entry point 32 of 36
StoneAnd Saint Cognatius, a man of great endeavours, a warrior and a wise artificer, never cowered behind the walls of a librarium, but stepped bravely into the darkness, carrying light in the palm of his hand; and he commanded others to do the same. And not only Foulstone but many other worlds of the Koronus Expanse bear its imprint.
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Entry point 33 of 36
StoneThus began the chronicle of Foulstone's woes and misdeeds that were to bring that world to ruin and oblivion.
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Entry point 34 of 36
StoneThus began the chronicle of Foulstone's woes and misdeeds that were to bring that world to ruin and oblivion.
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Entry point 35 of 36
StoneAfter a prayer, the architects set to work. In accordance with the saints' teachings and the parameters set forth in the Standard Template Construct, they erected spacious living quarters, and sturdy fort walls for the planetary militia, and a spacious auditorum wherein to trade and store goods, and a proud censorum within whose walls clerks and servo-bondsmen would maintain order and keep statistical records.
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Entry point 36 of 36
StoneCountless tortured souls, steeped in fear, arrived on Foulstone in a star-barque. A great apostasy had befallen their home and turned them into abject wanderers seeking help and refuge.