BrassWhisper — Rogue Trader Dialogue Archive

Entry point 1

PasqalThe face of the Tech-Priest standing opposite is hidden behind a brass mask. Rather than being one piece, it is assembled from the fragments of many augmetics. You have met this man before. He is called Brasswhisper, a member of Lord Inquisitor Calcazar's retinue.

Pasqal"There you are, tech-brother." Brasswhisper's voice is raspy and punctuated. His gaze is turned toward Pasqal.

Pasqal"The salutatory procedure will be performed, and the identification codes verified after the priority request has been executed — tell me where the blessed Amarnat is!" Pasqal's voice clangs like steel.

PasqalA cracked chuckle comes from behind the mask. "You still don't understand..."

YOU"You are from Calcazar's retinue. Does he have anything to do with this?"

Pasqal"Marginally. He used to play a major part in this story. Not anymore. This meeting is held upon my initiative." Brasswhisper surveys the Inquisition soldiers and warriors of the Omnissiah standing motionless. "That said, I am still under the protection of the Lord Inquisitor and the Cognisance Fleet. Keep that in mind."

YOU"You are from Calcazar's retinue. Does he have anything to do with this?"

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YOU"Locals spoke of a ghost without a face. Did they mean you?"

Pasqal"Response: affirmative. In order to move the Hermetico out of the Procession of the Damned, we had to disturb the pitiful locals."

YOU"You are from Calcazar's retinue. Does he have anything to do with this?"

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YOU"Locals spoke of a ghost without a face. Did they mean you?"

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YOU"What is going on here?"

Pasqal"We intend to discontinue the Cycle. Is that not obvious?" There is a note of sarcasm in Brasswhisper's croaking voice.

Pasqal"Speak or I will rip your memories out along with the Ferrum Sanctum implanted in your brain." Pasqal enunciates each word as he activates his drilling mechadendrite. "What do you know of Amarnat?"

PasqalThe hollow, pained laughter from behind the brass mask is amplified by its echo. "I know everything."

YOU"You are from Calcazar's retinue. Does he have anything to do with this?"

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YOU"Locals spoke of a ghost without a face. Did they mean you?"

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YOU"What is going on here?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"We are looking for Archmagos Amarnat. And we want answers."

Pasqal"Looking? How absurd. You lack the very concept of what you are looking for, lay/woman. You expect to find a man, and Amarnat never was one... he was never one person."

Pasqal"The Amarnat Collective was created by a group of Tech-Priests who renounced individuality and merged into a hivemind. A mind that reasoned algorithmically but was guided by the principles and convictions of a righteous spirit. A superego that brought them one step closer to the Omnissiah."

Pasqal"You are looking for Archmagos Amarnat, you say?" Something clicks inside Brasswhisper's mask, and his voice becomes louder and harsher as if coated in liquid metal. "He has been by your side all this time."

Pasqal"This statement is false. The hypothesis is without mer—"

PasqalBrasswhisper interrupts him with a forceful shout: "As the Cycle coils in multitudinous loops, it intersects with itself..."

Pasqal"...and locks us in a cage of data-vows!" Pasqal shudders as if struck by the Motive Force itself. Mechadendrites rise like steel wings behind his shoulders. The voice from his vox-speaker takes on an otherworldly profundity and power: "And therefore the Cycle must be discontinued."

YOU"Pasqal? What is going on?"

PasqalPasqal turns his gaze to you, his pupils burning bright with celestial fire. A single word escapes from his vox: "Restoration."

Pasqal"Cognitive reconstruction mechanism activated. The memory is awakening inside you." Brasswhisper is shaken by a violent coughing fit, then he shouts ferociously, "Remember!"

Pasqal"The Amarnat Collective was designed to be a philosopher and a researcher. The concepts he produced were so powerful that they almost destroyed the Cognisance Fleet. But then he faced an unsolvable dilemma. And that was when Amarnat came apart."

Pasqal"The six constituent servants of the Omnissiah hid their own memories from themselves behind false personas and were sent off to various parts of the Koronus Expanse. They went into hiding. Each had to live in solitude for many decades, accumulating individual observations before eventually bringing that experience back to a reunited Amarnat, who would then tackle the dilemma once more. That would be the Restoration."

PasqalSorrow echoes in Pasqal's inhuman voice: "The years have slipped through my fingers like sand. It was such a long time ago." Your companion looks overwhelmed and pensive.

YOU"So the Tech-Priests of the name Haneumann are all parts of Amarnat?"

Pasqal"Yes. Six mental keynotes. Dementz was Paranoia. After the separation, he sensed that his memory was a web of lies, and that feeling drove him to the depths of madness. Tarzus was Faith, fiery and unyielding. Axiomantha was Logic, unclouded by emotion or value judgements."

Pasqal"Abel was her good twin, Imagination. He did not know his past, just like the others, but he felt more than they did. He was always different. That was why he was the first to get close to the Restoration... one of the first."

Pasqal"Pasqal was Judgement. The moderator of the cognitive process. The one who makes the decision." Pasqal's voice rises to the vault of the observatorium and rumbles beneath it like thunder.

Pasqal"And Nihel." The brass mask starts to unlock with a hissing sound. The augmetics bend back, revealing a face disfigured by burns. A woman's face with a pair of darkly radiant, vibrant eyes. "Scepticism. The one who doubts."

YOU"So the Tech-Priests of the name Haneumann are all parts of Amarnat?"

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YOU"Did Amarnat believe he could form again? The plan sounds... risky."

Pasqal"The Restoration was statistically calculated on a level beyond your comprehension, lay/woman. Billions of variables were taken into account. Countless scenarios went into the development of optimal strategies. Two Amarnat units meeting each other was an inevitable certainty. The matching identifiers were to be a spark that would start a chain reaction. And that was precisely what happened."

PasqalA ringing brittleness enters Pasqal's voice: "We were motivated by the perfect stimuli. Curiosity, anxiety... shame. Each part of us was hostage to the legend of a betrayal it had committed, for suffering drove us to search and strive."

YOU"So the Tech-Priests of the name Haneumann are all parts of Amarnat?"

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YOU"Did Amarnat believe he could form again? The plan sounds... risky."

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YOU"What was the dilemma Amarnat faced?"

Pasqal"Its name was Eschatos. The secret to the rite of putting a machine spirit to death. A technology embodying the Discontinuing of the Cycle. Was it meant to exist? Or was it the acme of profanity against the Omnissiah and His creation?"

PasqalPasqal continues Brasswhisper's speech in a lofty tone: "Eschatos was the perfect weapon against creations of the Omnissiah that had been corrupted by enemies... but also against His faithful servants. Its spread could bring victory to the Imperium, or it could destroy it. Eschatos could spell the end of the Adeptus Mechanicus, for it was the perfect answer to the power wielded by the Cult of the Machine God. Was it a blessing or a curse?"

Pasqal"There was no answer. Protraction was unacceptable. And so a way was found... to shelve the issue." Brasswhisper gives a raspy sigh. "And I found the answer. Eschatos should not exist. We will correct our mistake."

YOU"So the Tech-Priests of the name Haneumann are all parts of Amarnat?"

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YOU"Did Amarnat believe he could form again? The plan sounds... risky."

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YOU"What was the dilemma Amarnat faced?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What is Eschatos?"

Pasqal"The power of machine negation. A Noospheric signal that interrupts any and all life created by the Omnissiah." A green flash runs along the crack in Pasqal's respirator. "The power that I used to tap into... unconsciously."

Pasqal"Shared knowledge lay dormant inside the mind of every Amarnat unit. You tried to decrypt the other Haneumanns' neurocogitators, did you not? But to no avail. It was you who created the cipher that locked Amarnat's memory."

YOU"So the Tech-Priests of the name Haneumann are all parts of Amarnat?"

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YOU"Did Amarnat believe he could form again? The plan sounds... risky."

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YOU"What was the dilemma Amarnat faced?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What is Eschatos?"

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YOU"You are the Maimed Hunter. You tried to kill the other Haneumanns."

Pasqal"This statement is true. I was admitted into the Lord Inquisitor's retinue and authorised to study a dangerous artefact taken from Amarnat. It tried to exert some kind of influence on me, but my data-vows protected me..." Nihel Haneumann touches her scarred face. "A short circuit awakened some of my memories. I conducted an analysis, solved the Eschatos dilemma, and began to act."

Pasqal"My agents all but terminated Tarzus, but he hid under an armour of martyrdom and insanity. An attempt to intercept Pasqal on Altar-Templum-Calixis-Ext-17 failed because Abel had summoned him. The assassins caught up to him at the Rykad Minoris starport, but he was able to escape again. Another group went after Abel, only to perish at an Electro-Priest monastery."

Pasqal"You dispatched Dementz, who had lapsed into heresy. Axiomantha... simply disappeared until she suddenly turned up dead on Eufrates II. I have no idea how she managed to hide from me..."

YOU"Idiot. Calcazar was harbouring Axiomantha the whole time. She was working for him."

Pasqal"I am registering a lie! The Lord Inquisitor shared my conviction that Amarnat's legacy had to be destroyed. He was summoned to the Koronus Expanse by loyal members of the Cognisance Fleet in order to depose Amarnat. It was his troops that attacked the Hermetico in an attempt to obliterate our schismatic creation!"

Pasqal"So that was how you got on board the ship and into the observatorium, Nihel. Our traitorous tech-comrades gave Calcazar the access codes to the bridge. And he gave them to you." Acute conviction vibrates in Pasqal's voice as he makes these quiet statements of fact. He is not asking questions; he is passing Judgement.

Pasqal"You were deceived, sister. Calcazar appropriated our work. He continued our research, no longer bound by the Omnissiah's canon. And you enabled him by destroying those who could return and reclaim his bloodied prize."

Pasqal"Lies!" Something you have not heard before creeps into Nihel's voice: a note of... fear.

YOU"Idiot. Calcazar was harbouring Axiomantha the whole time. She was working for him."

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YOU"You betrayed your brothers and sisters. Such an act is unforgivable."

PasqalWith a mixture of pain and pride, Brasswhisper replies, "We all chose the path of martyrdom. I merely helped them reach the supreme goal at the end of that path."

PasqalNihel's voice is imperiously metallic: "Tech-brother, I offer you the chance to yield peacefully to a fate that will please the Omnissiah. Do not resist your termination, and you will pass into oblivion as my friend and fellow believer."

PasqalPasqal's reply sweeps Nihel's words away like a gust of wind. His optical visor turns a blinding blue. "No, tech-sister. Refraining from resistance was never our way. I am an Explorator, a reconnoitrer of Knowledge. I have brought fire to a hundred worlds. I have gleaned a thousand secrets in the darkness. I am an agent of unbridled will! I will not yield to oblivion, for oblivion itself fears me."

YOU[Smile at Nihel] "This is my companion, Pasqal Haneumann. And you made a mistake in meddling with him."

Pasqal"You wanted me to awaken, tech-sister. Here I am. Holding you to account."

PasqalNihel's disfigured lips twist, and seeds of dismay sprout in her voice: "I lured you here for a reason, Pasqal. I wanted you to see what our followers had become. This is what deviation from dogma ends in! Breach of canon begets ignorance. Ignorance begets blasphemy!"

Pasqal"All we did was breed corruption! Schism! Remember when they came to depose us? We resisted them and destroyed this ship! A sacred relic! An Ark Mechanicus older than our priesthood itself! Here in this hall, we released Eschatos and allowed an unconscionable heresy to happen! Do you remember? Do you remember how you got your cleft jaw?"

PasqalPasqal looks thoughtful as he touches the crack running across his armoured respirator. A green spark runs through the deep gash left by an enemy's weapon in the metal.

Pasqal"And it sufficed for you to merely show up in the Expanse again for the schism to rear its head once more. The Cognisance Fleet is already being torn apart by a fratricidal war! Is this what we wanted? Let us finish this... Let us discontinue the Cycle!" Now the words of the one who once called herself Brasswhisper sound more like a plea.

PasqalThe voice that answers her is no human voice. It could belong to a giant voidship or forge world, if they could speak. "You violated procedure, Scepticism. You usurped the function of another. You challenge only; you do not make decisions. I do."

YOU"You are right, Pasqal. You are the decision maker."

PasqalPasqal extends a mechadendrite toward Nihel and pronounces, "Tech-sister, my Judgement of you and your actions is one of condemnation. Tampering with procedure is unacceptable. Sabotaging the experiment is apostasy. For your betrayal, your vital functions will be terminated in the name of the Messiah of Discontinuing." A greenish pulse of energy is born inside Pasqal's augmetics and darts toward Nihel like a furious lightning bolt.

PasqalThe green energy entangles Nihel like a net, burning her True Flesh, draining the life force from her augmetics and mechanical components. But she focuses her will and strikes back at Pasqal with a pulse of her own. The rattling voice, no longer human, rages and roars like a forest fire: "I refuse to recognise you as the Messiah! I do not believe in you!"

Pasqal"That is your problem. You have always been too sceptical."

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YOU"You must not fight! We are surrounded by enemies. Enough blood has been shed."

PasqalNihel rasps a sigh and gives Pasqal a look of despair. "The decision is his to make."

Pasqal"And I have made it."

YOU"Let us destroy her, Pasqal!"

Pasqal"Only I can decide who deserves to be destroyed, [Name]. And I have made my decision."

YOU"If anyone cares to hear a Rogue Trader's opinion on the matter, I—"

PasqalPasqal interrupts you with an extremely commanding gesture of his mechadendrite. "There is no need for that. This debate, this dilemma, is ours alone."

YOU"Think about what she said, Pasqal. Your secret is dangerous."

Pasqal"All knowledge is dangerous. The peril in knowledge is the price of it. It is a sacred fee for a rite, not a prohibition."

YOU[Say nothing]

Pasqal"You wanted me to awaken, tech-sister. Here I am. Holding you to account."continues where this line first appears above

YOU"Yours was a grim duty. But you were unflinching in fulfilling it."

PasqalWith a mixture of pain and pride, Brasswhisper replies, "We all chose the path of martyrdom. I merely helped them reach the supreme goal at the end of that path."continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What happens now?"

Pasqal"The decision is his to make." Nihel points to Pasqal. "As always."

YOU"You betrayed your brothers and sisters. Such an act is unforgivable."continues where this line first appears above

YOU"Yours was a grim duty. But you were unflinching in fulfilling it."continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What happens now?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You are the Maimed Hunter. You tried to kill the other Haneumanns."

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YOU"What is Eschatos?"

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YOU"You are the Maimed Hunter. You tried to kill the other Haneumanns."

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YOU"What was the dilemma Amarnat faced?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What is Eschatos?"

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YOU"You are the Maimed Hunter. You tried to kill the other Haneumanns."

continues where this line first appears above

YOU"Did Amarnat believe he could form again? The plan sounds... risky."

continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What was the dilemma Amarnat faced?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What is Eschatos?"

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YOU"You are the Maimed Hunter. You tried to kill the other Haneumanns."

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YOU"Are you saying Pasqal is part of that hivemind?"

Pasqal"He was its original creator."

YOU"We are looking for Archmagos Amarnat. And we want answers."continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What is going on here?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"We are looking for Archmagos Amarnat. And we want answers."continues where this line first appears above

YOU"Locals spoke of a ghost without a face. Did they mean you?"

continues where this line first appears above

YOU"What is going on here?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"We are looking for Archmagos Amarnat. And we want answers."continues where this line first appears above