The Catacombs are viewed by most on Regno Borealis as a myth—but to those who know of its existence, it has an ill reputation.

“Trust in the God-Emperor. But trust your blade, too.“—Inquisitor Atellus Thrax

* * *

Journal Entry
6 746 745.M41
Acolyte Konrad Gallas
Ordo Hereticus

It has been two years since the death of the cultist leader Maug Ra and the cultists’ success in seizing the first key to the crypt that imprisons the warp beast known as Kossogtha.

Since our battle at the village of Megiddo, I have been hunting down the surviving cultists. Twice I’ve managed to take a cultist alive and, after plying my skills as an Interrogator, I have pried at least a few secrets of the cult from the bloody mouths of my victims.

To no surprise, I’ve learned that Maug Ra’s lapdog, the pysker Thaetos, now leads the cult. I almost caught up with him in the town of Ulcaster, a disease-ridden cobble of huts on the edge of a foul-smelling swamp nearly 800 kilometers from Megiddo.

Alas, he’d departed the town a week earlier and, despite my threats and bribes, no one cold tell me where he had gone.  My acolytes spent days flying over the countryside, searching for the psyker’s trail. But it went cold.

Most barbarians on Regno Borealis would be shocked to see the metallic, high-tech corridors of the catacombs. And no one knows what ancient secrets lie within.

Finally,  a week ago, my ever-growing network of informants brought me news. Thaetos was sighted in the northern territories, searching for the Catacombs of Nagarlan, a mythical underground world that peasants whisper is cursed by evil.

Is it possible that the cultist leader Theatos already has beaten Inquisitorial Agent Gallus to the catacombs?

I know of this place. Although the people of Regno Borealis have long lived in a society of barbaric feudal states, it wasn’t always so. The planet’s original colonists lived in the Age of Technology, with all the wonders of that mysterious and near-magical epoch of advanced technology.

Today, only a handful of high-tech relics still exist on this wretched world, many preserved by wealthy lords who have no understanding of what they possess—except that they are “holy” objects. One such lord still possessed vellum tomes from this period, and after examining them, I suspect the catacombs are the site of one of the original colonial outposts. Only ruins remain on the surface, but there were multiple underground levels that may still be reachable.

I know where these catacombs are. I’m sure Thaetos will use his witchcraft to find it, and I intend to be there when he does. I cannot allow him to acquire the second key to freeing Kossogtha.

And the heretic must die.

As I write this, my acolytes are loading supplies aboard our Arvus Lighter. I hope to reach the catacombs by dawn.

+ + END ENTRY + +

TheGM: I had no idea that my last fight of the Kossogtha Campaign was two years ago. How time flies. It feels like just two or three months ago.

No matter. The scenario for the next clash between Gallus and Thaetos is written, and the scenario is on the table. I look forward to the fight.

When it’s finished, you can read it by clicking on this link. (Not ready yet.)

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventure in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.