XX - Cattle

 [This chronicle is best read from the beginning.] 

As Rogue Trader Schrödinger lead the Syndicate's armada out of Imperial space, she inevitably entered regions where its enemies are more bold: sectors where abhumans, heretics and other outcasts find relief from persecution, and pirates ply their trade with relative impunity. It was in one such region that Schrödinger's Tempestus Scions, the 'Incomers' happened upon a frenzied herd of Fellgor Ravagers. Taken by surprise, the Incomers were forced to fall back before the bestial onslaught. In order to save face before his traditionalist rivals the Proper Jobbers, Tempestor Lawny restricted intelligence of his troops' embarrassment at the hands of the abhumans. 

The Holy Cows

Nonetheless, news of the skirmish still somehow made its way to inquisitive ears. Not to those of rival guardsmen, but far more seriously, to the degenerate ears of the Bane of Barfunweltz. Precisely how this security breach occurred is not known for sure, but one plausible explanation could be pillow talk between an Incomer trooper and a member of the Toxophilites.

No matter how the news reached the worshippers of the Lord of Excess, it was the cause of much excitement and activity within the pleasure cult. Worshippers inhaling the vapours had frequently received visions of the 'Holy Cow', and some of the more passionate devotees, in the throws of their most debauched excesses, had even been granted brief transformation into its likeness - before invariably succumbing to their ecstasies, both gruesomely and fatally. 

Inevitably, an entire warband of bovine abhumans in service to the Ruinous Powers was regarded as a gift from Slaanesh himself. And so the pleasure cult members temporarily emerged from their narcotic stupors to plan their most daring and outrageous operation: to smuggle the 'Holy Cows' into the heart of Schrödinger's fleet...

 Felgor Ravagers are without doubt creatures of Chaos, but they typically exhibit no herd allegiance to any particular Principality. Consequently, when the Bane of Barfunweltz extended their invitation, these felgors felt no obligation to cooperate with the servants of the Prince of Pleasure, and certainly did not come willingly. Violence ensued and a number of cultists were fatally gored, yet the cultists' operation was a success and the Holy Cows were herded onto the Anotoecus, Schrödinger's semi-derelict flagship. Precisely how a small band of hedonites succeeded in secretly smuggling onboard a band of frenzied beastman is a mystery - perhaps they received some external help?

Nonetheless, despite casualties, the operation was successfully executed right under the masked nose of Justinius Mote and his Inquisitorial Agents. In fact, were it not for the Watch, no evidence whatsoever of the event would ever have been uncovered: While on regular patrol, Arbites Officer Fleming found a fatally injured cultist trapped in an airlock. His injuries were so severe that he expired after the briefest of interrogations. And so the cultists' operation remained undetected and the single scrap of intelligence gleaned about the whole endeavour was one meaningless phrase: "the Prophets of Catharsis".

Holy Cows Felgor Ravagers Kill Team

XXI - Catharsis