Brother Jonus – Seawolf's Den

Ur Obun Priest of the Church

Healer, Forensics Medicine Specialist

Order of Aeon (Chris Fisher)

A wandering soul following wherever the Pancreator takes him, he feels he is destined for great things in His hands. Due to a bad experience in an experimental teleportation device, his hair is pure white.

Brother Jonas and the Trinitas Project

Brother Jonas has been out of touch with his “brotherhood” since he left them on Pentateuch. They were advised to spread out so that the Magnus and his Highbreed cult could not find them in a large group again.

Since they parted ways, a few of the more industrious and curious “brothers” formed a secret investigation into the origins of the clones and the Trinitas project – the project that apparently created 27 clones of the same Ur-Obun. Using their own resources and contacts, a handful of Jonas’ brothers set out to solve the mystery of Project Trinitas.

Communication with these few has been sporadic. They established an encrypted “mailing list” for those that were interested in staying in touch with their progress. Of course, Jonas was included in the list. When in range of the list, signals are sent out through gate messengers and reach the subscribers a few weeks to a month later, sometimes longer.

Working together but separately in their own directions, each of the investigators would make progress and then meet resistance. As they felt they were getting closer, something or someone would stonewall them.

Information they have collectively been able to find out is:

There were many secret projects like Trinitas during the Emperor Wars. Many factions sought to create the perfect soldier, spy or assassin.
It does appear that Trinitas is an Emperor War era project.
There may be multiple factions involved and may include a rogue cult among the Ur-Obun.
There is some indications that either some very heretical technology or Vau tech was used
They all have concluded that the project was performed on a unknown world, perhaps at the end of a night road only certain charioteers know about.
A particular house may not have been involved but definitely would have the knowledge enough to perform at least part of the cloning process – House Dextrite (from Leminkainen).

One of the hardest things to find out is where everyone first “entered” the known worlds. Obviously, all clones have a memory of a childhood and being raised by someone. In Jonas’s case, he remembers being raised in an Almathean abbey. But upon finding out that they perhaps originated outside the known worlds and collectively in one place, someone must have transported the children all across the known worlds, dispersing them in different places as they went along. Doing that with 27 clones separately so they would never come across each other until adulthood took work and could not have been done by one person.

In this part of the investigation, they made some progress. A few names came up and in Jonas’s case, one name sounded familiar. The name was Ezekiel Kranius. Back in the furthest reaches of Jonas’s memory, he remembers the name of a man – a human – who cared for him for a time. He vaguely remembers the face but remembers he left Jonas with the Almatheans on Holy Terra.

The investigators traced the name to a man living on Revenna in the Hawkwood Fief. He apparently has had several aliases and has moved quite often from world to world. He now lives deep within the wilderness of Revenna.

Brother Jonus’s Pilgrimage Across Leminkainen

Jonus’s companions were a wanted Gannok named Grikkel and a Changed whore named Ja’ul. Their pilgrimage started in Sardan, the pleasure resort in northwestern Grikkor. This was a great place for Jonus to start his pilgrimage, as this was a den of pleasure and hedonism like none other on the world. He went to the small towns surrounding the resort, speaking to the people there – barbarians and serfs a like.

His message was similar to those that had come before from the Church, talk of demons and sin and the only path being through the Pancreator’s Word – the Omega Gospels. But something else tainted his message that spoke to many of the lower class – a talk of a specific evil coming and a coming war. Barbarian and serf alike united against a new enemy he spoke of in metaphor. He only referenced it directly occasionally and only in terms of what the followers call him – The Master or The Magnus.

In a small town in western Grikkor called Corbinshire, deep within the fjords and rough terrain, he and his followers encountered the first sign of the Master. The town seemed different somehow and upon asking around, he realized that they did not have a resident Almathean or a medical clinic for the Apothecaries. The whole town seemed in great health and they apparently sent away the Almathean priest months ago.

Upon some investigation, they said that a healer visited them some time ago, who mystically cured all that ailed them. His name was Denon Grailhand. When asked who sent him or where his power came from, all he said was Him. He wore a green crystal pendant around his neck and used it in his healing. He had left long ago with no indication of where he was headed next.

Returning to Sardan, inquiries specifically about the town revealed that there was a high chance that there is Changed blood in many of the commoners throughout the planet, as it was common place centuries ago for workers to be Changed. Also, many of the Hawkwood Changed soldiers left over from the Emperor Wars settled on Leminkainen. So chances were that the people of Corbinshire had Changed blood in their lines, but did not show any outward Changed features.

Jonus’s only concern was about non-Changed. There was no way to tell without a full scale investigation into the town, which would have to go through channels and Hawkwood approvals on many levels, but if the town also had non-Changed effected by the crystal, it meant that the Master had moved up his strategy to go beyond Changed.

Investigation into the name Denon Grailhand turned up nothing.

Returning to his pilgrimage, the train then took Jonus to southwest Grikkor toward the port town of Falconburg. Until Falconburg, there seemed to be nothing but arid wilderness and ruins of old Republic-era settlements. Passing one town, off in the distance, he could see figures moving, but the entire town was fenced in. Jonus inquired about it and got a surprising answer

“Another husk infestation awaiting sterilization. These remote areas have had problems with husk plagues. The train route had to be averted away from the town because of the infestation,” said one train security guard.

Jonus chose to pause and say a prayer for the corrupted souls in that town. When he opened his eyes, he saw something that made his heart sink – a break in the fence.

That is when the train rapidly slowed to a near stop, like it hit something but whatever it hit, it wasn’t entirely solid. Peering out a window, he saw the train had plowed into a crowd of husks blocking the rails, and was struggling to push its way through the mass of living dead bodies.

Security guards opened fire on the crowd, but the progress was slow. With the train slowed, the Husks were able to climb up and attack passengers and crew. Gunfire was everywhere. Jonus’s followers found a safe place for him to hide, while the fought off any threats. Jonus chose to stay and fight on their side.

Husks were pouring into car after car. He could hear other theurgic users casting what they could to fend off the creatures. The train continued to struggle through the mass of rotting flesh. Jonus and his followers helped protect a group of families in one car, mowing down zombie after zombie as they crawled in.

The train finally broke through the wall of undead flesh and surged forward, causing many of the Husks to fall off. It took security a few hours to clean out each car, but it was done. There were several casualties as well as wounded. Jonus was kept busy with the wounded, cleansing them of the plague passed on by the Husks.

Falconburg was once a thriving automated port owned by the corporation, Agricorp, but it was abandoned during the Fall. Here only nomads and freeman reside, running the few manageable docks that remain. Loading up on a ferry, Jonus encountered trouble with some of his belongings, particularly his weapons like his assault rifle, which they asked him to store in one of the secure cargo areas for the voyage.

The ferry across the Jyvask Sea to the continent of Jyvaskyla was enlightening and peaceful. Jonus and his follows passed on their message to the crew and passengers, most of which welcomed the new message warmly. However, there were one or two who did not take too kindly to the anti-Master undertones.

One evening while still at sea, these individuals visited Jonus in his room. Their assassination attempt would have been successful if it had not been for the Gannok, Grikkel. He was a skilled killer apparently and perhaps not entirely honest about his sins. But whatever the case, Grikkel was able to interfere with the assassination attempt, but at a cost. Both the assassin and the Gannok lay dying on the floor. Jonus moved to save the Gannok but he held him back.

“No, my sins are greater than I was able to confess to you. This is my penance. Get the truth out of the assassin before he passes. Let me go. I give my life for you gladly.”

And then he died.

Jonus used his theurgic ability to draw the truth from the Changed assassin. The assassin and his companion were fanatics, followers of the Word of the Magnus. They had heard Jonus’s message and felt compelled to avenge the smears against their Master. Neither the assassin nor yet-to-be-found companion had a crystal, but they did have contact with the one named Denon Grailhand. Denon said they had to earn the crystal.

Doing what he could to comfort the dying Changed, Jonus left to report the attack to the ship’s captain. Afterwards, he sought out this Changed companion. Ja’ul asked if he was going to kill this companion. Jonus said, “No, of course not. I am going to turn him.”

On the small ferry, it did not take long to find him. He was hidden below in the cargo area. Once he found out that his friend had died in his attempt, he hid. But no one could hide from Jonus – no one with the Master’s taint.

His name was Kor’al and he was not quite as fanatical as his friend. He even tried to stop him. He begged for forgiveness at the feat of Jonus. In an inspiring speech worthy of one of the great Cathedrals, Jonus turned this man to his way and gained a new companion.

Reaching the other side of the Jyvask Sea, in the port town of Kravat, they disembarked and journeyed on caravan to the nearest large city where there was a train station – Gorask City in western Jyvaskyla.

The caravan included several large auto-wagons of cargo moving from the port town to the city, as well as some Hawkwood military forces being reassigned to a new province. The trip was relatively uneventful. Supported now by a converted from the Master, Jonus spread his message to every small town and village they stopped at to trade and resupply. He was making a name for himself rather quickly.

Gorask was a small city of less than 10,000 people, but it at least had a train station. The several hundred miles on the back of dorgara beast (a cross between a large lizard and a camel) was wearing on Jonus and his party.

The train took them from Gorask to Belor, through the endless fields of red wheat. This was the agricultural heart of Leminkainen. Upon reaching Belor, the group heard the first rumors of the Blood Desert Cult. It seemed to Jonus that this cult was similar to the crystal cult, however they followed someone named the Oracle. This cult resided in the Blood Desert north of Hakkonen city, the capital of Jyvaskyla. They were allusive and have eluded capture many times.

From Belor, the train took them through the rugged mountains of Western Jyvaskylaand eventually to Jyvaskyla’s capitol Hakkonnen, home of Duchess Catherine Hawkwood, ruler of Jyvaskyla. Along the way, at each stop, Jonus and his companions spread his message of warning and hope for the future; of the coming war and the need to rally against this enemy; of the impending doom if the Master is to succeed.

The continent of Jyvaskyla was the start of a great crusade, some said, but were the people ready for yet another enemy, tired of the wars with barbarians and symbiots. Time would only tell.