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lilithspice · 7 years ago

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Inquisitors Notes: File 9475839 Name: Eveline 'Scarlette' Novianna

(Safe for work, Implied relationship, implied sexual relationship, Warhammer 40k, angst)

I came under the possession of young Scarlette on the planet on Scintala, a bustling hive world. Born to a noble family that dealt in exports and trading cargo, the Novianna family were well known by both the Inquisition and the Rogue Traders. From the details I have been able to pull Scarlette was the youngest of four children born into the family, and as fate would have it quite the rebellious child, often finding herself scolded by her middle bother, Naveen, for the trouble she caused. She expressed to me when we first met that she did not care much for her noble heritage for anymore more than the weight it may carry in the future. Regardless due to the nature of her meddling in her fathers business she found upon her sixteenth birthday she was faced with a suitor for her to marry. As one who has dealt with the headstrong young woman I can attest to her free will, and therefore her obvious disagreement to the situation she was faced with. This, as far as I can tell, was the breaking point for her father who instead came up with a different plan to get rid of his youngest daughter.

When a Rogue Trader vessel came into port on the planet a meeting was held between her father and the Captain, and young Scarlette was told she would be shipped off to work on the vessel as a way to bring honor to her family name (and possibly get rid of the troublesome child). From here when I prompted her to tell me more about her family life she seemed to hesitate, inquiring whether it was indeed necessary and expressing that she did not have many fond memories of her time on Scintala. I noted at this time she had a shard of glass that she turned over in her fingers and asked why she carried the odd item around. She then proceeded to tell me that the night she was told she would be leaving her home world she flew into a rage and smashed one of the stained-glass windows in her room, prompting Naveen to enter and attempt to calm her. As follows is a transcript of the conversation:

S: I was pretty frakkin angry at them all, honestly. I: Why? S: As much as I hated being highborn and having no real worth to my family, it was still my home at the time and I didn’t want to go. I: You said that you broke a window, if I recall? S: Yeah, in hindsight mother was probably pretty angry that I did that. My brother came in when he heard the noise and was worried I had hurt myself. I: You expressed a great companionship with your brother, is that correct? S: Yes, well...not really. It was that I just got along better with Naveen than the other two. Octavius was an ass-kisser, always the first one to run to father when he found out I had done something wrong, and Magnus was the eldest, so in hindsight he thought everyone was out to steal his inheritance. I: So you were closer to Naveen than the others, that’s fair. S: He was more lenient with me but he was so happy for me when he heard I was leaving. After he fixed my hand up he gave me a shard of the glass window to take with me. I: Why would he have done that? S: He told me it was so I could remember where I came from. So I never forgot to come back eventually...I’ve never seen any of my brothers cry before but Nav' cried on the day I left for the Rogue Trader ship. I: Did you ever return to visit? S: No.

Scarlett’s tone shifted greatly when our topic turned to that of the Rouge Trader vessel, she often laughed and told stories about her time on the ship and it would seem that she had much fonder memories than on her home world. She told me that while the Rogue Trader Captain was a little eclectic in his mannerisms, she warmed to him quickly. She expressed then that she didn’t actually serve on the main ship, but rather one of its sisters. There she told me the Captain was a friendly, fatherly type figure to his crew. Her expression often grew warm when talking of him, if a little forlorn. Perhaps a bitter-sweet nostalgia? Scarlette then proceeded to tell me that once she was on the ship the captain asked for her name and when she responded with her birth name, Evaline, was told that was not to be her name any more and was prompted to give a new one. Confused, she told me she had pulled at a strand of her hair, confused, and gazed at the fiery red lock for a moment before responding with the name Scarlette. It would make sense now to me why she prefers to use that name as opposed to her birth name. She has expressed on numerous occasions that she feels her true family was that of the crew of the Rogue Trader fleet, as in her eyes they treated her more as kin than her true family ever did. When prompted to tell me more about her time before being hired for the Inquisition she grew animated, often grinning wildly and gesturing about to make her point. She informed me that she put under a sort of general test and that the information that it had produced apparently dedicated that she would be a Seeker. For those reading this record who are unaware of what a seeker is they are required to uphold the law and rules of the ship and settle any disputes that may have arisen between members. They are also in charge of investigating any suspicious circumstances that may arise on said vessel if the situation were to arise. It is here again that I defer to the transcript to give a better understanding of Scarlette:

I: I take it you enjoyed your new position? S: Very much so! Lupus was an amazing mentor, I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher! I: I take it you are referring to Lieutenant Lupus Vilmar, the ships head seeker? S: Mhmm! He was the one who first showed me around the ship and introduced me to everyone. I'll admit at first I was a little scared of him, ya know, with the scars and tattoos and all that.

(Lieutenant Vilmar was indeed a heavily scarred and tattooed veteran seeker)

I: Did you enjoy your job? S: Not at first, I didn’t like having to boss people around and Lupus would tell me off when I did something wrong but it wasn’t like at home where I felt bad. I actually wanted to get better when he told me what I did wrong and how to fix it. I really hope he is doing well... I: Of course. Is there anyone else remarkable that sticks out in your mind from the ship?

(It was here that Scarlette seemed to become quite sullen and thoughtful, flicking the box of lho sticks around in her hand)

S: I had a best friend while I was on the ship. A real smart ass of a guy, his name was Gaius, he was a guard. I: An unusual choice for a friend. S: Maybe, but he was always kind to me. Kicked my ass when we sparred enough to make me not want to any more and he never really held my heritage against me like some of the others did. For lack of another term Gaius was your typical meat-head. You could talk to him all day about guns and work out regimes but the minute I tried to explain how and why I ended up on the ship he kind of just looked dazed and confused and told me to use smaller words. He was always good to me though, a really good friend. I: You seem dis-hearted by this? S: Not by Gaius' manner, no. I'd grown quite accustomed to spending my free time with the lug of a man to...appreciate what he could do, smart mouth and teasing aside. He always did his job above and beyond. I'm just...remembering how we parted and I don’t want to.

(It would seem Scarlette was possibly holding back on some of the more private notions of her relationship, not wishing to disclose them for whatever reason.)

S: I found out there was a parasitic brain worm infesting the ship. I took it upon myself to investigate and see if it could be stopped and who was possibly infected. I: I bold intuitive move. Didn't you tell your commanding officer? S: I didn’t know if he had been infected, and I had no idea if this thing had some kind of hive mind – that could have possibly blown my investigation away immediately. Ironic as it was but I discovered that one of the key signs of being infected was a drastic change in attitude and sadly that was what Gaius was displaying. I: Perhaps he was having a bad day. S: Perhaps, Inquisitor, but I couldn’t take that risk. I: Then what did you do to resolve the problem? S:...I shot him while he slept, sir. I: In his bunk? With everyone else liable to walk in? S: Uh...no sir. In my room, my bed. I had a private room as an officer... I: … S: Please don’t ask, Inquisitor.

(I conceded the point, my suspicions proving true at this juncture and didn’t feel the need to press any further on the matter.)

I: Then please, do continue, Scarlette. S: I went to to captain after that to report my findings and report on Gaius' death, only to find him in a similar state...so I shot him too. I: You shot the captain of your own ship? S: Dead.

(It was at this point she grew noticeably upset and toyed with both her hat that he had placed in her lap and the lho box she held.)

I: Your fiddling. S: I'm sorry Inquisitor. These are the only things I have left to remember them by. I: A hat and a lho box? S: Mhmm... I confiscated Gaius' lho box before the rest of his possessions were incinerated and was given the captains hat as an old superstition. I: Explain. S: We had stopped the fleet in order to further the investigation and we found out that once the queen worm was killed, the others simply died off with no repercussions. When the Rogue Trader captain heard about how I had killed the captain of my ship he told me it was an old Rogue Trader superstition that the person who had killed the captain had to take their hat. It seemed rude of me to refuse at that point, and he was such a good man... I: But if the brain worms queen was killed when you shot the captain down dead then there was no need to kill your guard friend. S: That’s true, but that fact was not discovered until later, I had to take the precaution since I had no idea how the parasite spread or why. I regret the fact that I had to kill him but I know it was necessary for the well-being of all those on the ship. I had to make my priorities clear. I: I applaud your tenacity and dedication to your job, Scarlette, you did very well. S: I don't want to be thanked for killing my own men, sir.

It was at this point the young redhead seemed to exude some sort of authority, obviously I was not effected but I could easily see how others could be. An understanding silence fell between me and the acolyte I was interviewing, as we both collected our thoughts. Of course I already knew about the brain worms; the Rogue Trader captain used that as one of the prime examples of why she would make such a good acolyte. I must admit he was right in this case, she seemed exactly like what I could have asked for in a subordinate.

[End of transcript]

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