Uzziah Nagure, Pariah Agent

[DapperAnarchist]

During the discussion about Pariahs in Gazkul's thread, I was inspired by the idea of a Pariah used as a psi-immune agent by an Inquisitor, and so wrote up this character. Obviously, there is no model yet, though I am tempted to rip apart an existing one to use as the base.


Acolyte-Representative Uzziah Nagure

Known to be an agent of the mysterious Grey Man, Uzziah Nagure represents his master in various situations where it is either dangerous or simply unsuitable for the Grey Man to appear in person. Nagure has stood in for his master at meetings of the Guild of Liars, negotiations between crime families, discussions of Trade Wars between rival syndicates, and even at the Keltani Conclave. Extensive training has left him with some level of immunity to torture, and his loyalty is guaranteed by the implanted vial of poison lodged in the lining of his left ventricle. However, it is not these that make Nagure useful to the Grey Man. Instead, it is his total immunity to psychic interrogation, manipulation, or control. Nagure is one of those rare and hated creatures, a Pariah. Though a man who will always be distrusted and even hated by those he meets may seem a less than ideal choice for a representative, his immunity to control makes him vitally useful in the Grey Man's work, and his master has never particularly minded people distrusting him.

WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
46   38   45   49   51   72   52   73   51

Nagure is right-handed

Equipment
Nimria Pattern Diplomatic Laspistol, Knife on a Spring Brace, Implanted Remote Controlled Injector with one dose of Etum Omega (Code held by the Grey Man), Conversion Field, Mask of Inquisitorial Office (Closed Helm, Av. 5, +10 to Gas Resistance), 2 Nimria Powerpacks

Abilities
Pariah, Universal Distrust

Name   Type   Range   Mode   Acc   Dam   Shots   Reload   Weight   
Nimria Pistol   E   Single   +5   2D6   12   2   8   
Notes – Conceal Bonus

Universal Distrust  - No-one can bring themselves to trust the character – something about their persona, their history, their aura, or just something indefinable leaves them universally feared and disliked. All other characters treat the character as if they had the Distrust ability towards him.

Pariah is from Sergeant Black, Distrust is from It's All In the Mind in Dark Magenta 1, the Conceal bonus is from Marco's Revised Inquisitor Armoury, Spring Brace is from Packing Heat.

[Kaled]

I like him, he's not particularly skilled or tough but very useful nonetheless. How do you see his mask looking? It's an interesting idea - a mask, especially one with a prominent Inquisitorial symbol, is not the sort of thing that's going to engender trust so it nicely complements him being a pariah.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

I haven't yet read the discussion in question but...

Are you sure Pariah is where you want to go? "Distrusted and even hated" is pretty small beer for a Pariah after all, GW may, of course, have changed things but my recollection suggests that people in proximity of a true Pariah experience much more visceral reactions, the sort of things you get from an arachnaphobe when talking about the way a spider's legs move...

It's a factor which has always made me somewhat dismissive of Pariah agents (several have appeared before) particularly when they're actually part of the retinue... Particularly in the case of the powerful psyker who voluntarily hung around the yawning negativity in the warp :-)

So the questions I'm going to ask are rather prosaic:

How does 'The Grey Man' communicate with this agent? Bearing in mind that Uzziah can't communicate directly over greater than planetary distances (where technology is effective) due to the possible effects from his proximity to Astropathic ducts...

How was he recruited, how did he even survive childhood?

[Alyster Wick]

Uzziah is a very interesting character.  While I'm not exactly sure how he would work in practical terms, I quite like the idea of using him in hardball negotiations.  Aside from being immune to psychers who may be brought in to "get a read" or even influence the opposition it would be rather hilarious to watch the rich and powerful struggle to reach an amenable agreement with him as quickly as possible just so they could get out of the room. Having him in the room is literally a form of torture and it isn't as though you can just execute an agent of the Inquisition (especially one with a big =][= on their forehead). 

I especially like that he's just an agent rather than a full blown Inquisitor. Just the threat of the Grey Man sending him as a liaison could be enough to get his own way.

What will his retinue look like?  I just pictured him flanked by two lobotomized soldiers in full death trooper regalia.  Having two "zombie-troopers" with big guns would certainly up his intimidation factor.  Anyway, interested to see what you go with to get around the issue of him being repellent to most forms of life. 

[Kaled]

From the description of him I made the assumption that he's a fairly moderate pariah and not at the extreme omega end of the spectrum, so the negative feelings he engenders will not be so severe.

[DapperAnarchist]

Kaled's right - Indeed, I considered re-writing Black's Pariah rule, to make it weaker. The mask I was thinking of looking like the thrice-barred ][ servo-skull from the 5th Ed rulebook, the pictures of the High Lords. Uzziah isn't really very dangerous - unpleasant to be around, yes, but not dangerous. He's a non-combatant really, though as he can never hope to charm his way out, he does prepare for the worst, with a spring brace knife. Uzziah can't go directly to an Astropath, but he can use messengers of other kinds, and the presence of Uzziah may well mean the presence of the Grey Man (no, they are not the same person).

His childhood was unpleasant, but he survived. Recruitment came through the Grey Man's networks, who were searching for a suitable Pariah or heavy Blank, to act as a representative.

The Grey Man has no psychic powers himself, and doesn't use many psyker agents. Uzziah isn't really part of his Retinue as such, indeed, most of his agents work alone.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

Aside from being immune to psychers who may be brought in to "get a read" or even influence the opposition it would be rather hilarious to watch the rich and powerful struggle to reach an amenable agreement with him as quickly as possible just so they could get out of the room.

The corrolary of that however is when the rich and powerful refuse to reach agreement because the negotiator gets their backs up, to a great degree it depends purely on how reasonable the negotiating position and how well reasoned and supported. If the subjects feel pressured by the negotiation position as well as the negotiator then they're more likely to fight back, if they perceive a way out without losing significant face then the pressure of the negotiator could well pay off.

[ismeno]

I think this character sounds really cool, and I can imagine lots of scenarios where he could be used. Love it how the obviously unscrupulous Grey Man uses him to further his own agendas without coming to harm himself. Could be a really cool model too. Hope to see him finished.

[Swarbie]

It's a factor which has always made me somewhat dismissive of Pariah agents (several have appeared before) particularly when they're actually part of the retinue... Particularly in the case of the powerful psyker who voluntarily hung around the yawning negativity in the warp :-)

So the questions I'm going to ask are rather prosaic:

How does 'The Grey Man' communicate with this agent? Bearing in mind that Uzziah can't communicate directly over greater than planetary distances (where technology is effective) due to the possible effects from his proximity to Astropathic ducts...

I think that psyker hanging out with a blank might have been mine . . . 

As for communications, presumably you could just phone up the nearest Astropathicus tower, tell them your codes as ID and ask them to access any messages that may have been left for you, then read them out. The messages would obviously be encrypted to avoid problems if someone bugged the comms network, but that wouldn't prove any trouble to the person meant to receive the message.