Imperial Inquisitors

The Imperial Inquisitors are a fearsome and enigmatic branch of the Eternal Empire, tasked with enforcing its absolute control over magic, hunting down rogue sorcerers, escaped Indents, rebels, and any threats to imperial authority. Operating outside conventional military structures, these agents wield both arcane and mundane power with deadly precision. To those who cross the Empire, the sight of an Inquisitor on their trail is a death sentence—or worse, a return to servitude. Ruthless, methodical, and relentless, they are the Empire's ultimate enforcers of order and fear.

Appearance

Inquisitors exude an aura of menace and authority, their appearance striking a careful balance between practicality and intimidation. Inspired by the image of a western bounty hunter, they wear long, weathered dusters, often reinforced with subtle magitech plating to serve as armor. Wide-brimmed hats, typically enchanted to shield their faces from detection or to mask their identities, cast long shadows over their piercing, cold eyes. Many accessorize with goggles or masks that are infused with arcane enhancements, such as detecting traces of magic or tracking ley line distortions.
Their belts bristle with tools of their trade: wands designed like revolvers, flasklock firearms, and arcane-infused whips hang alongside small pouches filled with alchemical ammunition and magical restraining devices. Across their chest or hips, many wear bandoliers of glowing magitech cartridges, containing spell charges that can be used to fuel their weapons or empower their abilities in combat.
Each Inquisitor carries a distinctive badge of office, typically a brooch or amulet featuring the symbol of the Eternal Empire—a black phoenix rising from flames. This emblem doubles as a magical focus and a means of identification, marking them as untouchable agents of imperial will.

Roles and Duties

Mage Hunters: The Inquisitors’ primary task is to hunt down rogue magic users who refuse to submit to imperial regulation. These individuals may be rebels, outlawed sorcerers, or dangerous warlocks who have made forbidden pacts.
Indent Recovery: Inquisitors specialize in tracking down escaped Indents who have removed their magical shackles and are attempting to flee the Empire's reach.
Rebel Suppression: Inquisitors act as bounty hunters for the Wildlands, pursuing and eliminating insurgents, resistance leaders, and other threats to imperial authority.
Artifact Retrieval: They are often dispatched to recover ancient and dangerous magical relics, ensuring such items remain under the Empire's control.
Internal Enforcement: Even within the Empire, Inquisitors police potential sedition, rooting out corruption, dissent, and unregulated magitech experimentation.

Combat and Abilities

Imperial Inquisitors are as deadly as they are versatile, wielding a combination of arcane power, martial prowess, and cunning tactics. They are trained in the following:
Flasklock Firearms: Inquisitors are trained to use experimental flasklock firearms, allowing them to imbue their ammunition with powerful alchemical effects. This makes them particularly deadly hunters. See Here for flasklock firearms.
Relentless Tracker: Inquisitors are adept at tracking their prey across vast distances. They can use imperial magitech to track an indent's magical signature to a general area, so long as they have their Shackles.

Known Inquisitors

Marshal Kael Drax: Known as the "Burning Shadow," Kael is infamous for his brutality and his custom dual pistols, which fire flame-infused rounds. His reputation for leaving no survivors precedes him.
Tessara "Iron Veil" Thorne: A cold and calculating Inquisitor who wears an intricate magitech mask that amplifies her psionic abilities. She is feared for her ability to extract information directly from the minds of her targets.
Drake Valtros: Known as the "Hound of Avalon," Drake relies on a blend of magitech-enhanced senses and his signature arcane whip to capture fugitives alive.

Fear and Symbolism

Inquisitors embody the Empire's iron-fisted rule, their presence a reminder that no one can escape its grasp. They are both feared and reviled, especially among Indents and Wildland rebels, who see them as merciless tools of oppression. For loyal citizens, however, they are symbols of the Empire’s strength, maintaining order in a chaotic galaxy. Their gunslinger aesthetic and unmatched skill make them both larger-than-life figures and cautionary tales, whispered about in both admiration and dread.