Ablution in Blood

After warp travel, Vigdis will report malfunctioning systems. The scene will switch to your bath, which is suddenly flooded with blood.

Back on the bridge, Abelard will question Sauerback about the assassination attempt in your quarters. Sauerback will acknowledge her error and request punishment.

Respond to Sauerback's request for punishment. She will report that the substance was blood with traces of major mutations and ask to investigate on the officers' deck. Abelard will suggest a fresh perspective for the investigation.

This Task Is for the Lord Captain Only: Elect to handle the investigation yourself.

Use the northern exit from the bridge and select the Officers' Deck. Sauerback will introduce you to Captains Klein, Jinevri, and Hrotko, who have found a mutilated, blood-drained worker's corpse.

Inspect the Body: Head up the stairs to the west and follow the walkway to Enforcer Klein. Ask about the autopsy and make a Willpower (+15) check to conduct it yourself.

Make a Lore: Xenos (-10) check to note the corpse is part xeno.

Follow up with a Lore: Imperium (-40) check to find a black feather in the corpse's throat.

Inspect the wounds (Medicae +15) to learn the mutilation was posthumous, intended to hinder identification.

Look for identifying marks and note a tattoo reading "SP-246-01".

Report your findings. Klein identifies the tattoo as belonging to a "senior pipewarden" and suggests speaking to Jinevri at the work log cogitator.

Check the Logs of the Master Cogitator: Look for blood drops at the top of the ramp.

Follow the blood trail down a hallway to the west and find a bloodstained synth-coat stuffed into a vent.

Backtrack to find Enforcer Jinevri by the cogitator arguing with a tech-priest.

Tell Jinevri and Androveta-Phi you need to use the cogitator. Present your credentials and ask for data about the ship's workers.

Make a Tech-Use (+15) check to clear a data blocker.

Make a Logic (-10) check to note that someone previously accessed and scrambled the cogitator data.

Request information about "SP-246-01" to learn it belonged to a pipewarden named Orto. Orto and his partner were working on pipes supplying your chambers. Only Orto's partner reported in at the end of the shift.

Ask about the partner to learn the name and number: senior pipewarden Gwedon, number SP-268-55. Jinevri advises speaking to Hrotko for more information about the suspect.

Interrogate Gwedon: Return to the previous passageway and head down the stairs to the north. Find Enforcer Hrotko interrogating workers and servants.

Ask to speak to Gwedon, who appears unwell. He confesses to attempting to curse you while cavorting with daemons for his master. Cassia will point out his confession is false.

Make Heretical - Follower, Logic (-10), Medicae (-10), and Lore: Warp (-10) checks to find inconsistencies in his story.

Make a Coercion (+35) check to demand why he is implicating himself. He admits he is not Gwert but a laundryman named Yart, and that an enforcer named Jinevri took his family hostage.

Sauerback asks what to do with Yart, offering conviction options.

The Stars That Guide Us: Examine the spinning armillary sphere nearby. You will notice a skull control you can interact with (Tech-Use -35).

If successful, you can activate the skulls around the base of the sphere. This causes the eyes on a skull to light up or go dim and toggles the ones on either side. Use the table where the Enforcer Archtranscriptor is sat for orientation. Skulls 1, 4, and 6 are initially lit; the goal is to light all eight.

Solution: Press skulls 8, 7, 3, 8, 5.

After solving the puzzle, a tech-priest will report receiving coordinates for a world in the Pelium Solitas System.

Conclude the Investigation in the Mess Hall: Return to the start of the area and speak to Sauerback, who reports that pipewarden Gwedon has been found.

Report that someone attempted to mislead the investigation. Evidence points to Jinevri, who guarded the body, managed the work log computer, and interrogated Yart alone.

When asked to present coats, Hrotko claims not to wear one, stating serfs consider synth-coats a sign of weakness. Cassia will remark on his thoughts.

Suggest Hrotko sabotaged the conspiracy to prove Sauerback's incompetence. He will admit to this, with framing Jinevri as a backup plan.

You can order Hrotko to do penance (Iconoclast) or have him executed (Dogmatic; grants the voidship the Triumph of Justice ability). Alternatively, you can employ him as a spy, unlocking the Tenuous Peace contract.