|
|
Name |
| Lornas Welt |
|
Role |
| Ordos Hereticus Inquisitor |
|
Tanith Status |
| Ally |
|
First Appearance |
| His Last Command |
|
Last Appearance |
| The Armour of Contempt |
Inquisitor Lornas Welt is an agent of the Ordos Hereticus, and currently is engaged in the ongoing investigation and survey into the fabled anti-taint property on Gereon. A squat sized, venerable man with a calm manner and matter of fact approach, Welt's connections have had a direct effect on Gaunt and the regiment since the return of the Gereon 12. It was his deal brokering which saw the trial halted, but also his intrigues which tricked Gaunt into revealing the location of the Gereon Underground.
Appearance
Welt is described as being a short, thick-set man with receding grey hair. He has a tight black goatee covering the chin of a pugnacious, almost sunken face. He has a pair of dark blue eyes, without a hint of white.
Personality
For the most part, Welt is portrayed as being a methodical but reasonable man with a polite manner but also a blunt approach to his work. He displays a sense of humour where others most likely wouldn't, and had a more restrained approach towards Gaunt's trial.
He has shown his ruthless side on a few occasions, first when suggesting the immediate execution of the Gereon 12 and also when he manipulated Gaunt into brokering contact with the Underground in the Untill, thus giving away their position. However, on the latter occasion this was in a sense evened up by Welt's efforts to protect Gaunt and his men.
Association with Gaunt & the Regiment
At some point prior to Gaunt's command of the Tanith 1st Regiment, Welt made the acquaintance of him at a formal ceremony, which meant he had an increased interest in the Gereon 12 upon their return. He was called upon by Commissar-General Balshin to help gather evidence for the trial.
Part in the Trial
After doubting the expert testimony of Antonid Biota during discussions of the trial with Lord-General Van Voytz, Balshin announced that she had brought in Welt as her own expert, earning the scorn of Van Voytz who considered the inclusion of the Inquisition in the case to be hugely changing the game as a whole. Welt appeased the General with his views, but admitted that despite the lack of solid evidence of taint, they should not take the risk and have the team executed immediately without trial. Van Voytz was outraged by this notion, to which Welt replied that he was merely being realistic.
During the trial, Welt had a more restrained role than his compatriots Balshin and Faragut, instead attempting to be more appeasing in regards to the lack of character based evidence. He tested Gaunt with knowledge of the Chaos language, but was forced to back down gracefully when Gaunt pointed out that if knowing the language was proof of taint, then Welt should be on trial as well. He also showed a great deal of interest in the moth venom that Gaunt spoke of, taking feverent notes.
After a single day of the trial, Welt worked with Van Voytz and his superiors to impose a plan to exploit the anti-chaos properties of the Gereon Untill, as promoted by Sabbatine Cirk, and as a result the hearing was dropped, and Gaunt and his men freed.
(His Last Command 2006, The Armour of Contempt 2007)
Gaunt's Arrest
Welt accompanied Balshin, Faragut and Ludd to the Fifth Compartment, Sparshard Mons, with the intention of arresting Gaunt and bringing him back to Frag Flats HQ. After a furious debate, during which Welt remained silent, the Inquisitor announced that Imperial Command were well aware as to the identity of the Stalkers, but that they were unclear on the aspect of warp portals.
He had a brief conversation with Gaunt privately, where the Colonel-Commissar was able to express his concerns at the nature of the city. Welt acknowledged this, but also made it clear to Gaunt that the only reason he had avoided the firing squad was because of his efforts, and that learning how Gaunt and the Gereon 12 survived is imperative.
The Gereon Programme
Following the testimony given by Cirk, who had engineered a deal with Balshin and Welt, the Inqusitor used his influences to successfuly petition for a liberation of Gereon so that he could further investigate the properties of the Untill in search of an anti-Chaos formula. Once set, he then set up an operation to use Gaunt, with Faragut as Welt's spy, in order to locate the Untill underground. He had his team, under the command of his subordinate, Interrogator Sydona, arrive at Cantible and begin processing civilians while liasing with the regiment commanded by Major Rawne.
Following the success of Gaunt's efforts, Welt had Inquisitorial troops teleport into the Nihtgane camp to secure it, and then arrived on station himself via a lander to set up a working station to begin the immediate search for the formula.
(The Armour of Contempt, 2007)
Arrival in the Untill
Welt arrived personally at the Nihtgane camp and immediately interrupted a confrontation between Gaunt and then exposed Faragut, and quickly placated Gaunt before asking for 'a conversation'.
After taking a place in a nearby upper habitat platform, Welt quickly informed Gaunt that the heavy handed approach taken by the Inqusition was simply a neccesity, though he assured him that he took no pleasure in processing the long suffering underground. He also stunned Gaunt by admitting that the work undertaken was the most important of his career. During their talk, Welt told Gaunt that despite all the possible reasons for the liberation of Gereon, the only actual cause was that Cirk's words, as well as Gaunt's testimony, had convinced him of the existence of the formula. He also described the tribunal as a formality, and stated that as idealistic as the armour of contempt argument was, it simply didn't reduce justification for the search. Gaunt insists that there is no magical cure, and that they survived by force of will, but Welt insisted that he would have to try.
Following the extraction of Gaunt and his men, the imprisoned Gereon underground troops were mysteriously freed from their cell, drastically damaging the programme.
(The Armour of Contempt, 2007)