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Reading some lore recently, and was suprised to hear that while Planetary Governors are subservient to an Inquisitor, even the Inquisition must be a bit careful when dealing with Navigators. Prior to this, I thought only other Inquisitors could cause an Inquisitior to step lightly, and they answered only to the Emperor. If this isn't the case, who else must an Inquisitor be careful around?

My guesses would be:
Adeptus Custodes: They're only loyal to the Emperor, and their loyalty is beyond question. There's been corrupt Inquisitors, but never a corrupt Custodes to my knowledge, so the Custodes would possibly reject their authority over them, and the Inquisition would have no possible remit to move against them without looking like moving against the Emperor himself.
Space Marine Chapter Masters: Space Marines also answer directly to the Emperor, and there's a risk of turning a chapter renegade if you persecute them for reasons they find unjust, as they may decide their interpretation of the Emperor's will is superior to the Inquisition's.
High-ranking members of the Machinarium: Represent a parallel power structure within the Imperium, and one with its own military and loyal supporters that could cause planetary uprisings in response.
High-ranking members of the Ecclesiarchy: As above. You could also end up in a situation where both have the authority to accuse the other of heresy, causing a civil conflict.
The High Lords of Terra: Simply too powerful to take on without extreme caution.

All of these are due to either having a similar remit to the Inquisition (answering only to the Emperor) or have enough remit to claim their interpretation of his will supercedes theirs, and having large enough loyal populations and/or military resources to cause possible civil conflict if one of their higher-ups is touched.

The only other one I could think of in this vein was possibly a Rogue Trader due to their warrant of trade being technically issued by the Emperor. Would they have enough power and wealth to make an Inquisitor think twice though? I would guess not. Some families may have the wealth of a Navigator family, but they're not as utterly critical to the workings of the Imperium. Also, Navigators are extremely rare, while Rogue Traders can be easily replaced.

Rogue Traders are Imperial Nobility, and some of them would certainly be able to stop any random Inquisitor from inconveniencing them. Their warrant might not be old enough to actually be signed by the Big E, but an old dynasty could have a lot of alliances and obligations to various other Imperial factions.

Pacts with Space Marine Chapters, the Ecclesiarchy or the AdMech, for example - all of these could see the benefit in joining the Rogue Trader fleet. SM join because the RT often encounters their preferred enemy, a Missionary could be the first to convert a lost human colony and a TechPriest could find lost technology. They'll take it badly if someone comes at their ally without a damn sight better reason than "I've got a badge and I say so". And ofc the Rogue Trader needs Navigators who might also be miffed if a good gig is disrupted by some upstart Inquisitor.

In the IoM who you know will often multiply your personal power, which ofc also applies to said Inquisitor...

Anyone except for the Adeptus Custodes fall under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, including the High Lords of Terra themselves.

However, that's not to say that the Inquisition is all-powerful. For example, while the Inquisition has the power to tell a space marine chapter to aid them, space marines tend to be about as haughty as they are well equipped. For this reason, there tends to be a decent amount of politeness involved in exchanges between marine chapters and Inquisitors. Disrespect on either side can lead to 'missing' Inquisitors or space marine chapters being declared traitors pretty quickly.

Similarly, while Inquisitors are capable of investigating the high lords, to actually do so is a pretty tall order. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect that an Inquisitor would stand to ruin their reputation on a false claim or empty investigation.

There is a semiformal term - "Peers Of The Imperium" - which broadly covers astartes chapter masters, watch commanders, rogue traders, cardinals, arbites lord marshalls, archmagos, "lord solar" warmasters, inquisitors, navigator paterfamilias, planetary governors, lords subsector and sector, canoness preceptors, and so on.

Whilst theoretically each has defined responsibilitys, legal authorities and limits, in practical terms their authority is so close to unlimited as makes no odds, and whilst inquisitors are nominally on top of the heap, thats on paper: a shiny rosette is often a poor substitute for two million personally loyal pdf or the ear of half the rest of the ordos sector conclave.

at this level, personal relations becone much more about politics and influence than theoretical authority: a cardinal can't command men under arms, but if he can arrange for and admiral who owes his rank to the cardinals patronage to be given the sector command and makes "suggestions"....

...equally, astartes havent had direct authority over the imperial guard since the heresy. But marneus calgar isn't just the ultramarines chapter master - he's also lord macragge, an administratum official and a nominally seperate legal persona who just happens to occupy the same body, and who has perfectly legal authority over pdf and guard forces within ultramar.

As a result everyone at this level tends to be very polite. An inquisitor could in theory still haul one in for interrogation, but he'd better have some actual evidence, and finding the forces to make it stick if the other party declined to cooperate can be very hard indeed (which is, I guess, why the chambers militant exist)

using marinus calgar as an example here, he's also a storied commander known for his skill in combat, he can't offically issue c ommands, but a IG regiment is almost garenteed to listen VERY closely to his "advice"

Only units who can legaly tell them to go shove themselves and leave em alone is the custodious.

They are the sole masters inside the palace in regards to security etc and even a inquisitor far as I'm awhere cannot order one. One may follow there sugestion but can refuse a order should they see fit.

.

Other very high ranks becomes a matter of connections and diplomacy, even a inquisitor will treat it carefully ad each is too powerful to just shout at, its far more refined.

It takes skill, but if it works can yeild immense power for there mission.

Lastly. Should a inquisitor make a charge against a very high elite and that be proven wrong, not stick or be there case not strong ernough.

They probbly end up having a "acidiant" or very least there reputations destroyed and end up a represetive on some back water or doing the inquisitions general lowest, worst and most ones no one wants to wanna do.

....

And yes. The advice of a chapter master whilst not a order is likely to be taken very very seriously.

The inquisition would give pause to any part of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The Ad Mech have their own investigating tech priests that search out heretechs.
It is unlikely that most inquisitors would know enough about tech to be able to tell a heretech from a tech priest operating within the bounds of the restricted realm.
The Ad Mech is incredibly powerful and important to all parts of the Imperium, including the inquisition. Pissing them off would have serious consequences
The Ad Mech operates on a totally different culture/emotional response spectrum than the rest of the imperium. An inquisitor could very easily give offense/piss the ad mech off without trying to/knowing it.

Once you get into the higher ranks, inquisitors usually have to be pretty politically savvy. In the first Eisenhorn book, Inquisitor Eisenhorn goes to great pains to make sure he crosses the ts and dots the eyes in his report on his actions during his pursuits on an imperial governors planet that resulted in many civilian deaths. It wasn't because the governor had authority over Eisenhorn, but rather the power to tie him up in endless legalities. In the end the governor implies to that effect, to which Eisenhorn tells him to get fethed as he's done nothing wrong.

Allies, favours and irrefutable evidence or leverage become the tools of the trade in those areas. The inquisition does have the power and authority on just about all levels, but the higher you go, they're dealing with people who also have the power, influence and agenda to make life difficult.
A reckless inquisitor with no friends is not going to have the staying power of a savvy inquisitor with a lot of allies and favours up their sleeves.

Even the High Lords of Terra ask Tyberos the Red Wake to "please" help out with situations that prove too difficult for the Minotaurs to dealt with.

gak, Rowboat Girlyman'll probably pause for a second when he learns these guys blew up Badab Prime because they got bored.

I recall a audio drama where a custodies must of have fallen to a vampire, thus it was able to assume its form, it was found out by the space marines envoys trying to negotiate with some planet. I forgot the name of the audio, might of been a 30k one.

No one is off limits to an inquisitor, though some shy away from the most influence unless they have abundant clear proof of heresy.

 Big Mac wrote:
I recall a audio drama where a custodies must of have fallen to a vampire, thus it was able to assume its form, it was found out by the space marines envoys trying to negotiate with some planet. I forgot the name of the audio, might of been a 30k one.

No one is off limits to an inquisitor, though some shy away from the most influence unless they have abundant clear proof of heresy.

True but inquisitor vs some of the highest ranks it's a matter of political games more than direct comflict. Shadow wars and intrigues..

Now if one suspected returned guliman. That would be a massive one to manage to sell, or in valador say was still alive being a custodious. Not so bad, not politcal but general total utter legendary warrior. Physical threat might be pretty damn useless.

There's some levels and names that require ever so careful planning, thinking and years of work before you ever even mention it to more than your most trusted agents.

Let's paint a picture with game if thrones (not a perfect picture but bear with me)

Inquisitor Ned Stark is inquisiting and finds the heir to the governor's position isn't suitable- sayyy genetic deviancy of some degree. Not only that but this is knows and surrounded with conspiracy- a conspiracy that his predecessor inquisitor was killed for. To go for the jugular straight away may not be wise, he needs allies to adequately expose and persecute this conspiracy.
He's not used to political intrigue and enlists the wrong allies and in his grand move everything goes belly up, he's painted as a traitor and heretic, an agent of the enemy and things do not end well.

Inquisitors are always having to consider the consequences of their actions. Not from the point of view that they could somehow be wrong or illegal, the Inquisition and every Inquisitor wields absolute power and their word is law.

However, the Inquisition has a job to do. Their purpose is to protect the Imperium from its enemies, both internal and external. Thus, they need to take the course of action which results in the most good for the Imperium.

As a result, there are many things which they have to turn a blind eye towards and tolerate to some extent. Navigators are technically mutants, and sometimes horrifically so. Especially after many hundreds of years piloting ships, thats hundreds of years of direct exposure to the Warp. That leads to some pretty bad corruption and mutation. However the Inquisition has to deal with this delicately. Chaos worship must obviously be stopped, but when dealing with any abhorrent navigators they have to be subtle and delicate, lest the Navigators be offended and potentially utterly destroy the only people who can provide for safe travel through the warp.

Many organizations are like this. The Ad Mech, the Adeptus Astartes, the Navis Nobilite, individual rogue traders, etc... All may potentially be involved in illegal or frowned upon activities, but its a question of what is worth going after? Do you spend your time chasing down petty acts of heresy, and disrupting vital activities for the Imperium's survival and function, or do you just go after the big stuff.

Its like a cop choosing to just let a speeder off with a warning instead of a ticket. While you could issue a ticket, its just a bunch of paperwork for a small fine. Its not worth your time when you've got a drug dealer down the road to arrest.

Nothing official on this, but I bet most inquisitors take a long pause (minutes) before intentionally interfering with the harlequins or the Dark Eldar. Both are a tad vindictive.

Of course, the whole nebulous informality of it can lead to disastrous consequences.

Look no further than to the fate of the Celestial Lions, where one chapter's insistence of using the checks and balances that theoretically exist in that relationship ultimately lead to their downfall (and immeasurable loss of human life in the process.)

Amsnimple way would be, any inquisitor could handle a low level case. That requires less prep, planning and subtle intriques.

The higher you go cases could require years of positioning, inrique, placing acoloytes and informents to prove the case beyond doubt. A game of chess, not wack a mole. Its a careful, subtle art form of investigation and thinking. Ultimate power still needs to uncover the eveidence for peers/external and justify arresting or killing a senior sector lord and any problems caused by it.

And only when all allies in place does the inquisition strike and take its shot ay the elite in question.

 Madoch1 wrote:
Nothing official on this, but I bet most inquisitors take a long pause (minutes) before intentionally interfering with the harlequins or the Dark Eldar. Both are a tad vindictive.

Yes, for several reasons. First, contact with Harlequins/Dark Eldar where an Inquisitor can choose whether to interfere or not are rare at best. Second, partially because of the first reason, partially because the Harlies/DE are powerful forces to be reckoned with, and partially because they do tend to be vindictive, messing with or even talking to them can massively influence the fate of whatever's going on. Third, because of the Harlequins' fateseeing abilities and prophecy/future manipulation agendas, or the DE's history and modus operandi of causing as much suffering as possible, the Inquisitor is going to have to worry about becoming an unwitting Eldar pawn or dooming himself or others to eternal torment in Commorragh. And fourth, any interference, no matter what, will be considered by some other inquisitor or person in power to be ill-advised, dangerous, and/or heretical, so the inquisitor will have to worry about his/her colleagues taking offense at their actions.

Giantwalkingchair wrote:
Let's paint a picture with game if thrones (not a perfect picture but bear with me)

Inquisitor Ned Stark is inquisiting and finds the heir to the governor's position isn't suitable- sayyy genetic deviancy of some degree. Not only that but this is knows and surrounded with conspiracy- a conspiracy that his predecessor inquisitor was killed for. To go for the jugular straight away may not be wise, he needs allies to adequately expose and persecute this conspiracy.
He's not used to political intrigue and enlists the wrong allies and in his grand move everything goes belly up, he's painted as a traitor and heretic, an agent of the enemy and things do not end well.

That's a very good example. Almost by definition, Inquisitors will end up surrounded by adversaries and alone (or nearly so); Whatever their power, they can only exercise it if they can safely get back to their own territory. That's whey there's snippets of background about Inquisitors being successfully intimidated by Knight Houses and Space Marine Chapters.

I woud like to point out this scene from Game of Thrones: Power is Power

https://youtu.be/ab6GyR_5N6c





The Inquisitor is all-powerful. In theory. They have complete operational jurisdiction and authority. They can find out anything about anyone and do what they wish. But if they start mouthing off about Leman Russ to Logan Grimnar, the Emperor to the Custodes, the Omnissiah to the head of a Titan Legion, etc, they can quickly find themselves mushed into the ground in a variety of fashions. In fact, this can exactly be seen after Armageddon War 1, when the Inquistion went up against the Space Wolves and lost, because although the Inq has all the theorectical power, the Space Wolves have the arms, the men, the politics and popularity to fight back.


Its the same reason why, in television shows such as House of Cards or any drama really, the rich businessman and the crooked politician has to step carefully, because although they are the powerful one compared to, say, a reporter, that reporter can oust them to the public, who have more power than the individual.