Adeptus Arbites
- "To be just, our law must be cruel."
- --Motto of the Adeptus Arbites.
They are basically the police of the Imperium. But they aren't just any ol' cops, they are badass motherfuckers, think of a combo between robocop and Judge Dredd. They usually drag the criminal up to the judge who then ceremonially declares them guilty and being guilty means that you have committed a crime. And in the Imperium there is only one crime and it is HERESY!!!!!!! On some worlds though, they send the criminals into the penal legions instead of executing them on the spot, thus they may receive the Emperor's benediction on the glorious field of battle. The adeptus arbites have slightly smaller balls of steel than guardsmen, they are on the other hand made of much more man sauce than SPESS MEHREENS and their sissy power armor. An example of this would be the well known quote:
"Armor? Guns? HAH! Who needs 'em? I just got mah fists and mah club. Now lets go and arrest those two ogryn who have been cauzin' trouble."
- - Jormund Wilkfas Arbites Sergeant of the third detachment on Necromunda.
The Adeptus Arbites have shown that social sciences, like the applied, have also been degraded in the 41st millennium while they help power Terra by using the remains of long dead criminologists to drive generators. Excessive brutality is not an effective way of combating crime. On the other hand, if the alternative is letting over-populated hives become horror fests of the worst sorts of crime, then it might be more cost-effective for the Arbites crack as many skulls as they like. Mind, they are still rife with crime, but it's mostly low-key and non-violent stuff like drugs and forbidden objects. After all, life is (literally to the Arbites) the Emperor's currency. Are you going to go on a serial killing and thereby waste the Emperor's currency? Not if you value your life.
It says something that the thing keeping violent crime at a minimum (when compared to the sheer size of Imperial cities) is the fact that, if you murder someone, then that someone can't die for the Emperor and you have therefore stolen from the Emperor himself. Which has rather severe consequences (you stole from the Emperor, you are screwed).
If you want to include the Adeptus Arbites in a story or game of Dark Heresy, I suggest you read/watch/play/whatever the following for inspiration:
- Judge Dredd (The comics, not the shitty
newoldnew movie... but theoldnewold movie is good mojo) - Robocop
- Die Hard
- L.A Noire (For that "law enforcement being full of corrupt douchebags" vibe)
See Also
- Campaign:Arbites
- Arbitrator Kazymanderas Jallus
- Good Fan codex for the Arbites [1]
