Editing Inquisitor (section)

== Ranks ==
* '''[[Acolyte]]:''' Inquisitors can call upon any Imperial citizen to perform any task. Acolytes are set apart from the rest by being told that their master is in fact an Inquisitor. That they are trusted with this much knowledge indicates that the Inquisitor who "recruits" them sees that they have promise, and may have what it takes to one day be Inquisitors themselves. Acolytes may acquire sub-ranks within their Inquisitor's cadre, especially as an Inquisitor accumulates more Acolytes than can be used at once. Acolytes may be divided into cells set on particular tasks, and some whom the Inquisitor trusts may be put in charge of a cell, or of multiple cells.
*'''Throne Agent:''' Acolytes that have been in Inquisitorial service for some time and have both proven their skill and loyalty repeatedly without being reduced to a red smear are often elevated to Throne Agents. These individuals, though they don't command the same power as an Interrogator, are often either put in charge of operations that the Inquisitor can't attend to him/herself, but can't really just shove onto any random schmuck either, or are otherwise assembled into elite strike forces, often led by the Inquisitor themselves.
* '''Interrogator:''' Acolytes that impress their Inquisitorial master enough get put on the official (more or less) track to becoming an Inquisitor themselves. Although there's a lot of different titles for this rank (and different Inquisitors may use the same name for different roles), "Interrogator" is by far the most common; as their name implies, they are primarily used to interrogate "suspects" (which Inquisitors themselves are far too busy to do), but they're also expected to do anything else their Inquisitor tells them to. Although they don't have the full authority of an Inquisitor yet, Interrogators (or whatever else they might be called) usually have networks of influence themselves and, in any case, operate with the (tacit) authority of their master.
* '''Inquisitor:''' So, you've somehow survived far enough to ''really'' impress your master; as a result, he and some of his colleagues sponsored your promotion to Inquisitor. Or he just died and left you his Rosette. In any case, you can now use that to bend ''almost'' anybody to your will and call on the full resources of the Imperium. Officially, all Inquisitors are on equal standing, but of course there is an informal pecking order, usually based on experience and political connections (formalized by the next rank).
[[File:BloodforTheBloodGodInquisitor.png|150px|thumb|right|Inquisitor Hans Pillowshoulders, star of unreleased 40K movie "Blood for the Blood God".]]
* '''Inquisitor Lord''' ''(or "Lord Inquisitor" or "High Inquisitor")'': Very senior Inquisitors are sometimes granted the title of Inquisitor Lord. By default, more senior Inquisitors are given more respect and authority anyway, but the title helps make Inquisitor Lords' authority clear to Inquisitors who do not know them personally, and also confers a few formal powers, like the ability to convene High Conclaves (The difference being the attendance of multiple factions, ''dozens'' of Inquisitors, and it lasting for weeks as opposed to a few days and only a handful of Inquisitors showing up). The only way to become an Inquisitor Lord is to be nominated by a pre-existing one and approved by two more, which raises some questions about who the first three Lords Inquisitor were. An Inquisitor Lord based near [[Terra]] may be nominated to be the Inquisitorial Representative on the [[High Lords of Terra]].
* '''Master''': In some (sub-)sectors, the Inquisition has a particularly strong presence - [[Cadia|maybe there's a lotta heresy around]], [[Terra|maybe it's really important]], whatever. When this is the case, the sector elects the most senior Lord Inquisitor(s) of each major Ordo's local branch to this post. Their job basically amounts to providing guidance to lower-ranked Inquisitors as to what needs purging or interrogating, keeping an eye on their Ordo's assets in the sector, and acting as advisors to the Grandmaster below. Essentially, they're Inquisitor Lords, but (theoretically) even more influential and bound to a specific sector.
* '''Grandmaster''': See above, except there's only one of them and they're nominally in charge of ''every'' lower-ranked Inquisitor in their assigned Sector. They can usually be found heading up permanent Conclaves (Inquisitorial family reunions/board meetings, which act as the "central command" for the Inquisition in a sector); when they bite it or are otherwise incapacitated, the three Master Inquisitors elect one of their members to the role via anonymous ballot and the Master who was promoted is replaced by the next senior-most Lord Inquisitor of their Ordo's local branch.
* '''Inquisitorial Representative''': Since the Inquisition is by design not a centralized organization, being the Inquisitorial Representative doesn't actually convey much power to whatever Inquisitor Lord got stuck with the duty. The [[High Lords of Terra]] are all of a high enough rank that the Representative can't just boss them around like he or she would to other Imperial officers, so the Inquisitorial Representative exists mostly to provide some kind of insight as to the plans of the High Lords, as well as someone to bitch at when other Inquisitors do stupid shit like [[Kryptman|overuse Exterminatus or let a brood of Genestealers loose on an inhabited planet]]. Since the Inquisitorial Representative doesn't get to do much inquisitor-ing while on the job, they usually aren't too happy to get nominated but they only serve for five years at a time, so it's sometimes used as a sabbatical for experienced inquisitors to take a break from active duty (and to prevent one faction or school of thought from becoming too powerful; [[The Beheading|bad things]] [[Nova Terra Interregnum|tend to happen]] [[Age of Apostasy|when there isn't one of these guys on-duty]]).