Litany of Suspicion
The discipline of the Inquisitor's gaze
- Spoken by
- Inquisition
Context
The Inquisition is a paranoid institution by design. Where others trust, an Inquisitor questions. Where others rest, an Inquisitor watches. The Litany of Suspicion is not a prayer to the Emperor so much as a daily discipline: a reminder that complacency is the door through which heresy enters.
An Inquisitor speaks it before any meeting of weight — before debriefing a witness, before accepting a Chapter Master's word, before sleeping in a stranger's house. Some speak it aloud. Most do not. The Litany works just as well when it is only thought.
The Litany
The smile may hide a fang. I do not return it lightly.
The oath may hide a lie. I do not take it at its word.
The miracle may hide a daemon. I do not kneel before it.
The friend may hide an enemy. I do not turn my back.
Even I may hide my own corruption. I do not rest on what I know.
Look first. Listen second. Strike third.
Better an innocent dead than a heretic walking free.
By the rosette, I will not flinch.
Have you sworn an oath fit for the Inquisition?
Speak your vow at the shrine