Augury Psykanium
Augury Psykania are facilities aboard Imperial warships whose machinery can locate psykers on a world by scanning it with scry-pulses.[1]
Description
When the machinery is activated, it emits supernatural energies and raises the temperature in the facility's room as it charges up to emit a scry-pulse. Static electricity will also build up as the Augury's machinery hums before several large switches are simultaneously turned. This releases the scry-pulse and will cause the Augury's room to shake as it does so. This process will then repeat again in order for the Augury to receive a proper scan of a world. When this is done, a cogitator taking up several yards of space will punch out a thin line of parchment. This is then fed to a much sleeker machine which displays the information on a screen. It will display a realistic orbital image of the world, and moving several large knobs on the screen will display the number of psykers that live there.[1]
There are some drawbacks to using the Augury Psykanium, however. Its psyker count is not completely accurate, as there is an error margin of forty percent, give or take a few points. The chances of an underestimate are higher than an overestimate and if the psykers are close together there is a high chance some positive returns represent more than one individual. This last point can be negated if a psyker is operating the Augury, as their psychic powers will allow them to discern the positive returns more accurately. Psykers, in fact, will have an easier time using the Augury as a whole, but the energy discharge the machinery gives off when releasing a scry-pulse is painful to any psykers that are nearby.[1]
Sources
- 1: Astorath: Angel of Mercy (Novella), Chapter 3
