Havelock shakes his head in frustration, but he decides that he will brush up on that information on a later date. Clearly his mind was still too occupied to recall the information he wanted at this point.
From time to time Havelock casts a furtive glance at Praetia, considering her and her apparent fortitude.
He then waits patiently for a few moments to see if anyone wants him for anything.
The charts and readings were good in this section of space. He was fairly sure from earlier as to their location but he would need to again check for the beacon of the Emperor.
Time had passed and he had spent some of it recovering from the fatigue of twice in the single day inflicting the flames of absolution upon the heretical spawn. He could not be sure that the Emperor would again give his voice so clearly in his life time.
Still, once you've heard that beacon of light in your life, you are never quite the same.
Lion again feels the blessed light of the God-Emperor.
Surely, it is a sign that the God-Emperor is most pleased with Lion and the actions that he has taken in this system.
Lion makes special note of this location in the log for twice now he has heard the God-Emperor more clearly then almost any other point in his life. This system must have a special resonance with the God-Emperor's beacon.
It may take much of his life and fortune but Lion is sure that this system has been marked by the God-Emperor to him as a special place for the founding of a smaller beacon to guide travelers to Port Wanderer. It may even some day be worth building a sacred shrine to the God-Emperor's light.
The Void Wolf goes through one of the smoothest legs of warp travel ever witnessed, with no warp perils en route, and the estimated five days travel in the warp having been reduced to a single day. Pulling out of the warp and back into real space at the edge of the Koronus Passage, Port Wander looms at the edge of the passage closest to the Imperium- the last colony within official Imperium borders and the beginning of the mostly unclaimed and unexplored Koronus Expanse...
Lion smiled as the Void Wolf returned from the warp.
The favour of the God-Emperor was clearly upon the the ship as it had negotiated the journey in a quarter of the time normally allowed by navigators for the passage.
Let Solar think twice before he tries to lick Lion's charts. Even Theodore will be hard pressed in his secret diaries to note a lack of skill and professionalism in the Head Navigator with such clear skill and favour of the God-Emperor.
Lion passed the duties of preparing a docking space for the Void Wolf to Void Master Soeul.
'Void Master Soeul, the ship is yours. Good seas ahead.'
Lion made not in the log and sent a memo to the Rogue Trader to decide on liberty for the crew. It was best to post the word now before the ship touched port and had a thousand hands getting cranky wondering on how much time they'd have to spend their coin.
The whole command staff should arrange a meeting for that matter. If the ship was to pursue a venture to the mysterious planet of the Cassamire's charts then there were decisions on what goods needed to purchased and what people needed to be recruited.
The whole command staff should arrange a meeting for that matter. If the ship was to pursue a venture to the mysterious planet of the Cassamire's charts then there were decisions on what goods needed to purchased and what people needed to be recruited.
'Agreed. Once Cpt. Demetrius is recovered from the battle, we should met in the stateroom with Steward Quint about resupply and re-armament. I would be interested to acquire one or more Aquila Magnificae , to see to the spiritual needs of the people of Orb.'
Jerol begins to land the Void Wolf in the fabled Port Wander- gateway to the Koronus Expanse. The mighty void station is something between an orbital station and a hive city, as the settlement has continually changed, retrofitted and grown to suit the needs of the Rogue Traders sailing into the Koronus Expanse.
As the Void Wolf finishes landing in the docks, Cp. Demetrius calls a meeting on the bridge between you, and a handful of junior officers, particularily Steward Quint. Once you are all gathered, he addresses you.
Gentleman... Ladies... We seek to investigate the aforementioned planet 'Orb'. From what we can gather of Tristan Casmirre's notes, we will be tangling with a feudal world, some kind of ancient artificial intelligence from the Dark Ages. In addition to our standard resupply, I propose we let the crew let loose in the Port for three weeks.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on how we should proceed with this endeavour. We should be prepared for resistance in some form or another, and Missionary Praetia may want to bring the Emperor's Light to the savages; or put them to the sword if they refuse to worship our most holy lord.
Just a suggestion to hold a bit on making acquisition rolls until we decide as a ship on what to buy. Everyone has personal things they may want but we need to think of major things to advance the exploration trade mission like getting a large supply of lasguns and some troops hired are just a couple of things we might need to spend rolls upon. Some of these larger items might take a couple of tries to get and should be the first priority. [/ooc]
'Some time off for the men would be good, especially after the most recent events. With a skeleton crew aboard ship for those three weeks, I would also like to conduct a more thorough search of the Void Wolf for signs of Xenos-worship.'
'A good suggestion Missionary. A clean sweep of the quarters is what is needed. Let none of the Xeno-worshiping scum find their way back aboard.'
'I'll lend what skills I can to the task. I've learned a few of the places these void-kin try to hide their little cults from my time with the Navy. With a few of your priests, I'm sure we can turn a few bunks loose and send the rats scurrying off our decks.'
'Magdela, take two other Acoltyes and search out these places indicated by the Navigator. I will investigate these other areas personally. Remember, "The Daemon has many forms. You must know them all. You must tell the Daemon from his disguise and root him out from the hidden places."
After several days of searching, Praetia addresses Lion. 'We have searched the ship, but the Xenos cult has burrowed deeply, and evades us for the present.'
Your search reveals little, but some discreet questioning and lines of inquiry Lion makes reveals that allegedly, some of the crew of the weapons batteries are the ones distributing xenos charms.
Jerol wandered around the port, it was a nice change of pace to not be flying a ship for a while. Still, three weeks! He could not understand why people would want to be off ship for that long. The lack of freedom was infuriating, having to be stuck in one place for so long. Still, he thought, should make the best use possible of his time in the port, time to hunt down a shot pistol and a recoil glove, he'd been wanting those for a while.
Lion summoned Hand and arranged an off ship detail to guard him.
He took a case of fine brandy that he had brought along for such things from the ship's 'stores'. It was meant to help 'grease the wheels' of commerce.
He checked the directory to see if there were any people of nobility or the Emperor's appointed head of the garrison for Port Wanderer.
The knowledge of the 'right' people and the 'right' approach was essential in such negotiations.
It was one thing to go looking for a few hundred mercenaries and it was another to go looking for a full Division of mercenaries to help in the conquest of a world of primitives.
Networking to get the contacts for the people that have power to supply the mercenaries and lasguns. I will later invite the RT in for a sit down with the identified contact for the main acquisition and negotiation to get the RT's advantage on the roll.
Common Knowledge (Imperial Navy) Int
Common Knowledge (Naviate Nobilite) Int
The name of Benetek could open doors that others found closed.
Thule woke up feeling very odd.
"By the seven whores of Mazaran!" he gasped, sitting up and wiping beads of sweat from his bald head. His memories of the recent past seemed confusing and unclear in his mind - possessions gained, adventures had; but all as if Thule had been another person, another character. Was it all a dream?
He staggered to his private bath and washed cold water on his face. The person staring at him in the mirror was familiar enough, though it was not the face from his dreams. He recognized his surroundings - the ornate bath lined with marble, the opulent private quarters. This was his ship. His home.
Relieved by this, Thule checked the status of the Void Wolf: in dock. Fine. Then there were things to do. And even if he was in a muddle and felt a bit shaky, there were responsibilities at hand. Always time for trade and profit. Once he was dressed properly he would feel better, certainly. And armed. He never felt right without his personal weapons.
Now, where did he leave that sword and gun...
Minerva shifted uncomfortably in her position in front of her master's door. He had been secluded in his quaters for far too long and there was something,.. strange about him, as if he hadn't been himself since their void-jump into the Koronus expanse. His actions had been,.. irregular. Minerva sighed to herself. It wasn't her place to have such thoughts about her master, only to follow his orders and to keep him alive.
Quashing her worries Minerva stood waiting until finally the Rogue Trader emerged from his quaters. Dropping to her knees she bowed and then looked up at her master. Something had changed about him he seemed somehow more,... reliable.
Havelock decides to go out into port wander and have a look around, having never been there before he is most interested to have a look at some of the wonders he has heard others in the crew talk about before.
He was especially keen to have a firsthand look at all the heavy defence equipment that some of the more grizzled veterans had talked about with something approaching awe.
He left most of his weaponry in his private quarters, the only thing he did bring was the archeotech las pistol, and he also recruited two members of the crew to act as an impromptu honour guard.
Dressed in a clean white robe and flanked by two guards doing their best to look attentive and competent Havelock leaves the Void Wolf's belly to try and do some business, as soon as he had found a possible purveyor of proper goods he would contact Lion and ask him to perform the negotiations.
As he headed out into the port he decided to head for the nearest headquarter for the machine cult, if anyone would know where he could find access to large quantities of weapons it should most likely be them.
Jerol had been wandering around for a while and had quite a few things pressed on him. No he DIDN'T want that rare spice from a god forsaken piece of rock nobody had heard of, or that one of a kind carpet that smelt of fungus. However, he was hunting down some of his contacts, hopefully his reputation within the dynasty would help him track down his arm mounted shotgun, he had been wanting one for quite a while.
After spending several days aboard the ship, trying to track down the hidden Xenos cult, Praetia leaves the work to her Acolytes and heads into Port Wander. 'If we are heading to Orb after all, an Aquila Magnificus would be valuable to the Ecclesiarchy in ministering to the people of that world. There should definitely be a shrine in port, perhaps there would be a good place to start the search.'
After conferring with the local Priest, the loyal and pious servant of the Emperor is more than happy to send a Magnificus to the Void Wolf. A man of the cloth could do no less, right?
The name of Benetek could open doors that others found closed.
After seeing that Praetia was truly a selfless and orthodox servant, he sympathizes with her cause...
It was fortunate that Lion knew exactly the sort of person that might have the troops The Void Wolf might need.
House Heimlich was said to have been accumulating a sizable force of troops to what purpose, no one was sure.
Still, even a prosperous house like Heimlich could ill afford to keep such forces idle for long. It was just bad business to have troops in mothball unless you were a governor of a world fearing a revolt.
Maintaining the supplies on a sizable force of troops had beggared more than one Rogue Trader hoping to acquire more power than was within their reach.
Lion just needed the right approach and sales technique to help the Heimlich's see reason in the venture. Nobles understood these things.
-----------------
Lion led Hand and the small security detachment to the House Heimlich compound. He then presented his credentials to the Heimlich's Chamberlain to make a formal introduction.
Lion took the customary seat for guests and waited as was expected. Lion filled his time with a small book of sacred phrases of the God-Emperor and his saints. Lion expected a minimum wait of fifteen minutes, this was High Etiquette and nothing less would be civil.
It was actually forty-five minutes later, a little longer then Lion would prefer but still not so long as to be un-civil, that the Heimlich's Chamberlain introduced him, 'I present Lion Rogal Guilliman Benetek, last scion of the House Benetek, Head navigator of The Void Wolf, and trusted envoy of Rogue Trader Thule Demetrius. Bearer of patents of nobility and letters of highest esteem from the Lords and Ladies of Administrum, Ecchliestary, and Accadenemin. Holder of a Reserve Title in the Admiralty's fleets of Commander.'
Lion noted the Chamberlain had used the short version of introduction instead of the long form which would have required several paragraphs mentioning several of the Benetek's noble achievements in the Forty Millenium of service and the number of worlds they held title to as the discovers and first navigators.
Lion followed the forms of etiquette and made a proper greeting to Heimlich. This included the offering of several bottles of 'introduction' that he had brought with him.
The pair chatted upon the trivial events of the affairs of the world. Lion traded stories of the core worlds with Heimlich who gave stories of the crews coming out of the Koronus Expanse. Neither made mention that it was a Benetek that had first charted the passage into the Koronus Expanse, this was understood and need not be said.
Lion tried to bring into the conversation, as discussion between Navigators, on the current state of the 'weather' of the Warp storms in the passage to the Expanse.
Unfortunately, he learned little new that might aid him in locating the spot of weakness that might lead to their target world.
Finally, at the proper time in the conversation, Heimlich brought up the conversation of what might have brought Lion to his House.
Lion, as a proper scion, outlaid his role as broker for Rogue Trader Demetrius. He described the Rogue Trader's current empty barracks aboard the Void Wolf and his desire to acquire a Division of Troops to help fill the void. Lion further explains that he is searching for a similar quantity or more of Lasguns.
Lion explains that Rogue Trader Demetrius believes that he can turn such ventures into solid rewards within the Expanse having heard word of places with much fighting where an armed force would be welcomed.
Lion gives no more details upon the exact destination but hints that it is farther in.
Lion finishes by requesting to set up a formal meeting to finish arranging details with the Rogue Trader if House Heimlich were amendable to the deal.
** spoiler omitted **
After seeing that Praetia was truly a selfless and orthodox servant, he sympathizes with her cause...
Opposed Roll
Praetia is granted the Aquila Magnificus with little fuss, her earnest conviction swiftly winning the ecclesiarchy authorities over in Port Wander.
Jerol has less luck acquiring a Navy Shotpistol; everywhere he goes he hears the same excuses from arms vendors that don't appear to have any in stock- they are produced here in Port Wander in a small factory one deck below the main deck, but this factory has shut its doors over the last few weeks with no explanation. The vendors suspect that it mya have come under 'new management', a term they use with just the right undertone to suggest that everything may not be legal if it is. In any case, the vendors apologise and make promises they will hold back a shotpistol for Jerol when they next receive a shipment...
Lion's roll, 3 degrees.
Opposed roll, 1 degree.
After his extremely poor success at acquiring the shot pistol, Jerols mood was sour. However upon hearing the news that the factory had mysteriously shut down, his curiosity peaked. Firstly however he could really use some hot shot ammo. He remembered using it back on his home world. The satisfaction of feeling the entire pack emptied in one shot, the kickback was something to behold. He set about trying to find some, hoping that his luck was better this time around.
Luck was with Jerol this time around, the second person he talked to knew exactly the right people and within 20 minutes he had secured a contract for as much hot shot ammo as he ever needed. Now, time to investigate that factory....
As he headed out into the port he decided to head for the nearest headquarter for the machine cult, if anyone would know where he could find access to large quantities of weapons it should most likely be them.
** spoiler omitted **
Havelock is aware the Adeptus Mechanicus maintain a strong holding on Port Wander, both to help keep the massive space station available in order for its Explorator fleets able to explore the Koronus Expanse, and to monitor the items that pass through the port, in case they are heretical in nature.
Havelock knew where to find the Mechanicus officials; and as a fellow Explorator, Havelock had a good chance of being able to acquire and import weaponry in time to supply the Void Wolf through the Mechanicus.
Lion gives no more details upon the exact destination but hints that it is farther in.Lion finishes by requesting to set up a formal meeting to finish arranging details with the Rogue Trader if House Heimlich were amendable to the deal.
After some pleasant negotiation over the course of a week, various concessions are made, mostly in favour of the Demetrius Dynasty. You appear to be fairly close to sealing the deal, provided things all go smoothly in the closing stages...
Luck was with Jerol this time around, the second person he talked to knew exactly the right people and within 20 minutes he had secured a contract for as much hot shot ammo as he ever needed. Now, time to investigate that factory....
Venturing into the underdecks, you are aware of eyes following your progress everywhere you go, and hive thugs scurrying in the alleys, looking for signs of weakness...
Quashing her worries Minerva stood waiting until finally the Rogue Trader emerged from his quaters. Dropping to her knees she bowed and then looked up at her master. Something had changed about him he seemed somehow more,... reliable.
Come, Minerva. I am sure there must be something of value I can acquire for my collections in the Court of the Dead, and i'm sure you could always use more bionics or augmentation.
With a flourish of his fine cloak, the master of the Dynasty begins to walk towards the closest exit to the dock.
[ooc]I am giving that one up for any acquisitions the Dynasty needs to make (weapons, trade goods, mercs, etc.)
Havelock is quite pleased all in all, the strong standing of the mechanicus cult in port wander more or less assured that if the good he needed were not available today, then by the time they returned next they would certainly be.
As he steered his steps towards the temples of the Omnisiah he considered his course, it would make more sense to barging for items of personal use first, to set the ground, because a large supply of weapons, like las guns might take a little more time.
As he entered the shrine that served as headquarter of the cult mechanicus he bowed his head in supplication, then he removed his shoes and humble began to approach the officials in the temple.
"Brothers, explorator Iacton seeks an audience for the purpose of acquiring the service of the machine spirit..."
After making introductions he will set up a meeting between Lion and the head official to make negotiations on his behalf.
As the tech priests are probably going to provide boring company for Lion, he will make sure that the food makes up for the tediousness.
After successfully negotiating for a personal item, Havelock begins to make the much more difficult negotiation for a large supply of weaponry. He negotiates for a large number of lasguns, with ready installed melee attachments, since he fear that to increase the quality of the guns he goes for standard pattern lasguns.
Jerol could see the people scurrying around him. He decided it would probably not be the best idea to draw his gun and provoke a fight, instead he should try and scare them off. He made sure his long las was very visible on his back and that they could clearly see his bolt pistol. He tried to stand as straight as possible, puffing out his chest to maximise his size, he just hoped it was enough.
Instead of looking threatening, Jerol instead looks like an idiot as he stumbles over his own feet. He regained his balance almost instantly but his illusion was broken, he hardly looked threatening at all.
1d100
While the Adeptus Mechanicus were happy for Havelock to acquire a single weapon, the Mechanicus prove wary and a little suspicous of any endeavour that would require so many lasguns in the Koronus Expanse, even with one of their own supporting the endeavour. The contract falls apart at an early stage.
Havelock returns to the ship in frustration, as hard as he had tried to impress the potential of the mission upon the tech priests at the temple, as mule headedly stubborn they had been in refusing to listen.
The strictures of the temple was one of the reasons Havelock had become an explorator in the first place, and he was reminded again how much he preferred to be out there, exploring, rather than being stuck inside a temple letting his mind grow smaller.
He seeks out the rogue trader.
"I fear my attempts to procure the las weapons mentioned in the data slates met with failure, I am convinced my brethren have the supplies we need, but they do not wish to part with them my captain, we would need to acquire them from an alternate source."
Lion having spent a week of negotiations on the matter, prepares for Rogue Trader Demetrius to come and present his Warrant as signatory for the deal seeing the transfer of the troops to the Void Wolf for their expedition.
Lion had to review and make several promises of purchase to the House Heimlich and promises of gainful employment for members of the House amongst some of the Rogue Trader's secondary vessels but the troops would be needed if conquest was required.
Lion takes the time to book an appropriate 'neutral' location in Port Wanderer to avoid any associations other than the proper discussion of business.
He reviews the list for both parties to make sure that the Void Wolf has an equivalent person for every person that House Heimlich proposes to bring to the table.
It was all very worrisome and Lion was sure that he would need several days of quiet passage to regain his fading health. How was a man of his bulk supposed to maintain his health with all these trips arranging things?
Finally, the negotiations set, Lion prepared Thule for the meeting with data slates reviewing the contracts, concessions, terms, and high points of the deal.
Lion can not help but take a solid slug of brandy as the final signatures and seal are attached to the documents. It had been a long week but a profitable week for the Demetrius Warrant.
Accompanying Thule, her master to the meeting with Lion, Minerva felt on edge. Despite the initial impression she had had when he had emerged from his quaters earlier that evening he had begun muttering under his breath. Was this some taint of chaos? Had his mind cracked when the mutants had been dragging him away? She would need to think. How best to protect him if his worst enemy was himself?
Back aboard the Void Wolf, Praetia contemplates these primitive societies mentioned in the 'slates. Why would they worship this "A.I.?" How could she use this information to make the troglodytes see the Light and worship the Emperor as the one, true God of Man.
Nothing from her training comes to mind, as more often than not, conversion involved killing a large number of violent heretics and forcing conversions among the survivors. If the shoe fits...
Lion started reviewing the data slates and what other things they could fill the Void Wolf's holds.
They had achieved better then getting lasguns in acquiring the troops. They now had lasguns with legs. If worse came to worse then he was sure he could barter with the commander with the division to sell some of the lasguns after they had reached the planet and were sure they wouldn't need the troops any further.
That still left the question of what to fill the holds of the Void Wolf.
It was at this time that Lion like to remember his learning from his Academic days. One of his favour books was a series of sayings attributed to 'The Wise Merchant'.
It was collection of suggestions that successful traders had followed for millennium making it one of the most popular business books in the Imperium and a core book for seneshals to study.
One particular teaching came to his mind now, "The Wise Merchant pays with wine instead of coin."
The strategist, Haddon, had remarked that when hiring mercenaries to expect them to drink their weight in alcohol every month. Lion expected that was probably unless you were considering the true water washed swill of the lower hives. Lion had read a report that measured the quality of alcohol compared to plant peelings. The report stated that a mug of peelings often had more alcohol then the five most common brands of alcohol available for purchase.
Still, Haddon did have a point. If the Void Wolf was going to be transporting a division of mercenaries then it wouldn't be long before their natural desire for vice would be causing them to brew up just about anything they could think to get a mild high off of. It was far better to have a ready supply with the Void Wolf.
This was where the teachings of the Wise Merchant paid off. If you control the supply of alcohol then you need far less hard currency on hand to cover payroll.
Haddon had in his work further noted that mercenaries spend often fifty to ninety percent of their pay on alcohol. If the merchant sold them the alcohol then they could recapture most of that money. There was also a further saving to the merchant as the raw materials to make the alcohol were often far cheaper then the price the alcohol was finally sold to the troops.
Haddon estimated that a Rogue Trader could purchase the same size army that a governor might purchase for as little as a tenth of the price. Lion felt the number on the low side but he could easily see a fifty to eighty percent savings after the Imperium got its throne on the sale of the alcohol.
Lion reviewed the stocks of alcohol and raw materials that alcohol could be brewed from. He noted that the Kronus sector was blessed with Ploin Juice. The substance was even noted as a 'cure all' for a variety of diseases and infections. It was a solid benefit when selling the product to the masses.
Lion went and started to make inquiries on how much of the juice in various states he could get his hands upon.
What the mercenaries didn't drink he was certain would make great sales to the primitives of the planet.
There was a military proverb that went, "More kingdoms have been captured with a wineskin then have been captured by the sword."
Lion was happy to see that he had found a trader with full loads of Ploin Juice just as the price had plummeted.
It was beginning to look like it might be a profitable week.
'Excellent work Lion! This shall help "lubricate" our negotiations with the primitives. Quint could learn a few things! Any progress on the cheap stubbers or translators?'
Your search reveals little, but some discreet questioning and lines of inquiry Lion makes reveals that allegedly, some of the crew of the weapons batteries are the ones distributing xenos charms.
Lion looks at the tablets and sighs.
He thought he worked hard enough Navigating the ship through the void of space. Evidently navigating the crew through the dangers of Port Wanderer were just part of his job.
'I have a couple of leads and contacts at the moment. The stubbers should be no trouble but I'm not even certain what language those primitives might have devolved to speaking. The Emperor knows that they may be writing with feces on walls and calling it art the way some of them are found prior to embracing the Emperor's light.'
'Have no worry, I'll be there for the meeting. I have a few thoughts on what we might do to bring the bastards out of their Xeno worshiping caves they've squirrelled away in the guns.'
"It is good to see the holds being filled with trade goods, a ship as proud as the Void's wolf should never be left idle for too long, the machine spirit enjoys its work and needs to be occupied. But there is still more room even with the troops, the ploin juice and the new Aquila. I only regret that my own brethren should be so stubborn and less supportive than Praetias."
Lion looked at the next item on the supply lists.
It called for Photovisors to provide night fighting capability. It was a popular item amongst hunters and military soldiers.
Lion looked at the specified model on the data slate and cringed. It was clear that someone with a military background had put in the order. It called for a high end variety with photo flash dampers, environmental compensation, and integrated range finding capability.
Lion snorted and thought, he might as well be handing out Space Marine helmets.
It was at times like this he liked to remember the wisdom, "The Wise Merchant never sells what the client wants."
It was one of those sayings that seemed to go against the 'natural' order of business. A merchant that doesn't have what the client wants won't make sales, is the normal thinking.
The truth of business was that the client will often purchase from what is available. If the client has a choice of a cheap copy of a product or no product then they will often buy the cheap copy. You don't always have to have the perfect good to make a sale.
The saying also taught that a merchant should carry other things then the product they are known for carrying. A wine merchant should carry glasses for wine to be served in and de-corkers to open the bottles. A nice furniture set to sit in while someone drinks the wine is just added sales that the person buying the wine didn't know they might want or need.
That being said, Lion, changed the specified model on the order sheet to a cheaper model that he was more likely to obtain in the numbers to provide for the division and leave some for sales to the primitives.