Gaius remains impassive in the cloying darkness, though for a moment he seems to purr with pleasure.
"Agreed, Magos. And rationality is far preferable to a lack there of, even if it's a twisted rationality."
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Gaius considers a moment, tilting his head as if listening to someone whispering in his ear. He nodded once before speaking, "I bid the original copy of 'The Observations and Musings of Nomenthraite the Mad,' as well as the dais it was penned on." Where Gaius found the original copy of the The Observations and its dais is anybody's guess. A tome of lore long-deemed heretical, possession of third hand copies would be sufficient to attract inquisitorial attention in Imperial space. Nomenthraite was a heretic and sorcerer of some note in the late 36th millennium and was the leader of a cult that took its lessons from the demon-primarch Fulgrim. The original tome is said to have been penned on vellum taken from still living Eldar farseers and inked in the writer's own blood. The dais was supposed to have been crafted from the defiled bones of Imperial saints and the site of some of the most twisted prayers and rituals to the Prince of Excess.
"What do we know of these 'Witches?' Are they Xenos, Heretics, simply flamboyant?"
Gaius smiled thinking of Charlabelle, "Here's hoping that she and I can mix business and pleasure." he murmured before turning his head to one side as if listening to someone and giving a slight shiver. He gathered his staff around him, "We'll need something to bid with. I have a few rare tomes in my library, perhaps some rare experience we could offer, or some information is always good but limited in value by who seeks it. Thoughts?"
Congrats brother
Gaius took the offered glass with a smile, "A pleasure to meet you, Madame Charlabelle Armelan. No, the Vostroyan is new to me, as with much else here. I noticed such lovely company and found myself drawn in too fast to take in anything else." His blue eyes sparkled. "I'm not entirely sure what to think of our host, though playing warrant holders against one another can be a very dangerous game. I wonder just what his intentions are, if it's just profit then I find him boorish. If it's entertainment, then perhaps he is a kindred spirit." He paused a moment, what he didn't say would fill volumes. He eyed his companion, "It would be a shame to be at such a gala with a beautiful woman and not dance some, care to join me?" He extended a hand and delivered a disarming grin.
Gaius entered with a flourish becoming his station. His first stop was the delicacies and epicurean delights. Sampling a few, and finding them to his liking, he made small talk with a few of the other guests. He found his eye drawn to the woman in green and began thinking of other hungers. He sauntered toward the woman and her companion, finding a glass of amasec along the way, and introduced himself with a slight bow. "My ladies, may I be so bold as to present myself. I am Gaius of the house Valerii, and who may I say I have the pleasure to be speaking to?"
At Artorius's insult, Gaius pouts and holds a hand to his chest, "How you wound me nephew, but yes feel free to announce him first. Save the best for last." With that a grin creases his lips.
"'His Grace' should do for me, no need to rattle off my titles, we'll be here long into the night otherwise."
Gaius emerges from the lander, his armsmen moving to take up guard stations by the off ramp. His attire is a faux navy uniform of the highest quality and his dress sword and pistol are holstered neatly on a hand-tooled leather belt fashioned from rare leather. He's adorned himself with a gold chain about his shoulder, sapphire earrings, and rings with inset diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Mascara brings out his blue eyes and he appears to be wearing rouge to accentuate his cheekbones.
I'm ok with you handling perception and initiative. Also how you'll handle rerolls, though I rarely spend fate on init if that helps.
Back on the Will, Gaius remains in his library as a pair of armsmen and any senior staff who wished to attend look on. He is largely silent for sometime, drumming his fingers on the table while examining his books. "Not the information I was hoping for. Alright, let's try a different tack." He taps his voxbead to link to his command channel, "Hexa to my quarters, I'll need a report. Emilio, Zoggit, grab a few armsmen and attend to some houses of ill repute, see if you can scrape up any information from the courtesans. Master Tyboris, I'd like you to see what the machine spirits can dredge up about the other warrant holders. Master of the Vox, give me a direct, encrypted line to my nephew." Once the line was established with Artorius he began, "First, let's assume our competition know that we work together but not give them the satisfaction. We'll go in separately and act somewhat hostile to each other, if anyone asks there was some business deal that soured. See what we can tease out of them if they think we can be drawn away from one another. Second, let's see about coming at this from different angles. You've a more pious reputation than me, see about taking the high road and I'll take the low? Meet in the middle and squeeze the opposition."
Gaius thought for a few moments, "May have to consult my library on this Lord-Admiral, see if I have anything written about him. I suspect that while longarms are discouraged no offense will be taken with dress blades and discreet pistols?"
Gaius reclined a moment, taking in Uncle's information. "Always good to know the competition, and good to know our host, the liege of Footfall, has such flexible loyalties." He thought a moment, "We should have an advantage in numbers against the other warrant holders, not many have a relationship as friendly as ours. Tonight, let's indulge and in the morning send our respective agents out to gather what information we can. Uncle, do we know if these other traders have already arrived and, if so, where they have set anchor?"
After getting a point of contact Gaius goes to the Jade Garden. Upon reaching the restaurant he turns to his entourage. "Armsmen, stay out here. Keep watch for anything... interesting and vox me if something happens. Emilio, Hexa, Zoggit, Tyboris, you're all coming with me." With that he sweeps in. Gaius spies Septimus Batiatus and smiles, now things are beginning to come together. "Ah, Uncle Septimus, a pleasure to see you once more. Leave it to you to select a place of such epicurean delights as this. How is your eldest? Still serving in the Battlefleet? You must call me when he completes his tour, I have need of men of naval talent aboard the Will."
"If it's not a trap then I'll be mildly surprised. Hopefully with two orks around as well as Emilio any ambuscade will be dealt with shortly." As he finds a seat at the bar Gaius orders an amasec for himself and something appropriate for the orks, jet fuel perhaps? "The message was to come to Footfall, we're here now. I trust that we'll find out why soon."
Gaius waits in a nearby bar while his agents find out where his mysterious contact wants to meet, as well as any information they can procure.
MIU weapon mounts are really just dependent on what you stick them on. I think a basic human with a mount gets up to pistol size stuff, big boys and Astartes basic weapons. Though if you have a way to transport it a heavy weapon might not be out of reach.
"Oh, surely we can smooth this over. You see those orks are less threatening than they look. Why, they're basically just big cuddly green puppies. I mean just look in Hexa's soulful eyes or Zoggit's regal purple regalia, he is so trying to be like the humans he idolizes. And why should you be so concerned with the Will, it's just a simple trading vessel, not some ship of war. Why, perhaps you can come aboard and avail yourself of some of the pleasures such a ship can provide, fine amasec perhaps? Or some simply tantalizing lho? Perhaps a night of entertainment in the lower decks where the crew likes to let off steam."
Comversion Fields are dandy, a weapon MIU (Shoulder mounted pistol) might be worth considering or a good quality Bionic Respiratory System (Full life support and +2 armor to body) or good quality Cyber Eyes (Dark sight and +10 to Perception(sight) rolls) might be worth looking at. Just some thoughts, I don't want to pressure you, just point out something you might not have considered.
Gaius touched a hand to his voxbead to listen in on his new seneshal and frowned, "Sextus, I'll deal with port authority, you keep the crew in check it's the new bloods first time in Footfall." He found the dockmaster's office and attempted to smooth things over while an armsman looked on casually.
As the airlock opens a squad of naval armsmen spill out and post at attention in neat parallel lines. Gaius emerges with a pair of shotgun toting ratings flanking him, head held high. He turns to Tyboris, "Restricted leave in rotating shifts, subject to section heads' approval. Everyone is to stay within 30 minutes walk of the ship, if we need to run that's how long everyone has to get back aboard. Senior officers act at their own discretion. Now, let's find out who wanted to lure us here."
Gaius is in and out of the bridge during the exploration of the system, returning to his apartments at regular intervals. On each return he ensures that the bridge crew have had opportunity to eat and refresh themselves or have rotated out for their shifts rather than overworking themselves, even bringing Tyboris a cup of kaf himself. Gaius ensures that he is on the bridge when the Will emerges from the warp in Footfall space. Upon being hailed he smiles while lighting a quality lho stick, As Lord Artorius said, this is Rogue Trader Gaius Valerius Metallus Tenebrae of the Indomitable Will, under warrant of trade in the name of the Glorious Emperor of Man.
Gaius eyes Hexa as he enters the bridge, bemusement in his eyes, "Combat, trading, bit of both, can never be sure out here. The message we received was quite cryptic. I'm kinda of hoping we get some dust up going, the Will is finally fully repaired and stocked since that warp storm and he needs to stretch his legs." Gaius snapped his fingers and a menial brought over a glass of amasec as Tyboris entered the bridge. "No forgiveness required, Number One. The Will's got more xenos tech than most ships and I suspect it takes more than the average tender ministrations to coax him along." Zoggit and Emilio enter shortly after Gaius lights a lho stick to accompany his amasec, "Not angry Zoggit, restless and wary. I'm half expecting an ambush. On that not, Emilio if you would be so kind as to relieve the weapons officer, he's been at his station for well over eight hours and needs to go get some recreation and sleep." As Tyboris reports the auger readings Gaius has reached peak comfort with amasec and lho, "Hmm, looks like we're a little off course... No matter, just means money to be made. Looks like my nephew is moving to investigate these gas giants and intends to match speed with the Will, OK, we'll oblige him. Helm, keep the drives on a leash and set a speed that the Victus Rex can keep up with. We'll let him take the lead and if some nastiness arrives we'll jump out to deal with the problem. Tyboris, take the augers and give us a scan of the planets, keep an eye on our tail as well, no sense in being incautious." Gaius touched a stud on his command throne and opened a channel to the navigator's cocoon, [b]"Master navigator, I want a course for Footfall worked out before we're done checking the first world and I want it confirmed by the second. Thank you."[b]
Hexa: That would be up to the DM but it sounds good to me. I was honestly leaning toward having you as Master at Arms, Zoggit as Chief Bosun, and Emilio as Master of Ordinance. Despite the rank restriction on orks those are probably easily explainable as something they could fill easily enough. DM: Can the "Cost is No Object" rule be used on initial requisitions? Will/can NPCs fill unused parts of the rank structure?
Tyboris: I'm happy to have you as First Officer My Crew: Whoever wants a title speak up, otherwise I'll assign as needed.
Gaius stirs in his bed, stretching the rigors of the night away. He sits up and looks at his companion of the previous night, a slight smile creasing his too young, rejuvenat touched face. She yet sleeps and it would be such an unkindness to wake her. Edging from the bed he lets the young woman rest and draws a warm bath infused with perfumed oils for himself. His body is fit and tall, but quite lean, the body of a scholar who keeps fit rather than any true warrior or athlete. When he is done bathing, he stands at a millennia old mirror. Gaius is greeted by his own sparkling blue eyes and golden hair, a strong jaw and high, prominent cheek bones make his smile stand out. Entering his wardrobe, Gaius selects two rings for each hand, simple in design but with exquisite craftsmanship. A white silk shirt goes under his black bodyglove, which itself is concealed beneath finely worked carapace armor. A hand-tooled grox leather holster is attached at his right thigh and the plasma pistol within hums to life as he thumbs the safety. His left hip hangs more heavily, a thin-bladed rapier with the telltale wiring of a power field generator running along its length rests there. Last, he affixes his cloak with a small golden pin, the cloak itself made of the hides of myriad xenos. Leaving his apartments, the rogue trader is immediately flanked by a pair of his armsmen bearing shotguns. The walk to the bridge is short, only the navigator's quarters are closer. A few menials greet him as he ascends the throne and receives the morning's reports. "Hmm, seems that my nephew reached the system first." Gaius speaks more to himself than the vox officer at his side, "Augers, check and see who else is in system. Vox, hail Victus Rex and send Artorius my regards. Weapons officer, maintain power until Active Augury is done. And would someone please get the master of the tech priests, my bodyguards, and my chief advisers to the bridge? I should not be the only one up here."
Tyboris: A good craftsmanship MIU might actually be the best thing you can get for the group. I'm going to be relying on your techuse to fix the xenos-touched, warp benighted raider *cough*pirate*cough* ship that we call home. Hexa: Yeah, that's why I'm wanting to up our NPC crew quality.
I'd like to acquire some "Ostentatious Displays of Wealth," "Crew Improvements," or might grab some cybernetics. The things that would require GM approval and some PF burnt are higher quality Ostentatious Displays or a "Storm Trooper Detachment" (reskinned a little bit), (EDIT:) or higher quality crew, spending PF on veteran NPC crew may be well worth it.
Just need to do initial requisition/equipment which I wanted to coordinate with the others on my crew. Are we doing the basic "One Acquisition of no more than +0 mod," "One major acquisition and however many common items that you feel like," or something else? I wanted to see if you would allow us to spend a few PF to get something with slightly higher rarity?
Edit: Ninja'd Yeah, we're intermarried.
I think it should be said that I want everyone, the question is how to balance the crews. I think the way we have it set up gives both RTs well balanced retinues. Both ships can fulfill a variety of roles and should be extremely dangerous together, especially if the Turbulent knocks out the enemies void shields with its disruption cannons and then the Indomitable Will goes in for the kill. Now that ships are chosen and crew are picked I'd like to start eyeing initial requisitions. GM: Are we doing the "pick one and get it" or "pick one and all the common items you want" or something more esoteric for initial requisition?
GM: yeah, I'll go with the raider. Can always play this like I do Sid Meyers Pirates and "acquire" and cruiser later :) My crew has the two orks and Tyboris, assuming the new guy is an explorator, I'll take Emilio as well. Artorius: Yell is but an euphemism, I "inspire" my minions. The raider is, I think, better for now. More flexible for the time being and if we run into some heretic with a pretty ship seizing it will be much easier.
I'm happy to have another player, might rebalance the crews a bit, though. A second explorator would give both ships a tech guy and allow for them to collaborate. So that sounds good. As long as we don't end up with a third (Rogue Trader, Ork, Arch Militant), I'm all for it. Redundancy is nice but we have uncovered bases that are currently filled with scrut crewmen so if anyone wants to play a navigator then I'll welcome them with open arms. Our ships are fast in the warp, but we're going to run into a bunch of warp phenomenona. That said, play what you want, elite advances and advance packages are there to cover the uncovered and me and Artorius can yell at scruts to make them succeed.
With slight reskin for background's sake. The Indomitable Will: Heavy Raider Edition Basic Stats:
Class: Meritech Shrike Hull: Raider Speed: 10 Maneuverability: +27 Detection: +25 Hull Integrity: 29 Armor: 16 Turret Rating: 2 Space: 35 SP: 34 Weapon Capacity: 1 Prow, 1 Dorsal Advanced Cogitator Linkage: +5 to BS tests to fire ships weaponry.
Essential Components plus Mandatory Xenotech:
Plasma Drive: Modified Jovian Class 2 Drive, 45 Power Generated, 29 Space Remaining Warp Engine: Miloslav G-616.b, 37 Power, 19 Space Gellar Field: Warpsbane Hull, 36 Power, +2 SP Void Shields: Single Void Shield Array, 31 Power, 18 Space Ship's Bridge: Command Bridge, 29 Power, 17 Space, +1 SP Life Sustainers: Vitae Pattern, 25 Power, 15 Space Crew Quarters: Voidsmen Quarters, 24 Power, 12 Space Auger Arrays: Mark 201.b Array, 19 Power Xenostech: Dorsal Shard Cannon, 9 Space, +3 SP SP Used: 43 Weapons:
Dorsal: Shard Cannon Prow: Titanforge Lance Weapon, 5 Space, 10 Power, +2 SP SP Used: 45 Additional Components:
Archeotech: Teleportarium, 4 Space, 9 Power, +1 SP Murder Servitors, 3 Space, 8 Power, +1 SP Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay, 1 Space, 8 Power, +1 SP Melodium, 0 Space, 7 Power, +1 SP Augmented Retro Thrusters, 4 Power, +2 SP SP Used: 51 So, we have a raider with high maneuverability and good armament. Designed to do hit and run attacks at a +45 and pick a result from 1-6, including teleportarium. PF on this ends up at 37 without any other mods or characters affecting it (I add +1 to starting PF, think someone else subtracts). Still some power left over and we can invest some more SP to free up space by getting better crafted components. PF on light cruiser ends up at 24-26. Plenty of power and space left over though.
Yeah, I'd like to end up with a flotilla of 5-9 ships eventually. Including, but not limited to: a battle cruiser, light cruiser/workhorse, escort carrier, a few frigates/raiders, and 1 giant transport/mobile station. The light cruiser as presented isn't dressed to the nines but has all the basics and a couple of toys. The raider I'm thinking of will be terrifying for its size, but very much a glass cannon. The question is how do you want to initially grow, upgrades to existing ship or new ships to fleet? On the note of command, Gaius already has a base 61 on command tests without modifiers and I've not advanced Fellowship at all, after just a few XP I'll be easily pulling most command rolls. Also, pre game we will all have some opportunity for Acquisition, these don't have to be personal items but can be ship based. Remember that we represent a whole organization and have a lot more power than Dark Heresy characters of the same XP value, we may also have more indirect power than Deathwatch characters (Black Ceusade can be a toss up, some of those guys have huge networks of allies and minions) Question for GM: I'm away from books at the moment so can't recall the name of it, but are we using the rank structure thing from Into the Storm?
See, there in lay the rub. Smaller ship means more PF which means it's easier to get stuff. Getting a shell of a wrecked up cruiser and outfitting properly might actually be easier to do later than limp along initially. Also, it might be better to get a kitted out small ship than an under strength large one because it MAY be easier/faster to make money in the little ship. I'll see about writing up the Raider later, hopefully tonight, I have classes and work today and might end up getting called in to pull the latter half of a twelve hour overnight later.
Yeah, the sails were a matter of some internal debate. The issue with the Xenostech is that it is a guaranteed SP drain, I was trying to save some SP for other components as just getting a Light Cruiser hurts bad. I thought about the torpedo tubes but the Lance caught my eye because we won't need to do Acquisition rolls just to rearm and after the Macrobatteries unleash and rip up some void shields we can carve the enemy up like a turkey. I also thought about a bombardment cannon because I find it amusing, but I'm twisted like that. Now, that being said, I'm also looking at the Meritech Shrike-class Raider. It's on the heavy end of Raiders and kinda terrifying if kitted out properly. It would save a lot of SP, the free xenostech could be a shard cannon and then slap a lance on for above tactic (or grab a ghost field and be nigh untouchable). Has more space than most ships of its size and gives a +5 on BS tests to fire its weapons. Also its about as fast as it gets with sails and is super maneuverable. Downside is space will be tight.
The Indomitable Will Basic Stats:
Class: Dauntless Hull: Light Cruiser Speed: 7 Maneuverability: +15 Detection: +20 Hull Integrity: 60 Armor: 19 Turret Rating: 1 Space: 60 SP: 55 Weapon Capacity: 1 Prow, 1 Port, 1 Starboard Essential Components plus Mandatory Xenotech:
Plasma Drive: Jovian Pattern Class 3, 60 Power Generated, 48 Space Left Warp Engine: Miloslav H616.b warp engine, 50 Power left, 36 Space Gellar Field: Warpsbane Hull, 49 power, +2 SP Void Shields: Single Void Shield Array, 44 Power, 35 Space Ship's Bridge: Command Bridge, 41 Power, 33 Space, +1 SP Life Sustainers: Clemency Pattern Life Sustainer, 36 Power, 28 Space Crew Quarters: Voidsmen Quarters, 34 Power, 24 Space Auger Arrays: Mark-201.b, 29 Power Xenostech: Micro Laser Defense Grid, 27 Power, +2 SP SP Used: 58 Weapons:
Port and Starboard: Mars Pattern Macrocannon Broadsides, 19 Power, 14 Space, +2 SP Prow: Titanforge Lance Weapon, 10 Power, 10 Space, +2 SP SP Used: 62 OK, tear loose guys. We have 2 SP left and no Cargo Hold, yet. Lots of stuff I want but not many SP to go around. Have 10 Power and 10 Space Remaining. Could drop the Warpsbane Hull but that feels like tempting fate, Required to take xenostech and they aren't any cheaper. Weapons are fairly minimal. Could Drop down to a frigate or just play the long game and pickup components later. Thoughts?
Warrant of the House Valerii and the Starship Indomitable Will:
Warrant Age: Age of Apostasy SP8 PF6 Fortune and Fame: Stable SP8 PF6 Acquisition: Administratum Trade Mandate SP10 PF4 Sanction: Age of Plunder SP12 PF2 Contacts: Battlefleet SP12 PF2 Warrant Renown: Famous SP14 PF4 Initial SP 64, PF 24 Blasphemous Tendencies Xenophilious
So everyone knows, me and Artorius are individually plugging away at the ships. Once I've got mine about 90% done I'll put it up for my crew to see and for final suggestions/alterations and approval. I'm eyeing a Light Cruiser but might scale down or up.
Profile Up, need to do gear but I'll wait on pre-game acquisition rolls before I mess with that. Artorius: Now that Emilio is complete, do you want the fifth crew member or would you like me to get them? Query: Is Battlefleet Koronus a valid sourcebook when we build our ships? Cause I made the mistake of reading it and I'm kinda drooling. |