Captain's Log, Rogue Trader vessel Lance of Perdition
Nov 14, 2014 3:24:54 GMT
Lord Harrab likes this
Post by coolyo294 on Nov 14, 2014 3:24:54 GMT
From here on I'll be writing up each session my rogue trader group does in the style of a captain's log
Rogue Trader Cornelius Vanderbilt is my character.
More info on the dynasty, the ship, and the rogue trader here
Into the Maw (MISSION 1)
432.861.M41 (Session 1)
Upon docking in Port Wander, we were met with the typical barrage of envoys and messages from the ranking Imperial powers on the station. Most of these were merely necessary annoyances to be dealt with by Victrix, but one message stood out to me. It was coded in noble House of Vanderbilt’s personal encryption signature, with the sender claiming to be a servant of my Dynasty. It should go without saying that my interest was piqued.
After the fees, regulations, and endless paperwork associated with docking were dealt with, I arranged a meeting with this man in the Court of the Dead. His name was Orbest Drey, a shabby looking fellow to be sure but undeniably a servant of my family. According to him he served many years ago as a deck officer aboard the Emperor’s Testament, a ship in my great-grandfather’s fleet. During a particularly foul expedition, the Testament was blown off-course by a warp storm. But by the grace of the God-Emperor, the ship stumbled into an uncharted system that happened to be the final resting place of the legendary lost treasure ship the Righteous Path. As a loyal servant of the Vanderbilt Dynasty, the ship’s captain elected not to recover the ship then and there but make a map and return to Port Wander so he could inform my great grandfather of the monumental discovery. But when my august relative did not return from the expedition, the captain entrusted Drey with the map and left him on Port Wander before setting sail into the Expanse to search for his master. He too never returned.
Drey waited for years, patiently anticipating the return of the dynasty so he could pass on the information he had been given (sidenote: speak with Victrix about arranging compensation for Drey and passage back to the estate on Scintilla). Now stewardship of this information has been passed on to me. The map is an astropathic mnemolith, a smooth black stone psychically impregnated with a message that revealed to me the way to the Righteous Path.
Unfortunately our discussion with Drey were cut short by a band of autopistol-wielding ruffians that we later discovered were in service to the Fal Dynasty (Emperor curse that wretched name). Thanks to the skills of the ever-reliable Arch-Militant Grant and my own plasma pistol we made short work the assailants with no injuries to our own party, but during the fighting a psyber-raven snatched the mnemolith from Drey’s hand and flew a short distance before dropping it into the crowd. My astropath Echo reported that a psyker named Lady Ash read the mnemolith during this time, confirming my fears that someone else is aware and pursuing the Righteous Path. Given the affiliation of my attackers, Rogue Trader Hadrak Fel (a thousand curses upon his blighted lineage) is the most likely suspect.
Arbites were on hand shortly after to arrest the surviving attackers. We were taken to the precinct-station, but by dint of the Warrant I bear my compatriots and I were treated with a degree of respect and the mnemolith was returned to our care. Unfortunately the Arbites refused to move against Fel without more concrete evidence proving that he ordered the attack. Not wanting to pursue open conflict within the confines of Port Wander, I was forced to accept their refusal and move on.
Back aboard the Lance of Perdition I had Echo examine the mnemolith in more detail. He entered a trance as soon as he touched the stone’s smooth surface before coming to a moment later and reporting what he saw. “A flickering star surrounded by a nebula and vast stretches of void, circled by a dust world and a frozen halo,” were his exact words. This map was not as clear as I had hoped it would be, though hopefully this will give that bastard Fel (may he burn in damnation) equal pause. Regardless, a short consultation with the Naval records at Port Wander gave clarity to Echo’s words and revealed our destination to be the planet Magoros within Winterscale’s Realm.
As I finish this entry, the Lance of Perdition is making all the preparations necessary to break dock with Port Wander and head out into the Expanse. May the Emperor protect us and guide us to glory on our journey.
Signed,
Lord Captain Cornelius Sebastian Agrippus Vanderbilt XII
432.861.M41 (Session 2)
After departing from Port Wander and making the jump into warp space, we eventually arrived at the Maw. That vile passage was in full swing, roiling with furious storms and eddies as my navigator reported it. He advised we wait the storm out, but that could take anywhere from a week to months and with Fel hot on our trail we simply did not have that time to spare. Girding our souls, we entered the hellish abyss. It was not a calm journey for the mind or body, but through the expert skills of Master Helmsman Alteraz and Navigator Bix we emerged at the midway point unscathed. After seven days in the warp the relief of the crew was palpable.
Almost immediately after translating back to realspace Lieutenant Stubbs reported that the vox was picking up a weak distress beacon coming from a debris field. According to Stubbs the origin of the broadcast was a pilgrim vessel but I ordered the guns readied just in case it did turn out to be an ambush. Unfortunately, my paranoia was justified. As soon as we approached the pilgrim vessel a “leech mine” as Chief Enginseer Yorke called it impacted on the Lance's hull. The mine’s foul systems leaked power from the motive-reactors, dramatically reducing our speed as we readied for a fight.
Two nimble Wolfpack-pattern raiders suddenly appeared on the auger array. With their systems cold and silent, the tiny ships had appeared no different than any of the clusters of debris that floated through the field on our scanners. But there was no mistaking their identities once they fired their plasma drives and ran out their guns. Emboldened by the successful mine attack the raiders hurtled recklessly towards us, firing all their weapons as quickly as they could. Their accuracy was terrible and most of the shots missed. Those that didn’t impacted harmlessly on our void shields.
I attempted to hail one of the vessels, hoping to come to an amicable ceasefire, but my communications were quite rudely rebuked and any trace of goodwill I had been feeling towards these ruffians evaporated. And unfortunately for my opponents, a pirate raider is no match for a venerable warship like the Lance. The fight was of little regard and ended with the pair fleeing into the warp after sustaining substantial damage. I do feel a twinge of sympathy for the raider that was set aflame, as Lieutenant Stubbs reported that both their life sustainer and command bridge had been set aflame. If the fire and lack of oxygen doesn’t kill them, the horrors that dwell in that Emperor-forsaken realm will. Truly a fate worse than death.
With the ambushers out of the way we were free to conduct rescue operations with the pilgrim vessel. Though they had little to offer us in terms of material wealth, it was my duty as an Emperor-fearing servant of the Imperium to rescue them from certain doom. Now with our holds packed to the brim with faithful we set a course to Footfall, where we shall drop off the pilgrims and resupply before setting a new course to Magoros. Surely Father Flynn will be pleased with such a large congregation, though Victrix is less happy with the strain they have put on the ship’s stores. Food will be lean for a while, but such are the sacrifices we must make to serve the Emperor.
Signed,
Lord Captain Cornelius Sebastian Agrippus Vanderbilt XII
Rogue Trader Cornelius Vanderbilt is my character.
More info on the dynasty, the ship, and the rogue trader here
Into the Maw (MISSION 1)
432.861.M41 (Session 1)
Upon docking in Port Wander, we were met with the typical barrage of envoys and messages from the ranking Imperial powers on the station. Most of these were merely necessary annoyances to be dealt with by Victrix, but one message stood out to me. It was coded in noble House of Vanderbilt’s personal encryption signature, with the sender claiming to be a servant of my Dynasty. It should go without saying that my interest was piqued.
After the fees, regulations, and endless paperwork associated with docking were dealt with, I arranged a meeting with this man in the Court of the Dead. His name was Orbest Drey, a shabby looking fellow to be sure but undeniably a servant of my family. According to him he served many years ago as a deck officer aboard the Emperor’s Testament, a ship in my great-grandfather’s fleet. During a particularly foul expedition, the Testament was blown off-course by a warp storm. But by the grace of the God-Emperor, the ship stumbled into an uncharted system that happened to be the final resting place of the legendary lost treasure ship the Righteous Path. As a loyal servant of the Vanderbilt Dynasty, the ship’s captain elected not to recover the ship then and there but make a map and return to Port Wander so he could inform my great grandfather of the monumental discovery. But when my august relative did not return from the expedition, the captain entrusted Drey with the map and left him on Port Wander before setting sail into the Expanse to search for his master. He too never returned.
Drey waited for years, patiently anticipating the return of the dynasty so he could pass on the information he had been given (sidenote: speak with Victrix about arranging compensation for Drey and passage back to the estate on Scintilla). Now stewardship of this information has been passed on to me. The map is an astropathic mnemolith, a smooth black stone psychically impregnated with a message that revealed to me the way to the Righteous Path.
Unfortunately our discussion with Drey were cut short by a band of autopistol-wielding ruffians that we later discovered were in service to the Fal Dynasty (Emperor curse that wretched name). Thanks to the skills of the ever-reliable Arch-Militant Grant and my own plasma pistol we made short work the assailants with no injuries to our own party, but during the fighting a psyber-raven snatched the mnemolith from Drey’s hand and flew a short distance before dropping it into the crowd. My astropath Echo reported that a psyker named Lady Ash read the mnemolith during this time, confirming my fears that someone else is aware and pursuing the Righteous Path. Given the affiliation of my attackers, Rogue Trader Hadrak Fel (a thousand curses upon his blighted lineage) is the most likely suspect.
Arbites were on hand shortly after to arrest the surviving attackers. We were taken to the precinct-station, but by dint of the Warrant I bear my compatriots and I were treated with a degree of respect and the mnemolith was returned to our care. Unfortunately the Arbites refused to move against Fel without more concrete evidence proving that he ordered the attack. Not wanting to pursue open conflict within the confines of Port Wander, I was forced to accept their refusal and move on.
Back aboard the Lance of Perdition I had Echo examine the mnemolith in more detail. He entered a trance as soon as he touched the stone’s smooth surface before coming to a moment later and reporting what he saw. “A flickering star surrounded by a nebula and vast stretches of void, circled by a dust world and a frozen halo,” were his exact words. This map was not as clear as I had hoped it would be, though hopefully this will give that bastard Fel (may he burn in damnation) equal pause. Regardless, a short consultation with the Naval records at Port Wander gave clarity to Echo’s words and revealed our destination to be the planet Magoros within Winterscale’s Realm.
As I finish this entry, the Lance of Perdition is making all the preparations necessary to break dock with Port Wander and head out into the Expanse. May the Emperor protect us and guide us to glory on our journey.
Signed,
Lord Captain Cornelius Sebastian Agrippus Vanderbilt XII
432.861.M41 (Session 2)
After departing from Port Wander and making the jump into warp space, we eventually arrived at the Maw. That vile passage was in full swing, roiling with furious storms and eddies as my navigator reported it. He advised we wait the storm out, but that could take anywhere from a week to months and with Fel hot on our trail we simply did not have that time to spare. Girding our souls, we entered the hellish abyss. It was not a calm journey for the mind or body, but through the expert skills of Master Helmsman Alteraz and Navigator Bix we emerged at the midway point unscathed. After seven days in the warp the relief of the crew was palpable.
Almost immediately after translating back to realspace Lieutenant Stubbs reported that the vox was picking up a weak distress beacon coming from a debris field. According to Stubbs the origin of the broadcast was a pilgrim vessel but I ordered the guns readied just in case it did turn out to be an ambush. Unfortunately, my paranoia was justified. As soon as we approached the pilgrim vessel a “leech mine” as Chief Enginseer Yorke called it impacted on the Lance's hull. The mine’s foul systems leaked power from the motive-reactors, dramatically reducing our speed as we readied for a fight.
Two nimble Wolfpack-pattern raiders suddenly appeared on the auger array. With their systems cold and silent, the tiny ships had appeared no different than any of the clusters of debris that floated through the field on our scanners. But there was no mistaking their identities once they fired their plasma drives and ran out their guns. Emboldened by the successful mine attack the raiders hurtled recklessly towards us, firing all their weapons as quickly as they could. Their accuracy was terrible and most of the shots missed. Those that didn’t impacted harmlessly on our void shields.
I attempted to hail one of the vessels, hoping to come to an amicable ceasefire, but my communications were quite rudely rebuked and any trace of goodwill I had been feeling towards these ruffians evaporated. And unfortunately for my opponents, a pirate raider is no match for a venerable warship like the Lance. The fight was of little regard and ended with the pair fleeing into the warp after sustaining substantial damage. I do feel a twinge of sympathy for the raider that was set aflame, as Lieutenant Stubbs reported that both their life sustainer and command bridge had been set aflame. If the fire and lack of oxygen doesn’t kill them, the horrors that dwell in that Emperor-forsaken realm will. Truly a fate worse than death.
With the ambushers out of the way we were free to conduct rescue operations with the pilgrim vessel. Though they had little to offer us in terms of material wealth, it was my duty as an Emperor-fearing servant of the Imperium to rescue them from certain doom. Now with our holds packed to the brim with faithful we set a course to Footfall, where we shall drop off the pilgrims and resupply before setting a new course to Magoros. Surely Father Flynn will be pleased with such a large congregation, though Victrix is less happy with the strain they have put on the ship’s stores. Food will be lean for a while, but such are the sacrifices we must make to serve the Emperor.
Signed,
Lord Captain Cornelius Sebastian Agrippus Vanderbilt XII