I'm back from Tromsø...we managed to put in a few good sessions while I was there. A more thorough resume will be presented, but here are the highlights:

SHADOWS OVER SCINTILLA

After an uneventful journey the Maiden arrives undercover in the Scintillan system. Haxtes and Maxi head down with Venus in tow, leaving Azhmut as the sole Inquisition representative on the Maiden (if you don't count the two in the brig). They set up shop in Haxtes' whorehouse, then set about gathering some intelligence. Turns out the rumors are true - the Conclave has turned against the Haegum. Something brought about by Xerza's refusal to hand over 'Codename Maiden'. Xerza refused the Conclave entrance, but a traitor (turns out to be Col. Stone, the security chief).

Now the Tricorn has 'Codename Maiden' and Globus Vaarak has been appointed steward of Tancred's assets. Xerza has fled, killing 17 agents (one interrogator included) in the process. The Tricorn has created a special taskforce to hunt her down.

The team manages to join forces with Odessa/Ignace/Jarra who are undercover in the underhive (which in Tarsus is actually the upper parts of the hive). They also manage to exfiltrate Silon and Vern from the Haegum, giving them a potent force to work with.

Eventually they manage to get hold of Col. Stone. He has a message from Xerza. Sort of hard to trust a traitor, but his story does seem plausible and Haxtes feels convinced after torturing him only a little. The message is as follows: They are to oppose Globus and draw attention to themselves while Xerza does...something else.

Xerza's 'something' else turns out to be stealing back Codename Maiden by hi-jacking the shuttle taking her from the Tricorn to Lachesis, one of Scintilla's two moons (incidentally the moon is a restricted zone, wonder why, could it have something to do with the ]I[ maybe?). The adventure ends with the team successfully extracting Xerza, then making good their escape from Scintilla (after robbing Globus blind and thereby securing themselves a sizeable war-chest) aboard the Maiden.

INTERLUDE

The Maiden makes her way to Baraspine, a struggling Hive World beyond the Adrantis Nebula, on the very edge of Imperial space. This is the world where Haxtes Guilliman purchased an old fief during the House of Dust and Ash auction. It seems a good place to hide all things taken into account. It's remote and unimportant, but it also offers a chance to both establish a base of operations for the Maiden and a place to found a new Haegum. Xerza and the cadre COULD have fled far and away, but that would have meant giving up everything. Not an option. So Baraspine is the perfect compromise. The wisdom of Haarlock and all that...

Haxtes is well received on Baraspine. The Governor-Princess affirms his (in all honesty rather dubious) claim and Haxtes Guilliman becomes Baron Haxtes of Illeville. It's Haxtes R-T connections that makes the Governor so forthcoming - had he been just a rich commoner with a piece of paper he would never have made Baron (in fact he would have been fortunate to even make it out alive).

Next follows a phase of securing control over the fief, settling various issues and generally trying to improve upon Illeville. It's been without a ruler for 200 years and without even an effective steward for the last century. So everything has to be reclaimed and rebuilt, almost from scratch. A challenge made even more difficult by the fact that Baraspine is a marginal world in terms of resources and extremely hostile in terms of the environment.

The Maiden is sent out with messages to distant Haegum cells, but is eventually headed for Solomon for repairs and refits (long overdue). After that she will serve as a courier and transport for the new Haegum, while also trading to support the 'war effort'.

---

Months later Haxtes leaves Baraspine in secret, slipping aboard a Navy transport that has just picked up a tithed IG regiment on Baraspine. At Tranch he finds a courier vessel to ride to Scintilla. With him is the Rosette of Lord Inquisitor Melbinious. Granted to him by the last will of Erasmus Haarlock. It's a wild gamble, but Haxtes is sure that Haarlock intended for him to use it to get into the Tricorn. It not only gets him in, it allows him to download files pertaining to the 'Tyrantine Cabal' and the 'Tyrant Star'. Haxtes is hailed just as he leaves the Tricorn. But his cover is still solid - indeed the acolyte hailing him has a stasis-sphere for him. Inside is a purple velvet beg with a silvery key inside. Could Haarlock have posted this key to himself all those years ago? Sensing that something big is afoot Haxtes takes another chance and makes his presence known the Lord Inquisitor Skane - the ex-Arbitrator in charge of hunting down Xerza and the rest of the rogue cadre. He leaves alive and unmolested, if a little weary and with a head filled with troubling information.

Haxtes checks in with his 'old friend', the arch-heretic Tobias Belasco; to escape the Inquisition agents hot on his tail, gather some more info on the Tyrant star, and hopefully establish himself with Tobias as a real heretic. Once again his gamble pays off, and he gets to meet a another Tobias look-alike. Then he goes back home by way of a very circuitous route. Five months after he left he is back on Baraspine.

BARON HOPES

On Baraspine the cadre continues to try and stay hidden while at the same time turning Haxtes' fief into something profitable (not a very easy endeavor given the relative poorness of Baraspine).

At the same time Haxtes is drawn into a sinister plot:

He is contacted by the Governess of Baraspine. As a foreigner he is less biased than her other nobles - and as a Rogue Trader he has resources that she needs. Her only daughter and heir has gone missing, presumably kidnapped. One thing leads to another and soon Haxtes knows a bit more about the upper class of Baraspine than he cares to.

The Governess' daughter was not kidnapped. She ran away. And she is a mutant. And now her head has been filled with heretical propaganda by the First Minister - things like equality, freedom and democracy. Filthy ideas that will cause society to break down. Ideas that caused her to flee from her ordained fate - to become the mutant Governor of Baraspine!

Imposible you say? Perhaps. Yet there are those that would try. The First Minister knows of her condition. He seeks to rule through her, to become both the power before and behind the throne. The General-Adjutant knows. He seeks to line his own pockets by selling guns to anyone with the money - secure in the knowledge that no-one dare stop him. The Bishop knows. He seeks to improve his own influence by pretending to be pious and claiming he won't bless and salve the Heir. But of course he will if push comes to shove - otherwise he would have exposed her long time ago!

And the Mother? She is desperately weary of it all. She wants to see her bloodline continue. She wants her daughter on the throne and a man between her legs. And the best genetic screening money can buy. A pure child. And then a slow boat to the oceanic paradises of Reth. Something like that anyway.

But now the girl has run away and is (most likely, they can't know for sure) hiding among the outcasts of the underhive. So Haxtes comes up with a plan. He needs to get in touch with these people. Talk  them into giving up the girl. So he turns to the First Minister. The Governess has him under guard at an old bunker complex outside of the hive. A land-train takes them there despite a raging storm. They find the place overrun by rebels, but fight them off and take the First Minister with them. After suffering through some heretical ranting they gain the name of a mutant they can contact that might know who to speak to.

Masquerading as off-world mercenaries the cadre gets in touch with Olion, a mutant info-broker and general scumbag. Through him they find Assod Morirr. Now that's a whole other kind of man. Charismatic and intelligent. And in no way afraid to openly consort with witches and mutants. Indeed the real icebreaker is when Raze, Assod's pet psyker, marks Haxtes as a mutant and a pysker himself...and a tainted one at that. When Haxtes adds that he's a Protasian and not at all a friend of the establishment he gains a measure of credibility in Assod's eyes. Enough so that wheb Haxtes mentions that he's an ally of First Minister Ulmin Drey (who seems as a form of spiritual leader to thee scum) and presents proof thereof (he's got the man stashed in his basement).

A little convincing later and Assod agrees to consider Haxtes' proposal and discuss it with his peers (so he's not the head man then, more like a man of action than a true strategic mastermind). The proposal is: Hand over the girl or there will be hell to pay when the PDF comes down looking for her. They are simply not ready for that yet. Give up the girl and buy themselves time. Time to prepare. Time for Haxtes and his crew to give them valuable intel. Time for Haxtes to help Ulmin 'prepare things topside'. Just a little cooperation and patience and all will be well.

So they get the girl, return her to her mother and the PDF operation is called of. Then they start feeding the rebels intelligence and generally working to increase the level of conflict on Baraspine. There are several motives. They can't reveal themselves as Inq agents, but they equally cannot allow a mutant to become Governess. They must also work to improve their fief and thereby the Haegum's resources. And most importantly - they must learn more of the rebels.

For who knew there would be so many of them. And they have ties to mutants that roam the wastelands. Who would have thought it possible to survive out there? And most of all - they seem...organized. And it's all escalating. With ever passing they the rebels become stronger and bolder. More quickly than expected. Perhaps even strong enough to topple the establishment...

And there are so many other questions unanswered. What happened to Baraspine in the past? Why did it's hives die? What was Erasmus Haarlock searching for under the shifting sands? Why is the Adeptus Mechanicus here? Not just to help the progressive-heretical First Minister shift through a lot of sand looking for baubles. And who filled the first Minister's head with these thoughts in the first place? And what is Assod Morir's connection to the House of Drey? And why is Assod alive when the Arbites has him listed as dead, killed by Ulmin's grandfather, who may have been an Acolyte of the Inquisition? What will the mutant Heir do? And the Governess? And the Bishop and the General-Adjutant? And might other know of her nature as well? And why are there eldar scouts on the planet? And speaking of Eldar, why is the girl Eisha speaking eldar and acting like she's a psyker - she was cleared by a Malleus Lord, was she not? Clearly there is more to her than meets the eye, but what is it exactly? And what will happen with the rebels and all? And what will the Arbitrator-Auditor say when he arrives? He won't be pleased, that's for sure...but it's important for him not to become too concerned...can't have too much attention drawn to Baraspine either!

What a glorious mess you have made...