I recently have the good fortune of having Haxtes come visit me - he proved good company, and left me alive and (relatively) unharmed.

He was, however, rather disappointed by the number of posts over these past two months. Fortunately he was able to convince me that it was in my best interest to resume a more active part in his life.

So I guess I have to start posting again...

Hi,

A couple of items:

1. Added PC character sheets to Dropbox/Downloads

2. There is also a new sheet template (v2.0) for those that want to update their character

3. New version of the ruleset v2.13; mostly me playing around with Office 2010. A couple of hours of work and it looks so much nice. A few additions as well.

4. Updates are bound to be irregular for a while. I've tarted my summer vacation and I'm going to Turkey for 14 days come Thursday. Not shure how much I'll be online there.

Timestamp: 7.333.999.M41

Location: Dirty back alley, lower mid-levels, Riscol Division, MX block, Drotis Intercity, Malfi, Malfian sub, Calixis sector

Situation: Standing over the dead body of Goplan Srinivasan, syndicate courier

Body: It's been a while. Here is what has gone before:

Being imprisoned on a spaceship for weeks and weeks wasn't a lot of fun. And your (well Jeb's anyway) attempts at talking some sense into people failed miserably. Most would not even speak to you. Not even Azhmut. And that one girl who did seem willing to help you out...nothing good happened to her. Eventually things took a turn for the better. Haxtes forgot about you and the rest ignored you. But Venus helped you out a bit. Let you have something extra to pass the time. Even took you for weapon practice in one of the unused spaces. Sure you were watched, but it wasn't as bad as you'd expect. And once at Scintilla you were actually pretty free to do as you pleased - as long as you stayed under Azhmut's radar and behaved yourself. Maybe you were tempted to do something...or maybe you weren't...the important thing is you didn't. You kept your word and didn't do anything funny.

Then came the trip to Baraspine and the long wait there. More of the same really. Until one day Xerza came to see you. Told you a little about what was going on. She was even polite enough to let you connect the dots. The more you talked the more sense it made - Globus had not only moved in to take over Tancred's operation, but he'd actively tried to get rid of you two by sending you to the House. None were supposed to return. But as far as anyone knows you ARE dead. And hence the offer, to 'switch sides' and join Tancred's cadre. Either that or end up dead for real. Jeb warmed to her after that - but she continued to give Parsifal the creeps.

GRAY MATTER

After Baraspine and your little talk with Xerza things changed for the better. You followed the Maiden as she went to Solomon for repairs. You first chance to prove yourself came early as the Maiden swung by the Imperial asteroid prison facility at Sheol XVII.  A place where the Imperium tested various methods for reforming criminals and heretics. Your mission: To carry Xerza's instructions to the resident Haegum agent, one Interrogator Seria. Her task: To monitor the 2.000.000 prisoner population in general and the maximum-security section in particular.

But Seria's undercover agents were disappearing. She needed someone to go in and see what was going on. So you did, as inmates. It was most unpleasant. Turned out the medical staff, with the insane Dr. Lexus Kell in the lead, had conducted extensive experiments into the forbidden reaches of the human mind. More specifically research into the areas where the brain 'the grey matter' touches upon the soul. Bad enough in itself, but made worse by the vile thing that Dr. Kell's work had awakened. The resultant abomination had been freed to feed upon any that Kell felt was a threat to his continued work - inmates and staff alike - until finally his pet subject broke free of his grasp altogether. Putting the thing down was...hard...impossibly hard...it was just a man, yet somehow it was more. Something dark and hungry hid inside its skin. But between Parsifal's pure faith and Jeb's dirty fighting you obliterated it. Literally. Nothing remains of it, not even a footnote in official records.

SCRIVNER'S STAR

Once the Maiden reached Solomon she entered dock and was ripped open by hordes of suited workers and servitors. You headed for Scrivner's Star - or the Prol system as it is formally known. Ten small (in planetary terms) worlds orbiting a nondescript star. Nine of the housing the primary Administratum records of the Calixis sector. Two millennia of data and reports and whatnot. And now space is running out. Which is leading to something of a schism - do they clear out Prol I and start anew there or do they open up Prol X (which is 'forbidden') and postpone the problem for another few centuries? Ah, the choices these paper-pushers have to make!

You were only to pass along a message from Xerza to an agent on Prol IX, but once on Sheol XVII you quickly found yourself dragged into something else entirely. That something being investigating what was going on on Prol I. Too many things it turned out. Heresy. Disease. Warp-spawned zombies. And a plot to fire the entire planetoid, caretaker population be damned. In the end it was the pyratic's plot to fire Prol I that saved the rest of the system - you burned the lot of them with the Emperor's cleansing flame, heretics, the sick, the walking dead, the few remaining survivors. Like Haxtes would have said - let the Emperor sort out his own.

The return leg to Baraspine was more quiet. Once the Maiden had been repaired you followed her back down along the borderland between Hazeroth and Adrantis - hardly the most civilized of places. Got to see a lot of alien vistas, fornicate with some  locals and drink some foul-tasting swag. Being part of a Rogue Trader outfit means great hours, plenty of recreation and no malefic terrors trying to rip out and eat your soul...

You returned to Baraspine laden with goods, spent a while trading there, before picking up Xerza and heading back out. This time into the Drusus marches by way of Tranch, an important transit nexus around these parts. Brief trading stops followed, dictated by Xerza's need to visit that or this port. Clearly she was having some success gaining control of non-Scintillan Haegum assets.

IDYLL HERESIES

Then came Malfi and your ways parted. Xerza and the Maiden headed to Quaddis, leaving your two behind. The local Haegum assets remained loyal to Globus. Xerza had gotten there to late. But Malfi is too important for Xerza's plans to be left without loyal agents. So your were dropped off and set up in a make-shift safehouse, along with one of the Maiden's two remaining astropaths, a boy named Giligaed that is way too young for his job - his slight boyish frame drooped as if by old age due to the stresses of astrotelepathy.

It was a quiet spell for you. Keeping a low profile and keeping the astropath working. Three people hiding among 500 billion human souls (Malfi is THE most heavily populated hive in Calixis, with a pop double that of Scintilla - it actually makes up quite a chunk of the total sector population). Were it not for the fact that Gilgaed went ahead and got himself addicted to Idyll, a drug to take his mind of the drudgery and lighten up his life a little. A drug eerily similar to farcosia in several ways...including being utterly addictive for psykers.

So you go look up his dealer. Only he hasn't any Idyll left. His supplier, Prim Venkateswaran, has gone off the grid you see. Plenty of other drugs to be had though. Going to see Prim Venkateswaran you find him to be more than a drug dealer. He's also something of a fence, his apartment-shop filled with stolen goods of all kinds. That and a very dead Prim Venkateswaran, his throat savagely slashed open. He's been dead for about two days so the corpse is starting to get a little ripe. His stash is also ripe. Ripe for picking by loyal Inquisition agents. God-Emperor knows you could use some of this. So you quietly get rid of the body and lock the place behind you.

No Idyll to be found though. So you're forced to seek further down the supply chain. The name Goplan Srinivasan surfaces. A courier-man and a member of one of the local criminal cartels. Not a many to trifle with then. You track him down, try to get in touch with him, but before you get that far someone gets to him. Leaving you standing over his dead body in a dirty and ark alley. On the balcony-stairs above you are members of some gang, covered with clan tattoos and sporting the latest street fashion.

Timestamp: 7.333.999.M41

Location: Driscol City, Baraspine, Adrantis sub, Calixis sector

Situation: Stalking/being stalked by eldar scouts in the tunnels beneath the underhive

Body: The dark heat beneath thousands of meters of rock and hive would be oppressive in itself were it the dry heat of the rest of Baraspine. But add in a little water and you have a dripping hell more like the saunas the woodcutters of Sepheris Secundus sometimes employ to thaw their frozen bones. Without the suit Haxtes is dripping sweat even when he's at rest.

You can hear Assod's brutes somewhere to your right. Now, if only the eldar would be so obliging...

Timestamp: 7.270.999.M41

Location: Driscol City, Baraspine, Adrantis sub, Calixis sector

Situation: Investigating the hidden thruths behind the disappearance of Princess Turin

Body: 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 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? An 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 its 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 here than meets the eye, but what is it exactly? And what will happen with the rebel 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!

Timestamp: 7.252.999.M41

Location: Driscol City/Skaltine, Baraspine, Adrantis sub, Calixis sector

Situation: Drawn into the sinister plot to abduct the Governess' daughter

Body: 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 than he cares to.

The Governess' daughter was not kidnapped. She ran away. And she is a mutant. And now here 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 befor 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.

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...

Posting is more or less on hold for the next 14 days or so.

Because:

- we've reached a natural pause point

- we're doing some face-to-face play during 10-13 June

- I need to prepare some stuff for thoe sessions

- work is killing me!

We now have a tag cloud in the sidebar menu...I've started adding tags to old posts, but until more are done the cloud is a little 'light'...

I did a little digging and reading through some old threads...it's  been almost 2 years, so while I remember things in general I don't recall all the details.

This one was a fun read: http://twilightpeaks.net/blogs/index.php/DH/2009/12/07/port-of-call

Maxi talking to the ship. Haxtes being funny.

Feel free to dig up your own favourites :-)

Timestamp: 6.086.998.M41

Location: Somewhere in the warp, between the Markayn Marches and the Golgenna Reach, Calixis Sector

Situation: Shipboard life on the sprint trader 'Maiden of Golgenna'

Body: Voidship travel is a strange beast. Imagine a planethugger asking a voidsman - 'how far is it from Solomon to Scintilla?' The voidsman would shrug and was - 'what do you mean, how far?' How far in materium lightyears or parsecs? Dunno, never measured. How far through the Immaterium? Dunno, try asking the Navigator.The planethugger sighs and asks instead - 'how long does the journey take then?' The voidsman rolls his eyes and say ' 'what do you mean, how long?' How long for me or how long for you? Total time or warp-transit time? The planethugger bows his neck and walks away, vowing never to look up at the stars again!

Voidship travel is usually divided into three distinct parts. Departure leg - Warp leg - Arrival leg:

First is the departure leg, wherein the ship accelerates away from the planet it is orbiting using realspace drives. Ships can only engage their warp drives when well away from a strong gravity well, such as that created by a star or large planet. For a system like Sol most commercial starships would go out beyond the orbit of Uranus (20 AU) before making the transition. Military vessels and certain civilian ships regularly make the translation at less than this distance,  even down to the orbit of Saturn (10 AU), but this requires great precision. In an emergency it is possible to push it even further, but doing it inside the orbit of Jupiter (5 AU) is hazardous at best - there is a good chance the ship will be torn apart . Smaller stars have smaller gravity wells, bigger stars have larger wells. Simple. Planets also have gravity wells, but these are much smaller. Take Terra for example - leaving the Terra-Luna orbital system might take only a few hours for a fast ship, but the ship is still deep within the well of blessed Sol. Thus it is only in the far outer system that the mass of the planet really matters - if you are orbiting Uranus you need to travel to a safe distance, even if you are already outside Sol's gravity well.

How long the departure leg is depends on the realspace acceleration of the voidship. A fast ship, such as a Navy frigate or a sprint freighter  could make the trip from Sol to safe distance in a week (taking into account that they also can translate closer to Sol). A lumbering bulk freighter could easily take a month to reach the orbit of Uranus. The very largest megahaulers, the ones carrying precious navigator cadres on board, never venture insystem at all. They translate well outside the safe distance cutoff and unload their cargoes in the deep dark void, using system-bound barges to ferry their cargo to and from.

Next is the warp leg of the journey. The ship translates into the Immaterium, taking a bubble of reality with it, maintained within the Geller field. The ship now maneuvers the currents of the warp using methods understood by few. If the ship has a navigator he can greatly enhance the speed and range of a  starship traveling through the warp. If there is no Navigator aboard the ship must make do with pre-plotted courses and course changes, having limited ability to determine its own position both within the warp and relative to realspace. Sometimes a ship has to do multiple warp legs. If the journey is long, there is no navigator, or the warp is very turbulent frequent stops might be required. A starship like the Maiden could, with a skilled navigator aboard, cross the distance between Solomon and Scintilla in a week using a single warp leg. And old Chartist trader without a navigator could be forced to do the trip in five legs and using five times longer (or more).

At this point things get even more interesting. For during the warp transit shiptime is no longer the same as realtime. Within the Immaterium, even aboard a spaceship, time flows differently. For shorter trips the time distortion effect might be around 2 to 1, meaning that while a week passed for the Maiden, two weeks went by in realspace. For longer or faster journeys the distortion could be three, five, even ten times. And that's not taking into account weird occurrences, ships arriving before they left and such.

All voidships, those with navigators included, greatly prefer to use well-charted warp routes. These invariably go from settled system to settled system. So on a multi-translation journey ships will go from one system to another, rather than enter and exit the  warp far from any system (exceptions do exist of course). This has an added benefit - security. The Imperium maintains listening posts and outposts in many otherwise uninhabited systems, and Navy patrols will frequent areas where trade routes exists. And should a mishap occur, then help is usually near (relatively speaking).

Last is the arrival leg. It is much the same as the departure leg, only usually a bit longer. Warp navigation is not exact, and to be on the safe side most ships calculate a larger margin of error - the orbit of Neptune (30 AU) would be typical for a freighter arriving in the Sol system for example. Ships carrying navigators can cut down on this safety margin, as the Navigator has a much greater capacity to determine realspace correlation than do navigational cogitators. It goes without saying that the closer you translate, the short the transit time in-system will be.

---

The change of pace from those hectic days on Solomon to the regular rhythm of ship-board life is very marked. Compounded by a certain lack of things to do - especially for Parsifal and Jebediah. Eight days insystem under plasma drive. Then two days ago your translated out of the materium and into the Immaterium. If all goes well you should leave the warp in five to seven days according to your navigator, Erasmus (no connection to the Haarlock of the same name). Then ten to twelve days before you dock with a geosynchronous orbital over Hive Tarsus. Fast, but not pushing it. Not for the Maiden.

The obvious:

Haxtes is (justifiably) suspicious about the loyalty of Glodus' cadre. He's go more than his share of paranoia that one. One the other hand he hasn't gone with his natural impulse - to shoot you and toss you out the airlock. So maybe he really means it when he says he thinks you might be ok, but he's not risking it. Once on Scintilla all will be revealed, eh? Haxtes otherwise feels fine. A little bruised and battered, but that will fade. The same cannot be said for the lashing wounds given him aboard the Martyr. They seep colorless fluid, sometimes a little blood. At night he is often running across a barren landscape, sightless birds overhead, and someone at his heels. Many psykers have a hard time during warp transit.

Maxi is being his usual self. Trying to make everyone dislike him. Its like he can't stand the thought of anyone actually liking him. Even a bit. For a while. His way of talking to people mostly takes care of that. And if it doesn't then the fact that he has informants everywhere certainly does. You've come to appreciate the fact that the man has built of a web of little informants on the Maiden. People rating on each other about every little thing. It all ends up on Maxi's desk, to be lovingly shifted through and entered into the dockets he keeps for each and ever person on board. At night he gets little rest - whenever he falls asleep he feels like he is being suffocated or drowned.

Parsifal has retreated into his little shell of faith, and doesn't come out very often. He's a very decent sort, but he's not great company when he's like that. A man should have more inside than just faith. It's also annoying to see him leaf through that book of his at all hours, nodding at some unseen sage advice found inside.

Jeb is sullen and drunk a lot of the time. He's finding Haxtes' ways ever more difficult to live under. He's a free soul really, and under Globus and Castilas he was allowed a great deal of freedom and initiative. The ends mattered more than the means. Not so anymore. Perhaps it will get better. Otherwise he needs to speak to Globus and get a different assignment.

The not so obvious:

When you were debriefed Maxi took down all that you said about the xenos threat and put it in his report that Haxtes sent to Marr. But how much have you spoken about the rest? You can all sense that you've become netangled in something momentous, involving Haarlock's last will, the Inquisition, and God-Emperor knows what. Do you speak of it to each other? Or do you keep your distance and your secrets? And even if you do talk about it, how much weight does it carry?

XP awards for the House of Dust and Ash. Largely based on level of participation in terms of posting. To a certain extent also taking into account how active each character has been irrespective of posting. Also some bonuses for good roleplay, interaction with the world/adding to it, and problem solving. Current rank also has a slight impact.

Haxtes: 800

Maxi: 500

Jebediah: 600

Parsifal: 400 (didn't really join until you reached the House)

The Calixis sector is bordered to rimward (in this case that's the same as galactic north) by the Koronus Expanse. This vast region stretches from the outer edges of the galactic disk and into the galactic halo, where young vibrant stars are rare, and dark and terrible things altogether more common (here be monsters the charts say). No one knows exactly how big the Expanse is - it simply hasn't been explored sufficiently for anyone to say - but it is vastly larger than any Imperial sector, comprising billions of cubic light years and the God-Emperor knows how many stellar and planetary bodies. At the very least it covers the outer margins of the Cygnus arm, from around the position of Caliban (due north of the Eye of Terror) and all the way to Segmentum Pacificus.

The reason for this lack of exploration is the massive warp storms that still boil along the northern borders of Calixis sector - the aftershocks of the storms that savaged the Scarus Sector ages ago. Indeed, there is only one commonly known stable passage into The Expanse - the Maw - whose discovery came in late M40. At first exploration and exploitation was slow, but as the Calyx Expanse (now the Calixis Sector) became ever more civilized the adventuresome searched outward, beyond the Maw. In late M41 the regions closest to the Maw have been explored and worlds settled, but further afield there are opportunities awaiting the ruthless and the bold!

Trailing of Calixis lies the vast stretch of wild space called the Fydae Great Cloud. It is named partially after the massive star cluster of the same name (the Fydae Cluster) and partially after the Great Cloud, which is a mass of interstellar gass and dust of unprecedented size. If you look a bit closer the Fydae Great Cloud is actually made up om many smaller nebulae and star clusters that dominate the border areas between Segmentum Obscurus and Segmentum Pacificus.

The Fydae Great Cloud lies well beyond the Adrantis sub, and thus outside the borders of the Imperium. The Magin Worlds Crusade has been underway in the Fydae Great Cloud for quite some time, seeking to bring the light of the Emperor to these forlorn and godforsaken regions, but exact details of the crusade are scare (typical Imperial security measures).