Rogue Trader: Ship of Lost Souls

[Stainless]

Hey, this is Michael. Thought I should pop my head up so that people know who I am on here.

Tom, I will source a model and get it to you in the next couple of weeks if that's cool

[katarr]

My navigator powers are teleport, foreshadowing and something else and my mutations are weirdly jointed limbs, like I have loads of extra joints and gained contortionist as well as being albino and completely hairless.

I am gonna ninja teleport and assassin the shit out of things.

I will put some proper fluff up soon.

My email is sam.godding@btinternet.com for contact purposes as well.

[Maelstrom]

Just spend a good 45 seconds trying to figure out who 'Michael' was. MIKE! Yeah get me the model whenever.

These might work for some of our dudes http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Imperial-Guard-Regimental-Advisors

[Crompton]

I'm not available at all this weekend, but it is the last of my cricket so I shall then be free until next spring. I wonder if I have any good models for a Missionary, not sure a Chaplain in terminator armour would be ideal... shame a friend of mine sold his Redemptionist gang or that would have been good.

[Pip]

There's always this bloke. I like him because he has goggles. They do nothing.

Seems like we're shaping up for a first session on Friday, with any who can't make it joining in later sessions. If you guys could PM me your telephone numbers, it'd help me organise things with those who don't keep so up to date with the forum.

Will have a look at installing what'sapp or whatever it is some time this evening.

[Maelstrom]

Should we post fluff and character development things here?

[Pip]

Yes, definitely!

[Maelstrom]

Decided to retcon my name as a couple people had done issues remembering it let alone pronouncing it!
So:

Explorator, Miracles at daybreak

1Mars is my quartermaster; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in Plasteel pastures: he leadeth me beside the oily  waters.
3 He restoreth my machine spirit: he leadeth me to loose bolts for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the factories of the shadow of death, I will fear no breakdown: for thou art with me; thy mechandrites and thy servitors they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a workbench before me in the presence of weak flesh: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

I have known that prayer since i was a boy. Taught to me on the factory world by the same tech priests who taught me the inner workings of the metal behemoths they are the backbone of human society. Humanity is nothing without the technology which sustains it.

Men have failed me humans have let me down. Technology is pure and true. It serves me faithfully, it has always been there for me and I have been there for it. A machine that is loved will love you back. I urge you all, put your faith in the machine god sacrifice your bodies to him and you will receive riches beyond measure.

[Stainless]

I swear I have written the bulk of mine, I'm now just going to wait until I've got a few more "how I met" stories to add then I'll post it.

In terms of how Macharius Macharius met each of the others I think it makes sense for the finding of Giles to be the most recent, maybe we had another vessel and happened upon his in the hulk from which we wrested it. Something much smaller that would not have served our purposes in the Expanse.

I'm quite happy to let each of you decide how you met the rogue trader and came to join his retinue. I feel that he would have approached each of the others after making inquiries for useful types who perhaps are itching under imperial rule. Both Sam and G have easy hooks there, being slaves in all but name to the imperium and tolerated only so far as they are useful. Also should either have over stepped their proscribed roles death would probably have swiftly followed.

For the rest of you decide what it was that made the life of a rogue trader so appealing and let me know so we can flesh it out. Best to email me as I check email far more frequently than this forum. If some of you have already decided that you met each other separately and prior to meeting the trader that's fine, just decide you would likely have been found and what promises from beyond the Imperium drew you to the crew.

For Rob and Mike the basics of this rouge trader's back story are that he was part of an inquisitor's retinue and things went from bad to worse one day and he was forced to flee. The inquisitor secured him a warrant of trade and warned him to get as far away from those that were working against him as possible. Macharius is not a huge fan of the rogue trader lifestyle and would much rather be back helping root out daemons and their influence within mankind's borders. Unfortunately that means almost certain death at the hands of unknown agents and without the support of his former master he knows he doesn't stand a chance. He's put together this rag tag crew over the last few years and now is ready to voyage out and acquire what power and influence he can beyond the reach of his enemies.

[Stainless]

Right, this is the first draft of the general background for Macharius Macharius.

As I think I mentioned before I chose to do it in a journal style of some of the key points in his progress. After spending ages thinking about the dates and their accuracy of everything I decided it made more sense to scrub everything other than the year as the Inquisitor covered his tracks.

Yes the chronology is back to front and yes it needs work. I suggest starting from the earliest post, I just couldn't be bothered to reorder it. The meeting of every other character will take place in the 12 year period between the most recent two entries. Bearing in mind warp travel time weirdness this actually might not have been very much real time experienced by him but again this is where input it welcome and encouraged.


Enjoy

6610815.M41 [start of campaign]
We have arrived at our last stop before we journey through The Maw. May the Emperor protect me from both the perils ahead and those that I have surrounded myself with.

3107803.M41
I have only the outlines of my life left to me! Like trying to remember a dream as you wake the harder I try to recall names and faces the further they recede from me. I can't even name the man whom I have served these past decades. I recognise the hallmarks of a mindwipe from those times he judged it necessary for the sake of my soul but never has he been so extensive. I turned to my journal when the extent of this dawned on me but it has been no help. Even here his hand has wiped clean the details that were my history. I understand that a mindwipe was the only way to keep both of us safe. The risk to us both of me mentioning in passing a place I had once been, an agent I once liaised with or even my name would have been too great for him to take. It seems fitting, I forgot one life entering his service and now I forget another leaving it. Were it not for this book I would have thought myself mad - a half remembered life of daemons and inquisitors. But I bear the warrant. And now with no name to call my own I bear only one name, Macharius Macharius.
I have thought about why he would leave me such details as he has instead of simply rewriting me as the man I am to become or, simple still, killing me. He once told me my destiny was to fight the daemonic and he is giving me the chance to do that, albeit in a rather different setting. I am still a threat to myself with the knowledge I hold and this book even would be enough to see many try and do me harm but he is safely removed from it. Nothing contained within could possibly implicate... What do I call him now? 'My former master'? 'The inquisitor'? Perhaps the most accurate name would be 'my maker'. Regardless, he is safe and I am on my own. There's a small vessel, registered to my new name, in orbit. I will take a shuttle to it tomorrow and set out. But how to choose where to go without knowing where I have already been? I will head to the frontiers and see where the winds of fate take me.

####803.M41
I've no idea who Macharius Macharius is but [name redacted] has assured me that no one will question my bearing of this warrant. Did he ever exist?

####803.M41
I have had a stay of execution. Inquisitor [name redacted] has secured me a Warrant of Trade... I am to become a Rogue Trader. I must abandon the work I have put nearly four decades of my life in to and head out beyond the reach of the Imperium and those who would see me dead. He told me I should be thankful and that this will mean more wealth and power than I could dream of. What good is power over petty fools? What good is a life without true purpose? Amassing luxuries and enjoying narcotics might appeal to other men but with a calling like mine to leave behind it seems a hollow existence.
I begged him to let me return to his service but he says this is impossible. Those that tried to kill me before would try again and he could not intervene to save me. He would not say anything of those he believes responsible for the attack.

####801.M41
It has been a perilous journey of fear and isolation but I have made it to one of [name redacted] safe houses on [name redacted]. I don't dare try to reach him in case those who are pursuing me are waiting for the survivors to do just that. I will have to stay here and hope my master is able to get a message to me... assuming he still lives. Would those that we were investigating risk assassinating or even attempting to assassinate a Lord Inquisitor? These are troubling times. I must have faith that he lives else I will surely not be long following him to the grave.

####800.M41
We were a week out of port [name redacted] when the assassins fell upon me and my comrades. I believe them to be mere hired muscle than true assassins as I still draw breath. They didn't wait to confirm we were all in the quarters we had secured before the bomb went off. I have hidden myself amongst the menials, moving section to section with each passing shift to avoid being tracked down. I won't jump ship at port [name redacted], if they knew who we were they knew where we were heading and I have no friends there nor means to summon any. I will stay aboard until I am certain they have given up pursuit and then once I have established contact with [name redacted] we will hunt these wretches and those that control them. I will see each and every one of them we find flayed, salted and burned.

####800.M41
I am to travel to port [name redacted] and then on to [name redacted] with a number of others to catalogue an arcane library that our master has located. He is still pursuing leads on [name redacted] and will meet us at the library when he can. We are to travel as merchants to avoid unwanted attention, apparently others are searching for this trove and an overt display would tip them off that the inquisition was on to them

####766.M41
There are horrors in this universe. Horrors more grotesque and obscene than those populating the worst nightmare I have ever suffered in the warp.  Inquisitor [name redacted] showed me a tome from his personal collection. He assured me that the things it describes are real, four ruinous powers that he believes are the greatest threat to mankind and that I will help him battle them. When I told [name redacted] I couldn't believe such things could truly be he bid me follow him to a private sanctum I had not know his quarters possessed. The records there were all the proof I required: accounts dating back through the ages of the Imperium of these foul beings and the terrible toll they had taken on the faithful. I will not sleep this night.

####764.M41
The Emperor truly has great things in store for me. Though he has concluded his investigation here on [name redacted] and the ashes of those found guilty of heresy are already blowing through the streets the inquisitor that has come to our world visited me today. I was able to assist him with some research in to the families of those involved. He was impressed with intellect and memory as I helped him through the archives. He has asked me to come with him, to help him investigate further heresies on other worlds! I am in shock. Of course I accepted on the spot. This is what I was born for. My destiny.