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{{Infobox rogue trader}}
[[Image:Koronusexpanse.jpg|center|400px]]{{Infobox rogue trader}}


Expanse Description
Expanse Description
[[Image:Koronusexpanse.jpg|center|500px]]
 
==Port Wander==
==Port Wander==
[[Port Wander]] is a void station on the uttermost edge of the Drusus Marches of the Calixis Sector, rightly regarded as the last bastion of the rule of the Emperor this side of the Koronus Expanse. A place of desperate hopes and vain dreams; Port Wander teems with a transitory population of traders, spies, merchant factors, pilgrims, and missionaries amongst which move Administratum functionaries and minions of the Mechanicus, all feeding on the riches that flow from the realms beyond the warp storms in the Koronus Expanse. All who travel into the Koronus Expanse share one common experience in that they pass Port Wander. Be they the pious bringing the Emperor's Light into the darkness beyond the Imperium or black-hearted monsters searching for the keys to forbidden dreams, many will stop in the last place where the rule of the Golden Throne keeps the horror and possibility of the unknown at bay.


''"A stinking, painted harlot who would see your blood flowing for a few coins, that she may be, but who cannot say that they love the light that is known waiting for the traveller returned from the void."''
==The Maw==


-Rogue Trader Cortin Blaine, captain of the Astra Veritas
''"It is a beast that swallows the apostate, the doubter, and all who ship with them. Better to slay the unfaithful than risk the dread Maw whilst such false wretches draw breath."''


[[Port Wander]] is a void station on the uttermost edge of the Drusus Marches of the Calixis Sector, rightly regarded as the last bastion of the rule of the Emperor this side of the Koronus Expanse. A place of desperate hopes and vain dreams; Port Wander teems with a transitory population of traders, spies, merchant factors, pilgrims, and missionaries amongst which move Administratum functionaries and minions of the Mechanicus, all feeding on the riches that flow from the realms beyond the warp storms in the Koronus Expanse. All who travel into the Koronus Expanse share one common experience in that they pass Port Wander. Be they the pious bringing the Emperor's Light into the darkness beyond the Imperium or black-hearted monsters searching for the keys to forbidden dreams, many will stop in the last place where the rule of the Golden Throne keeps the horror and possibility of the unknown at bay.
-Opening lines of the Voidfarer's Warning from the Drusian Play


Port Wander is a void station on the uttermost edge of the Drusus Marches of the Calixis Sector, rightly regarded as the last bastion of the rule of the Emperor this side of the Koronus Expanse. A place of desperate hopes and vain dreams; Port Wander teems with a transitory population of
The Koronus Passage is a stable but dangerous warp route that passes through the Great Warp Storms separating the Calixis Sector from the Koronus Expanse. The Koronus Passage was discovered by a Magos-Explorator of the Machine Cult in the distant past, lost for millennia, and found once more by the Rogue Trader Purity Lathimon at the very close of the 40th Millennium. The Passage links Port Wander and the Drusus Marches to the great star Furibundus and the void colony of Footfall-and beyond Footfall, the Koronus Expanse beckons.
traders, spies, merchant factors, pilgrims, and missionaries amongst which move Administratum functionaries and minions of the Mechanicus, all feeding on the riches that flow from the realms beyond the warp storms in the Koronus Expanse. All who travel into the Koronus Expanse share one
common experience in that they pass Port Wander. Be they the pious bringing the Emperor's Light into the darkness beyond the Imperium or black-hearted monsters searching for the keys to forbidden dreams, many will stop in the last place where the rule of the Golden Throne keeps the horror and possibility of the unknown at bay.


Port Wander was founded by the Imperial Navy in 917. M40 as a staging ground to investigate the loss of many vessels on the fringes of the Drusus Marches. With the discovery of the Koronus Passage in the late 40th millennium, the station grew in importance owing to its close proximity to the Passage. Its original role as a base for military operations was slowly forgotten, and Port Wander became a way station for those daring passage into the Koronus Expanse. Merchants and mercenaries began to choke the once- deserted corridors of the station, and strangers shook the dust of distant stars from their boots while trading wondrous things from beyond the Great Warp Storms.
Superstitious voidfarers call the route "[[The Maw]]" To their eyes the Maw is a beast made of warp storms, cunning and malicious, whose crushing gullet must be braved by those who seek to break through to the Koronus Expanse beyond. Many have died in trying, and traversing the Maw remains harrowing despite centuries of experience gathered by Navigators and Rogue Traders. Some say this ill-omened title came from the first to survive the crossing-and that they returned wild-eyed, at the edge of sanity, and few journeyed to the voids again.


'''The Structure of Port Wander'''
==Furibundus==


From a distance, the port resembles a small cityscape, with spires and cathedral towers arching upwards and a huge aquila marking its allegiance to the God-Emperor. Numerous long piers protrude from the sides with spider-like docking fixtures, ready to bring in a ship and anchor it to the station. Smaller shuttle bays dot the station where numerous small craft carry cargo and people between ships and the station. Deep crevasses run along the station, showing the slow layers of expansions through the many decades and the somewhat patchwork nature of many of them which includes parts from small vessels such as the nearly intact hull of the Solstice Imperialis, grafted onto one side of the station many centuries ago. Further construction and external maintenance is constant, with servitors crawling over areas of damage or expansion like flies over a bloated metal beast.
''"A lamp of fervour shines upon the white gale.<br />Not held by the greatest saint to mark the way,<br />But hung alone to banish enfolding shadows.<br />That beset the Emperor's true servant upon the fated path"''


On the underside of the station are the main repair yards, where damaged ships can contract out for refurbishment and mending. The yards include entire sealed dry-dock bays, where smaller ships can be totally enclosed for more intensive work. Also along the station's keel are a variety of elaborate and mysterious arrays and probes used by the Adeptus Mechanicus in their arcane research into the nature of the warp passage leading through the Great Warp Storms to the Koronus Expanse beyond.
-Translated from the prophetic verses of Abenicus


Across the length and breadth of the station are lance emplacements, weapons batteries, torpedo launchers, and void shield generators, all placed for maximum efficiency and kept in readiness. In addition to these static defences, squadrons of heavily armed monitor craft are stationed near Port Wander, and warships from Battlefleet Calixis pass the port on regular patrol. Port Wander may be the gate to the Koronus Expanse but it is a gate that is guarded.
The light of Furibundus marks the far side of the Great Warp Storms and the beginning of the Koronus
Expanse. It is a huge and primal stellar mass, far brighter and more energetic than any star should be. Its fires rage so fiercely that the cataclysmic energies unleashed within cause vast bulges of burning plasma to distend Furibundus's form, writhing as though immense beasts fight within. The outer envelope constantly tears and ripples, throwing off huge flaming masses into the near voids. Furibundus is surrounded by shells of remnant gas expanding outward, each a remnant of the star's outermost layers.  


At any given time there are at least a half-dozen Rogue Traders docked at the station, as well as other merchant vessels, enormous transports, and numerous smaller craft moving into and out of docking stations like swarming insects. Other vessels move through the area, offloading raw fuel gases mined from the two larger planets or minerals and ice from the further reaches of the system. There are also numerous asteroids sharing its space, most of which have been turned into fuel depots, palatial mansions and estates, crude habitats, storage facilities, ship yards, and other more useful installations.
The Imperial presence around Furibundus clusters in two locations: the stonework void-settlement of Footfall, and the Adeptus Mechanicus temple of Altar- Templum- Calixis-Ext- I 7. Footfall's ornate, tethered structures orbit at a sufficient distance from the star to be safe from the lethal ribbons of solar plasma, and for void-ships to operate with little impediment. Further inwards, close to the primal roar of Furibundus, there is a planet set in a frantic orbit and blasted to molten rock over and again by its proximity to the bloated star. The only way it can be seen is by the shadow it casts on the movement of plasma-ribbons. This is Altar-Templum-Calixis-Ext-17, and it is here that the Mechanicus hide a heavily shielded fortress-temple, within which Tech-Priests study the secrets of this furious star.


'''The Rubycon II System'''
*[[Footfall]]


Rubycon II is the star system centered on a bloated red star that is nearly a thousand times larger than Blessed Sol and burns a deep crimson. It is a dead system of two large gas giants whose pale surfaces flow with great typhoons that spread and die like bruises on flesh. These two planets are named the Ruby Brothers, and between the two planets lies a wide and dense field of asteroids that may be the remains of a lesser sibling planet whose death occurred long ago. This broken string of asteroids is a common hiding place for those wishing to avoid Imperial notice, and has become a meeting place for agencies of ill repute who would still chance the Koronus Passage to the Expanse. Beyond the orbit of these two bloated twin planets is Port Wander itself, set amongst a clutch of asteroids, many of which have been converted into other installations, ship yards, housing units, research stations, repair docks and storage facilities. Surrounded by vessels of all shapes and sizes, it glows with the lights of hundreds of beacons and tens of thousands of souls. Beyond this island of life are the comets, untold hundreds of thousands of chunks of ice and soot, each a glittering mote in the heavens. Finally there is the true void, still and serene except for the silent roar of mighty plasma drives as ships pass in flight or in hope.
==Winterscale's Realm==
 
==The Maw==


''"It is a beast that swallows the apostate, the doubter, and all who ship with them. Better to slay the unfaithful than risk the dread Maw whilst such false wretches draw breath."''
''"It is a place of graves and grinning skulls. Its wealth is its curse on all who seek it, for who could not look upon such wealth and not think to spill his brother's blood to possess it all?"''
 
-Opening lines of the Voidfarer's Warning from the Drusian Play


The Koronus Passage is a stable but dangerous warp route that passes through the Great Warp Storms separating the Calixis Sector from the Koronus Expanse. The Koronus Passage was discovered by a Magos-Explorator of the Machine Cult in the distant past, lost for millennia, and found once more by the Rogue Trader Purity Lathimon at the very close of the 40th Millennium. The Passage links Port Wander and the Drusus Marches to the great star Furibundus and the void colony of Footfall-and beyond Footfall, the Koronus Expanse beckons.
-Vilius Hope, voidsman


Superstitious voidfarers call the route "the Maw." To their eyes the Maw is a beast made of warp storms, cunning and malicious, whose crushing gullet must be braved by those who seek to break through to the Koronus Expanse beyond. Many have died in trying, and traversing the Maw remains
Winterscale's Realm is one of the most explored and exploited regions, and one that has delivered both fabulous riches and early death for the unwary in equal measure. Winterscale's Realm is a region defined by the stars explored and charted by Sebastian Winterscale in the early centuries of the 41 st millennium. It is composed of a few coveted worlds sitting like islands amongst the darkness of the unknown. Rogue Traders have traversed the Realm's breadth a hundred times, but even so, its farther reaches and troubled warp regions remain unmapped. Though only a handful of
harrowing despite centuries of experience gathered by Navigators and Rogue Traders. Some say this ill-omened title came from the first to survive the crossing-and that they returned wild-eyed, at the edge of sanity, and few journeyed to the voids again.
worlds within Winterscale's Realm have been even partially explored, these have proven to be fat with riches and treasures. It has lured those whose goal is only wealth, and has become a battleground between rivals for its bounty. Gems, precious minerals, exotic death world beasts, xenos artefacts, and many more rarities have poured into select coffers of merchant cartels and noble backers in the Calix is Sector and beyond, thanks in no small part to the Winterscale Realm's tireless explorers.


The possibilities of a passage through the Great Warp Storms were first recorded by Abenicus, insane Navigator of House Benetek, and have gripped the hearts and minds of Rogue Traders ever since that time. Vast riches and a way through the Great Warp Storms were once a lure to the brave and foolhardy, and many died for pursuing what they believed to be the truth. In time, cautious steps into what would be called the Maw laid the groundwork for the Stations of Passage that guided steps of those passing through the Maw. Later, during the Mistaken Age of the early 41st Millennium, Navigators learned to read the Maw and its moods-to see signs in the warp for what they were and so avoid the sudden, sweeping maelstroms that doomed earlier explorers. The Stations of Passage fell into disuse, save as refuges from unexpected upheaval in the empyrean, and as covert rendezvous points for plotting Rogue Traders.
'''The Thousand Charts'''


In the present times the Maw is a rite of passage for Rogue Traders of the Calixis Sector. A Lord-Captain may bear the greatest Warrant of Trade ever seen in Port Wander, but until he harrows the Maw and survives to see the raging light of Furibundus at its farthest end, he is no better than a common Free Trader in the eyes of his peers.
Winterscale's' Realm is named for the Rogue Trader Sebastian Winterscale who first explored and charted many of its stars. Those who venture into Winterscale's Realm do so in the main because of the legendary wealth it is said to harbour, but also because it is one of the most haphazardly charted regions of the Koronus Expanse. There are many Navigator clans who hold many more charts of Winterscale's Realm; most such records agree in part, though some are wildly divergent. The
few points of agreement between these charts thus indicate the worlds, stars, and warp routes that are generally agreed to exist, at least insofar as the explorers of the Koronus Expanse are concerned. The other charts are considered to be flights of fantasy, and their navigational data to be nothing more than a vile trap to lure and destroy the foolhardy. Many believe that
the reason for the profusion of misleading and contradictory charts of Winter scale's Realm is simply a by-product of several centuries of Rogue Trader activity. But a few whisper in the obscura dens of Port Wander that all such charts are true, and if combined using the correct cipher, they would reveal the true extent of Sebastian Winterscale's exploits and the hidden riches of his realm.


*[[The Temple]]
'''Blood and False Gold'''
*[[The Witch Cursed World]]
*[[The Battleground]]
*[[The Hermitage]]


==Furibundus==
The proximity of Winterscale's Realm to the Koronus Passage, the tales of its wealth, and the relative abundance of navigational charts-albeit of dubious accuracy-mean that explorers and merchant concerns and renegades are drawn to it, willing to fight for fortunes that might be no more than fancy. Winterscale's Realm is soaked in the blood of rival claimants to worlds and resources, and every glittering prize carried back into Calixis Sector has to be bought in death and slaughter from those others who would claim it. Weaker Rogue Traders, fearful of greater risks, may come to Winterscale's realm hoping to grow slowly wealthy from its resources while
*[[Footfall]]
remaining close to the light of Imperial domains. Any who does not come armed and prepared for battle, however, is a fool who will not see the lights of Port Wander again. The graves of the naive, arrogant, and unlucky litter the stars of Winterscale's Realm and offer mute testament to this untamed cauldron of death and greed.


==Winterscale's Realm==
*[[Burnscour]]
*[[Burnscour]]
*[[The Egarian Dominion]]
*[[The Egarian Dominion]]
*[[Jerazol]]
*[[Jerazol]]
*[[Quppa-Psi*12]]
*[[Humility (Planet) | Humility]]


==The Foundling Worlds==
==The Foundling Worlds==
*[[Damaris]]
*[[Forsellis]] (Contains: [[Damaris]])
*[[Svard]]
*[[Aurinko]] (Contains: [[Aurinko#Svard|Svard]])
*[[Grace]]
*[[Loretta (Planet)|Loretta]]
*[[Rain]]
*[[Rain]]
*[[Iniquity]]
*[[Iniquity]]
Line 87: Line 83:
*[[Melbethe]]
*[[Melbethe]]
*[[The Far Corpse Stars]]
*[[The Far Corpse Stars]]
[[Category: Warhammer 40k]]
[[Category: Rogue Trader]]
[[Category: Locations]]

Latest revision as of 04:28, 14 August 2023

Koronusexpanse.jpg
Rogue Trader: Drake Dynasty
Rogue Trader Logo.jpg
GM
Adam
Dynastic Power
Character Level: 31,250 XP / Rank 8
Profit Factor: 43𝖕
Command Crew
Lord-Captain Drake
Navigator Primus Mordecai
Arch-Millitant Winter
Astropath Solarus
House Drake Fleet
Aurea Albion
Hound of AlbionAbhorrent
Fortuitous PurposePenance of Iocanthos
Drake Trade Empire
DamarisScintillaKulth
SvardDrossAurum
Sepheris SecundusTennenberg
Killian's Rest
Drake Expeditions
Open Missions
Grand Endevours
Personnel
MagistratesRetainers
Militants
Svard 1stStormtroopers
House Drake Expeditionary Army
Assets
Materiel
Aerospace CraftGround Vehicles
Armoury
WargearRelics and Artifacts
Other
Estate
Secrets and ContactsAwards and Honors
The Galaxy
Locations
Calixis Sector
Koronus ExpansePeriphery Subsector
Personalities
Peers of the Imperium
Rival Rogue Traders
Utilities
Rogue Trader Timeline
House Rules
Guide and Lore

Expanse Description

Port Wander

Port Wander is a void station on the uttermost edge of the Drusus Marches of the Calixis Sector, rightly regarded as the last bastion of the rule of the Emperor this side of the Koronus Expanse. A place of desperate hopes and vain dreams; Port Wander teems with a transitory population of traders, spies, merchant factors, pilgrims, and missionaries amongst which move Administratum functionaries and minions of the Mechanicus, all feeding on the riches that flow from the realms beyond the warp storms in the Koronus Expanse. All who travel into the Koronus Expanse share one common experience in that they pass Port Wander. Be they the pious bringing the Emperor's Light into the darkness beyond the Imperium or black-hearted monsters searching for the keys to forbidden dreams, many will stop in the last place where the rule of the Golden Throne keeps the horror and possibility of the unknown at bay.

The Maw

"It is a beast that swallows the apostate, the doubter, and all who ship with them. Better to slay the unfaithful than risk the dread Maw whilst such false wretches draw breath."

-Opening lines of the Voidfarer's Warning from the Drusian Play

The Koronus Passage is a stable but dangerous warp route that passes through the Great Warp Storms separating the Calixis Sector from the Koronus Expanse. The Koronus Passage was discovered by a Magos-Explorator of the Machine Cult in the distant past, lost for millennia, and found once more by the Rogue Trader Purity Lathimon at the very close of the 40th Millennium. The Passage links Port Wander and the Drusus Marches to the great star Furibundus and the void colony of Footfall-and beyond Footfall, the Koronus Expanse beckons.

Superstitious voidfarers call the route "The Maw" To their eyes the Maw is a beast made of warp storms, cunning and malicious, whose crushing gullet must be braved by those who seek to break through to the Koronus Expanse beyond. Many have died in trying, and traversing the Maw remains harrowing despite centuries of experience gathered by Navigators and Rogue Traders. Some say this ill-omened title came from the first to survive the crossing-and that they returned wild-eyed, at the edge of sanity, and few journeyed to the voids again.

Furibundus

"A lamp of fervour shines upon the white gale.
Not held by the greatest saint to mark the way,
But hung alone to banish enfolding shadows.
That beset the Emperor's true servant upon the fated path"

-Translated from the prophetic verses of Abenicus

The light of Furibundus marks the far side of the Great Warp Storms and the beginning of the Koronus Expanse. It is a huge and primal stellar mass, far brighter and more energetic than any star should be. Its fires rage so fiercely that the cataclysmic energies unleashed within cause vast bulges of burning plasma to distend Furibundus's form, writhing as though immense beasts fight within. The outer envelope constantly tears and ripples, throwing off huge flaming masses into the near voids. Furibundus is surrounded by shells of remnant gas expanding outward, each a remnant of the star's outermost layers.

The Imperial presence around Furibundus clusters in two locations: the stonework void-settlement of Footfall, and the Adeptus Mechanicus temple of Altar- Templum- Calixis-Ext- I 7. Footfall's ornate, tethered structures orbit at a sufficient distance from the star to be safe from the lethal ribbons of solar plasma, and for void-ships to operate with little impediment. Further inwards, close to the primal roar of Furibundus, there is a planet set in a frantic orbit and blasted to molten rock over and again by its proximity to the bloated star. The only way it can be seen is by the shadow it casts on the movement of plasma-ribbons. This is Altar-Templum-Calixis-Ext-17, and it is here that the Mechanicus hide a heavily shielded fortress-temple, within which Tech-Priests study the secrets of this furious star.

Winterscale's Realm

"It is a place of graves and grinning skulls. Its wealth is its curse on all who seek it, for who could not look upon such wealth and not think to spill his brother's blood to possess it all?"

-Vilius Hope, voidsman

Winterscale's Realm is one of the most explored and exploited regions, and one that has delivered both fabulous riches and early death for the unwary in equal measure. Winterscale's Realm is a region defined by the stars explored and charted by Sebastian Winterscale in the early centuries of the 41 st millennium. It is composed of a few coveted worlds sitting like islands amongst the darkness of the unknown. Rogue Traders have traversed the Realm's breadth a hundred times, but even so, its farther reaches and troubled warp regions remain unmapped. Though only a handful of worlds within Winterscale's Realm have been even partially explored, these have proven to be fat with riches and treasures. It has lured those whose goal is only wealth, and has become a battleground between rivals for its bounty. Gems, precious minerals, exotic death world beasts, xenos artefacts, and many more rarities have poured into select coffers of merchant cartels and noble backers in the Calix is Sector and beyond, thanks in no small part to the Winterscale Realm's tireless explorers.

The Thousand Charts

Winterscale's' Realm is named for the Rogue Trader Sebastian Winterscale who first explored and charted many of its stars. Those who venture into Winterscale's Realm do so in the main because of the legendary wealth it is said to harbour, but also because it is one of the most haphazardly charted regions of the Koronus Expanse. There are many Navigator clans who hold many more charts of Winterscale's Realm; most such records agree in part, though some are wildly divergent. The few points of agreement between these charts thus indicate the worlds, stars, and warp routes that are generally agreed to exist, at least insofar as the explorers of the Koronus Expanse are concerned. The other charts are considered to be flights of fantasy, and their navigational data to be nothing more than a vile trap to lure and destroy the foolhardy. Many believe that the reason for the profusion of misleading and contradictory charts of Winter scale's Realm is simply a by-product of several centuries of Rogue Trader activity. But a few whisper in the obscura dens of Port Wander that all such charts are true, and if combined using the correct cipher, they would reveal the true extent of Sebastian Winterscale's exploits and the hidden riches of his realm.

Blood and False Gold

The proximity of Winterscale's Realm to the Koronus Passage, the tales of its wealth, and the relative abundance of navigational charts-albeit of dubious accuracy-mean that explorers and merchant concerns and renegades are drawn to it, willing to fight for fortunes that might be no more than fancy. Winterscale's Realm is soaked in the blood of rival claimants to worlds and resources, and every glittering prize carried back into Calixis Sector has to be bought in death and slaughter from those others who would claim it. Weaker Rogue Traders, fearful of greater risks, may come to Winterscale's realm hoping to grow slowly wealthy from its resources while remaining close to the light of Imperial domains. Any who does not come armed and prepared for battle, however, is a fool who will not see the lights of Port Wander again. The graves of the naive, arrogant, and unlucky litter the stars of Winterscale's Realm and offer mute testament to this untamed cauldron of death and greed.

The Foundling Worlds

The Accursed Demesne

Heathen Stars

Unbeholden Reaches

The Rifts of Hecaton