Rogue Trader Timeline

Rogue Trader: Drake Dynasty
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 Albion • Abhorrent Fortuitous Purpose • Penance of Iocanthos
Drake Trade Empire
Damaris • Scintilla • Kulth Svard • Dross • Aurum Sepheris Secundus • Tennenberg Killian's Rest
Drake Expeditions
Open Missions
Grand Endevours
Personnel
Magistrates • Retainers Militants Svard 1st • Stormtroopers House Drake Expeditionary Army
Assets
Materiel Aerospace Craft • Ground Vehicles
Armoury Wargear • Relics and Artifacts
Other Estate Secrets and Contacts • Awards and Honors
The Galaxy
Locations Calixis Sector Koronus Expanse • Periphery Subsector Personalities Peers of the Imperium Rival Rogue Traders
Utilities
Rogue Trader Timeline House Rules Guide and Lore

Pre-history

M36

Circa 760
Haarlock’s Progress: Solomon Haarlock, scion of an infamous and (according to some) damned Rogue Trader lineage, successfully charts the area of space known as the Calyx Expanse and some say stray beyond the Maw as well.

M37

Circa 433
Auspicious Dinner: The Rogue Traders Marius Drake and Herman Krieg are both active in the Calyx Expanse and meet to share stories and barter findings and materials. Notes about their meetings are recorded in the Aurea Albion's datastacks.

M38

Circa 101
The Koronus Fragments: During the preparations for a proposed Imperial Crusade to bring the Calyx Expanse under Compliance, a number of apocryphal documents come to light in the vast data-stacks that house the Segmentum Obscuras naval records on Wykthorne Prime. These documents, which become known as the Koronus Fragments, are the degraded and incomplete logs of an Adeptus Mechanicus Exporator fleet of unknown age and provenance that purports to have discovered a stable passage through a vast swathe of warp storms at the edge of the Calyx Expanse.

Circa 375
End of a line: Jonah Krieg, last of the nearly bankrupt Krieg dynasty, makes a desperate gamble to locate the passage to the fabled Koronus region based on millennia-old family records. The ship is never seen or heard from again.

M39

Circa 322 to 384
The Angevin Crusade: The Imperium forges the Calixis Sector from the former border region of the Calyx Expanse, with great effusion of blood and the loss of many millions of lives. Several minor xeno-empires are crushed, dark powers cast down and lost human colonies either restored to the Light of the Golden Throne or purged from the stars, according to their measure.

Circa 878
Abenicus’s Theorem: Studying ancient pre-crusade reports, prophetic murmurings culled from dubious texts and the visions granted him by his own fickle gifts, the Mad Navigator Abenicus of House Benetek spreads his theory of the safe passage through the veil of warp storms that crowd the edges of the Drusus Marches and form a ‘natural’ border to the Calixis sector.

M40

Circa 197
The Discovery of the Maw: Rogue Trader Purity Lathimon succeeds where dozens of other Rogue Traders have failed and perished, discovering and plotting safe passage through what she dubs ‘the Maw’ to the Koronus Expanse beyond. Upon her return to Port Wander, she sells her secrets, liquidates her assets and dispands her crew. She's last seen as a sister-retired at Our Lady of the Lily convent.

Circa 733
Trail of Roses: The Sceptre’d Rose, a Rogue Trader barque under the Lady Juno Dach’man becomes one of the first vessels to traverse the new route through the Maw on a regular basis. Although the Sceptre'd Rose disappears with all hands during one transit, the waypoints Lady Dach'man established remain the standard for Maw navigation. A hundred years later, the first stories of a ghost ship matching the Sceptre'd Rose reach the ears of Port Wander. Reports continue to this day.

M41

Circa 055
Right of Trade: The Lord Sector Calixis and his heirs and successors are granted the right, within set guidelines, to issue Warrants of Trade pertaining to the exploration and domination of the Koronus Expanse by the writ of the High Lords of Terra. This leads inevitability to a steady rise in the numbers of Rogue Traders operating within the Expanse in the years to come, kept largely in check by natural attrition, and also serves to further bind the Koronus Expanse to then Calixis Sector politically.

Circa 071
Homefield Advantage: Angered at taxation and rising supply costs, a coalition of minor Rogue Trader houses petition the Administorm for the men and materials to create an independent Imperial colony in the Expanse. Their success leads to the founding of Damaris and Bulwark orbital docking stations.

Circa 452 The founding of Footfall: Possibly in search of a world on which to build a palace-city, former Imperial Colonel turned Rogue Trader Dewain passes through the Maw with a small fleet of ships laden with stone, plasteel, and iron. Becalmed on the far side of the Maw he orders the construction of "my grand palace in the stars." He dies without an heir, and in his final act bequeaths Footfall to "all Rogue Traders who have passed the Maw."

Circa 774 Chaos Reigns: The barbed vessels of the Chaos renegade Karrad Vall emerge from the Maw and bombard Footfall. The renegades are finally driven off, but not before their boarding parties and surface raiders capture hundreds of souls. Their fate is said to provide a libation of blood to the Dark Gods in thanks for safe passage through the Great Warp Storms for the infamous Vall, who is said to have last plagued other Imperial sectors for a millennia before. Chaos activity across the Expanse notably increases in his wake.

Circa 788 The Severan Succession: After a decade of xeno conflict and mysterious maneuvers, the regional governor of the Periphery Sub-Sector declared his edge of the Imperium as an independent fiefdom. In response, Governor Hex calls up a major counter-invasion. Karlak is selected as the crusade mustering and logistics point and doubles in population over the next five years. Although the initial reconquest was quick, the areas has subsequently become bogged down in a seemingly endless series of shifting battle lines.

Drake Timeline

Note: A specific, quarter-by-quarter activity map can be found here.

816.M41: The Young Drake

Heir Unapparent: Acanthus Regulus Drake, who knew nothing of his biological family's ties, is presented with the Drake Warrant of Trade. Within the hour there is another assassination attempt on his life. The Arbiters eventually conclude it was the work of a chaos cult acting on heretical divination practices. The cult is eliminated and the case is considered closed.

Legacy of Wealth: Lord Drake arrives at Port Wander to reclaim the Aurea Albion, the Flagship of the Drake Dynasty, and his birthright. The ship is in a sorry state but, with the help of some newly acquired senior officers, Drake is able to keep the Imperial Navy from stripping off the last of the ship's armament. The Explorers then set out to reorganize the citizens of the Aurea Albion, fill out something resembling a functional ship's crew, and get the vessel sufficiently repaired and provisioned to set sail. (33 P.F.)

817.M41: Into the Maw

Cursed Bounty: Stuck with a green crew and hoping to gather some quick resources to help prop up the Dynasty's cash flow issues, the crew manages to secure the salvage rights for the Emperor's Bounty, a ship long considered lost but recently heard in the Maw waypoint known as The Battlefield. While the vessel is eventually found, the recovery operation is complicated by the ship's original Navigator, now under the control of a warp artifact. This chaos-empowered being contests the salvage using a force of psychically animated zombies, endlessly recycled from the Bounty's crew. The Explorers finally defeat the Navigator after convincing the ship's core cognator to activate the Geller field, cutting off the majority of his power.

Dark Frontier: The warp artifact from the Emperor's Bounty lured a rating to carry it aboard the Aurea Albion, letting it distort the subsequent Warp jump and lead the ship to an unnamed Yu'voth system where they were trapped in a mysterious energy field. Securing deals with other survivors and negotiating the felty of Captian Lynara Cobolt, the Explorers were able to disrupt the planetary energy relay with the warhead from a Vortex Torpedo, although a chain reaction caused an enormous burst of warp energy. Unbeknownst to the explorers, this energy would reactivate systems in the long semi-dormant Whisperer half a sector away.

Footfallen: The dynasty, along with the newly retained Penance of Iocanthus returns to Port Wander to dispose of the salvage gained from the Emperor's Bounty, trading materials for ship upgrades. At the same time, the Albion's aged Navigator Prime departs, exchanging the position with the young Navigator Mordecai of house Ben'yam. Once the ship's new systems are installed, the explorers gather up fresh cargo and desperate colonists before making their first full expedition through the entirety of the Maw. Arriving through the storm intact, the explorers get their first taste of hive of scum and villainy that is Footfall. There, the explorers' morals, bodies, and good taste are challenged by intrigue, parties, and a truly terrifying dinner menu.

818.M41: Whispers in the Dark

Riddle of the Riddle of the Righteous Path: The Explorers end up in competition with Hadarak Fel over the discovery and salvage of an ancient Rogue Trader vessel the Righteous Path that was lost on the edges of the warp storm near The Maw. The careful navigation required to maneuver the Aurea Albion into the storm-wracked left the cruiser vulnerable to opportunistic raiders - though Drake & Winter’s leadership turned the tables and counter-boarded one of the raiders, leading to the capture of the vessel that would eventually become the ‘’Hound of Albion’’. Using an ancient xeno observatory in the mysterious system, they located the ancient Rogue Trader vessel in the outer reaches. Unfortunately, their competition had located it first and was laying in ambush. The Explorers rally and drive off Hadarak, who acquiesces the prize to them.

The Long Lost Lord: They Dynasty is approached by Lord-Captain Keel of the Navy about investigating the Aurinko system and the Drake colony of Svard. The exploration reveals a system frozen in fear of an insidious presence known as the "Whisperer". Spurred to action, Drake and company are able to affect a rapid reconquest of the industrial moon of Cog and use its systems to locate Silence and Installation 23. After a stop-over at Silence, they assault and capture Installation 23, then use its systems to discover a battleship-sized Ya'voth vessel hidden in the clouds. The creation attacks and is finally destroyed, though at a heavy cost. The dynasty spends the rest of the year bargaining, shipping, and investing (particularly with its close neighbor Damaris) to keep the recovered colony from collapsing under the strain.

819.M41: Following on Prophecy

The Foretelling: While on Footfall, the explorers learn that a conclave known as the Seven Witches will be holding an event known as the Foretelling, which will reveal the location of a fabulous treasure. Having no further pressing leads and hoping for developing a dramatic jump in the Dynasty's fortunes, they decided to remain and bid on attendance. While waiting on Footfall, they encounter a number of other Rogue Traders, each having come to hear the same Foretelling as Drake. The auction for attendance costs the dynasty dearly, but they successfully witness the psychic vision of the Dread Pearl. An alliance is forged with Madam Charlabelle of House Armelan.

Meanwhile: Drake's footfall offices begins setting up the subtle import of off-world luxuries for Svard Nobility.

The Keystone: A long and surprisingly eventful voyage send the Explorers (and their rivals) to the marginally recorded world of Quppa-Psi-12. Ancient Eldar defenses made affecting a landing surprisingly difficult, forcing the explorers to walk the remaining kilometers to the temple. Once there, they encounter both a selection of their rivals and a coven of Eldar warlocks who are attempting to drag the temple into the warp to prevent anyone from reading it. The ritual is stopped, and the explorers get a good chance to look at the arcane map before departing.

War WIthout End: While not the closest Nexus point, the war-torn world of Zayth is the best known, with the dynasty's maps providing a rough route. There they find a world where great land-ships (an odd cross between titans, voidships, and hives) stride across the world endlessly competing for survival and scrap. There, after successfully reading the nexus point, the explorers found themselves caught in a battle over a fallen Mechanicus shuttle. Learning the shuttle belonged to a rogue Mechanicus faction and was there to make a secret trade and support a regime change, the explorers reveal the plan to the ship's elder council and negotiate a profitable trade agreement.

Meanwhile: The Drake officers on Footfall start negotiating with the Ecclesiarchy to restart the mission on Silence. It ends up dragging on for years.

Traitor’s Nexus: Following up on the hints gleaned from the Zayth Nexus, the Explorers next find themselves orbiting a mysterious swamp planet that appeared as no more than specks on any charts. They quickly identified the nexus but discovered a critical gemstone had gone missing. They also discovered the swamps held a dangerous poxwalker warp-virus. They track the gemstone to the ridge top structure of Sanctuary, where they eventually find it hanging around the neck of the self-proclaimed King of the Castaways. Unable to buy the stone of the King, they ambush the king at night and take it by force before retreating back into the swamp. Installing the gemstone allows a reading to be taken, even as dynastic armsmen hold back the zombie swarm.

Meanwhile: A free trader is dispatched from Footfall to further develop the trade with the Engine Eldars of Zayth.

820.M41: The Nexus Trail

A Priest-King's Ransom: On the desert world of Vaporius, the explorers brave the barren wastelands and defeat hideous rock-creatures to locate a nexus point that will help illuminate the location of the Dread Pearl. The explorers also take the time to visit one of the Priest-kings of Vaporius, where they experience the cleansing draught of the (psychoactive) Waters. Realizing there would be a market in such a liquid, they enter negotiations and in the end agree to deal with the ecclesial missionaries who are bothering the local ruler. They agree, but instead of destroying the missionaries, simply lure them to the other side of the planet with the promise of a proper church.

Storming Bastille: Lord Bastille, sensing the weakness of Drake's position, uses the Nexus of Vaporius as casus belli to engage the Aurea Albion. Inspired maneuvers by Tacticus and Drake's leadership, however, turn the tables on the elderly admiral, with Brother Winter leading a boarding action to first disable the Abhorrant, then hours later taking Bastille's flagship the Colossus. Both vessels are fitted with prize crews and return with Albion to Footfall, where Bastille himself and the Colossus are ransomed, but the Abhorrent is retained.

Meanwhile: Delving deep into the Spire of Intoxicants, the Dynasty's agents on Footfall trade the Aqua Vita of Vaporus for long-lasting favors.

Ark of the Forsaken: With fresh supplies and fuel from Footfall, the explorers head for the most distant Nexus. There, in an unremarkable system without a terrestrial planet to its name, the explorers locate their prize among the icy rings of a gas giant. While en route, they are also hailed by the mythical ship Light of Terra, who appears to have been trapped in this system since the Angevin Crusade. They meet with the captain, who offers them a trade - restore power to the vessel and he will open the deepest vaults for them. Through cunning, might, and diplomacy with the local crew-tribes the explorers succeed, and while the captain does keep his word and opens the vault, he also immediately starts the hour-long countdown to Warp translation. The explorers evacuate several crew-tribes and a few lighters of treasure before being forced to make a desperate escape by driving a Baneblade out of the airlock. The Light of Terra disappears into the warp with no apparent destination.

Land of the Sky-Father: On the storm-wracked world of Dross, the explorers' first attempt to land ends in a devastating crash landing. There they discover tribal warfare over millions of crashed craft and a warrior-psychic by the name of Asira who calls herself the High Priestess of the Sky-Father. Charm, negotiation, and some martial assistance see the explorers brought to the high temple, which is discovered to both be the Nexus and one source of the endless storms. The explorers convince her that they are emissaries sent by the Sky-Father to unite the planet under her, and if she follows their instructions she can part the sky and bring to her the Sky-Father's gifts. Their first "gifts" are shotguns and flak armor, to help unify the planet.

821.M41: Dread Pearl

Damned Processional: Where the last Nexus is expected, the crew find only a steller anomaly - some kind of torn warp-portal the Nexus appears to have drifted through. Taking the Albion through, the explorers find themselves in the Professional of the Damned, an accretion ring worth of voidship wrecks surrounding a blacked-out star that seems to defy time and space. In addition to reading the Nexus, the Albion sweeps the rings for outcast survivors, ex-renegades who wish only a chance to escape. A handful of Carrion warlords attempt to block the Albion's return to warp-portal, but one truly stands out: a cruiser that appears to be the Aurea Albion herself, but covered with strange and disturbing markings.

Meanwhile: Using the pre-arranged signal with Asira, a commissioned trader successfully extracts the first load of salvage from Dross, having brought weapons for exchange.

The World Beyond: With readings from all the Nexus points the explorers know of, they are able to narrow down the location of the Dread Pearl to a searchable region of space. Careful astrography allows them to locate a peculiarly localized warp storm that appears to be the long-desired planet. They find a few of their rivals already in high orbit around the warp-locked planet and are joined by several others before the storms eventually abate, providing a new chance to cut deals, strengthen alliances and taunt rivals. Running the newly opened gauntlet to the planet, however, leads to conflict with Rogue Traders and warp entities alike.

Eye of the Storm: Like the rest of the Rogue Traders, the Dynasty parks in low orbit and immediately sends down landers to exploit the planet's ready wealth. Among the idyllic islands, the explorers discover ancient Eldar structures including some frighteningly humanoid constructions. Concerned about the aggressive activities of their neighbors and potential Eldar activity, the dynasty begins gathering valuable artifacts immediately, particularly the innumerable gemstones. After several hours, the Explorers make contact with some rather unexpectedly human natives. Carefully navigating the conversation, they manage to convince the natives that they too are chosen to live on the planet. Sudden violence from several other competitors, however, strains the conversation, and the explorers are forced to adapt their story to the role of guardians and rescuers.

The Awakening: A short time later strange and unnaturally tough attackers - Wraithguard - began attacking edges and pockets of the expedition, eventually working up to attacking the Explorers themselves. To make matters worse, a new storm starts building akin to the one found on Dross, and it was starting to draw the warp storm closed again. Suddenly desperate, the explorers order their troops into a fighting retreat with orders to evacuate the natives and head off themselves to investigate the source of the new disturbance. They and a few remaining allies discover a coven of Eldar farseers and witches conducting an arcane ritual. The ensuing fight slows the storm but it is too late to stop it entirely. Allies and enemies alike rush to their ships, with Drake recovering Armalon, who had lost her landers to wraithguard, and effect an escape through the closing pass. An Eldar ambush awaits the Rogue Traders at systems edge, though the greatest ship - huge with tattered sails - simply observes before fading into the void.

Meanwhile: With Installation 23's recommissioning complete and over two years production to provide as evidence, the Dynasty's footfall office is finally able to sign a lucrative trade agreement with Svard.

822.M41 Shore Leave

Triumphant Return: In need of both complex repairs and a better market, the Explorer and the Aurea Albion pass through the Maw and return to the Calixus sector laden with all the treasure they could carry. The Dynasty is able to turn a great profit but discovered that the great shipyards of the Lathes were heavily laden with outfitting vessels for the upcoming Periphery War, and would take over a year to complete the repairs and refit of the mighty cruiser. The Explorers call for general shore leave and relaxation before heading off to the capital world of Scintilla.

Meanwhile: Felix is left at Port Wander where, along with several ex-pats who had chosen not to leave with the Albion, an office is opened up to help coordinate mercantile operations through the Maw.

A Joyous Choir: On arrival, Drake calls upon an old family connection to stay as guests of the Noble Strophes family in the spires of the capital hive. There they discover that a cousin of their host family has disappeared mysteriously. The explorers get involved and find themselves swept into the strange world of the Scintillian nobility and the popular new imperial cult The Joyous Choir. After a few close calls, they discover the new cult was actually a front for both embezzlement and screening for latent psychers. Following the clues, they end up on the mobile city of Ambulon where they discover a secret, non-euclidean factory for turning psychically attuned minds into a potent drug. They turn the information into the Inquisition shut down the trade. The events bring them closer to the Strophes family.

Meanwhile: Sensing an incredible opportunity on Dross, the Dynasty turns the efforts of Lady Cobolt and both the Footfall and Port Wander offices to securing supplies to establish a full, permanent colony on the storm-wracked world. The potentially unstable trade agreement with Vaporus is traded away to help fund the endeavor.

Baron Hopes: Searching for further opportunities while they were shoplorn on Scintilla, Felix uncovered that a Baron Ulbrexis who was being held in a moderate-security prison over Scintilla. With some carefully placed bribes, the Baron was collected as part of a prison-labor muster and brought before the Explorers. There they learned his story as a displaced noble who had been entrapped into arrest by the other nobles of Sepheris Secundus. When they travel to see his old estates, they are initially mistaken by the Arbitors for the Inquisitors they had petitioned for aid. They quickly learn that the Baron’s old mines had come under attack by recidivist forces. Investigating the situation, they discover a chaos cult had taken up the old revolutionary mantle and completed a ritual to turn the mines into a zombie-filled slaughter pit. The cult leader is slain with the Explorers’, Baron’s, and Emperor’s help. With the Rogue Trader’s backing, the Baron’s claim was pressed and the mines returned to him, with generous prices for the Dynasty.

Meanwhile: Through the Port Wander office, the dynasty is able to secure additional supply contracts with the Imperial Navy.

823.M41 Return to Adventure

Return to the Expanse: With the Aurea Albion refitted and ready for duty, the Explorers and their crew load fresh supplies and head back through the Maw to Koronus Expanse. Traveling between Footfall and Svard, the Explorers meet up with agents and the Hound of Albion and Penance of Iocanthos to catch up on the developments with their Expanse prospects.

Meanwhile: An attempt to expand the Footfall office into a profitable holding backfires, costing the Dynasty dearly. The Port Wander office returns its focus to securing part of the Trans-Maw trade, a process that proves slow but ultimately successful.

The Greenskin Threat: While the Explorers were on Svard, Solarus received a desperate Astropathic plea for aid from the nearby civilized world of Damaris, Svard’s major trading partner. They made all haste to the world and learned of an impending ork assault. In the first couple of days, the explorers attend both parties and meetings at the Governor’s Palace to meet the major players and coordinate the planet’s defense. Political maneuverings put Drake in command of the defenses, and he quickly departed to secure men and material. Cobolt recruited levy soldiers and system monitors from Svard while Drake secured war materials and mercenaries from Footfall. His greatest successes, however, were in securing the aid of the Rogue Trader Armalon and getting “bishop” Avidius of the Drusian Cult to declare the war a holy crusade.

Invasion of Damaris: The Explorers returned to Damaris with just days to spare, the Ork Roks already breaking into the system. After a heated discussion, the Explorers convinced the defenders to pre-evacuate the outer industry and draw the entire planetary population into Damaris City. The acquired troops and material are swiftly unloaded and final preparations made before the defending vessels take up a skirmishing line to thin the assault. Despite the best effort of the space forces, dozens of roks make landfall and the ground war began. Personal skill, inspired tactics and extensive reinforcements allowed the defenders to hold the walls, root out infiltrators, and protect all of the people and major infrastructure within the city.

Frozen Reaches: As the siege started to wear on supplies, the Aurea Albion received a mysterious message from the Eldar. They invited Drake to a parlay with a promise of information that could strike the death blow to the ork invasion. At the in-person meeting, the Eldar provided both the location of the distant ork base and a dire warning - that the Warboss could only be slain if beheaded Winter’s hand. Using the Hound of Albion to scout and the Aegis as support, the Explorers locate the Warboss’ Rok Factory and start their assault. At the crux of the battle, the Explorers managed to teleport across and, as foreseen, Winter dueled and took the Ork’s head. Upon their return to Damaris, they draw the war to a close and are lauded as heroes.

Meanwhile: Overspent in both resources and welcome, the Dynasty pulls back from Footfall, leaving only a token administrative office. Instead, the newly acquired lands on Damaris become the center of the Dynasty's influence in the Expanse.

824.M41 Wealth and Power

Shades of Twilight: Many months later the Space Hulk Shade of Twilight appeared in the Scintilla system. The Explorers, who were still on the planet, received a strange data slate with the seal of the Inquisition which provided them with deep auspex scans of the Hulk and a timeline of the very heavily delayed destruction by the Calixen Navy. A salvage team and shuttles are quickly acquired and transported to the hulk. While the hired teams worked in the relative safety of the exterior-facing imperial wrecks, the Explorers pushed deep into the hulk to find a mysterious place marked on the map. There they find the wreck of an ancient Black Ship filled with ghost psyches, a party of Acolytes, and an assaulting party of Dark Eldar. The party survived the challenges and recovered a relic sword and the Liber Daemonica to be turned over to the Inquisition.

Meanwhile: Lady Cobolt and the new Dynastic headquarters on Damaris begin making major inroads into enhancing trade relations between Damaris both Svard and the wider Expanse.

Peers of the Imperium: When the news of an impending succession conflict on the world of Tennenberg reaches Scintilla, the Strophes provided Drake with a letter of introduction to Lord William Heltz to aid and seek profit. This placed them in prime position to aid the Head of House Theot in his maneuvering for his House’s dominance and his own nomination to Planetary Governor. The Explorers first turn their attention to the Imperial Adepta. They were first able to gain the favor of the Adeptus Ministorum by removing a troublesome preacher (who was offered a position on Dross). To gain the favor of the Mechanicus, the explorers agreed to search the stars for a Mechanicus Relic the Magus had deciphered clues for. It took a month of surveys and a short battle with Orks, but the relic was recovered and the favor of the Magus guaranteed.

House Divided: After careful discussion and subtle introductions, the Explorers turn their attention to House Kreva, who was in direct competition with House Bern. Negations extract a promise of support for Theot’s bid if their rival were to be effectively sabotaged. To perform this feat, the teleportarium and several competent tech-adepts were utilized to cause several extremely expensive (but not deadly) failures that would set House Bern back for a decade. Further work discovers that Forge Warrants, easily obtained from the friendly Magus, gains House Solut’s support while dealing with some unsavory cold traders before the Inquisition finds out gains House Astrid’s support. The powerful House Valkena proves more difficult, but strategic and systematic sabotage of the houses rail lines and orbital connections sufficiently weaken their clam.

A Throne of Iron: Discussions with the Lord Marshal of Watch proved to be a miscalculation, and it was only by striking diplomatic efforts they extracted themselves without causes a major loss of face to themselves or Lord Heltz. However, they were able to make contact with a few of the Watch’s lieutenants which were more amenable to providing the assistance which would soon be needed. Pressed in on all sides, House Hilde launches a preemptive assault on House Theot. Thankfully, Drake’s own forces and readied troops of the Watch were able to blunt assault. The Explorers themselves intercepted Lord Hilde at the spearhead and defeated him in a duel on a windswept landing pad over the capital.

Meanwhile: Lady Cobolt, having returned through the Maw, leads the Dynasty in leveraging their new goodwill with Baron Ubraxis into shares of the Golgenna Triangle Trade.

825.M41 Dark Corners of the Expanse

The Glass Key The Explorers follow up on a rumor and story of the lost Niveus Astrum, into the Crystal Cayes Nebula. There Solarus picks up on faint astropathic echoes and, after lengthy exploration, is able to discover the crashed ship crashed and has become the center of a large urban settlement on an uncharted planet. Unfortunately, the explorer's arrival came at a tense time for the local society - with active terrorism and independent conclaves. After defusing a three-way standoff, the explorers were able to partly stabilize the society and depart with the Archeotech Archive.

Meanwhile: Lady Cobolt works to link Tenenberg to the Dynasty's trade holdings and Felix returns to secure additional contracts with the Imperial Navy.

A Silent Folly Following up on secrets discovered on Damaris, the Explorers trace the path of the Ork assault back to the distant world known as Corda's Folly. There they discover the world has gone completely dark, without a single living person within what used to be a mining colony of nearly seventy thousand. An extensive search of the area eventually discovers a single damaged servo-skull which provides a glimpse into the world's fate. A detailed scan of the planet picks up the faint echo of an emergency transponder. Tracing it back to its source they discover Drexus Skar, a marooned and abandoned Chaos Corsair who provides promises of access to the mythical Vault of Secrets if they but let him live.

Stars of Inequity Using information and advice provided by their corsair ally/captive, Mordicai plotted the narrow path to the remote Chaos system of Inequity. Once in that cursed system, the Aurea Albion leveraged her blue and gold coloration to present as a Tzench marked reaver, a role she took to with terrifying ease. WIth their disguise intact, the Explorers bluffed their way through the system gravity-wracked system of Dioskouri and took up an orbital position above the third moon of Inequity. Continuing by unmarked shuttle, Skar and the disguised explorers travel to a shantytown outside the Citadel of Skulls to hire a wildlands guide who can lead them across the blasted lands and it's roving dangers. Sneaking into the cursed fortress by means of the calamity vents, the Explorers find themselves in the sprawling demise of Karrad Vall. Exploring the citadel and simply attempting to locate the Vault takes several days. During this time they discover genatoriums, void stations, factorms, and shrines populated by an unsavory mixture of slaves, militants, and cultists who have already exchanged their souls for shreds of power.

Raiders of the Vault In time the Explorers discover the hidden paths to the catacombs and, from there, the fabled Vault. Once there, they discover the Archivist and her minions too, at least temporarily, claim the vault as their own. In a coordinated operation, the Explorers overloaded a void generator, shut down the regional generator, and detonated a melta-torpedo to creating a hole leading from the Vault to the surface. Timing their activities with a hijacking of a Thunderhawk Transporter from the citadel's launch bays, they hitch a cargo container they had loaded with the choice treasures from the vault. Flying under the cover of a macrocannon barrage from the Aurea Albion, the Explorers retreat to their ship and beat to quarters. Reavers moved quickly to intercept the fleeing cruiser and a deadly running battle was engaged. Though crippled, the Albion makes good its escape and flees back to the Calixis Sector for repairs.

826.M41 A Quiet Year

Colonial Investments WIth the Aurea Albion drydocked for repairs in the Bulwark orbiting Damaris, the Explorers spend the year gathering infrastructure materials to enhance the Dross. Taking the opportunity to visit the growing colony on the storm-wracked planet, they oversee the installation of agricultural and food handling supplies and a new church to Sky-Father. They also spend time investing in the development of Svard.

Meanwhile: Lady Cobolt continued to develop the trade relations with the Tennenburg, while the distant field offices worked to coordinate more trade from the Damaris holdings.

827.M41 Legend of the Expanse

Web of the Eldar: The saga that started with the assault on Damaris started up again unexpectedly as an Eldar soulstone, which has been mistaken for the Hand of Drusus, awoke and lead Drake and the Albion to the elder controlled system of the Serpent’s Cradle. The tense roundtable with Corsair and Craftworld Eldar managed to come to a conclusion just as the famous ghost ship Whisper of Anaris appeared and docked with the station. Taking it as a sign, the warp-infused core cognator recovered from the Vault of Secrets was attached to the ‘’Whisper’’’s systems and the arcane combination was used to close in on the Lu'nasad’s position and carry a tight strike team of the Explorers, Badb Ra, the wayward acolytes, and a few hand-picked soldiers.

Fall of Lu'nasad: To the surprise of all on board, the Whisper came out of the webway in the well-known system of Footfall. The corrupted craftworld of Lu’nasad was already at the edges of the system and starting its slow but inevitable pass into the system. Just as worrying, a strike fleet lead by Karrad Vall was assaulting the system to both cause havoc and claim control of the craftworld for himself. Once onboard Lu’nasad, the team was forced to pick through the corrupted and often dangerous debris of the ruined Eldar city-ship even as the oppressive warp-corruption pressed down upon them. Finally making their way to the core of the Infinity Circuit, the Explorers successfully installed the soul stones they carried with them but came face-to-face with the Faceless Lord himself. In a battle as disorienting as deadly, Karrad Vall was defeated and the Explorers made good their escape before the craftworld dove back into the Warp and disappeared out of the system.

Meanwhile: The office at Port Wander start a search and negotiations to acquire a rare ship component.

Drake's Wedding Lauded as the savior of Footfall and Victor over the Faceless Lord, the return of Lord Acanthus Drake and the announcement of his impending marriage to Lady Julia Strophes set the spires of Scentilla alight with activity. The season turned to a seemingly endless array of social visits and parties intermixed with the complicated social and even economic arranging that comes with the association of Noble families. The wedding itself was a grand affair filled with high nobility that cemented the Dynasty’s position as a force in Calixis politics.

Meanwhile: The Damaris Office sets up a regular trade route with the Nivan Astra.

The Lost Inquisitor Shortly after the wedding, Judge Septiumus Strophes, now a cousin-in-law calls upon Lord Drake and explains that he is an Interrogator for Steven Arcturos, who disappeared while on the Munitorum staging world of Kulth. Although Septimus was knocked out by poison early on, the explorers found clues that both Arcturos and whoever was following him moved to the great southern sea. The explorers followed and discovered a Necron Tomb beneath the waves. Following a trail of destruction and evading (or defeating) several Necron forms both Arcturos and the Chaos Marine killtream who had followed and captured him. With the Chaos Marines defeated and the Lord Inquisitor saved, the dynasty could turn its attention to making supply agreements with the Munitorum.

828.M41 Cornucopia of War

Handling Charges: Armed with a newly minted Warrant Militant, Lord Drake traveled the Calixis sector raising forces to deploy to the Periphery Subsector. During discussions with Prefect-General Castus Iacton, the dynasty discovered the continuing challenge in the transit from the Munitorum Depots to the Front on Kulth due to needing everything to be dropped by transport-carried lighters. Sensing opportunity, Lord Drake lead a focused strike into the Kulth system and assaulted the three of the remaining stations, each being held by a small detachment of Secessionist forces. One orbit, the Mausoleum, is repositioned over the Imperial Polar Fortress and becomes both the primary unloading station for Imperial War supplies and the headquarters for Dynastic Operations in the subsector.

Meanwhile: The Damaris office assembles and arranges for the installation of better landing and other transport infrastructure for the growing colony of Drake’s Landing on Dross, as well as some basic agricultural factotums to better process the food being provided by the locals. Lady Julia worked to better align the dynasty’s authorities with the Strophes’ resources. Lord Fitzwilliam, onboard the newly captured stations, sought out one of the diamonds to be found in the sea of humanity. The explorers themselves turned their attention back to the sunken city on Kulth, raiding it for liquidate-able treasures before the Inquisition or the Mechanicum sealed it off.

Land of Fire and Gold: Following up on rumors and stories from the Navy and Free Traders in the Periphery, the Explorers track down the near-mythic world of Aurum. Landing in the nominal planetary (or at least regional) capital of Haistand, the Explorers are able to make contact with the Caele (King) and convinced him to allow them to undergo the Rite of Proving - hunting down a local apex predator with only native arms and armor. Once through the trials (the first off-worlders to accomplish such a feat), the Explorers learned of another set of beasts that had been "contained" in a nearby canyon - beasts that were identified as Genesteelers. Lord Drake offered to show the Caele what the true combat strength of the Imperium looked like. The entire Svard 1st, along with armor and air support, were deployed to cleanse the box canyon with maximum force while Lord Drake treated the Caele to a feast of his own.

Meanwhile: A favor for the Mechanicum tasked to Lady Cobolt grows complicated, eventually requiring the coordination of nearly the entire Dynastic organization besides the explorers themselves. Later, the Explorers negotiate initial trade and extraction rites with the Caele of Aurum and relocate the The Cornucopia of Drake above Haistand to support it, and Lady Cobolt takes on a strike operation at the behest of the Millitarum (Operation Hammerstirke)

829.M41 Family Matters

The Lost Magus During a stopover and negotiation for war materials at the Lathes, one of the Forge Worlds administrators contacts Dominica to inform her that one of her uncles was declared missing with all knowledge and had left behind a container designated for her discovered to contain records of his latest exploration into the Adrantis Nebula. Interpreting the trail of clues he had left, Dominica was able to retrace his steps and lead the Explorers to a lost tomb world containing what appeared to be an ancient alien planetarium. In addition, the discovery of Magos LaForge's final data-cache brought both the Dynasty and the LaForge family prestige among the Mechanicum.

Meanwhile: Lady Cobold is dispatched to deal with troubling reports from the Aurum Colony eventually has to replace the governor to stabilize the situation. Jarl Desparrois continues to develop the trade routes between Damaris and Svard. Lady Drake is able to secure more supply contracts with the Navy as well as in the Golgenna Triangle. Lord Fairchild, in addition to securing a new governor for Aurum, continues to expand the Dynasty's investment in the War Trade.

Guilded Cage Navigator Mordecai found himself called upon by Clan Ben'yam to take part in a Navis Tribunal. Traveling to the agri-world of Iocanthus, the Explorers were put up as guests of the House Ortellius at Palatial Calixis estate. Between Mordecai's tribunal meetings and some outside conversations by the rest of the explorers, they discovered both some secrets of House and evidence that someone had an anterior motive. The issue suddenly came to light when a young scion of the house was kidnapped and the unknown agents made a dramatic escape.

Meanwhile: Lady Drake is able to gain favor with the Adminstratum using the dynamic connections. Lord Fairchild uses the resources of the Mausoleum to gain favor with the Millitarum. Jarl Desparrois smoothed over negotiations with the Mechanicum regarding an expedition that landed on Dross. Lady Cobold leads a team back into the Adrantis Nebula to collect Xeno Artifacts for the cold trade. Additionally, an heir to the Drake Dynasty is born.

830.M41 Armageddon Blues

Third Eye Open: The Albion chases the kidnappers, fleeing abroad the Fortuitous Purpose, to the Armageddon sector. After defeating an ork ambush and defusing the Purpose's overloading warp core, the explorers were able to set up above a hidden Inquisition facility, there very one where Mordecai had been captive years earlier. The Svard and armsmen were deployed to establish a parameter, a daring insertion allowed the explorers and stormtrooper teams to enter the facility. The missing boy was finally discovered, he had been attached to an arcane device that appeared to be linked to the third eye. The child was rescued and the facility destroyed, but the lead individuals escaped.

Quid Pro Quo: While in the Armageddon system for acquisitions, refit, and repair, the Explorers learned of a special component from the Navy reclamation yard that could potentially be installed in the Aurea Albion. Convincing the Admiral Administrator to release it, however, involved a dangerous mission to the corrupted tenth planet to recover the Rod of Command from the bridge of a crashed battleship.

Meanwhile: Lady Cobold returns to Karacallia system to conclude Operation Hammerstrike. Jarl Desparrois arranges for the construction of food distribution infrastructure on the rapidly expanding colony of Dross. Lady Drake continued to take advantage of her family connections. Lord Fairchild continued to garner favor with the Astra Millitarum of Kulth.

Modern Major General Having returned to the Calixis Sector with the Fortuitous Purpose in tow, the Explorers set about finding its owning family. While the family matriarch proved relatively simple to find, the actual heir to the captainship was currently deployed as an officer to the Periphery War. Tracking him down through their Milliatrum contacts, the Explorers end up at Karacallia where they have to extract the future captain from a potentially deadly retreat.

Meanwhile Lady Cobold returns to Aurum to oversee the installation of <Infrastructure>. Jarl Desparrois continues to work on the construction of food distribution infrastructure on the rapidly expanding colony of Dross. Lady Drake further continues to take advantage of her family connections. Lord Fairchild is able to leverage his new closer conniptions with the Astra Milliatarum into deeper connections into the war trade.

831.M41 Cults & Corruption

Lost Grace: At the request of Inquisitor Arcturos, the explorers recover a tome from the secretive world of Grace, a luxury retreat world maintained by the Chorda Dynasty to house the wealthy trying to "escape" Imperial society. After clearing Orks from the orbital, the Explorers make landfall only to discover that the colony had collapsed without the regular food shipments and the survivors had turned to a form of cannibalism that had become corrupted by chaos influences. With the help of a still-sane administrator, they were able to remove the insane governor and pack most of the survivors away for detox and processing by the inquisition. They also recovered the original book of interest.

Meanwhile: <Pending>

Karlak Stands: While the Explorers and Svard were training the 2748th Penal Legion in the port town of Verdansk, on Karlack, a rogue bulk freighter crashed down a few kilometers away and cutting them off from the nearby capital. Within hours, genesteeler cultists assaulted the docks. After an initial attempt to confront the cultists failed and Tyranids were discovered pouring out of the crashed ship, the explorers organized a fighting evacuation of the town. Once safe, the explorers concentrated on finding a way to destroy the crashed vessel, taking only a moment to check the bridge for clues before it was obliterated from orbit.

Meanwhile: <Pending>

832.M41 Killian's Heir

Killian's Bane

Library Records: Conversations with officers of the Astra Militarum and searches for opportunities revealed the existence of the Ramillies-class station Lycurgos under Secessionist control in the Helena system. Initial forays revealed some valuable information as well as the realization that the Dynasty was missing a key member - the master of whispers. Tapping their contacts, they learned of an Inquisitorial Acolyte nearing retirement on the Administratum world of Prol XI and tracked her down. To help her complete her final mission for the Inquisition, they bribe their way into a Meddington vault. That vault also proved to be highly lucrative in information for the Drake Dynasty, who discovered several valuable pieces of information about the history, habits, and holdings of the Meddington dynasty, as well as providing more solid evidence of the old family connection.

Meanwhile: <Pending>

Killian's Bane: Following the discovered clues, the Explorers head to the lost Meddington residence on Valon Urr for more information. Following these leads takes them to the Astra Cartogropha archives, the Cassini Navigator's house, and surviving merchant holdings to narrow down where the lost Rogue Trader may have gone. After careful study, the Explorers found his vessel Into the Abyss crashed on a mysterious verdant planet. Although the Albion was warded off with ground torpedos, guncutters allowed them to explore the wreck and discover at Killian's ultimate fate. Native fauna, including a huge worm, had claimed the lives the captain and most of the crew, but those who survived had both managed to find both Pre-Imperial structures and the rare biologic compounds nessisary for rejuvinate. The Dynasty spends sugnificant time carefully establishing contact with the unintentional colonists and covering their tracks of exploration.

Meanwhile: <Pending>

833.M41 Cults of Man (Current Year)

Fall of Aiolos: Following up on a message from Magos Dominica, the Explorers seek out an Exploritor Fleet under the control of the Disciples of Thule. They discover the fleet engaged in the evacuation of the world of Aiolos, which has come under assault by empowered Yvoth creations. The Albion sets into orbit and deploys her fliers and the Dynasty's logistical support to aid the evacuation.