Warrant and Ship Origin Path

[Flax]

[Flax]

I updated the Warrant And Ship Origin Path to give a visual example on how a path is completed and because I'm currently building your ship.

The path above gives 64 Ship Points and 28 Profit Factor.

More details to come as I finish the ship and do its writeup.

[Flax]

House Mezanti

House Mezanti's charter was granted around 10,000 years ago and thus founded during the period known as the Age of Rebirth. Today it is not only a potent symbol of its bearer's power and influence, but a sacred relic in its own right, signed by the hand of one of those men now venerated across the entire Imperium as the very highest of saints. For countless generations, the warrant has been kept safe in a nigh impregnable stasis vault in the catacombs far beneath the surface of Terra itself.

The Age of Rebirth is so-called because it marked the first chapter in the annals of the Imperium as it stands today. It was born in the immediate aftermath of the terrible, galaxy-spanning civil war that was the Horus Heresy. After the devastation there was much rebuilding to undertake, many lost worlds to recover, and many recidivist populations to re-conquer. The servants the Imperium united as a proud brotherhood, casting off the shame and ignominy of the Heresy. Great deeds were done in the name of Humanity, many of which would form the basis of myths and legends told across the Imperium for millenia to come. One of the most important achievements of the age was the compiling of the Codex Astartes, the great tome of military wisdom and martial philosophy penned by the Primarch of the Ultramarines legion of the Adeptus Astartes, Roboute Guiliman.

This particular Warrant of Trade is in fact an Administratum Trade Mandate. A Trade Mandate is an example of one of the countless numbers of administrative instruments employed by the Adeptus Terra. It is an instrument of strategy, by which the division's policies for the managing of the unmanageable are drawn up. By way of a myriad of utterly incomprehensible cogitations, vast armies of scribes and factors plot the needs and the means of the Imperium's worlds, and attempt to allocate resources in such a way as to allow future generations to continue their work. Such a process has no meaning or function, and has long since become an end itself, the worlds of the Imperium merely carrying on as before regardless.

The Trade Mandate is a product of this system. In such a case, the cogitations have determined that at such and such a date, in such and such a region, the efforts and services of a Rogue Trader House will be required in order to steer the region's fortunes or to expand its borders in response to a particular threat. The date at which the mandate is to be granted might be many centuries in the future, and so entire armies of scribes will spend their whole lives selecting the eventual recipient of the Mandate, even to the extent of determining that an Imperial Servant not yet even born is to receive it.

As countless centuries passed by, House Mezanti, while being a powerful entity with an expansive trade network, slowly drifted into relative obscurity. That was until 322.M39, when the Angevin Crusade to capture the Calyx Expanse began and the bold leader of House Mezanti saw an opportunity in this. The Calaxis Sector was founded in the fourth century of the 39th Millennium, by the celebrated Golgenna Angevin, a Terran noble granted the rank of Lord Militant and charged with bringing the rule of the Imperium to the region formerly known as the Calyx Expanse. Angevin gathered a millions-strong army of crusaders, with which he prosecuted his decade-long conquest of the region's worlds. Ahead of his crusade ranged Rogue Traders and Explorator Fleets, charged with making contact with the human populations and determining which would welcome Angevin's forces and fight alongside them, and which would stand against the Lord Militant. The leader of House Mezanti was one of these Rogue Traders and he applied all the weight of his House's ressources in this single endeavour.

The gamble paid off, as today, a Rogue Trader House that can trace its roots to this period in history is great indeed, and most wield great influence in the Calaxis Sector. They are able to draw upon the military resources of the sector, calling upon millenia-old pacts and alliances. In House Mezanti's case, this holds particularly true with its connections to the Imperium's Battlefleet. Many sons and daughters of House Mezanti in the recent centuries have served in the Battlefleet, serving their time as officers there before returning to serve their House. In the process they often make friends and contacts. Many, when they become Rogue Traders, take every opportunity to look up old compatriots when stopping over at a naval base.

Despite House Mezanti's fame in the Calaxis Sector, or perhaps as some suggest, because of that very fame, the last few centuries have been a slow decline. The once vast fortunes of the House have been drained to a mere trickle of income and its influence is definitely waning. From having a vast fleet, House Mezanti is now down to a dozen or so ship, many have been lost due to accidents, pirates or wars. These are captained by what little house scions that remains after the increased death toll accrued with the loss of many ship. The worst catastrophe yet happened this very year when a small House Mezanti flotilla was navigating near the Eye of Terror. Around that time a Black Crusade was launched and Cadia besieged. The Patriarch of House Mezanti, as a good imperial citizen, immediately rushed his flagship and the flotilla to the beleaguered planet's aid. Unfortunately, Abbadon the Despoiler's forces were too numerous and all ships were lost in the defense of Cadia, which much of their crew, including the House Patriarch. Fortunately, Cadia resisted the ground invasion and soon after an imperial fleet showed up and routed the chaos ships besieging the planet.

Now the leadership of House Mezanti has passed on to his heir, who will have to prove himself resourceful and full of cunning, if the House's fortunes are to be brought back to their previous state.

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The Nocturne Vanguard

Commissioned during the 37th millennium, the Nocture Vanguard fought in all manner of engagements throughout the Imperium, before joining the Argevin Crusade. After the successful completion of the Crusade, this Firestorm Frigate was given to House Mezanti in recognition of the support provided. It was modified to carry cargo and fitted with a few other modifications, such as an observation dome and an arboretum, installed at great cost. Nevertheless, the single greatest modification was replacing the ship's drives with ancient relic acheotech drives that the House had owned since the Age of Rebirth itself. During the last millennium, other modification have been made, such as the addition of a librarium. Today, the Nocturne Vanguard is the most powerful ship in the shrinking House Mezanti fleet.



Dimensions: 1,8 km long, .3 km abeam at fins
Mass: 6 megatonnes approx.
Crew: 25,500 approx.
Accel: 4.4 gravities max sustainable

Name: Nocturne Vanguard
Class: Modified Firestorm class Frigate Hull: Frigate
Speed: 8
Manoeuvrability: +17
Detection: +15
Turret Rating: 1
Shields: 1
Armour: 18
Hull Integrity: 38
Space: 1/40
Power: 0/45
Weapon Capacity: 1 Dorsal, 1 Prow
Crew: 102/102 (Crack +40)
Morale: 104/104

Essential Components:

Modified Jovian Pattern Class 2 Drive, Strelov 2 Warp Engine, Geller Field, Single Void Shield Array, Combat Bridge, Vitae Pattern Life Sustainer, Voidsmen Quarters, Mark-100 Auger Array.

Supplemental Components:

Sunsear Laser Battery, Titanforge Lance Weapon, Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay, Munitorium, Arboretum, Observation Dome, Librarium.

Upgrades:

Good Craftsmanship Crew Improvements (Uniforms)

Past History:

Veteran of the Angevin Crusade

Weapons:

(Macro Battery) Sunsear Laser Battery 4/4/1d10+3/9 (Dorsal)
(Lance) Titanforge Lance Weapon 1/3/1d10+4/6 (Prow)


Emperor's Crusader: The ships of the Angevin Crusade are built for – and tempered by – centuries of warfare. All Ballistic Skill Tests made to fire the ship's weapons gain a +10 bonus.

Righteous Arrogance: A Crusade ship is not known for such low tactics as sneaking and skulduggery. This ship makes all Silent Running attempts at a -40 penalty.

Glorious Deeds: One of the traditions said to have been established by Angevin and carried on by his lieutenants is the inscribing of a vessel's deeds on the outer hull, shielded by powerful localized stasis fields to preserve them against the ravages of time and war. All crew from this ship gain a +10 to Charm and Intimidate Tests, provided their targets know which ship they come from (and are in a position to understand the inscribing – many xenos cultures may not understand or care about the glorious deeds of a human vessel).

Combat Bridge
A holdover from the ship's Navy days, this bridge was laid out and equipped with combat in mind.
Damage Control Station: As long as the bridge remains undamaged, all Tech-Use Tests to repair the ship gain +10.

Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay
Warships can be converted to haul cargo, but this can often have an adverse effect on their combat performance.
Hidden Spaces: When working towards a Trade or Criminal objective, the players earn an additional 50 Achievement Points towards completing that objective.
Unbalanced: Starships are precisely balanced, something this modification effects, meaning they suffer -3 to Manoeuvrability. (Already included)

Munitorium
Although all ships have a well-armored room to store their munitions, this facility contains massive stockpiles of weapons, from small arms to macro-cannon warheads.
Well Armed: When working toward a Military objective, the players earn an additional 25 Achievement Points toward completing that objective.
Ordinatus Extremus: All macrobatteries on this ship gain +1 to their listed damage. (Already included)
Volatile: If this Component is damaged, it explodes. The ship takes 2d5 damage to Hull Integrity, and a Component of the GM's choice is set on fire.

Arboretum
Only the richest shipmasters can afford to devote so much space and ressources to growing gardens aboard their vessel.
Replenishing Supplies: Double the time a ship may remain at void without suffering Crew Population or Morale loss. Increase Crew Population permanently by +2. (Already included)

Observation Dome
A gigantic observation dome made of diamond panes and armoured glass adorns this vessel's spine, allowing an unrestricted view of the surrounding void.
Engraved Star-charts: When working toward and Exploration objective, the players earn an additional 50 Achievement Points toward completing that objective.
Cure for Claustrophobia: Increase Morale permanently by 1. (Already included)

Librarium Vault
An ancient collection of writings and manuscripts has been collected aboard this vessel.
Accumulated Data: Any Investigation Skill Tests made aboard this ship gains +10.