Rogue Traders

[The Hive Mind]

Rogue Traders
Heroes, villains and everything in between. Rogue Traders are the merchant princes of the Imperium, bound by warrant to explore the lands beyond the Emperor's light and carry the voice of the Emperor into these benighted regions.

Listed below are a number of the Rogue Traders who may be encountered throughout the Koronus Expanse or the Calaxis Sector:

Madam Charlabelle Armelan: The daughter of the famous Lord Captain Armelan, who lead House Armelan to disaster when an ork invasion overwhelmed the family homes of Adrianni-Spinward. Armelan committed his entire fleet to the defense of his home, loosing all of it but a single warp capable transport (the Grace of Sopha) and a dozen or so inter-system vessels. His health, wealth and sanity broken, Armelan retreated to the family manse on Malfi, where today he drinks himself into a stupor. Madam Armelan is the last best hope of the line, a distinguished, willowy sophisticate in command of a battered freighter, trying to restore her family fortunes.
Lord-Admiral Bastille the Seventh: A scion of an ancient Rogue Trader house, no one expected Bastille to inherit the family Warrant of Trade until a cataclysmic, freak vortex torpedo malfunction aboard the Truth of Terra wiped out the senior members of the line (who were in conference aboard the vessel at the time). Bastille resigned his commission immediately and claimed his birthright, making a number of enemies within the Imperial Navy along the way, rumours say a minor war was fought between the House and Battlefleet Calixis. The Lord Admiral commands the Lunar class cruiser Colossus and a sizable flotilla of lesser warships, which he runs like a navy. He is well known for adopting the standard, brutally efficient tactics mandated by the Tactica Naval Imperialis in his business dealings, often starting with demonstration bombardments.
Mister Jeremiah Blitz: A charming rogue and notorious scoundrel, not truely given to the rarefied manners of polite society, it is well known that Blitz won his Warrant of Trade in a card game. The most popular variant of the story claims he won it from a Sector Lord of the Adeptus Terra. Today he commands the Lunar class Cruiser the Ordained Destiny and in his short career as a Rogue Trader he has carved his name across the stars as a man of impulsive action, although he has done little to cement his power or establish a dynasty.
Mistress Aspyce Chorda: The Chorda lineage is descended from pirates, its descendants distinguished from those hunted by Battlefleet Calaxis only by their Warrant of Trade and noble birth. It is said that Aspyce is the worst of the lot and that as a young woman she hunted down and imprisoned her siblings in cyrovaults so the Warrant of Trade was hers alone. Today she is a cold, ruthless woman who never hesitates to remind others why they should be terrified of her. Her line is an enemy of the Winterscale Dynasty and in 785.M41 she fought a minor war with the dynasty, brutally heedless of the cost to her crews. She commands the Revenge of Chardis, a Firestorm class frigate as well as a small squadron of raiders.
Lord Captain Hieronymus van Cortens: An enigmatic figure recently arrived on the scene, one of the few people rumored to have traveled to the Empire of the Spiral Weald. Hieronymus is as enigmatic as the eldar with whom he is known to associate. He appears to have no interest in the cold trades, but is currently involved in sponsoring and undertaking several expeditions into the Foundling Worlds. He commands the Dauntless class light cruiser the Bellerophon.
Lord Captain Krawkin Feckward: An infamous name amongst the recidivist underworld, Feckward has built his name and his fortune on a wide range of criminal activities. His holding of a Warrant of Trade is dubious, and his lineage is extremely questionable, many consider him nothing more than a criminal overlord. From the command bridge of the Chains of Dusk he leads a criminal empire that focuses mostly upon the cold and slave trades, bringing valuable and exotic goods and people to the greedy hands and blind eyes of Imperial nobility.
Lord Captain Hadarak Fel: Captain of the Fell Hand a modified Firestorm class frigate, Hadarak Fel is an old and hardened Rogue Trader with years of experience within the Expanse. He has a wide range of interests than span the conventional affairs of a Rogue Trader dynasty, but few people know what his sources of wealth are. It is well known that he is extremely self-interested, however, with few desires to make allies or friends among his fellows.
Captain Abel Gerret: A scion of House Arcadius, a powerful and influential family on the Imperium's Eastern Rim, Captain Gerret (along with his raider, the Maxim's Gambit) is rumored to be operating within the Expanse in order to expand his families wealth on the orders of the current holder of the Arcadius Warrant (not Gerret himself). He is well known as a competent ships master and duellist, and while not a bearer of a Warrant of Trade himself, he will take no insult to himself or his house.
Lord Captain Reinhart Haarlock: Once rumored to be a descendant of the legendary line, now almost known to be. Reinhart Haarlock commands the TSS Rapacious, an ancient Terran explorator vessel along with a crew of bitter misfits and dark killers. He holds one half of the Haarlock Warrant of Trade, sharing it with his cousin, Hieronymus. He is rumored to be a powerful psyker and to bear a powerful Yu'vath artifact stolen from their homeworld deep within the expanse.
Lady Sun Lee: Matriarch of the House Ma'Kao of Qin, an associate body descended by blood from the Machenko Dynasty. Lady Sun Lee could have (and has) lived a life of unimaginable privilege, yet she throws herself into the wildest of adventures, facing things in her lifetime that many Rogue Traders would rather avoid. She commands the light cruiser Nihontu and a fleet of three frigates as well as at least a regiment of House Ma'kao's private guard. She is known for her insane bravery and stringent personal code of honor.
Lady Captain Alexia Lyn: A newcomer to the ranks of the Koronus Expanse's Rogue Trader's, Alexia Lyn is rumored to have been granted her warrant (and her Tyrant class Cruiser, the Diamond Song) for services to the Imperium. It is known that her interests extend to the xenos species of the sector and she openly displays the companionship of 'Azure' an eldar 'ranger' who bears the mark of an Imperial sanctioned xenos. She is known for her loyalty to those who swear alliance or service to her as well as her expensive, ornate and decadent parties that display the full wealth and range of her xenos acquisitions.
Lord Captain Wrath Umboldt: Famous for discovering the legendary Processional of the Damned in 746.M41, Wrath Umboldt is today a broken man who explores more within his own heart and less within the Expanse, the numerous ventures of his small fleet ending in disappointment and loss.
Lord Captain Jonquin Saul: Built on merchant trading between established worlds, the Saul fortune is often looked down upon by more adventurous Rogue Traders. Jonquin Saul is a charismatic soul captured by the ebb and flow of commerce and who distains plunges into the unknown. He is well known for his connections with the Heathen Stars and their billions of human souls who will one day be linked to the Calixis Sector. He commands the Light of Truth and has powerful allies among the Ministorum.
Baron Djanko Scourge: Described by some of his many rivals and detractors as having the 'psychopathic tendencies of a Fenksworld Pit Thing, but only half the charm." Some have gone so far as to say this was a terrible slur on the Pit Thing. Scourge is a bull of a man who continues a long family tradition of profiting from war and destruction. He commands the Dauntless class light cruiser the Hammer of Truth.
Lord Captain Tanak Valcetti: A member of a long and powerful lineage for whom the vicissitudes of expeditions into the dangerous expanse are things that are simply not spoken about among men of refinement. This attitude has served Tanak Valcetti and his sons well as they are a family with few enemies due to centuries of cultured politness and arms-length respect for their enemies. The wealth of the family grow steadily, although both father and sons are rarely seen in their fortified estate in Port Wander.
Lord Captain Calligos Winterscale: A man of passions, well known to be ruled by his temper, Calligos Winterscale is not a man to be idly crossed. Fickle at the best of time, his mood can change from back-slapping friendship to screaming anger in a matter of minutes. He commands the Emperor's Vow, a potent Luna class cruiser and has a gift for leading the hardened, dangerous men he attracts to his crew. He is the holder of the infamous Winterscale warrant and holds the secrets of to the trade routes of Winterscales Domain, which he and his vessel ruthlessly exploit.