Aurinko

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 High Factorum August
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

[Intro]

Astrography

Aurinko - the star and official name of the system, Aurinko is a Class M RGB-III a red giant. With a mass double that of Sol and diameter hundreds of times bigger, Aurinko is believed to have swallowed most of the inner planets.

Jatti - is the largest planetary body of the Aurinko system. This Jupiter-class gas giant has captured most of the remaining planetary bodies of Svard into its orbit. It also presents a significant navigation hazard as its atmosphere is being slowly drained by Aurinko's proximity, creating a spectacular particle storm. It was in the upper layers of Jatti that Lord Drake finally discovered the ‘’Whisperer’’, and ancient warship of Yu’voth origin.

Cog – is a tectonically stable small moon half again as close to Jatti as Svard. Cog would be unremarkable among Jatti’s planetoid moons were it not for its abundance of rare earth and heavy metals and remarkable geological stability given its location. To its benefit, it does have enough of an atmosphere to deflect Jetti’s fury and require only the use of a pressure suit, though the planetoids industrial activities have left a trail of acid rain and other pollutants in its wake.

Inner Asteroid Ring – Between the planetoids of Svard and Cog sits a ring of asteroids in a constant fluxing orbit around Jatti and intermingled among themselves. A good half of the asteroids are simply chunks of ice, with the rest a mix of silicoid and ferrous. Silence, with its abundance of marble, is the only asteroid so far to be unique enough to warrant note. Despite this, some are still mined for rare minerals or hollowed out for hydroponic installations.

Svard - is the largest moon of Jatti, as well as the most distant of the settled moons. Mechanicus Astrographers believe that Svard used to be an independent planetary body until it was captured by Jatti's gravitational pull during Aurinko’s expansion phase. Certainly, the fact that the planet contains massive river basins despite having a temperature that only rises above freezing in a few locations on the equator lends credence to this theory. The planet’s oceans remain liquid under a layer of ice, warmed by geothermal vents. It has a breathable atmosphere, as well as native animal and plant life, though most of it resides in the oceans.

Demographics

During its height, just before the Whisperer’s attack, the Aurinko system was home to five million souls, nearly four million of which lived on the habitable moon of Svard. A quarter million people lived and worked on Cog, with just under another quarter million on Installation 23. The remaining population were considered resident voidsmen, found on asteroids, voidships or other space stations. The population had very minor immigration, mostly from ship crews, or emigration, mostly to Silence. Around sixty percent of the population is descended from the first colonization, with another thirty-five percent from the second wave after the construction of the promethium station.

The Whisperer had a devastating effect on the system’s population. Over half the population of Installation 23 was killed during the uprising or its operation under the Whisperer, while another quarter would die in fight to reclaim it. Nearly every other space station or inhabited asteroid was wiped out to the man, including Silence. The three Battles of Cog (First Revolt, Second Revolt, Cleansing) killed two thirds of the population of the small moon. During the whisperers, the population loss on Svard itself was less dramatic, a million soul lost their lives, most to starvation or freezing temperatures. Another half a million deaths would occur during the mass uprising and suicide bombings during the Whisperer’s final attack.

By the time Lord Drake declared the system safe again, the population of Aurinko was not even a full three million. Worse, in terms of economic recovery, most of the survivors were from unskilled labor and substance professions. Still, humanity is hard to fully eliminate from anywhere it decides to claim.

History

The Aurinko system was first mapped by Rogue Trader Wilhelm Thaurn of House Drake in 682.M39. He made a note of the habitable planet and potential for a promethium refinery and a unique mablesque asteroid before moving on to other projects. Two years later he sold the asteroid to a religious statuary group, who set up a monastery.

In 701.M439 he discovered a derelict Yu’voth battleship. Knowing that it would be dangerous to smuggle the ship through the Maw before he had a buyer, he towed the craft to the Aurinko system and hid it among Jetti’s clouds, who’s massive particle emissions would hide the crafts presence. Planing to use the profit from the ship to boost his place in the House, he informed no family members of its existence.

Founding of a Colony

After three years of unsuccessfully attempting to locate a buyer for the xeno craft and a close call during the exploration of the system by another Rogue Trader, Wilhelm founded the colony of Svard as a cover to keep other explorers away from the system. Although some family members were curious, the system had enough benefits to justify Wilhelm funding the colony project himself. Five years later, with Installation 23 just starting construction, Wilhelm’s ship disappeared, presumed lost with all hands.

Whilhelm Thaurn

Unaware of its original purpose, other members of House Drake took over management of the colony, eventually completing Installation 23. The profit from the high-grade promethium refinery proved to be sufficient for the well-connected Drake dynasty to in turn pay for the construction of the roving factorium of Cog. Just a little under two centuries from its founding, the colony of Svard was breaking even, and nearly self-sufficient.

The success of Svard, however, coincided with the fall of House Drake. Visits from members of the dynasty became less frequent as their number of ships decreased. Under the regency of High Factorum Marinas the Mad (283.M40 to 440.M40), the all references to the ownership and colony of Svard disappeared from the Drake House records. The Drake Dynasty’s last connection to the colony, a writ of trade from there to Damaris, was finally sold off to a free captain in 912.M40. The colony would continue to exist and grow slowly as an independent colony for nearly a millennia.

The Whisperers

In 766.M41 the sudden closure of the Synosol warp storm sent a warp energy shockwave through most of the foundling worlds. It is believed that this energy “jumpstarted” the derelict Yu’voth ship, bringing it back to life. It then slowly returned to its original mission of destroying humanity, starting with the Aurinko system. Unable to contact any other Yu’voth, and unknowing the relative abandonment of the system, it started subtly, using its insidious mind control ability to indoctrinate nearby humans.

The first indications the government of Svard had that something was going on in their system was the increasing reluctance of free captains to continue trading with the colony. This hesitancy was initially dismissed though, along with the necessity to relocate the citadel of psychers, as a warp resonance within Jetti. Over the next few years, a few free traders stopped using the route, but enough stayed to prevent a complete economic breakdown.

Four years later Svard suffered an unexplained mutiny onboard Installation 23. The mutineers, which consisted of nearly three quarters of the population of the station across all levels of the organization, swiftly took the station intact and with a minimum of casualties on either side. The Crystal Counsel waited for demands, but none ever came. Knowing that the high-grade promethium was the only export keeping the traders in the system, Speaker Tal authorized an armed expedition to meet with the crew and regain control of the station. Admiral Larson took nearly a quater of the systems craft and a few hundred men to "convince" the station to return to the control of the Council.

When he arrived, however, he found that all of nearly all of the former prisoners were now fighting on the side of the mutineers. Worse still, hundreds of his own men turned upon arrival, leading to countless acts of sabotage and misdirection. The assault failed horribly, with only portion of the system ships able to return, the rest having been lost to the guns or turned against Svard. The assault did result in one positive for Svard, they successfully captured several of the conspirators. Psychic interrogation revealed that these people were no longer in control of themselves, and constantly thought about a being known as the Whisperer.

Unfortunately for Svard, the failed assault on the station had been witnessed by one of the few free traders who still visited the planet. The word that the promethium was gone and the system was cursed served to insure that no others would visit. The logical assumption was that the station had fallen to a Chaos Cult, and the counsel moved to gather a larger force to retake the station by force. It was assumed that a force of ten thousand, over a quarter of the system's active duty personel, should be more then sufficient to capture the station.

Gathering such a force, however, was plagued with issues from the beginning. Whisperer agents, it would appear, had already spread to Svard and enacted a long series of assassinations and terrorist acts to effectively prevent the government from pulling together the large force it intended to use to capture the station. A year later the colony of Svard received a garbled message from the industrial moon of Cog, just before the planet went silent, robbing the planet of their ability to stockpile war supplies. The asteroid of Silence and the station Citadel of Psychers stopped communicating shortly after. By the end of 771.M41 Svard had given up hope of recapturing Cog or Installation 23 and had settled into a pattern of curfews and security checks to keep themselves from falling completely to the Whisperer themselves.

Drake’s Return

Over the years, word of the fall of Installation 23 and the failed efforts to reclaim it were eventually heard by members of the Inquisition. Intrigued about the remarkable insidiousness of these Whisperer members and concerned about its spread to more important or populated systems, plans were made to send an operative to investigate. A few months later a small clipper vessel, under the guise of a desperate trader making a dangerous run, served to transport Acolyte Keel and his team to Svard.

During the subsequent couple of months, Acolyte Keel started missing reports, than stopped reporting entirely. After a year of silence, the shadowy organization started maneuvering for a more forceful investigation. To this end they tapped Acolyte Keel’s brother, Lord-Captain Keel, slowly leaking him information about his missing bother’s last mission. He surprised them in turn by discovering in the old Navy records that the system was owned by the Rogue Trader family Drake.

Lord-Captain Keel located the reigning (and only) member of House Drake and convinced him to lead an expedition to the lost system, granting the Navy man some form of legitimacy to his actions. Upon arrival Lord Drake met with the Crystal Counsel who hailed him as a savior, and informed him of their troubles with the Whisperers. Despite an attempted assassination by Whisperer agents, the Rogue Trader agreed to save the colony.

The first stage was an armed assault on the industrial moon of Cog. The Rogue Trader’s organizational skills and fresh crew allowed him to deploy a force faster than the Whisperer could infiltrate, taking Cog’s city-train in less than a day of brutal close-quarters battling. With Cog now under loyalist control, the machine city’s powerful cognators were able to provide predicted locations for Silence and Installation 23.

The Whisperer Attacks

After a brief stop at Silence to investigate the system’s records for clues as to the nature of their enemy, the two cruisers searched Jetti’s inner clouds for Installation 23. Once they located the station, they launched a deadly surprise assault, pushing through the station’s punishing firepower before successfully docking and leading another close-quarters assault. Acolyte Keel, who had been corrupted by the Whisperer during his investigation of the station, was slaying in the fighting.

Realizing the Explorers would discover its location before it could manage another subtle coup, the battleship-sized Whisperer raised itself from the deep clouds of Jetti and set a course to ravage the system and depart for another attempt in another unknown system. Lord-Captain Keel and Lord Drake quickly formed a line of battle to intercept the xeno terror before it could destroy Installation 23. Despite considerable damage and the loss of several system ships, the station was successfully protected and the alien threat destroyed.

Recovery

Although the Whisperer threat no longer hung over the heads of every human in the system, Aurinko’s infrastructure and economy was in shambles. Installation 23, though intact, was non-operational, the industrial city-train of Cog was badly damaged in the fighting, Silence was empty and Svard was suffering from over thirty years of terrorist attacks and failing technology. Even saved from the Whisperer, it appeared that Aurinko would go the way of so many lost colonies and fade out to nothing.

Determined to make the most of his ancestor’s investments, Lord Drake spent much of the next year traveling to Damaris and Footfall to requisition materials, find new colonists, and arrange for trade vessels to kick start the system’s industry and make the colony sustainable and profitable again. The highpoint, in late [Date.M41], was the rededication of Installation 23, once again able to produce the high-grade promethium that was in demand across the Expanse.

Presently, Svard and the rest of the Aurinko system is making a slow but steady recovery founded on sound infrastructure investments and the sale of the systems valuable promethium. Although significant parts of Svard lay in ruins, Speaker Tal has been successful in his push to provide as much money as possible to Cog to replace damaged machinery and reduce the system’s dependence on importing basic technologies.

Politics

The main political entity in the system is the Crystal Counsel, a senate formed of all the nobles from across the system. The counsel elects a Speaker, who acts as the head of government and, originally, the liaison to the Drake Family. The strength of the Counsel, Speaker and individual nobles has fluctuated over the centuries, but basics over government have remained the same.

Though the Counsel is supposed to provide equal representation, vast majority of the settled land and population are on Svard, giving the planet has the single largest political block. That block is occasionally split between the landsmenn, who control manors houses, and styraesmen merchant nobility from the city. The jarls, each who controlled one of the system’s many asteroids, constituted the second largest block, followed by the Magi from Cog. Installation 23 is theoretically held directly by the Crystal Counsel, but its Admiral was given a non-voting seat in the mid M40s.

Silence, notably, also only has a single non-voting seat on the counsel, as it is not technically under the counsel’s rule but rather a sovereign monastery only answerable to the Ecclesiarchy. In practice, however, it typically follows the edicts of the counsel as it is almost entirely dependent on the rest of the colony for food, equipment and defense.

Haldor Tel, the current Speaker, is a wealthy Landsmenn and was originally known for his pro-Svard policies. The effect of the last thirty years has shifted his perspective, showing all to clearly how dependent his and his fellow noble’s wealth and very survival rests on the system functioning together. This shift has made him unpopular with some of the more elitist Landsmenn, but has likewise gained him cautious support of the couple remaining Jarls, as well as the magi.

Economics

The promethium production from Installation 23 is the cornerstone of Aurinko’s economy, providing its primary export and the only export valuable enough to draw regular interstellar trade. The Jetti’s gravitational destruction creates particle emissions which allow Installation 23 to be one of the few producers of high grade promethium within the Expanse. Although some promethium is sold onsite, the vast majority of the material is loaded up on Charter tankers and shipped off to Damaris where it’s sold to Charter captains and Rogue Traders on their way to the Ragged Worlds or Heathen Worlds.

Besides promethium, the Aurinko’s second significant export is meat. Although there are some forests and other plant life, almost none of it is edible by humans. They do, however, support a surprising variety of game. Fisheries, created by drilling through oceanic ice caps, provide a second source of abundant meat. During the Whisperer years, these two sources constituted the entirety of the Svard diet. Now that trade has been reestablished, however, many of the nicer meats are shipped off world to pay for agricultural imports.

Originally founded to provide the equipment for Installation 23, the industrial moon of Cog was long ago re-geared to produce the basic manufactured goods needed across the system. The two mile long manufactorum-train exports heaters, fishing gear and lasguns across the colony in exchange for food, men and what few materials are unavailable on Cog. The handful of trained magi found on the planet also create some more advanced equipment, typically on commission.

Military

The military assets of the Aurinko system are all at least nominally raised from Svard, and come in two forms, the Svard Defense Fleet, and the Svard Levy. By tradition, as well as mandate, the Defense Fleet is the standing military consisting of a unified ground and space command while the Levy consisted of a ground force militia raised by the local nobility for emergency situations. Over time their respective theaters of war shaped basic equipment and tactics.

History

Although the Svard Defense Fleet was originally intended to take care of all military concerns, it is primarily a naval force and spent the majority of its time guarding transports, rooting out pirates and policing the systems few cities and many asteroids and stations. During the Limanov rebellion (103.M40), the massacre of SDF troops in open field engagements demonstrated a hole in their effectiveness, and raised the value of the Svard Levy to control over the wide open, populous planet.

The numerous rebellions and terrorist actions during the Whisperer Heresy, alongside attempted counter assaults, led to the near total destruction of the Svard Defense Fleet. This lead to the Levy being raised on a more long term basis to act as a security force for the remains of the Svard government and civilization.

Now that the threat of the Whisperer is over, the Svard Defense Fleet is being slowly rebuilt, with Levy troops being absorbed or disbanded as soon as they can be replaced. The Svard Expeditionary, a new military branch created by Lord Drake, has just recently been created from veteran Levy members for the purpose of out-of-system operations.

Training & Equipment

The Svard Defense Fleet follows a unified command, but has four basic groups: Voidship crew, Infantry, Pilots and support personnel. The Voidship crew operates the three surviving system ships; small one thousand man Shield-Class escort ones, though the Crystal Council is attempting to accumulate the funds to purchase a Pretorian-Class destroyer from Damaris. The SDF pilots operate a small variety of interceptors and superiority spacecraft, primarily the Thunderstrike (a space variant of the Thunderbolt). The infantry are trained primarily in CQB tactics, and are equipped with laspistols and shotguns standard.

What little training the Levy personnel receive, however, is intended for more open field engagement than what the SDF trains for. To this end they are equipped with standard lasguns and heavy stubbers. A few specialized members of the Levy are equipped with and trained in the use of an armed variant of the local snowmobile to create a rapid flanking force.