Falco Millenniorum Footfall Day
Footfall Day, a festival from Invictus Igni
A recent but much-beloved tradition amongst the crew of the Falco Millenniorum is the celebration of 'Footfall Day': every year on the anniversary of the ship's last arrival at the void-station of Footfall, the crew mounts a grand parade, commemorating what is becoming known as the Short March, when Lord-Captain Giovanni Arcadion Metis da Solo commanded every man and woman aboard the vessel to march through the streets of Footfall to occupy the Liege's Palace in a gesture of grand defiance. The crew instead parades through the ship, dressed in their very best shore-leave attire, and usually in as disorderly and inebriated a fashion as they can manage. Every time they pass a watch-post, they are required by tradition to take a drink of whatever rotgut they can scavenge together.
In due time, the parade wends its way to the bridge, which is decorated to resemble the interior of the Liege's Palace on Footfall. Lord-Captain da Solo, to the delight of his crew, has taken to dressing himself as Lord Moross of Footfall, a grotesquely-fat, sluglike individual atop a suspensor-throne-mockup of his command dais. He lolls about indolently as his staff officers assume the personae of various dignitaries of Footfall, with the Seneschal Lord Andrew Langsbury inevitably being forced to play the role of Ywane, high-priest of Footfall, who unctuously demands docking fees from the senior crewman who leads the parade.
The crewman then does his best impression of Lord-Captain Giovanni, which in the past has resulted in such performances as a duel with live chainswords, a recitation of the entirety of the classical Orkpera 'Tis a Pity She's a Squig, ten hours of continuous sexual athleticism (performed by Voidsmistress Chastitia, who insists to this day that it's a perfect impression of Giovanni, although few members of the crew can claim to know the captain intimately enough to verify that claim), and a feat of hepatic endurance, traditionally a drinking competition that used to result in fatalities before the Lord-Captain put a stop to it.
'Ywane' then gets punched in the mouth by 'Lord-Captain Giovanni', and 'Lord Moross' declares a day of festivities and free drinks for the whole crew.
It is a colourful and good-spirited festival, as far as voidship traditions go, and anyone who claims to be an aficionado of the spaceways owes it to themselves to try to seek passage aboard the Falco to catch this one-of-a-kind celebration.
For those who do not wish the risk of travelling aboard a Rogue Trader's vessel, they can try to catch the Falco and its crew when they dock aboard Footfall, in which case Footfall Day is instead celebrated with shore leave (usually subsidised by the Liege's treasury), and by Lord-Captain Giovanni and his entourage making a courtesy call to the Liege's Palace, where he renews his friendship with Lord Moross, and ceremonially punches Footfall's high-priest in the mouth.
Let it not be said Rogue Traders have no respect for tradition.
