HIMS Xanadu

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Description

Welcome to Trafalgar Auctioneers, the galaxy's specialist in pre-owned starships! Thank you for your inquiry regarding glitchglitchglitch the HIMS Xanadu.

Once belonging to the Peregrinus Dynasty of Rogue Traders, the Xanadu was one of their newest ships, acquired scarcely a generation before their disgrace. Unlike the rest of their fleet, that largely consisted of ships of the line or deep-space survey vessels, the X-X-Xanadu, as its name suggests, was commissioned, refurbished, and outfitted for the purpose of serving as a pleasure-craft. In its heyday, House Peregrine consisted of many scores of scions, all plying the interstellar trade-lanes in service to their dynasty, all of them competing to one day inherit the family's Warrant. The Xanadu was intended to serve as a neutral meeting ground for all members of the family, a sort of ancestral home. Its vaulted halls, the wasted space itself an ostentation, are lined with murals depicting the family's rise to power.

Please study at your leisure this hologram of the ship's trophy-vaults. Containing the plunder of a hundred worlds, this was intended by the Peregrines to serve not only as a treasure-house but also to act as a sort of genetic memory, that all scions of the house could be brought here to learn of their family's accomplishments. Just one example of the fine objets d'art it houses is this portrait of Lord-Captain Hieronymous "Bentbeak" Peregrinus, a stellar example of Lapidan painting of the Uxtromus school. The way the painter combines hues to create the visual effect of a plasma field playing on the edge of the captain's power-sword is a closely guarded secret of the Uxtromus family.

When the Peregrines fell from grace (see: archive article - The Lark Descends: The Fall of the House of Peregrine), their fleets were scoured by those of their foes. The Xanadu escaped destruction because of its value and its low apparent strategic importance: Its armaments, while adequate for deterring pirates, are hardly equal to a task force's firepower. It was also spared due to an intriguing design feature: it is equipped with shield-capacitors capable of instantly restoring to full-strength a depleted void-shield!

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Ship Mechanics Overview

Statistics Summary, Xanadu (Tempest-class Frigate)

Speed	Maneuverability	Detection	Hull Integrity	Armour	Shields	Turret Rating	Space	Power	Crew	Morale
9	+15	+10	36	19	2	1	41/42	45/45	100/100	107/107

Weapon Components

Weapon Type	Location	Power	Space	Strength	Damage	Critical Rating	Range
Sunsear Laser Battery	Dorsal	6	4	4	1d10+2	4	9
Sunsear Laser Battery	Dorsal	6	4	4	1d10+2	4	9

Extra Achievement Points

Creed	Crime	Exploration	Military	Trade
150	150	50	100	100

• Dreams of Distant Worlds: +10 to Maneuverability when within 5 VUs of a planet
• Haste of the Damned: Halve duration of all Warp travel, but roll for an encounter every three days instead of five
•  : Can perform any Detection action without penalty while in Silent Run
• Overload Shield Capacitors: Once per combat, can instantly refresh the void shields
• Crew Quality: Crew is considered "Competent" (Base skill rating of 30)

Component Details

Essential Components

• Drive: Modified Jovian Class 2 Plasma Drive
• Engine: Miloslav G616.b Warp Engine
• Geller Field: Warpsbane Hull, Poor (+1 Energy Required)
• Void Shield: StandardVoid Shield
• Bridge: Combat Bridge
• Quarters: Voidsmen Quarters
• Life Support: M1R life sustainer
• Augur: M100 Auger Array

Supplemental Components

• Auto-Temple
• Barracks, Poor (+1 Energy/Space needed)
• Cargo hold & Lighter Bay
• Empyrean Mantle, Poor (+1 Energy needed)
• Trophy Room

Weapons

• Keel: Sunsear Laser Battery
• Dorsal: Sunsear Laser Battery

Upgrades

• Overload Shield Capacitors, Best
• Vaulted Ceilings

Ship's Personnel

At one time, generations back, the crew of the Xanadu were the cream of the crop. Spacers from many a vessel or station strove to gain a position on the vessel, enticed by stories of rich rewards, luxurious quarters and a long and happy life. Alas, those days are in the past; the declining fortunes of the Peregrine House have led to cuts in pay and fewer high-quality applicants from outside the ranks of the House's sailors. Nevertheless, the crew's abilities have gone from nigh-perfection to 'merely' competent; many of the current crew were born into the House's service and learned their duties at their parents' knees.

Bridge Officers
Lord-Captain Victoris Cornelius Peregrinus
Navis Primaris Roderick Von Matheson Dunwitchaticus Yaleene XVIV
Chief of Gunnery Commander Luitpold Barnabas Vorhale
Auspex Overseer Argash Trincine

Crew Overseers
Arch-Militant Kryellos Hardfist
Seneschal Orelius Wadsworth
First Lieutenant Hjor Skavennald

Enginarium Crew
Genetor Parvus Orinoco-47
Enginseer Prime Edvald Schazenholdt

Choir Officers
Astropath Transcendant Rook Fortunus
Head Minder Terrul Veritas

Temple Clergy
Magos Orthesion

The Wall of the Dead

While much of the vessel is dedicated to the display of the Dynasty's trophies and past leaders, in a quiet alcove off the Emperor's temple is a room that holds only a pair of low benches. On the obsidian walls are carved the names of officers, inlaid in gold, that have died while onboard the Xanadu - by tradition, those names are carved into the stone by the captain they served. Many crew take pride in their forefathers' presence on this solemn monument.

Ship's Ecology

Fauna

Dragonnel

AUTHOR : Petty Officer Liam Shoates, Ecology Assistant, Life Sustainer Section
ENCRYPTION LEVEL : Fuchsia
ADDRESSEE: Lord-Captain Victoris Cornelius Peregrinus

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Dread Captain, at your request I have begun compiling reports on the ship's ecological interdependencies. While actually you didn't request that I do it, Midshipman Gallagher has a hangover and said that if I didn't compile the report for him he'd give me a drubbing with his shock-baton, so here you are, your lordship.

To begin with, I decided to focus on the most noticeable animal on the ship, the dragonnel, which I'm sure you've noticed as a ubiquitous presence on every deck, and which I noticed stealing my lunch while I'm writing this.

Description: The dragonnel is a six-legged reptile, thought to be from one of the moons of Cetarus IV (which one, nobody can agree on, largely because none of the moons exist any more, as I'm sure you know). Their shoulders and throat are protected by a spiked fringe that projects from their skulls, and their bodies are also heavily-armoured with articulated plates. Their gait is a low-slung waddle that can reach top speeds of about thirty kilometres per hour.

Physiology: A number of interesting physiological quirks make the dragonnel perhaps one of the most useful creatures on board. They have an extremely robust digestion, their strong claws allow them to climb up sheer surfaces, and perhaps the most remarkable thing is that they can spew vast torrents of stomach acid at enemies. In order to digest some of the barely-organic things that they ingest, dragonnels accumulate excess acids which they store in sacs near their throats, which they release when digestion needs an additional 'kick'. Over time, they've also learned to expel them as a caustic torrent as a defensive or predatory reflex. Some species have even been known to deliberately ingest shrapnel and gravel to make the experience even more debilitating.

Of course, some of our dragonnel-jockeys have been known to feed bootleg promethium to their dragonnels and mount a pilot light under their jaws.

Behaviour: One of the most interesting quirks about their behaviour is how they destroy their own eggs to ensure each generation stays strong. Whenever a dragonnel lays a clutch of eggs, she will wait till their shells seem sufficiently hard, and then she will fling the eggs at the nearest hard surface; only eggs strong enough to withstand the impact will hatch.

Role: The dragonnel is used by crewmen all over the ship as transportation, a beast of burden, and they are also reared for their eggs: dragonnel-embryo is a well-loved delicacy, and Gammer Cordite on the macrobattery deck has an ancient family recipe for a stew using dragonnel-embryo that has been known to start brawls.

Attached below is a sketch one of the jockeys drew for me of his steed, "Hersha," chasing a Void Wasp. The creatures apparently consider them a delicacy.

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