Full Name: Cymbry Jayden Petraeus din Alt van Toeval
Rank: Executive Officer of the Cleansing Light and 2nd in Command to Sebastian York
Gender: Questionable, and a matter of bets among the crew
Birthdate: ?
Height: 5'9" or thereabouts
Build: Slender
Eyes: Usually black
Hair: Often black
Skin: Usually pallid
Career: Acquisitionist, Xenographer and Seneschal (1, 3 & 5)
Origin: Footfallen (Port Wander and Footfall)
Birthright: In Service to the Throne - Born to Lead
Lure of the Void: Chosen by Destiny - Xenophile
Trials and Travails: Dark Voyage - with Sebastian and Gorbaz
Motivation: Renown
Lineage: Disgraced Nobility
Connections: Close ties to and knowledge of the criminal underworld, formally declared "of interest" to the Inquisition.
Public Reputation: An uncannily lucky, preternaturally charming fop who could sell shampoo to the Stryxis. Pity about the family's fallen fortunes, however…
Ship-board Reputation: A surprisingly effective and popular officer, a scholar and a gentleperson of honour and distinction who seems to be dedicated to the welfare of both ship and crew… but Cymbry is also someone with a passion for archaeotech and xenology, and is sometimes held personally responsible for forging the deals that led to xenos signing on with the ship. Said to be a sneaky beggar prone to changing appearance, too: sometimes rumoured to be a master of disguise, keeping a covert eye on the crew for the Lord Captain.
Family
In years long-gone, the Noble Houses of din Alt and van Toeval enjoyed positions of prominence on the rich world of Scintilla. The din Alt were among the leading lights of Hive Tenebra, before it fell into darkness and ruin eight centuries ago, while the van Toeval paraded claims of descent from nobles said to have ruled over lands now covered by Hive Sibellus since before the Angevin Crusade ever arrived. In practice, most of their influence came from an expertise in trade between Hives, sponsoring trade connections with Tenebra and Tarsus.
When Hive Tenebra fell, the van Toeval granted asylum and support to those members of House din Alt who had been away from the Hive at the time of the disaster. Sponsoring their claims to the holdings and investments of the din Alts (and other related houses) outside Tenebra, the van Toeval saw the refugees as a route to greater prosperity and influence for themselves.
In the end, the combination of those pre-Crusade claims and the unanswered questions about Tenebra's fate gave the enemies of the van Toeval too much ammunition. There wasn't quite enough to have the Inquisition pass the most damning of sentences, but the van Toeval found themselves selling their estates and investments on Scintilla to the Inquisition in return for a free pass off-planet.
The fugitive Houses wound up on Port Wander, establishing themselves in the best style they could manage, using their knowledge of high society and trade - and their residual wealth - to acquire roles among the elite of the station and in its network of trade. As specialists in cross-jurisdiction commerce, and with a markedly dodgy reputation, they soon acquired ties to the underworld, and especially to the grey- and black-market trades with Footfall. Unfortunately, they also acquired a reputation for producing an unusually high numbers of psykers and psy-sensitive individuals, which helped to ensure that the Inquisition retained a formal "interest" in monitoring House members.
Origins
Cymbry was born into the now-joint House of din Alt van Toeval. Raised as Voidborn pseudo-nobility, with an intensive education focused upon aristocratic manners and mores alongside commerce and smuggling, Cymbry wound up with elevated tastes and mannerisms but a keen appreciation for commerce.
Brought up on tales of ancient glories and lost opportunities, Cymbry realised that more than a local mercantile and smuggling empire would be required if the House were to be restored. Finding the present distinctly unsatisfactory, Cymbry became an enthusiastic student of the distant past, of the Koronus Expanse, of lost technology, and of the cultures and achievements of alien races. If the present offered little prospect of betterment, then the past must surely be the route to the future.
To the Stars!
Cymbry, of course, was far from alone in being an aristocrat with aspirations of hitting greater heights and achieving genuine personal distinction. Sebastian York was another such - albeit one with a markedly less tainted lineage and rather more dispoable wealth. But it was Cymbry's researches and connections to the underworld markets at either end of the Maw that allowed the discovery of the location of an ancient vessel long-since buried upon the surface of a world. In and of itself, this would be a noteworthy find - but it was Sebastian's acquisition of a Warrant that opened up the prospect of this being a route to greatness rather than mere wealth.
Organising work-crews and excavators, Cymbry provided Sebastian with the expertise and labour needed to uncover the ship that would make him a Lord Captain - while York provided the legitimacy to claim it as property, and the money required to fund the vast expense of the exercise.
Once uncovered, the Cleansing Light proved to be everything Cymbry had hoped for - not merely something that could be restored to working condition, but also a treasure-trove of archaeotech. With a crew of hopeful Footfallen and Voidborn eagerly slaving away upon it, it was soon restored to working order. Gladly taking up position as the First Officer, Cymbry felt deeply proud and distinctly hopeful as the ship powered up for the maiden voyage of its second life.
Facing the Dark
The first voyage, however, did not go according to plan. A bloody encounter with Orkish freebooters of the Bloodaxe Clan was bad enough - but when one of the invaders put his blade through an unexpectedly-vital part of the drive system, things took a dramatic turn for the worse.
Abruptly facing mutual extinction at the hands of a significant incursion of Warp entities, Cymbry approached the surviving Orks with a proposal - while Sebastian used his ancestral power-sword to buy some time for the negotiations to take place. A hasty truce was concluded, with it being agreed that it made wonderful sense for the Orks to be paid to kill daemons alongside the humies, with a promise of long-term employment should they perform suitably well.
In the end, a good portion of the crew were saved, but only one Ork remained to take advantage of the promised pay-off and offer of long-term employment. Gorbaz, however, had won a great deal of respect from the human survivors, many of whom could recount first-hand tales of the warrior slaying daemons and driving back the forces of Chaos without any hint of fear or doubt.
Fortunately, enough members of the crew survived to be able to jury-rig some emergency repairs, the much-reduced complement nursing their half-crippled vessel back to the safety of Port Wander. That process took far longer than it should, however: with no Navigators surviving the Orkish attack and Warp incursion, it fell to Sebastian to hand-calculate short Warp-jumps. Over the course of six months, the Light slowly lurched its way to the safety of Port Wander.
A Brighter Future?
There, Sebastian was able to use his personal connections to a warrior of the Adeptus Mechanicus to drum up some replacements for those who fell to Orkish blades and Chaotic talons. Among them were a new Pilot and a Chief Engineseer for the vessel, as well as a promising young Navis Primaris and a Master Surgeon, while Cymbry and Sebastian brought on board a Kroot mercenary - the last promising at least some knowledge of and connections in the Koronus Expanse. Disconcertingly for many of the newest recruits, Gorbaz had secured himself the post of Chief Bo'sun on the slow voyage back to Port Wander, and did not seem inclined to give it up - while the Lord Captain and XO seemed quite happy with the Ork's performance in the role.
Now, with the eclectic officer corps and a full crew in place, and the ship once again in largely-working order, the time seems to have come for a second voyage - and for a new Rogue Trader and an ancient exploration ship what better route could there be than Shooting the Maw?
Driven
Raised to believe that the House of din Alt van Toeval should be more than it is, Cymbry took on board the implict injunction to personally set about restoring its fortunes. Academically gifted, socially expert, and with an unusual talent for stealthy skulking, Cymbry would have made a gifted courtier and manipulator aboard Port Wander - but the combination of expertise in commerce with a knack for languages and a love for strange lores pointed to a life among the stars, should an opportunity to pursue it ever arise.
And out there, Cymbry hopes to find the opportunities required to bring the House back to its rightful place of prominence.
Honour
There are two primary conceptions of honour… and as the would-be restorer of a near-fallen House, Cymbry has to labour under the dictates and requirements of both of them.
In one, honour is seen as an internal force: an individual's capacity to remain faithful to certain fundamental truths, regardless of external pressures or the vagaries of fortune - one must be honourable even if no one else knows about it. In the other, honour is an external reward: something bestowed upon the deserving by other people, in the form of public recognition, titles, and prestige - to be publicly honoured is the goal, and one's personal actions are justified if the end results are lauded.
Belonging to a House with a reputation for antagonising the Inquisition and indulging in smuggling, Cymbry feels obliged to maintain high standards of personal integrity - higher than those maintained by the great majority of aristocrats, since expectations will be so low. Similarly, if the name of the House is to redeemed, then public recognition - praise and rewards spread far and wide - are required to counter-act the family's poor reputation.
As a result, Cymbry feels obliged to not only act with great personal integrity, but also to win rewards - both personally, and for the House as a whole. These dual goals might well pose a few problems.
Loyalty
The van Toeval could have abandoned the din Alt to try to save themselves and preserve their position on Scintilla, or they could have blamed the Tenebran refugees for their downfall once the flight from Sibellus took place. Instead, they chose not to grovel, not to feud amonst themselves, and instead to make a virtue out of their commitments to each other. Others might be fair game, but internal disputes are strongly discouraged - without the House, its members will be easy prey for the Inqusition and other enemies.
To the van Toeval, one's word should be one's bond, and family ties come before almost everything else. Those two goals do, at times, conflict - and Cymbry is now adding a third complication to the mix, with the Cleansing Light and its crew becoming another family.
Renown
While Cymbry would like to be an unambiguous altruist, the truth is that there's a good deal of arrogance and personal ambition there. Growing up surrounded by both opulence and by elders promoting an ambition for far greater things has left Cymbry proud and eager to acquire fame - while being acutely aware of a role as one of the great hopes of the House (and as one of the most promising members of the whole younger generation on Port Wander) has contributed to a real sense of a personal destiny. This does have a strongly unselfish element to it - Cymbry wants to win renown as the restorer of the House's fortunes, rather than on a purely personal level - but it's far from a modest aim.
Weapon Skill: 36 Ballistic Skill: 35 Strength: 34 Toughness: 31 Agility: 45 (50) Intelligence: 42 (62) Perception: 40 (50) Will Power: 41 Fellowship: 50 (70)
Fate: 5 (9) Wounds: 10 Corruption: 3 Insanity: 29
General Skills: Awareness (Per +10), Barter (Fel +20), Blather (Fel), Charm (Fel), Command (Fel), Commerce (Fel +20), Concealment (Agi), Contortionist (Agi), Deceive (Fel), Disguise (Fel), Dodge (Agi), Evaluate (Int), Inquiry (Fel), Literacy (Int +10), Performer: Dancer (Fel), Psyniscience (WP), Scrutiny (Per), Search (Per), Security (Agi), Silent Move (Agi), Survival (Int), Tech-Use (Int), Trade - Archaeologist (Int +10)
Ciphers: Underworld
Languages: Eldar (+10), High Gothic, Kroot, Low Gothic, Ork, Stryxis, Trader's Cant; Secret Tongue - Rogue Traders (Cleansing Light), Underdeck (Cleansing Light)
Lores: Common: Koronus Expanse and Underworld (+10); Forbidden: Archaeotech, Pirate, Xenos (+10); Scholastic: Archaic, Legend
Talents: Air of Authority, Bloodtracker, Good Reputation (Underworld), Mimic, Peer (Hivers), Peer (Squats), Peer (Underworld), Peer (Workers), Peer (Xenos - Kroot), Peer (Xenos - Ork), Polyglot, Rival (Inquisition), Unremarkable
Weapon Proficiencies: Basic (Universal), Pistols (Universal)
Special Abilities and Modifiers:
Air of Authority: Make Command test to affect (d10 + Fel bonus) NPCs. Has no impact upon hostile targets.
Blather: Make check to affect up to Fel Bonus individuals, resisted by WP (or Scrutiny if already suspicious); confuse for 1 round +1 per Degree of Success
Bloodtracker: +300 achievement points for bounty hunting missions
Con: Use Deceive to trick crew into higher morale in combat, or to negate effects of long warp journeys
Concealment: Use of items below, and +10 if object or individual remain stationary
Escape Bonds: Contortionist vs Intelligence test to win free: base time 1 minute, -10 secs per DoS
Escape Grapple: Use contortionist in place of Strength to escape grapple
First Officer: +5 to Command tests when aboard the Cleansing Light.
Gift of the Fate Witch: +20 to Forbidden Lore (Xenos) tests to understand an alien culture
Good Reputation: +10 Fel bonus when dealing with relevant group (stacks with Peer)
Infused Knowledge: Treat all Common and Scholastic Lores as Basic skills; +10 to any possessed
Inquiry - Root Out Dissent: Make test to improve crew Morale by d5 - losing 1 Population per point of improvement.
Inspection: Use Search to find hidden stores, contraband, stowaways, and evidence of sabotage.
Inspire: Use Charm to grant group (e.g. crew) +10 bonus to next skill test; in combat this is the Put Your Backs Into It! check; may also be used as Extended test to raise crew morale
Mimic: Study voice of target (who speaks known language) for at least an hour to imitate: Scrutiny at -10 to detect fake; at -0 if study was only from recordings and not of target in person.
One to Redeem Them: +50 AP upon finishing any objective for an Endeavour. -1 to starting Profit Factor.
Peer: +10 Fel bonus when dealing with relevant group.
Polyglot: Treat all languages as Untrained Basic, at Int -10.
Psyniscience: As a full action, may make a Per test to scan area for presence of daemons or psychic powers, and also for psychic phenomena, voids, disturbances and other areas where the flow of the Immaterium has been disrupted.
Rival: -10 Fel penalty when dealing with relevant group.
Seeker of Lore: Spend Fate to auto-succeed (and in minimum time) at Ciphers, Logic or Lore test.
Squeeze Through: Contortionist check to squeeze through small gaps (or into small spaces). Failure by 4 DoS can lead to getting stuck. Base time 1 minute, -10 secs per DoS
Street Lore: -5 to all Scholastic Lore tests not related to the Koronus Expanse
Seneschal: +1 Degree of Success on any successful Commerce, Inquiry or Evaluate test.
Tech-Use: May direct actions of servitors - skill acts as Command would for normal subordinates
Unremarkable: May adapt mannerisms and body language to blend into crowd, giving others -20 penalty to notice or to later describe or recall useful details.
Xenophile: +10 Fel with alien races and non-Imperial cultures. -5 WP versus alien psychic powers, etc.
Noteworthy Kit: Auto Quill (+10 Trade - Remembrancer), Chameleoline Cloak (+20 Concealment, +1 Range bracket when stationary, 0.5kg), Chrono, Dataslate (0.5kg), Disguise Kit (Best quality: +30, 5kg), Micro Bead, Multi Key (+30 Security to pick locks), Photo-Reactive Contact Lenses (gain Dark Sight, immune to flare), Robes (x2), Synskin (2AP (non-stacking), +10 Conceal & Silent Move, invisible to Dark Sight and infra-red devices, 2kg).
Armour: Conversion Field Generator (sometimes; Rating 50, 1kg), Stormtrooper Carapace Armour (6 points, 15kg), Xeno-Mesh armour (3 points, except head, 2kg), Best-quality bodyglove (3AP)
Weapons: Consort Honour-Blade of Heltor (Glaive Gun-Blade, 12kg?: best quality power axe (+10 attack, -10 to parry, Power Field, 1d10+8E, Pen 7) with best quality Hellgun (see next entry); cannot be reloaded, only recharged); Best Quality Hellgun (Never jams or overheats, Range 110, 1d10+4E, Pen 7, RoF S/3, Clip 30, 6kg), Inferno Pistol (Range 10, 2d10+8E, Pen 13, RoF S, Clip 3, 2.5kg)
XP Spent: 17,600
Total XP Earned: 17,625
XP Awards: (5000 + 500 + 500) + 500 + 500 + 1250 + 1125 + 250 + 1400 (end Dread Pearl: 11025) + 500 + 350 + 250 + 400 + 250 + 350 (end Rak'Gol: 13125) + 250 + 250 + 250 (end Illisk: 13,875) + 125 + 250 + 250 + 250 + 250 + 500 (end Quaddis: 15500) + 250 + 250 + 250 + 125 + 125 + 125 + 1000 (defeat of Papa Rush)
Unspent XP: 25
Character Generation: Initial 500 floating XP:
- Birthright - In Service to the Throne: Born to Lead: 200XP
- Disgraced Lineage: 300XP
Background and Character Entry: 500XP
- Skills: Awareness, Charm: 100XP each
- Stat: Fellowship +5: 100XP
- Talent: Unremarkable: 200XP
Wikification: 500XP 6000XP total
- Skills: Disguise, Dodge, Secret Tongue (Rogue Traders), Security, Silent Move: 100XP each 0 unspent
First Session: 500XP 6500 total
- Skill: Performer (Dancer): 100XP
- Stat: Fellowship +10: 250XP
- Stat: Intelligence +5: 100XP 50XP unspent
Second Session: 500XP - 7000 total
- Skill: Tech-Use (Elite Advance): 400XP
- Stat: Perception +5: 100XP 50XP unspent
Third Session: 1250XP - 8250 total
- Skill: Speak Language - High Gothic (Elite Advance): 300XP - Qualify for Xenographer!
- Skill: Scrutiny: 100XP
- Skill: Speak Language - Kroot: 200XP
- Skill: Speak Language - Ork: 200XP
- Skill: Survival: 100XP
- Skill: Trade (Archaeologist): 100XP
- Talent: Peer - Xenos (Ork): 200XP - Presently focused upon Bloodaxes 100XP unspent
First Downtime: +1125XP 9375 total, 1225 unspent
Talent: Mimic: 300XP
Stat: Intelligence +10: 250XP
Peer (Xenos - Kroot): 200XP 475 unspent
Second Downtime: +250XP 9625 total
Stat: Fellowship +15: 500XP 225 unspent
//((At this point, Sebastian had gained 5,100XP in active play. Minimum XP gained for other characters would be two thirds of that, or 3,400, putting Cymbry on a minimum of 9,400: +275XP to reach this level.))
Note (5th November 2011): In truth, my arithmetic was inaccurate - and I'd earned 9625. Rather than being behind on XP, I'd been depriving myself of it - and shouldn't have added any here. Twit.//
Skill: Speak Language - Eldar: 200XP Permission granted to do this in downtime. 25 unspent
Last Session of the Quest for the Dread Pearl: +1,400XP 11,025 total, 1425XP (thought to be 1700) unspent
Skill: Speak Language - Eldar +10: 250XP
Stat: Intelligence +15: 500XP
Stat: Perception +10: 250XP Qualify for Rank 3 Seneschal
Skill: Commerce +20: 200XP
Skill: Secret Tongue - Underdeck: 200XP
Stat: Agility +5: 250XP 225 overspent
Downtimes on Ven's World: +500XP 11,525 total (275 (thought to be 550) unspent) Gain access to Acquisitor - stick with Seneschal 3 for moment
12th March Session: Full XP (350) in absentia for activities on Ven's World 11,875 total (775 (thought to be 900 unspent)
Skill: Blather: 200XP
Skill: Contortionist: 200XP
Skill: Forbidden Lore - Pirate: 200XP
Skill: Speak Language - Stryxis: 200XP (from Xenographer) Actually 175 overspent
Session: the (First) Battle of Temple (19th of March): +250XP 12,125 total (75 (thought to be 350) unspent)
Skill: Search: 200XP - learn to use the ruddy Auspex arrays so that we have more chance of scanning. Actually 125 overspent
Session: the Space Battle at the Rak'Gol base / Yu'vath Spire: +400XP 12,525 total (275 (thought to be 550) unspent)
Skill: Awareness +10: 200XP
Talent: Peer (Squats): 200XP 125 overspent
Session: The first 13 days on the Rak'Gol baseworld - battle!: 250XP 12,775 total (125 (400) unspent)
Skill: Concealment (from Seneschal 2): 300XP 175 overspent
Session: The next three weeks and more on the Rak'Gol baseworld - battle and BIG BOOMs and victory!: 350XP 13,125 total (175 (450) unspent)
Skill: Forbidden Lore (Xenos) +10: 200XP From Xenographer
Skill: Trade - Archaeologist +10: 200XP From Xenographer 225 overspent
Session of 28th of May: After the war: 250XP 13,375 total (25 (300) unspent), and qualify for Rank 4 Move into Acquisitionist
Session of 4th of June: Illisk (arrival & initial investigations, enemy contact): 250XP 13,625 total (275 (550) unspent)
Session of 25th of June: Illisk (negotiations, information exchange, and departure) & Darkspire station (arrival, repairs, trading, duel, and compulsory departure): 250XP 13,875 total (525 (800) unspent)
Stat: Fellowship +20: 750XP 225 overspent
Downtime for session in late August: Counter-espionage and the avoidance of Lt Rush: +125XP 14,000 total (-50 (175) unspent)
Session of 3rd of September: the Haarlock space station / shipyard, and the recovery (just) of the Light of Destiny, battling with "the Guests" in the course of our efforts: +250XP 14,250 total (200 (425) unspent)
Skill: Ciphers (Underworld): 100XP
Skill: Common Lore (Underworld) +10: 100XP
Talent: Peer (Workers): 200XP 200 overspent
Session of 10th of September: Syndron II, Vaxanides, Quaddis. Start of the Carnival of the 13 Masks: +250XP 14,500 total (50 (275) unspent)
Talent: Peer (Hivers): 200XP 150 overspent
Session of 17th of September: Quaddis: preparations for the grand party: 250XP 14,750 total (100 (325) unspent)
Session of 24th of September: Quaddis: further preparations for the grand party. +250XP 15,000 total (350 (575) unspent)
Talent: Good Reputation: Underworld, for 500XP 150 overspent
Session of 14th of October: Quaddis. The Festival of Thirteen Masks. +500XP & 1 Fate Point 15,500 total (350 (575)XP unspent)
Skill: Barter +10: 300XP (from Seneschal 2)
Skill: Barter +20: 200XP (from Seneschal 3)
Gamble, Shadowing, & Scholastic Lores (Administratum, Bureaucracy, and Legend) are also tempting (300XP each, from Sen 2), as is Quick Draw (200 from Sen 3) :P Actually 150 overspent
Session of 22nd of October: Quaddis, Port Wrath, Tranche, Port Metis(?), then finally on to the Witch-Cursed World. +250XP 15,750 total (100 (325) unspent)
Skill: Scholastic Lore: Legend: 300XP (at last!) 200 overspent
Session of 29th of October: The Witch-Cursed World. +250XP 16,000 total
Session of the 5th of November: Footfall, then Lucien's Breath. +250XP 16,250 total (300 unspent)
Talent: Bloodtracker: 300XP? And I finally fix my XP cock-up
Session of the 19th of November: Lucien's Breath (downtime). +125XP 16,375 total (125 unspent)
Session of the 26th of November: (downtime). +125XP 16,500 total (250 unspent)
Sessions of the 25th of February (missed, no downtime), then 3rd of March: Meliziel: (downtime). +125XP 16,625 total (375 unspent).
Session of the 28th of April: Meliziel - the defeat of the Archivist and Papa Rush: 1000XP + 1 Fate point (and 1 insanity point) 17,625 total
Raising Int to +20 would cost 750 and hit Rank 5
Could then buy Infused Knowledge for 600, or pick up both Talented Commerce & Barter, or spend 600 on finally learning to use the Consort Honour Blade, or 500 on Hard Bargain, or…
Go with Int to +20 and Infused Knowledge: 1350XP spent. 25 unspent
Moved to its own page due to length.
