Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope you like this and as always I own what I make GW owns everything else.
They were in orbit around Tellus for three standard months as repairs were made. While Theobald chaffed at the delay he kept telling himself that it could have been far worse. Indeed, it would have been much longer had it not been for Lord Mosi. He clearly had a great deal of sway with the shipyards and those worked them and the Adventurer was given top priority. In the meantime, Lord Mosi was pleased to host them at his home, a palatial estate sixty miles from the city. There he introduced Theobald to his wife, Banou, a tall and imperious looking woman of about the same age as Lord Mosi. Theobald was also introduced to their son and Theobald's newest companion Imamu, their other son, Chacha, who was currently serving his term of service as an officer in the Imperial Guard, as was tradition.
From what Lord Mosi had told him Theobald had expected Imamu to be slight, nearsighted and just…bookish in appearance, he was not. He was as tall as his father, though slightly less muscular and without the scars. For such a large man he was surprisingly quiet and polite. He was not timid, but neither was he very assertive. From their conversations Theobald soon learned that he was indeed very well-read and he would be a great asset in the future and he looked forward to many discussions. His time was not; however, wholly spent talking with Imamu.
Lord Mosi insisted on taking Theobald, joined by a recovering Rolf and Longwood, hunting. While Silver had been invited as well she had preferred to remain on the ship. Though she did not say Theobald suspected that she had a bad case of agoraphobia. Having lived her entire life in the lower parts of a hive city the trees and open spaces of Tellus were terrifyingly unfamiliar and she preferred the corridors of the ship which likely reminded her of home. Theobald could understand and sympathize. He had felt something of the same when he first started traveling. He hoped hers would fade in time as his had. In the meantime, he found that he enjoyed the hunting trips very much.
Though they all carried lasguns, those were traditionally used only if the hunt went very wrong. Instead the weapon of choice were Hunting Lances. The prey of choice for their hunt were large lizard-like creatures, some of which were the size of trucks and had scales which could absorb a blast from many lasweapons. Lord Mosi told Theobald that a true hunter would be able to insert the heads of their lances between the scales of their prey before the charge within the Spears detonated. In doing so the creature's scales would be turned against it, trapping the explosion and turning it back upon it.
Theobald quickly learned that his skills with the Hunting Lance left much to be desired. They managed to sneak up on one of the beasts as it lay sunning itself. Lord Mosi had allowed Theobald to take the first blow. Unfortunately, the beast heard him coming. It twisted to meet him and his Lance impacted harmlessly against its thick hide, doing little noticeable damage. It did; however, make the creature angry. With a sound which was half roar and half hiss it turned to Theobald and lunged towards him. Desperately trying to get his lasgun up Theobald tried to jump out of the way as the jaws snapped shut. The creature swung its head in an effort to bite at him again and it struck Theobald with the side of its jaws. Theobald was nocked off his feet and into the mud.
The creature moved to face him and opened its jaws to take another bite Rolf appeared and launched his own Hunting Lance at it. Powered by his new arm it flew straight into its open mouth. It detonated with a blast that nearly tore the creature's head from its body. As it collapsed Rolf turned to where Theobald had at last picked himself up, covered in muck.
"You alright Chief?" Theobald laughed ruefully.
"Yes, thanks to you, the only thing seriously harmed was my pride. Behind them Lord Mosi clapped his hands.
"A magnificent throw my man, you truly are a natural hunter." Rolf bowed while Theobald looked at the ground while he scraped mud off. This did not go unnoticed by Lord Mosi, who smiled in a comforting way.
"Do not worry Captain Traub. You are not the first to fail in your first attempt to spear their prey. You actually did better than many off-worlders to attempt at all. I am sure you will do better next time. You were lucky that this one was so small."
Despite this incident he continued to enjoy the hunt and was sorry when it ended six days later and they returned. He finally managed to bring down one of the brutes, though his kill was not as clean as Rolf's had been and he had to use the lasgun to finish it off. However; he was still pleased with the kill and planned to have the skull mounted in his suite. Lord Mosi also praised his kill and told him that he had the makings of a fine hunter, something which pleased Theobald greatly and he decided that he would have to do so whenever the opportunity presented itself.
As much as he enjoyed hunting he found equal pleasure when they returned to Lord Mosi's estate and he became better acquainted with his host's family. While Lady Banou was polite she clearly had more of a traditional Tellusian view of merchants and thus she was inclined to a standoffish attitude. Imamu, by contrast, was far more likeable.
When they were first introduced Imanu had been polite, but reserved. Theobald quickly realized that this was due to shyness on his part. Theobald guessed that due to his scholarly bent he was not used to being shown much in the way of respect due to his failure to meet the cultural norms of his world. However; once he had spoken to Theobald for some time he began to relax and open up to Theobald. Once he did so he soon proved himself to be a highly interesting conversationalist. As Lord Mosi had eluded to he was indeed well-read on a number of subjects and was he became fully animated Theobald had to force himself to remember to include others in the conversations. Yes, he was quite pleased with the newest member of his crew. He only wished that he was as content with other new member.
The former Lady Julia Ko'Iron.
After the reaction that he had received at the first party Theobald had had time to think on the way back to Adventurer. He had made a completer fool of himself because he had assumed that humans were the same on all worlds, which was clearly not the case. He had received instructions on the general principles of protocol, but it was clear now that it had not been enough. He needed someone who lived in that world and there was only one person on the ship who had that qualification.
He had gone to her in her cell, noting that captivity had not agreed with her. She was filthy and smelled rank. Her hair had grown and hung down like a greasy curtain. She had also clearly lost weight and her clothing was looser on her than it had been. Nevertheless, despite her current condition, it was clear that her spirit was in no way diminished as despite her condition and obvious fear she had risen to her feet and glared at Theobald as he entered the cell. Theobald looked at her for a moment and then put on a reasonable tone of voice and made his offer.
"Would you like to get out of this cell?" She looked at him suspiciously.
"What do you mean?" Her voice raw from misuse.
"Just what I said. Keeping you here is a waste and I have a job that you are uniquely qualified for." Her nostrils flared and her eyes blazed.
"I am not getting into your…"
"No, no, nothing like that." Theobald said hastily, his face flushing slightly. He thought he saw a slight smile on her face and he wondered if that had not all been an act to throw him off. Ironically, if it was that meant that she did indeed have the skills that he needed.
"Then what?" He took a moment to gather himself and then continued.
"I have need of someone like you on my crew. As I was attempting to say, you have some skills which are…lacking in the rest of the crew." He paused, he was reluctant to admit this next part to her, as he had a feeling that it would lessen him in her eyes, but he saw no way around it.
"I only recently received my Warrant of Trade, before that I was a military officer." He decided that telling her that was better than mentioning that he had been a clerk once.
"I am not familiar with the protocols of the various worlds, whereas you, the child of a noble house, has been raised with such matters your entire life. I wish you to advise me on such matters." Her look was now of one of haughty superiority.
"So, you're a jumped-up hiver. Little better than a scavy really." All this, said in a derogatory manner caused Theobald's temper to flair.
"Perhaps. But which is better, a jumped-up scavy? Or a disgraced ex noble?" He placed heavy emphasis on her former status and was pleased to note her flinch.
"My resources are not infinite and I have no use for deadweight, so, decide." For a moment she said nothing and he thought that she would refuse. However; after a moment she straightened and then bowed.
"Very well, I accept your offer…my lord." While it was a address of respect he noted some irony in her voice.
"Indeed?"
"Indeed. I am a realist and I realize that this is the best offer that I am likely to receive and I am prepared to swallow my pride if it means getting out of this pit."
"Very well, follow me." He turned and opened the door, but before he could walk through she pushed past him.
"I shall require a bath and clean cloths."
At the end of their stay on Tellus the Adventurer set out. In addition to Imamu and Julia Lord Mosi had helped Theobald find replacement. Unlike many of the other crew these men and women were, for the most part, proper voidsmen. Many had served on merchant vessels and brought much needed experience with them. Sitting on his throne Theobald stared out at the stars as his ship slip from the space dock feeling a desire for the ship to go faster. He felt a near-overwhelming urge to be off, to go to new places and see new things. But first, there was some unfinished business to attend to.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long, I hope that this makes up for it. Well, he's pretty settled in now and so now its time for some adventures. Till then please be careful, there is clearly a priest of Nurgle on the loose and until the Inquisition can get them be safe. Please pray for the people of Italy who have been hit really hard, the ebola suffers in Africa and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.
