Ok. Training montage?
Sounds good to me. Am ready and willing to begin training.
Training montage.
Your still unnamed Raptors first learn to not murder humans (and coincidentally Eldar). The process is simple enough. You get them nice and cozy then introduce humans until they learn that humans are friends. At first they continue trying to attack, but thanks to being caged up they're unable to do anything. At second...they also try to attack. You guys arn't very good at teaching things to animals. Kedia's makes a good faith effort to break through the cage and is muzzled for the rest of the training just in case. Indaria's is less actively hostile and more cautiously avoiding potential danger. By some miracle they eventually learn the art of not murdering humans, though they're still uncomfortable around anyone but their bonded partner.
On to obedience training. Once again the concept is simple. You ask the creature to do a trick, then give it yummy meat if it listens. Most are simple orders that would be useful in a working environment, like "Come here", "Stay", and "Sit". Kedia's Raptor seems to make concentrated effort to disobey its master. When asked to "Come here", it goes further away, when ordered to "Sit" it makes itself tall, when ordered to "Stay" it moves around at random. At one point it snatches up the treat and mimics giving Kedia an order while waving it in front of her. Indaria's is more docile but still has trouble with the "Obedience" part, mostly opting to ignore her pleas. Stubbornly continuing, Kedia's Raptor actually broke first while Indaria's took almost twice as long to get results.
Finally desensitization training. It is essentially the same concept as socialization training, except instead of getting them comfortable with humans it is getting them comfortable with gunfire and explosions. Now that they don't murder humans and obey basic commands you take them to the Warrior's shooting range and have them hang out in a shady pavilion. Kedia's Raptor doesn't seem to bothered by the music of warfare even on the first day, while Indaria's panics and attempts to escape the din. Once again it takes her creature longer to learn-but in time she grows accustomed to the pops, bangs, and zapps.
After socialization both raptors went under a routine checkup from the village's vet. Kedia's raptor was sexed as male, Indaria's was sexed as female.
"I certainly prefer teaching them when they're cute little hatchlings. That was a headache in a half, and we're only half through this headache." The Chief has currently gifted your Raptors a bucket of peach-glazed meat as a graduation gift. You've currently either been living in his guest house or the elaborate tent, depending on your preference. Every day you eat peaches. "So have you ladies figured out what advanced training you're going to try for? I'll be frank in saying you should probably keep to something simple seeing how much trouble you had with the basics."
****
RULES CORNER
Trait: Trained Beast
This Bestial creature has been trained to avoid fleeing when being startled or frightened. It will still need to take a Willpower test to avoid fleeing if injured, with a bonus or penalty depending on the extent of the injury.
Animal Wrangling: As written. Issuing an order to an animal is a half-action Wrangling test. Issuing an order will be necessary for more complicated tasks such as going to a specific location to take cover, performing a specific trick, or picking a specific target. Otherwise they'll just follow their training or instincts in order. For Raptors this will mostly mean defaulting to attacking anything that is close and seems hostile. Riding will be by Only War's rules substituting Wrangling for Survival.
****
Rolling his eyes at the Harlequin's antics from under his helmet, a second Eldar steps out. Silent enough that you almost didn't even notice he was there before he moved, he walks up to greet his would be benefactors. His Void Armor and great coat looks high quality, even for those of Eldar make... or at least like there once were of high quality. They have long since fallen into disrepair, despite still looking perfectly functional; like someone who's fallen from a great political height, and is now having to make do with whatever they can get their hands on. An Eldar Long Rifle is slung by a strap over one shoulder, even as the glint of his chainsword and pistol can just barely be seen from beneath his coat.
"They don't look all that impressive to me, this had better be worth our time." He whispers to the jester, in the Aeldari language, as he passes.
"Greetings..." He says in Low Gothic, turning to the others. "I am Tallion, Tallion Ansgar, with the Twilight Swords corsairs. It is a... pleasure... to make your acquaintance."
He simply shrugs in response.
While there's anticipation when the jester announces he's taken care of three, then at least two of his requests, the Lord-Captain is fairly sure he isn't expected to break this alien's back either figuratively or literally, or the other eldar wouldn't have presented them this way. Perhaps luckily, Marco is also ever so slightly aloof and not particularly perceptive, so there's no chance of him catching the whispering or even the associated motion.
"Greetings. I am Lord-Captain Marco Cordello, Rogue Trader of the Guerra Dynasty. I assume you have information to give us then, based off what our honored guest has said?"
He does notice the fact Tallion's gear looks like it's gone through a lot but makes no mention of it since making fun of the wear and tear on a warrior's equipment would be ridiculous. Like making a joke at the expense of notches on armor or the prominent scar on his own face.
Is there a way to figure out the general direction the reply came from? Also send a reply.
While it's an odd question and he can't tell whether it was traitors or Imperials trying to probe his intentions, the captain sends a proper reply anyway: ++Of course I love the God-Emperor. May He on Terra help us prevail through these dark times.++
You can't tell the specific direction, but your Astropaths may be able to make an educated guess based on the response time and clarity. Given the current state of the Expanse such guesses would be easily thrown off by a delay in reply or a relay increasing clarity and are unlikely to be particularly accurate unless you have a skilled Astropath making the guess. Unfortunately the master of your Astropathic Choir seems to be out with a head wound, leaving you without anyone with the necessary skills to make an accurate guess.
"Greetings. I am Lord-Captain Marco Cordello, Rogue Trader of the Guerra Dynasty. I assume you have information to give us then, based off what our honored guest has said?"
"That depends on what you wish to know..." Tallion responds, tilting his head quizzically. "And what you're willing to offer for it. Our Harlequin friend here wasn't exact forth coming with all the details when he contacted me. But his kind rarely ever tell anyone all they know without making a some game or cryptic riddle of it..." He glances at the jester to emphasize his point. "Often with parts deliberately missing, for you to figure out on your own."
"Something to do with following the will of Cegorach, the Laughing God, I think." He continues, turning to look back at Lord-Captain Marco. "All i could meaningfully parse out from his riddles and double speak was that there was work to be done, needed relics and resources to be reclaimed; as well as possible alliances to be had. That was all I needed to hear given the goings on in the galaxy."
"So what was it you need to know exactly? ...And who of your kind did you wish me to kill?" Tallion had been through this sort of song and dance before with the Mon'Keigh many times since the Great Rift formed. And it always ended the same... with him killing some 'Mon'Keigh rival, getting a fraction of what had been agreed to, then being chased off planet under gunfire for being in 'Imperial Space'; despite the fact that most of those worlds had originally belonged to his people. He doubted this time would be much different... Though the request for what he knew was a new novelty.
Is there anything important that Tallion knows which is relevant to the current job on planet? Or any of the other jobs for that matter?
You are likely able to guess that the goal of this mission is to recover the World Spirit, but lack the background that would tell you anything more about the world. If you interacted with the Headless Aquila at all it would likely be before it fell into Chaos, at which point it was an Imperial station with a Frontier culture "tolerant" of non-Imperials to the point of opening underground trade routes when it thought nobody was looking thanks to its patronage from an alliance of Rogue Traders. Or plundering its lucrative trade routes. You've likely heard stories of the ship the humans are calling the Eternal Hope, but your relevant information would revolve around your Corsair contacts and more importantly their ships.
Author
Topic: Rogue Trader: Laughing Gold (IC) (Read 42315 times)