Warhammer, Rogue Trader Notes

"Siegel..." Remulle grabbed Siegel's hand that was about to hold the cork, and shook his head at him.

Siegel looked around, and the courtiers belonging to the priest king were gathering, and in the shadow of the palace, there were figures flickering.

What happened to the tricks of the Glass City and the planet Valpolius?What is the relationship between the Priest King, Keleos, and the Son of Water?Siegel has no interest in knowing, but there are many strange things on every planet in the expansion area. Sometimes, taking the necessary risks to try new things is also something that Rogue Traders need to face.

Just like coffee, cocoa, and tobacco were unknown to the East and West before the discovery of the American continent, the main work of the rogues was similar to that of the colonists.

Even Rogue Traders are even more unrestrained, seeing one planet smashing another planet is what judges and navy do.

Besides, burning glass also requires money, and he was not reimbursed by the court for the cost of burning glass in the expanded area.

And the current form... Unless Siegel escapes here directly and then bombs the glass city with orbital bombing, he will definitely drink this thing.

But he did have some curiosity, what kind of magical power does this water have that can control the population of an entire city to die for the priest king alone.

"Let me drink first." Skadi snatched the glass bottle from Siegel, and took a big gulp before he snatched it back.

After drinking it, Skadi seemed to be feeling the effect of the water on her, as a witch hunter, she should be able to feel if the water contained psionic energy.

"There is some spiritual energy in it, which mainly shows that it can soothe people's spirits. Excessive intake will be affected by people's spiritual power, but a small amount of drinking should be harmless. Laurentina, this thing may be able to soothe Your spirit, but you can only drink half the amount of ordinary people..."

"I'm in good spirits, I don't need this thing." Laurentina choked back at Skadi.

Liz also stepped forward. As a master of the telepathy school, she may have a deeper insight into the spiritual power in it.

"The situation is similar to what Skadi said. This kind of psychic energy will appease the soul of the drinker. There is no problem with drinking a small amount. If you drink too much, it will be controlled and affected by the source of psychic energy, especially psychic energy. Or. So I won't take another sip. But this mode of psionic spells seems to be worthy of further study."

Siegel took the bottle of well water from Liz, and with the guarantee of Skadi and Liz, Remulle let go of her hand.

Siegel held the glass bottle and hesitated for a moment. He still brought the glass bottle to his mouth, and the clear liquid inside flowed into his mouth. His spirit was shocked by a feeling of purity and clarity.

It's as if the water itself has been blessed in some way, transmitting its qualities into the spiritual idyll of the drinker.

Siegel felt refreshed and energized, as if the darkness of the galaxy and the danger it imposed on him at every moment had somehow abated, allowing Siegel's mind to think with ease for the first time in this era. .

His eyes lit up, and with simple thinking, Siegel knew that this thing could be applied to those scenes, and the water might be more valuable than those gems or other local specialties.

Those pilgrims who travel long distances will need this thing. The difficult journey will make these pilgrims be in an abnormal state of excitement physically and mentally. Just like an abnormally active brain will interfere with a person's normal sleep, so will an excited body and spirit. Affect the piety of their hearts when they visit the sanctuary.

They need to calm down before arriving at the holy place. This kind of water can be used as a purifying product for the body and mind. As long as it is placed in front of the landing port of the holy place, pilgrims will continue to pay throne coins for it.

Considering the large number of holy land worlds in the Calixis star area and the expansion area, Siegel can imagine the huge market for this kind of water in these worlds.

Siegel was silently feeling the state of his body and mind, and he really didn't notice the feeling that spiritual energy was trying to control his body and soul.

In other words, for him, that kind of spiritual power is too weak to exert influence on his soul.

"Do you think this water will still work if it leaves this planet?" Siegel started talking to Liz in Gothic, and the following words should not be heard by the planet's locals.

"Yes, although I don't know what the priest king did on it, but the function of the water here to calm the spirit can always exist. As for the priest king himself controlling the drinker in this way, he may not be that big In other words, even alpha or even alpha + psykers who want to control others across star regions are extremely difficult and exhausting.”

"Unless he is willing to take the risk of being targeted or even swallowed by the demons of the subspace to do this."

"What do you think the priest king's spiritual power level will be?"

"I don't think it will be above Alpha. The projection of a psyker of that level in the subspace is like a huge beam of light. Whether it is Skadi, me or Cassia, as long as we are in a palace with him, we will be able to You can definitely feel his psychic power. Especially Cassia, every local glass city has a priest king. If there are psykers with high psychic levels among them, when she looks at the subspace, The location of this planet will be discovered immediately, and in the subspace, a planet with alpha-level psykers will shine like a lighthouse."

"Casia," Siegel greeted his navigator, and asked, "What does it look like when you look at this planet while navigating? Such as green smoke, blue starlight, purple tentacles or The red pool of blood?"

"There aren't that many strange things. It's similar to ordinary planets, with white dots of light that fluctuate with psionic energy. It's commonplace, and it's not even as interesting as your subspace projection."

"..." Siegel thought for a while, but he still didn't ask what his subspace projection looked like. Any hint of camp might affect his future path.

During the conversation between several people, the members of the team also drank some well water handed over by the servants one after another.

Members who can speak High Gothic also participated in the discussion, um... In Siegel's team, except for Karoo, Laurentina and Skadi, most of them have High Gothic Literacy.

Most of them recognize the value of this kind of water, and there are also some risks behind it. The state religion has a high probability of recognizing the role of this kind of water. According to their character, they will even declare that this kind of thing is holy water and then sell it to those pilgrims or devout people. believer.

However, the spies of the Tribunal will probably find them by smelling the smell. It is not easy to do this business for a long time.

While they were discussing, a slave ran out and screamed, "Here comes the Priest King Ansai!"

Then all the courtiers fell to their knees. Siegel's team had no intention of saluting. They just watched the servants pull back the curtain behind the atrium. The priest king and his wives and concubines were lying lazily in a A throne composed of plush cushions.

Maids in revealing veils mouth-feed their kings various fruits.

In appearance, the Priest-King Ansai was striking, with a thin face and piercing dark blue wide-set eyes.His face is painted with messy swirls of red and purple, and more striking are the two animal ears on top of his head.

He is a mutant.

Maybe a demihuman?

Siegel saw that some maids and attendants also had animal ears. Compared with the beastmen, their mutation was not serious, and they did not have a series of things such as the face, fur, hooves, and tails of beasts, but compared with normal people, they The variation is too obvious.

[He is a psyker, but his power...is weak...] Liz's doubtful voice came from the bottom of Siegel's heart.

Taking a piece of fruit from the mouth of his wife and concubine, the Priest King lazily looked up at the team standing in the atrium.

"Hello, guests from the starry sky, welcome to my city, Laendan, please explain your purpose of coming."

-

When writing this chapter, the classic saying has been echoing in my mind

"Why is this boiled water tasteless?"

Volume III Fear Pearl: Chapter [-] Ansai Priest King

Priest King Ansai looked at Siegel with a tentatively polite expression, and the wives and servants beside him complimented the ruler softly.

The Priest King looked cynical, but from Siegel's sharp eyes from time to time and the cautious performance of the courtiers, his rule over the city was substantial, and the courtiers were just an extension of his will , the tool of domination.

Siegel has reservations about Liz saying that the priest king in front of him has weak spiritual power.Siegel is indeed putting on a safe and harmless posture at present, and his subconscious mind began to unconsciously guard against the ruler of the Glass City, which is very unusual.

"I am a rogue trader from the Human Empire, Siegel Foster." Seeing the expression of the priest king in front of him, Siegel seemed to think of something.

This seems to indicate that the other party should have some idea of ​​his identity, and then Siegel continued: "We came to this planet and planned to go to a nearby mountain to find an item. Due to the complicated terrain of the mountain, we hope that you can Find a guide in the city under your rule to help us go to the target location."

"Of course, if possible, I also hope to negotiate a deal with you."

"What deal?" Ansai seemed a little interested, and he took up Siegel's words.

"About the water in your territory, I think it can be a good trade commodity." Siegel said to Ansai: "If you wish, I can provide you with some extraterrestrial luxury goods, clothes, accessories , servants, or good food."

Ansai just smiled politely, he shook his head and rejected Siegel's suggestion.

"So, what about the resources to further speed up the construction of your territory? Large-scale machinery, crops with higher yields, better livestock, machine servants for heavy labor, or people."

Ansai also did not accept Siegel's proposal.

"The means of leaving Vapolius? Or powerful military equipment? Priest King Ansai, if you don't state your request, the transaction may not be able to proceed." Regarding the other party's performance, Siegel was a little confused .

Whether it is personal needs, or strengthening the country and enriching the people, Siegel has already said it all, but the priest king has not expressed interest in any of the chips.

As if he was fooling himself with his interest in trading, Siegel was not dissatisfied, but he did feel a certain offense.

Seemingly feeling that his behavior was not in line with etiquette, the Priest King still responded to Siegel's request.

"Don't get me wrong, guests from afar, I am not rejecting your request for a deal. I have listened to your generous proposal and thank you for it. I just ask you to look around." Priest King Ansai opened his arms and said to Sig Demonstrating his palace and wealth, "Do I need treasure from beyond the stars? Look around - don't you see that I have everything I could possibly want before me? No, visitor from afar, I don't Need for wealth. However, I do have needs of another nature."

At this moment, the priest king made a gesture to an assistant, and the Ansai priest king gestured with his eyes, and the courtiers and servants retreated one after another, only the wives, concubines and soldiers remained in the hall.

Two burly guards appeared from behind the curtain, and a person was bound between them. Judging from the clothes on the other side, he was a missionary from the empire.

The man was thrown roughly onto the floor between Siegel and the Priest-King, where he assumed a kneeling position, raised his head, closed his eyes, and made the gesture of an eagle salute.

"Guest from afar, this is my price. This man and his associates are trying to turn my people against me. They preach that there is a higher ruler than the priest king! They tell people to recognize this man, this one is above me The 'Emperor'! Oh, he says I can still rule my people, but only if the priest-king acknowledges this so-called god-emperor. I'm not a priest of some distant god, and I won't. Help me out These cranky priests, I'll give you all the liquid you want."

When Siegel recognized the identity of the prisoner missionary, he raised his hand and signaled his members not to act rashly.

Even so, there was still some commotion in his team, and now it was Siegel's turn to hold on to Remulle's hand tightly to prevent her from going up to excommunicate the priest king.

Siegel stared thoughtfully at the priest king in front of him, watching him take the fruit from his wife and concubine on the ground, seemingly turning a deaf ear to what was going on in front of him.

really?Siegel didn't believe it. Looking at the guards around him, he knew that at least it seemed that everything that happened in the palace was under the control of the priest king.

Siegel looked down at the look of the missionary, which reminded him of Jorus Marquette who died in the expanded area due to his mission.

Jorus Marquette was one of the four famous missionaries who once wandered in the expanded area (Note 1), and he was also the most strategic visionary among the four missionaries.

He incorporated more than two dozen worlds in Winterfin into the state religion within a century, relying only on his contagious speeches and a few threats of force from Rogue Traders.He actively contacted the Rogue Traders, established a complete trade network to ensure the normal development of these worlds, and at the same time conducted religious war trials to eliminate those who were unwilling to submit to the belief of the God Emperor.

As many people accepted Marquette's favor, as many people died because of Marquette's behavior.He eventually died in an assassination attempt, and it is said that when his body was found, he was kneeling on the ground as if in prayer, his hands clasped and stretched out in despair.His body was impaled with twelve black iron knives, and twelve groups claimed responsibility for the assassination.

Of course, here, who killed Marquette is not important, what is important is how he should deal with the priest king.

Due to Siegel's close relationship with the state religion, like Jon Kunsol, he cannot avoid some things about the state religion in the expanded area, such as some missionaries taking his starship to some planets.

But it is still too impulsive to directly excommunicate this priest king here.Siegel keenly picked up on some talking points.Since the missionaries tried to encourage the residents to convert to the emperor and aroused the fear of the priest king, it means that the mission and conversion are effective, at least the entire planet has a basis for converting into believers of the emperor.

Reckless military intervention will affect the work of missionaries, and it may indeed be an endless ending at that time.

Siegel tried to change the bargaining chip of the deal. He didn't want the missionary element mixed in this deal.

"Priest King Ansai, maybe we can talk about other conditions. Believe me, I came here with sincerity to seek a deal with you."

"I will not accept any other price," said the priest-king of Ansai equally forcefully. "This man's companions have set up a makeshift camp in the desert, and they are seeking to convert my people to what they call 'human gods. ' and turn them against my rule. If you will persuade these missionaries to leave, or force them to leave, then the water in my domain is yours."

"I don't care how you do it, but if you want water, go and drive them away."

"Okay, that's the case. Priest King, can you release this missionary first? I will take him to the camp of these people."

Priest King Ansai shook his head, and said to Siegel: "I won't do anything to him, at least for now, guests from afar, if you can get those missionaries to leave my territory, I will be happy to send them away." Send this missionary away together. If you can't, I'll have to solve this problem by my own means."

The noise in Siegel's team is getting louder and louder. Although the Battle Sisters haven't reacted violently yet, Siegel believes that they are on the verge of erupting.

"Your conditions are difficult to accept, Priest King Ansai." Siegel looked at the Priest King in front of him and said, "I will find a way to solve the problem of Wapolius' belief."

"As for the water deal in Glass City, I think we should talk about it after everything is settled. At that time, I will give you an undeniable price."

"Farewell!"

Siegel finally took the people out of the Glass Palace, leaving the Priest King alone in it.

Volume [-] Pearl of Fear: Chapter [-] Missionaries

Siegel and the members of his dynasty left the glass palace of the priest king of Ansai, and they walked out along the road of the city.

A priest king's servant chased him up from behind, and he said to Siegel: "Your Excellency Siegel, King Ansai said, you'd better think clearly, the priest kings of the entire planet have reached a consensus and alliance, We will never give in on the issue of belief. What you can't get from me, you can't get from other priest kings."

Siegel glanced at the servant, and blocked Erwin's plan to do it directly. It was meaningless to vent his anger on a servant. He just nodded to show that he understood, then turned and continued to lead the team away.

"Siegel, where are we going?" Remulle looked at Siegel's expression unchanged, but the more this happened, it meant that Siegel paid more attention to this matter.

"Go to the caravan station, I think the merchants should know where the missionaries are stationed." Siegel compared the attitudes of Cleos, the priest king, and the residents of the city talking to him.

He looked at the indifference of the surrounding citizens and the vigilant attitude of the soldiers, and Keleos' attitude towards him seemed very subtle.

Just because he is a businessman, he is less influenced by the priest king?

Siegel didn't believe it.

Cleos might know something.

As for the belief issues of Glass City and Wapoliius, it is actually a microcosm of the belief issues within the entire expansion area.

Siegel is indeed backed by the state religion, but he seldom carries out actions related to the promotion of the state religion. In most cases, he even respects the primitive religious beliefs of those planets. As long as you don’t believe in it, he should not see such an attitude .

The reason is very simple, preaching in the expanded area is thankless, and it is easy to be self-defeating.

As the influence of the state religion spreads in the expansion area, the presence of the human empire becomes stronger and stronger in the expansion area, and the reaction of other forces will become more and more intense.

After the discovery of the Great Mouth Passage, those human worlds lost in the expansion area also began to be discovered by the Empire one after another.Missionaries and pilgrims began to enter the expansion area one after another, trying to bring this area under the belief of the emperor.

They began to use the power of faith to bring these worlds under the rule of the empire, and the missionaries did succeed.At least many worlds near the Dakou area began to believe in the God-Emperor and looked forward to officially joining the Empire.

Some of these worlds have indeed become quasi-territories of the Empire under the protection of Rogue Traders and the Imperial Navy.

Planets start paying taxes, Emperor

Officials, supplies, and people from the country began to arrive here, and the Imperial Navy came here regularly for combat readiness patrols.

As long as the planets can persist to this point, most of them are doing well. After all, this place is located outside the territory of the empire. And the human empire presents a win-win situation.

But the planets that can go here are only a part of those that convert to the state religion.

Going back to Jorus Marquette, when the results of his work were at their most exaggerated, the Kingdom of Winterfin was just a step away from being included in the official territory of the empire.

It's a pity that there hasn't been a decent expedition in the Cronus expansion area so far. Even if the expansion battle fleet is famous, it is only a sub-satellite fleet, and the Rogue Traders are not a regular imperial expeditionary force.In the expanded area, the threat of aliens and heresies is much higher than in the empire. The planets converted by him still believe in the emperor, but most of them are under the threat of various human enemies and cannot be stable. day.

The Empire doesn't have enough force to shelter worlds that convert, nor does it have enough force to purge every traitor who dares to rebel.

After all, the expansion area is outside the territory of the empire, and the language here is only strength and interests.Missionaries have only one mouth, and it is difficult for them to keep the fruits of their work.