someone forgot the basic rule: divide all 40k fluff by ten

Star Wars has the giant mono-environment worlds, not 40k so much.

So no, Earth is not one giant ball of completely totalitarian grimdark.

Someone needs to read more Andy Hoare and Dan Abnett,

and less Matt Ward and even less Matt Ralphs

Also, Peer (Administratum or Chartist) will open some doors.

someone forgot the basic rule: divide all 40k fluff by ten

Star Wars has the giant mono-environment worlds, not 40k so much.

So no, Earth is not one giant ball of completely totalitarian grimdark.

Someone needs to read more Andy Hoare and Dan Abnett,

and less Matt Ward and even less Matt Ralphs

Also, Peer (Administratum or Chartist) will open some doors.

The same Andy Hoare who wrote a Rogue Trader novel but doesn't know proper scales for space combat or crew numbers? (combats in open-void with ships under 1km in some instances, also has a heavy cruiser with just "a couple thousand" crew).

Great writer, but not all that accurate about fluff.

...Err, Ven? You do know that the Imperial Fists have their fortress monastery on Terra, right?

However: While Terra seems to have some of the most awe inspiring places in the sol systhem (the imperial palace, the hall of the astronomican and the ecclesirachical palace) It's still a post apocalyptic wasteland (dark future/ age of strife. Seriously it was Mad Max before the Big E took over!) in between the hives and palaces. And those hives have underhives just as bad as any hive city...

Ah, i never imagine them being there. As much material says they are a fleet-based Chapter, set out upon the Phalanx, so I often forget their Terran holdings.

someone forgot the basic rule: divide all 40k fluff by ten

Star Wars has the giant mono-environment worlds, not 40k so much.

So no, Earth is not one giant ball of completely totalitarian grimdark.

Someone needs to read more Andy Hoare and Dan Abnett,

and less Matt Ward and even less Matt Ralphs

Also, Peer (Administratum or Chartist) will open some doors.

For me, I've never actually gotten through one 40K novel, pick an author you just listed. I know I own the Grey Knights omnibus (Ben Counter?), Eisenhorn (Abnett), and one of the IG omnibus parts (Steve Lyons, Steve Parker, and Mitchel Scanlon), but but like a handful of other books I've bought, I just don't sit down, and read them, yet. As for our "Spiritual Liege", whether good or bad, I've been made biased against Matt Ward, beyond whatever he wrote in recent codices of the tabletop game, before he quietly departed GW. So, the bulk of my knowledge comes from 10+ years of assorted codices, and we know how those change, and the wiki, plus some 1d4Chan, when I don't want to know what is what, but what can be made mindlessly funny.

Those Peers, yeah, they might help, but the Imperium is a mightily disconnected body of peoples, and the Calixis Sector, or pick another region that the role-play lines occupy, is "booney-space", where even some of the most important personages aren't even known of in the Core. So far from where you received the Peer talent, you might not get to apply it to this region's equivalent, sort of like how you might be viewed as a hero of the people in the Catholic community you live among, and church you attend, but this won't necessarily mean that the Pope has heard of your exploits, and wants to allow you to meet him, in person, in Vatican City.

Don't worry, I think I am done with this, now. Like I said, there can be reasons to visit Holy Terra, if you can have the need, but it should never be easy, like most things in this line. If you go, do have fun, though, as it is the holiest place in the Imperium

Personally, I imagine Terra to be a Hive-world with aspects of Shrine- and Forge-worlds interspersed depending on which district you look. Much like with Star Wars and its planet-city Coruscant, there would be districts for industry, for government offices, and for the rich people. And under the surface, in the numerous sub-levels, you'd have the ordinary citizens slaving away, just trying to survive another day in this urban nightmare, with massive walls and numerous well-armed and brutal guards separating them from the calm spirituality of the Ecclesiarchal Palace or the inspiring grandeur of the Imperial Palace.

The only connection they have to those institutions would be massive exposure to North-Korean-style propaganda and mandatory mass with sanctioned Ministorum preachers holding bombastic speeches against the dangers of Chaos, sedition, the alien and the mutant.

and the navis Nobilite houses who, literally so close to Holy Terra, can't really afford exotic (read: tainted?) relics to be in their possession

Nah, the Navigator Houses are all about exotic stuff. You've got to remember that they are "special", similar to the Space Marines, so they are allowed a certain amount of leeway until the Inquisition brings down the banhammer.

I dunno .. the name of the "Terran Praefects" regiment could hint at something.

...Err, Ven? You do know that the Imperial Fists have their fortress monastery on Terra, right?

To be fair, the Imperial Fist's Fortress-Monastery is a mobile fortress called Phalanx ; they are a fleet-based Chapter with no homeworld of their own. If at all, they'd at best have a Fortress-Chapel like they do on Necromunda, to act as a recruitment outpost. Notably, though, GW's Index Astartes also does not mention the Fists being present on Terra after the Horus Heresy, where they acted as the Emperor's Praetorians and helped fortify the Imperial Palace -- a task now wholly occupied by the Adeptus Custodes.

Personally, I like the idea that Terra could be like Ancient Rome, and a Legion attempting to land on the planet would basically be crossing the Rubicon .

The same Andy Hoare who wrote a Rogue Trader novel but doesn't know proper scales for space combat or crew numbers? (combats in open-void with ships under 1km in some instances, also has a heavy cruiser with just "a couple thousand" crew).

Great writer, but not all that accurate about fluff.

Don't you mean Andy Chambers? What novel did Andy Hoare write there?

Also, those crew numbers appear to be in line with what the folks at GW have written for Battlefleet Gothic.

Personally, I imagine Terra to be a Hive-world with aspects of Shrine- and Forge-worlds interspersed depending on which district you look. Much like with Star Wars and its planet-city Coruscant, there would be districts for industry, for government offices, and for the rich people. And under the surface, in the numerous sub-levels, you'd have the ordinary citizens slaving away, just trying to survive another day in this urban nightmare, with massive walls and numerous well-armed and brutal guards separating them from the calm spirituality of the Ecclesiarchal Palace or the inspiring grandeur of the Imperial Palace.

The only connection they have to those institutions would be massive exposure to North-Korean-style propaganda and mandatory mass with sanctioned Ministorum preachers holding bombastic speeches against the dangers of Chaos, sedition, the alien and the mutant.

and the navis Nobilite houses who, literally so close to Holy Terra, can't really afford exotic (read: tainted?) relics to be in their possession

Nah, the Navigator Houses are all about exotic stuff. You've got to remember that they are "special", similar to the Space Marines, so they are allowed a certain amount of leeway until the Inquisition brings down the banhammer.

"Every palace is huge and decorated with mighty murals and elaborately painted ceilings, the Navigator Lords competing with each other to create the most beautiful palaces, adorned with the greatest works of art in the galaxy. They have libraries containing millions of books, data crystals and scrolls, and own collections of sacred relics to match anything possessed by the Ecclesiarchy. They own menageries of rare beasts, and wine cellars replete with the products of a million worlds and live in obscene luxury and splendour.

An estate surrounds each palace, containing sculpted gardens and ornamental pleasure lakes filled with scented water. Beneath the palaces is a far darker world; the Vaults. These vast labyrinths stretch downwards towards the planetary core and are the sometime home to the strange mutated ancients of the Houses."

-- GW d100 Inquisitor: Imperial Fleet characters, The Navis Nobilite

while neither a mighty Guard regiment, the pinnacle of Astartes, nor even great ship yards surround it

I dunno .. the name of the "Terran Praefects" regiment could hint at something.

...Err, Ven? You do know that the Imperial Fists have their fortress monastery on Terra, right?

To be fair, the Imperial Fist's Fortress-Monastery is a mobile fortress called Phalanx ; they are a fleet-based Chapter with no homeworld of their own. If at all, they'd at best have a Fortress-Chapel like they do on Necromunda, to act as a recruitment outpost. Notably, though, GW's Index Astartes also does not mention the Fists being present on Terra after the Horus Heresy, where they acted as the Emperor's Praetorians and helped fortify the Imperial Palace -- a task now wholly occupied by the Adeptus Custodes.

Personally, I like the idea that Terra could be like Ancient Rome, and a Legion attempting to land on the planet would basically be crossing the Rubicon .

The same Andy Hoare who wrote a Rogue Trader novel but doesn't know proper scales for space combat or crew numbers? (combats in open-void with ships under 1km in some instances, also has a heavy cruiser with just "a couple thousand" crew).

Great writer, but not all that accurate about fluff.

Don't you mean Andy Chambers? What novel did Andy Hoare write there?

Also, those crew numbers appear to be in line with what the folks at GW have written for Battlefleet Gothic.

Andy Hoare

Rogue Star (Rogue Trader who first meets the Tau) & Star of Damocles (same Rogue Trader accompanies a Crusade Fleet on the first full-fledged conflict with the Tau empire)

extremely hard to find for sale these days, but great novels nevertheless

Oh really? So it's FFG's fuckup to describe a Cruiser as having 110 000 crew? (hmmm considering fixing this in my games now)

someone forgot the basic rule: divide all 40k fluff by ten

Star Wars has the giant mono-environment worlds, not 40k so much.

So no, Earth is not one giant ball of completely totalitarian grimdark.

Someone needs to read more Andy Hoare and Dan Abnett,

and less Matt Ward and even less Matt Ralphs

Also, Peer (Administratum or Chartist) will open some doors.

The same Andy Hoare who wrote a Rogue Trader novel but doesn't know proper scales for space combat or crew numbers? (combats in open-void with ships under 1km in some instances, also has a heavy cruiser with just "a couple thousand" crew).

Great writer, but not all that accurate about fluff.

Space combat in 40k seems to vary a lot between authors. On some ships crew carry shotgunsin stead of heavier weapons for fear of damaging their vessel and in another we got SM vs CSM shootings bolters plasma weapons and more...

When they had a flippin' Razorback defending a corridor on a spaceship even I was thinking that was overdoing it.

Personally, I imagine Terra to be a Hive-world with aspects of Shrine- and Forge-worlds interspersed depending on which district you look. Much like with Star Wars and its planet-city Coruscant, there would be districts for industry, for government offices, and for the rich people. And under the surface, in the numerous sub-levels, you'd have the ordinary citizens slaving away, just trying to survive another day in this urban nightmare, with massive walls and numerous well-armed and brutal guards separating them from the calm spirituality of the Ecclesiarchal Palace or the inspiring grandeur of the Imperial Palace.

...Err, Ven? You do know that the Imperial Fists have their fortress monastery on Terra, right?

To be fair, the Imperial Fist's Fortress-Monastery is a mobile fortress called Phalanx ; they are a fleet-based Chapter with no homeworld of their own. If at all, they'd at best have a Fortress-Chapel like they do on Necromunda, to act as a recruitment outpost. Notably, though, GW's Index Astartes also does not mention the Fists being present on Terra after the Horus Heresy, where they acted as the Emperor's Praetorians and helped fortify the Imperial Palace -- a task now wholly occupied by the Adeptus Custodes.

Personally, I like the idea that Terra could be like Ancient Rome, and a Legion attempting to land on the planet would basically be crossing the Rubicon .

You have a point. Altough that while they hold no homeworld (the way, say, the Crimson Fasts have Rynn's world) they do have 2 known Recruiting worlds: Inwit and Terra. So I think they have a bit more than a token presence on those planets. (Altough that can be partly headcanon)

No 'Fists on Terra just feels wrong to me. The Iron Warriors never abandoned a fortress they built

Lynata: Terran Praefects. In my defense, I've never heard of them. In a galaxy where Cadia, Catachan, Kreig, and many other worlds have notable Guard regiments, even well beyond their world, and each is often defined by their style of combat, or level of "cool toys", the Guard for the throneworld, who might have access to all of the best stuff in existence, nope, never heard of them, beyond this forum, and the Internet only references them from, of all places, the Chaos codex, from 3rd ed, and that says that one of their overgroups was wiped out in the 35th millennium. I won't say "they don't still exist", but again, in a setting where Mankind is still from Earth, in a fashion, they sometimes get "let's keep it vague and mysterious" with the Imerium's thronewrold, since so much that happens doesn't happen there, and so many worlds are so isolated, for the most part. Holy Terra feels more like Earth in Starcraft, if you played Brood War; the United Earth Directorate shows up, and kicks the Terran Dominion in the chops, and when they announce who they are, even General Duke is initially surprised that Terrans from distant Earth have come so far, for who knows what, after they effectively banished their criminals to the Koprulu Sector, planning to forget all about them. Then, he decides he doesn't care, before the UED basically rolls over the meager forces Mengsk can easily rally, so soon after his "victory". In that way, I'm really not surprised that Terra, in a number of ways, doesn't seem to contribute much to the Imperium it is the center of, but yeah, I've never heard much of the Praefects, and I know parts of Earth's defense, much like a lot of their gov't and military, seems to be designed so that no faction can seize Holy Terra, again, after people like Horus, and later Vandire, have attempted to do, so I rarely envision much for Space Marines, whatever the Chapter, based on their frequently fluctuating, yet depicted as miniscule numbers; they really can't be used defensively, in the long haul, and the Custodes guard the Palace. There might be some, but i bet not many, as even the most defensive Astartes are still shock troops, and they need to field to the places shock will help.

As for recruiting, I know that many Chapters use different criteria for their prospective candidates for neophytes, but no matter how post-apocalyptic Earth might now be, it just doesn't seem, so well defended, that it should be producing the caliber of hard, savage men the Astartes need, to then be polished up with gene-seed, and educated with hypno-indoctrination, and the other means whereby Space Marines become warrior-poets, or whatever psych profile they acquire (are you a Space Wolf, an Ultramarine, a Blood Angel, or a Raven Guard? Each very different, I suppose.) Maybe Earth does make good ones, but it just doesn't feel like prime "best physical specimens" real estate, to me. I do wish some of the hives that might exist there were discussed. I can name any number of important cities on Earth, but have no idea if any hive uses some derivation of it's name, or if anything is there. If it's northern hemisphere, there's a decent chance the Palace ate it, depending on whose writing of the depiction you read.

Sebastian Yorke: Yeah, the Navigator Houses might be able to have weird stuff; I more mentioned them so it didn't look like I forgot them, all together, but no matter how "weird" they might be allowed, they still do live on Holy Terra, and that world's safety must be ensured, so some stuff, even they can't touch, even if they want to, and the inquisition there can happily burn their House down, if they want to. It does happen, occasionally, if only very rarely.

Years ago, I thought about what an Imperial Guard Regiment from Earth would be like. Being a former Army soldier myself, I know what the term Dog-and-Pony Show means, that this might be a regiment that has the best equipment, uniforms, and such, but hardly ever sees combat, and if it does, the enemy cannot hope to cause them any trouble. One of Murphy's Laws of War is that "No inspection-ready unit has ever passed combat." Since there would hardly ever be a need for Earth's own Imperial Guard regiment ever to deploy anywhere in their sector or beyond, this might very well be the case, that they become something both ceremonial and there to conduct crowd control on Holy Terra here and there as needed. I doubt they would be sent off to fight the likes of the Orks or worse any time soon.

Maybe the Terran IG are part of the Inquisition's chambers militant.

Think about it: a secret regiment of inquisitorial storm troopers all recruited on Terra, armed with the best weapons. And nobody knows they exist, or think they are just for cerimonial duties... The Terran 404st "The Sigilite's Own"

... Well, they are definatly part of my headcanon now.

Of course, I'd avoid this entire discussion by looking at my players like they'd just grown a second nose when they asked me, "Can we run a pilgrimage ship to Terra?"

[GM to players] "Sure. Your personal stash of warp maps leads to Terra via Cadia. Are you ready to go?"

Andy Hoare

Rogue Star (Rogue Trader who first meets the Tau) & Star of Damocles (same Rogue Trader accompanies a Crusade Fleet on the first full-fledged conflict with the Tau empire) extremely hard to find for sale these days, but great novels nevertheless

Oh, gotcha -- I wasn't aware he wrote anything in this regard. And as I haven't read it, I will of course have to withdraw that part!

I do recommend "Ancient History", though.

Yep. Could've just as well went with the numbers Andy Chambers wrote for BFG back then, after all.

Though it's not really a "fuckup" ... in this franchise, it's (unfortunately) pretty standard that individual writers prefer to see such details different from one another.

How did Aaron Dembski-Bowden phrase it? "Because it sucks, and so did the person who wrote it"

Anyways, if you think 110.000 is too much (which I could perfectly understand!), here's Mr. Chamber's take on the subject . According to that formula, an average cruiser will have about 12.000-15.000 crew, which is still more than enough imho.

and the Internet only references them from, of all places, the Chaos codex, from 3rd ed, and that says that one of their overgroups was wiped out in the 35th millennium. I won't say "they don't still exist", but again, in a setting where Mankind is still from Earth, in a fashion, they sometimes get "let's keep it vague and mysterious" with the Imerium's thronewrold, since so much that happens doesn't happen there, and so many worlds are so isolated, for the most part

Interesting bit about the Chaos codex; they eluded me there. I actually have this name from the list of Imperial Guard regiments taking part in the Third War of Armageddon (the 2nd FOC, post-Season of Fire).

It's just a name, though, so who knows.

Space Marine physiology is pretty far removed from the deviation you'd find among the people on a given planet, especially if you keep in mind that they're recruiting adolescent kids rather than fully grown tribal warriors (which makes the "hard savage men" bit sound a little suspicious if you'd ask me, though I know this is the wording GW likes to use).

The Ultramarines are perhaps the epitome of what an Astartes should aspire to, and their homeworld sounds pretty Feudal to me.

The fact that the Marines tend to prefer recruiting from planets that produce hardened natives seems at least partially routed in Chapter tradition, much like the Salamanders only recruit capable blacksmiths: it's a skill that has zero use on the battlefield, yet for them it decides over whether or not you get a shot at becoming Astartes.

The only true influence that a homeworld seems to have -- at least according to the Index Astartes articles -- is the recruit's mental state (WD mentioned that primitive people are easier to brainwash) and maybe their rate of geneseed compatibility (or at least the article about the Fleshtearers hinted at such a connection). And the latter isn't as critical for a fleet-based Chapter if they have many more recruiting points, such as the one on Necromunda, which is also a Hive.

You have a point. Altough that while they hold no homeworld (the way, say, the Crimson Fasts have Rynn's world) they do have 2 known Recruiting worlds: Inwit and Terra. So I think they have a bit more than a token presence on those planets. (Altough that can be partly headcanon)

No 'Fists on Terra just feels wrong to me. The Iron Warriors never abandoned a fortress they built

There's also Necromunda! Perhaps I wouldn't say "none at all", but I can't think of them stationing more than a few token guards there who just end up doing nothing for decades, whilst the rest of the Chapter is out crusading.

Online backup of the IA article if you're curious: http://redelf.naxx.ru/w40k/ia/w40k_ia_if.html

But as with many of these things, it's .. a matter of interpretation. We all have our headcanon, so ...

Maybe the Terran IG are part of the Inquisition's chambers militant.

Think about it: a secret regiment of inquisitorial storm troopers all recruited on Terra, armed with the best weapons. And nobody knows they exist, or think they are just for cerimonial duties... The Terran 404st "The Sigilite's Own"

... Well, they are definatly part of my headcanon now.

You know, before GW retconned this part of their background in 6th Edition, codex fluff had the Imperial Guard Storm Troopers be only a single regiment about 10,000 strong. I actually entertained the idea that they might be a leftover from the days of the Great Crusade when they were part of the Imperial Army; an elite force of human soldiers that has been kept around as a matter of tradition.

Only few if any of the Storm Troopers would actually be born on Terra rather than coming from Scholae Progenium elsewhere in the galaxy; they simply continue its name and tradition. And the role of the regiment's Colonel would be an extremely respected desk job in the Imperial Palace.

And I still haven't decided if I shouldn't just go with it anyways. Lately, I've been growing more and more disturbed at the little changes the new GW team is working into background that has been fairly consistent for about three decades.

Yep. Could've just as well went with the numbers Andy Chambers wrote for BFG back then, after all.

Though it's not really a "fuckup" ... in this franchise, it's (unfortunately) pretty standard that individual writers prefer to see such details different from one another.

How did Aaron Dembski-Bowden phrase it? "Because it sucks, and so did the person who wrote it"

Anyways, if you think 110.000 is too much (which I could perfectly understand!), here's Mr. Chamber's take on the subject . According to that formula, an average cruiser will have about 12.000-15.000 crew, which is still more than enough imho.

Personally, I rather like the idea of these ships having so much crew aboard. It fits with the universe of 40K in the sense that human life has become incredibly cheap, and various aspects of it reflect that. It even makes some logistical and tactical sense, but I tend to think that 40K goes a bit overboard and inconsistent with the notion that much of technological knowledge is lost and only the Adeptus Mechanicus knows everything there is to know about everything technical. Humans are incredibly adaptable, and one way or another ordinary people can do extraordinary things if given the time and the impetus to use their ingenuity. Not that I would change it myself for my Rogue Trader campaign, but at the same time it does run into the ridiculous. I tend to remind myself that this universe is not set in our own universe, and that the humans here are not the humans that reflect us both as a species and our history in general.

but I tend to think that 40K goes a bit overboard and inconsistent with the notion that much of technological knowledge is lost and only the Adeptus Mechanicus knows everything there is to know about everything technical. Humans are incredibly adaptable, and one way or another ordinary people can do extraordinary things if given the time and the impetus to use their ingenuity.

To be fair, GW's version of the background also seems less "extreme" than how it is sometimes described in the novels or even this RPG: the humans on Necromunda have their own unsanctioned gun workshops and seem to be doing fine tinkering with stuff, and in Inquisitor every character got the Tech-Use skill with Tech-Priests only getting a flat +20 (or +30?) bonus .. and no "magic machine spirit communion".

I too like a middle ground between the extremes, and the material certainly allows for diverse interpretation. If you examine Games Workshop's original material carefully, you'll notice that much of it actually seems somewhat contradictory on the surface, although there is a certain system to it -- and by reading between the lines, you'll soon be able to distinguish the exaggerated "propaganda".

In regards to the crew numbers, I think the concept of life being cheap (which I agree is important to the tone of the setting) should be conveyed less with raw numbers, but more with how the individual people are being treated. Excessive numbers are merely a result of it (to replace the inevitable losses), but ultimately you don't need ten times as many people if you manage to reasonably keep with the same treatment. Imperial Guard regiments don't tend to run in the hundreds of thousands of troops each either, after all.

And Andy Chambers' short story on that page manages to keep with the atmosphere, too, I think.

In regards to the crew numbers, I think the concept of life being cheap (which I agree is important to the tone of the setting) should be conveyed less with raw numbers, but more with how the individual people are being treated. Excessive numbers are merely a result of it (to replace the inevitable losses), but ultimately you don't need ten times as many people if you manage to reasonably keep with the same treatment. Imperial Guard regiments don't tend to run in the hundreds of thousands of troops each either, after all.

Hmm, it makes you wonder how much of the crew requirements is just a result of acceptance of the technological decline. It is said that Space Marine ships generally have a lot less crew because they're big on automation; maybe the Imperial Navy (and by extension the average Rogue Trader following in its tradition) is just more about quantity than quality and prefers to compensate for stuff like expensive autoloaders with larger crew numbers who can simultaneously double as multi-purpose labour or improvised armesmen?

I'm a fan of the big-crew ships. You could fit thousands of Nimitz-class carriers inside an Imperial frigate, and I'm not one for "automated systems" in 40k. Yeah sure, that ship was maybe once automated, before they stripped out the "logis-circuits" and anything attached to it in fear that it somehow had gained abominable intelligence, or perhaps because a similar ship had gone over to the dork side. Anyway, those macrocannon shells are loaded by chain gangs hauling on many-megaton casings.

I also tend to picture space marine crews as largely chapter serfs, who are largely initiates whose bodies didn't accept the implants but they managed to survive anyway. That still makes them SM scouts and generally wicked in a boarding action.

Back on Topic,

Wouldn't the voyage to Terra would be easier because it's old territory,

included on everyone's star charts due to tradition.

Or would it be harder due to drift and non-updated records ?

Wouldn't the voyage to Terra would be easier because it's old territory,

Pilgrimage

Billions of Imperial Cult pilgrims flock to the planet every day, eager for a glimpse of the Imperial Palace....

Also, seems like a fellow could make quite a few thrones just hauling commodities to Terra:

Grain, Ice, Paper, Milk, Chicken....

and by paper I mean old tractor feed paper which apparently is still used

40 millenia from now based on the artwork seen.

Fellow could be piligrim himself, by the way. Or he could be visiting Mars (best shipyards in Galaxy) and how it's even possible not to even try to visit Terra if you're in Sol system?!

well dammit let's write the endeavour !

Those of us who like the trip idea can list all the things to pack,

and those who think the trip will be folly can list all the things that will go wrong.

(quickly re-reads entire thread, easy since so much off topic)

ENDEAVOR POINTS In no particular order

• Gain Peer (Group w/Ties) for permission to go there
• Gain Writ of the actual permission to go there
• Gin up some pilgrimage fervor and people to take
• Buy commodities in mass quantities for extra trade bennies.
• also legal lux goods to curry favor with nobles.
• bring lots of thrones or levys to pay a tithe from your own house
• bring all data, archives, logs and reports to please the intel people on frontier doings.
• hire extra security or escorts
• map out route, with safe stops along the way
• get extra seneschals to head off any scams, waylays, or hijackings.
• train concierges and guides so that few pilgrims get lost on vast terra
• hire/train best void-masters due to piloting difficulties
• really all crew and job slots need to be filled by top-shelf people (training and drills)
• any more ?

From Andy Hoare's Rogue Star:
"Korvane turned a dial on the side of his magnoculars, increasing the magnification, which allowed him to make out the banner. It was a simple standard, far simpler in fact than many that Korvane had seen. Having walked the approach to the Eternity Gate on Sacred Terra , the long avenue lined with countless thousands of banners bearing witness to ten thousand years of total war, Korvane could not help but feel distinctly unimpressed by the decidedly plain standard of the First Hussars."

- Korvane is Lucian's son (the RT).

"Lucian's hand slowed as he reached once more into the case. Even he was given pause by the significance of the last item. Whispering a prayer, he reached within and brought out the pride of his dynasty. Only the Charter of Trade and the banner presented to the dynasty by the Senatorum Imperialis could equal this medal in worth. Awarded to Maxim Gerrit by the High Lords of Terra themselves , for his display of epic leadership as well as personal courage at the height of the Eastlight Nebula Crusade, Lucian lifted the winged medal of the Order of Ollanius Pius. "

- Maxim wasn't the founder of the Arcadius dynasty (it was actually the dude called Arcadius Gerrit)

"He stopped beside Luneberg, looking out into the same darkness, yet not seeing what held the Imperial Commander's attention. 'To set foot upon sacred Terra is to tread the very same ground as was once walked by the Emperor' Lucian made the sign of the aquila. A sidelong glance told him that Luneberg did not. He continued. 'The very air of Terra is holy, laced with the scent of incense burned many centuries, millennia, before. Each time I have returned , I have been restored, for my calling takes me far from the light of the Emperor'"

- Current holder of the Arcadius warrant (Abel Gerrit's grandpa?), at this point he was in the Damocles Gulf on the other side of the galaxy.

So, guys, for an RT to return to Terra from time to time, it's not that uncommon.

THIS:

>>>>> Each time I have returned , I have been restored, for my calling takes me far from the light of the Emperor'"

THAT:

>>>>> Even sales people far out in Wichita occasionally make the trek back to the Big Apple to

>>>> see the new products, get a pep talk, and reconnect with the old folks.

woot