Kasballica

“I know about the Arbites. Know very well. I know how far back their rule goes. I know when the first Precincts were founded here. I know it because my own predecessors were already here and watched them land, look around at the new sunlight, and measure the ground for their fortresses. The Kasballica has been in Calixis for longer than they have. Let’s not demean ourselves by fearing them.”
-Yenga Kwill, Princess of the Landunder Kasballica
The Kasballica has existed in the Calixis Sector ever
since there has been a Calixis Sector to exist in (and
arguably before, with its foundations being laid down
in the settler ships en route from Ixaniad). Barely a world
in the sector is without its Kasballican prince or princess,
with its own hierarchy, outposts, and secret channels through
which its collectors and enforcers roam.
The Kasballica conduct themselves as honest businessmen and nobility at all times. They operate their less reputable ventures through middle men, keeping their hands as clean as possible. It is a common saying that the Kasballica "Takes Care of Their Own." While this is certainly a promise to protect and support each other, it is also a threat. If an operative draws too much attention to himself, it is far easier to execute him and let the Enforcers deal with the body. More than one Kasballica operative has let his guard down when a Malifixer comes to "take care of it."
On many Calixian worlds the Kasballica's operations
merit barely more than a slender dossier in the Detectives'
bureau stacks, worlds where their ambitions are devoted
to nothing more than coordinating a shadow industry of
tiny crimes whose aggregate wealth flows upward through
Kasballica patrons into the prince's coffers. As long as they
restrict themselves to mundane squabbles with the planetary
authorities, such networks are ignored, except when an
enterprising Detective-Espionist might cultivate them for
informants. At a number of hotspots throughout the sector,
however, Kasballica operations have grown big and assertive
enough to push into Arbites territory, infringing on the
operation of the Imperium in ways that cannot be ignored.
Out toward the rimward stars the increasingly brazen piratical
enterprises coordinated by the Kasballica of the Periphery
have stretched the Precinct Fleet thinner and thinner still. The
princes of Merov, Lo, and Grove's Fall have been collaborating
on a ramshackle but vicious fleet of their own, terrorizing trade
coming back from Port Wander and specifically targeting
vessels that have crossed the Kasballican Mission on Footfall.
Some of the fleet is run directly by the princes, some of it is
made up of hapless traders who could not repay Kasballican
backing for their own ventures in the Koronus Expanse and
have had their choice laid out for them---the risks of turning
corsair themselves to work off their debt, or the certainty of
Kasballica retribution. Lord Marshal Goreman and Marshal-Commodore Mhal would dearly like to strike out directly at
the mission on Footfall but have not yet been able to muster the
resources away from the rest of the sector.
Along the spinward border a multi-directional war
between several Kasballican princes has escalated well past
the usual petty exchanges of crude assassinations and small-scale
sabotage and grown to the stage where stable Imperial
governance is being disrupted and orderly tithe collections
threatened. The crash of the Hexenwide, an in-system barge
loaded with radioactive fuel whose disintegration in the lower
atmosphere of Sozomen's Last Stand irradiated hundreds of
thousands of hectares of plantation-land, has been firmly
linked to the opening of hostilities by Ghonan Dyexx,
the prince of Bront. The reprisal raid, a showy affair that
rampaged through Bront's upper capitol hive, was designed
more to stir up savage riots and laborers' insurrections, and
was eminently successful, paralyzing the hive for a month and
badly damaging Dyexx's personal holdings. Since then the
princes of ND0/K4, Cantus, and Mosul have all joined in the
war in similarly spectacular fashion. Given their preferences,
the Vanguard High Precinct command would tell the
planetary governors to grit their teeth, tighten their belts, and
wear the trouble while the Kasballica thinned out each others'
numbers and forced each other into the open, ready for a mop-up,
but the chorus of complaint from the governors and the
Administratum has goaded Goreman into demanding a quick
and permanent end to this, and so Arbitrator contingents are
being drawn from all over the High Precinct to come down
on the Kasballica with overwhelming force.
To trailing, at Haddrack, Detectives are carefully infiltrating
the Governor's court and the Departmento Munitorium to
try and track Kasballica efforts to manipulate the Imperial
Guard tithe for the nearby warzone at Protasia. Princess Ignetta has involved herself on two fronts---using none-too-subtle
bribery and coercion on the planetary authorities so
that the human tithe falls heavily on the planet's two major
northern continents, while her own main power base across
the three southern continents remains strong, and ensuring
that a number of Kasballica agents personally loyal to her
are shoehorned into command positions in the Guard tithe.
Ambitious and optimistic, she is looking forward to the day
when the Haddracki regiments take Protasia and claim it,
and the new settlers will be led by her own catspaws and
established as a Kasballica fief subject to her control. The
Arbites have not yet tarnished that optimism by launching into
righteous prosecution against such a shameless crime against
the Adeptus, but the case against her is almost complete and
the day of reckoning is not far off.
==Unique Equipment==
Pinner
Scintilla’s Arbites make extensive use of magnetic latches
and holsters to carry their gear and secure prisoners. To help
foil their operations, certain factions of the Kasballica have
invested in devices called pinners. These coil-generators
emit a charged fluctuating mag-field.
Though it does not magnetically
charge items itself, it greatly
amplifies the power of existing
magnets.
Once activated, the device affects all
magnetic devices within 30 meters for 2d10
Rounds, supercharging them. Any attempt to
separate the magnet from the surface they are
attached to requires a Hellish (–60) Strength Test.
Good and Best Craftsmanship versions increase
the radius by 5 meters and 10 meters, respectively. Poor
Craftsmanship versions decrease the radius by 10 meters.
Cost 2,000, WT 5kg, Near Unique
==Background Package==
Career: Adept or Scum
Cost: 300 XP
Requirements: Hive or Imperial Home World
The crime barons of the Drusus Marches have agents across
the Calixis Sector and even within the Koronus Expanse.
The sheer audacity with which many of these men conduct
"business" can rocket the unscrupulous to positions of power
well above their station. These "Low Dukes" (as they are
mockingly called in Hive Tarsus) are often considered little
more than con men and crooks whose influence allows them
to rub elbows with more proper nobles.
When this occurs, the Kasballica leadership will often
attempt to reign their operatives in, as their actions can disrupt
proper business and draw unwanted attention. The Kasballica
will cut ties, forcing their agent to operate independently.
Rarely, a clever "Noble" will find ways to protect himself,
maintaining his position and rising to power on his own.
More commonly, they are brought up on charges, and only
the intervention of a Judge or Inquisitor will save them from
a bullet in the brain-pan.
This combination of savvy, ambition, and an ability to deal
with other cultures without "going native" has drawn the
eye of several Calixian Ordo Xenos Inquisitors, most notably
Inquisitor Vilane. His missions into the Jericho Reach have
brought him in contact with the Tau, and it is this rare blend
of resourcefulness and an air of stolen authority that make his
Kasballica "Nobles" so useful.
Most often pressed into service by the Inquisition as
part of a sentence for crimes (often crimes for which they
are innocent), many ex-Kasballica agents dislike the Acolyte
lifestyle, and strive hard to improve their own comfort while
on assignment. This "questionable" loyalty can lead to strife
in the cell, but thus far, the results have been worth it.
Effects: Apply all of the following to the character:
Skills: The Character gains Blather as a Trained Skill.
Do You Know Who I Am?: The Kasballica "Noble" imposes a -10 penalty to any Intimidate Tests that include him as a target.
Shady Income: In addition to his normal Income, the Kasballica "Noble" generates additional income each month using the following chart (like a Scum):
*Kasballica "Noble" Income
*D10 Result Earnings
*1 Grift 1d10 + 10
*2-3 "Honest" Trade 2d10 + FB
*4-5 Embezzlement 2d10 x IB
*6-7 Extortion 2d10 x SB
*8-9 Short Con 2d10 x FB
*10 Long Con 4d10 x FB