Navigator

“If you stare long enough into the warp, the warp will stare back.”
— Navis Nobilite saying
The Navis Nobilite, or Navigators, form a sprawling
network of extended families, all of which bear the
Navigator gene. Navigators are different to other men, with
some seeing them as mutants, but their differences are stable
and, unusually, are not only tolerated by the Imperium but are
essential to its very existence. A Navigator possesses a third
eye in his forehead through which he can perceive the warp itself
and read its currents and eddies.
For anyone else to look upon
the warp would be to invite madness and possession, but a
Navigator’s power allows him to guide a ship through the
warp and reach its destination far faster than any ship
could travel without him. Navigators use the great psychic
beacon of the Astronomican as a fixed point to aid their
route-finding. In this way they are able to complete a journey
with far fewer drops into realspace to plot position. Vital to space travel, Navigators have close
ties to the Imperial Navy, Rogue Traders, and many powerful
houses. Many Navigator families are tied to Naval aristocracies by complex
bonds of honor, debt and patronage.
==The Great Navigator Houses of Calixis==
Like any other civilized sector of Imperial space, Calixis has several families of the Navis Nobilite operating to ensure spacecraft can successfully travel long distances through the void. There are six major Navigator Houses in the sector: Houses Benetek, Gazmati, Term’L Modar, Yeshar and Rey'a'Nor.
All six have major holdings on Scintilla in Hive Sibellus as well as Hive Tarsus. As with most Navigator Houses, there are fierce rivalries between each of them and they are constantly struggling for dominance. Banetek, Gazmati, Modar, Yeshar and Rey'a'Nor have operated in Calixis the longest, being part of the initial explorations and conquests lead by Lord Angevin long ago, with Term’L more recently extending into this sector. Between them, these families hold the rights, bonds, and contracts for the supply of Navigators for Battlefleet Calixis, as well as for the vessels belonging to other branches of the Calixian Adepta and the sector’s commercial powers.
Each house operates a sizable fleet with a large mercantile division under Hereditary Charters. They conduct standard trading throughout the sector as well as providing specialized transport for their own house members. Many of their vessels are ancient even by Imperial standards, passed down through many generations of these long-lived beings. They also control many of the prime trading routes in the sector.
However, over the centuries, the sector’s needs have
outstripped the manpower that these great houses can
provide. A dozen lesser houses and a few outcast bloodlines
from distant sectors have subsequently established
themselves in the area. These lesser houses range in
importance from House Xan’Tai who exclusively serve the
powerful Machenko Dynasty, and the “pauper house” of
Cedd whose Navigators are known to barter their services
to the highest bidder with few questions asked, to the
legendary, insane bloodline of Nostromo who served the
Rogue Trader clan of Haarlock. The great houses
constantly vie with one another for dominance, but wary
of entering into protracted conflict (lest it weaken them and
give an advantage to a lesser house), they usually prefer to
use intermediaries to fight their petty wars by proxy.
==Navis Scion==
“A pleasure to meet you, sir. Allow me to introduce myself. I am your charioteer, your gatekeeper to the stars. These trade conferences are such a bore, don’t you think? We have all week to discuss the trade routes of the Expanse. Would you care to join me in a glass of amasec? Wonderful! A toast---to our endeavors.”
–Navigator Gadevillious Obrex, emissary of House Vor’cle
Navigators are a fortunate few born into privilege,
their politically affluent clans wellsprings of intrigue
as grim and convoluted as their mutating bodies.
While some Navigator Houses empower agents to act as
intermediaries between themselves and Imperial society,
others look within, selecting from among their number
cunning Navigators who can wield the political influence of
the House to greatest effect. Though the Navis Nobilite are a
part of the Imperium, each Navigator House possesses great
autonomy, and their influence and power is on par with the
Imperium’s great Adepta. Thus, it is only natural that many
Houses have diplomats and representatives for dealings with
the larger Imperium. These Scions of the Navis Nobilite are
the faces of the great Houses, groomed to act as diplomats
and power brokers, seeing to it that their family’s interests
are protected.
Equally at home in the estates of the Navigator Houses
or the courts of the Imperial elite, Navis Scions are masters
of conversation and courtly protocol. Often selected
from amongst their fellows based on their relative lack of
disfiguring mutations as much as their social skills, these
Navigators attract a great deal of attention on their many
public outings. Fated to be the center of attention in
virtually any courtly setting, Scions revel in the
gawking of onlookers, using their instant fame to
woo potential allies and mock known foes. It is
rare to see a Navigator in public, and rarer still to
see one surrounded by an admiring (or simply
curious) crowd. Whether regaling an audience
with tales of travel beyond the reaches of the
Imperium or wounding a boor’s pride with a
witty remark, Navis Scions are exceptionally
socially adroit.
However, a Scion bears a responsibility far
greater than providing dazzling conversation. He
is still expected to be an adroit Navigator for
ships travelling the immaterium, and serves as a
vital link between his House and its allies. He is
expected to act as an agent and representative,
seeking out new clients for his House and
seeing to it that existing allies have the
House’s best interests at heart. The
intimidating presence of a full-blooded
Navigator can quickly sway the outcome of a trade
negotiation. Likewise, the enemies of the Nobilite must be
careful to hold their tongues when a Navis Scion glides
confidently into court. Wielding the political and economic
power of his House, a Navis Scion is something to be feared
and respected.
The extensive education and political experience of Navis
Scions make them valuable companions. In the course of
their duties, many Scions become advisors to Rogue Traders,
Admirals, and other high-ranking officials who respect their
expertise and pedigree. Many a noble has turned to a Scion
for advice in matters of politics, trade, and even personal
matters. Though the rumor that a Navigator’s third eye can
glimpse the future is only partly true, that does not stop most
Scions from acting as psychic advisors, knowing full well that
the right prophesy muttered in the right ear is capable of
fulfilling itself.
One cannot simply choose to serve his House as a Scion.
Scions must be groomed from an early age, entering courtly
life before the mutations that are their heritage manifest. As a
result, the highly public lives and exotic inhuman beauty of
most Scions lead many to believe the stories of monstrously
deformed Navigators to be no more than fables the Houses
use to intimidate rivals. A Navigator cannot escape the
betrayal of his own body, and as a consequence, most Scions
have short public careers. However, the alliances brokered and
social doorways opened in this time can serve a Navigator
throughout his prolonged existence, and may even be refined
and enhanced through clever maneuvering later in life. Still,
many Scions become so enamored with the dance of courtly
intrigue that they cannot bear to leave it behind when the
time comes. More than a few Scions have resorted to extensive
reconstructive surgery and invasive bionic augmentation to
maintain the almost-human features that once made them
presentable and celebrated in Imperial high society.
==Becoming a Navis Scion==
One becomes a Navis Scion while still in infancy,
when the elders of a Navigator House select a
newly-born child, one free of prenatal mutation,
and prepare for it a life of higher education and
social tutoring. Navis Scions are still
trained to harness their natural abilities
to perceive the Warp and direct the
course of mighty voidships, but are also
tutored in history, literature, and the
realities of Imperial politics. Though
their skill in the art of navigation may
suffer, Scions emerge from the their
studies with sharp minds and sharper
tongues, ready to represent their House
in all things.
Required Career: Navigator
Alternate Rank: 1 (5,000 XP) only.
Other Requirements: Due to their
excessive mutations and marginalized
existence at the fringes of Imperial society,
Navigators of the Renegade Houses
cannot select this Alternate Career.