Port All

Carved into the frozen remains of shattered worlds, lie the inhabited isles of the Erinnyenmere. They are home to the long forgotten souls of once-blooming realms, those cast away by the mighty from the worlds of the Imperium. At the heart of this constellation made from remnants of a broken world, there lies the fervent heart of those pioneers who ventured to the frontier. Here arises from shadow the magnificent voidfarer city of Port All, home to the rogue traders and soldiers of fortune who come from all of Sector Gondwana.

## The archipelago of the Erinnyenmere

Comprised of many million shards, of frozen isles and continental plates cast into the void, the broken remains form a gargantuan archipelago deep in the Erinnyenmere. Nobody knows truly their number, for the isles change their shape and form, vanish from existence and re-appear once again according to rules no human could understand. By forces invisible and unknown, the islands are locked to one another. Neither can they escape the gravity of the broken pieces, nor can they ever come together to form the broken world anew.

The Archipelago lies always far from any star, and yet its isles are always aglow with a faint and blue-ish light. Around its fringes, Borealis shines, an endless veil of moving color, treacherous and beautiful at the same time. It holds the isles and their perpetual clouds of cosmic snow and is the outer limit of the hunting grounds of the archipelago's vicious predators.

### Predators of the Archipelago

Nobody knows from where the predators came if they were native to the broken world or responsible for its destruction. Seven millennia since the first settlers came, still little more is known about them, than crude sketches on scorched parchment and the descriptions of voidfarers driven mad by their sight. Supposedly, they are horrid wyrms, spindly and long, with deadly fangs and pale eyes, dragging long tails of black fins like ragged seaweed. They haunt the isles, even port all, as shadows wandering outside the golden light of the Void shields offering the Emperor's protection. Hunting them is the prospect only of those who wish to die and lunatics. Still, artifacts circulate on the black markets of Port All, of which it is claimed that they are remnants of these vicious beasts. These items have been known to possess dangerous and heretical powers and are sought after only by the most ruthless of individuals.

## Astrography

Much like the nameless masses inhabiting the many thousand rocky isles, the entire archipelago of Port All is set adrift in the void. Wandering the Erinnyenmere, it follows unknowable patterns laid out by some unknown force. Some say the Isles move at the behest of the Crimson Queen, others presume an ancient clan of Xenos lives down in the deepest catacombs of ice and manipulates the course. Like all things around Port All, the truth not merely shrouded in mystery. Perhaps, there is no truth at all.

Those who seek safe harbor at Port All will find it in due time, they say. To those with malicious intent, it will remain elusive forever. The cruelest fate awaits those who are uncertain. He who does not know the place of his heart will perish in the churning tides of the Erinnyenmere, never to see the safe shores of the Archipelago.

Much in the same way, the isles are not easily left behind. Those who are ready to move on will find themselves much closer to their destination once they leave. Yet there also those who never get away, ships returned to the islands over and over. Those who have no destiny anymore in the universe at large become stuck on the frozen worlds, compelled to die in the void and become one with the broken pieces of the isles.

No-one knows how many souls the archipelago has claimed. There are merely legends of the ghostly fleets forever wandering the dark Erinnyenmere, all aboard them withering and dying an endless death, over and over.

## Inhabited Isles of Erinnyenmere

Shrouded behind veils of gold and brass arise the manors and treasuries of rogue traders. Ancient bulwarks house the mercenary clans, towering high above the sprawls of habitats and pulsing cities. The islands of the archipelago are uniquely different, each in its own way, and devoted to services and dealings on the black market, unspoken by all.

In between the isles span bridges of gold, connecting the miniature empires of gangs and clans ruled over by the lords of crime and trade. But all bow before the palace of the Crimson Queen, the mighty fortress of Port All, where her governor ensures her share in all dealings and profits made.

## History

Settlers from afar erected cities and hives on the frozen isles and established void shields to protect them from the predators lurking in the spaces in-between. Outcasts on all worlds of the Imperium, these were the scum of the Imperium, Mutants, and Abhumans, perverted nobles seeking Xenos concubines and deserters. Still, somehow they remained alive and prospered, and from the first generations of degenerate souls arose a new civilization, some say, even valiant hearts and men of honor. Hidden talents, true characters, and noble souls were hidden in this darkest of places.

This place without law, far from the eyes of the Imperium, attracted soon the mighty ones: Dynasties of Rogue Traders and daring merchants, seeking to find the hidden gems among the filth, to make dealings impossible anywhere else and to indulge in the delights only a ruthless place without morale could offer. Thus, the Archipelago became a crucible for shadowy dealings in all of Sector Gondwana.

Before long, this potential was recognized by the Crimson Queen, and the archipelago shuddered in fear when the Borealis of their veil was broken by the coming of the Tabernacle Fleet. But the Crimson Queen of the Shadow Fiefdom did not burn and purge the isles and their doings but established a place at their heart. This was the birth of Port All, and the Crimson Queen declared it the new heart of shadows in this Sector, where she would wield power alone and in return, allow the black dealings of the inhabited isles to continue.