Cold Trade - Sample Xeno-Artefacts in the Calixis Sector: Within the Calixis Sector, reaction to xenos-artefacts will vary from location to location. An old piece of unearthed statuary that might go unremarked upon and used as a doorstop on a Frontier World like Ganf Magna would be enough to have the possessor dragged to the pyre as a xenophile deviant on Maccabeus Quintus. As a result, those who trade in such items and those who wish to purchase them must be both circumspect and cautious.Quite apart from this grey market there exists a true black market in items classified as completely forbidden by Imperial law. Such illegal items often command vast sums, but the danger involved is equally high, carrying the death penalty for all involved and attracting the wrath of Imperial authorities.The following is a sampling of such xeno-artefacts that form part of the Cold Trade, ranging from the merely exotic to the outright banned:Xenos Art and Other Curiosities - Works of art and antiquities -- statuary, trinkets, mosaic shards, graven tablets, broken devices, strange jewellery, and the like purporting to be of nonhuman origin -- are perhaps the most common (and easily faked) staple of the Cold Trade. Most are simply sold under the banner of "made by unknown hands," which is vague enough to pique interest but non-specific enough to not require proof. Others come with convoluted stories or dubious provenances to increase their potential value. However, the "real thing" -- fragments of Aeldari wraithbone, Moliochin Fire Hearts, or the disturbing chthonic idols unearthed from Dead Worlds in the Hazeroth Abyss -- can fetch enormously high prices and carry dangers of their own.Crimson Bestiaries- Xenos bestiaries, books purporting to detail and catalogue a variety of alien creatures, are commonplace in the libraries of the Imperial wealthy. Most contain little more than lurid illustrations and superficial descriptions of the more notable enemies of Mankind and whatever local fauna is deemed appropriate. They range from the opinionated and often widely inaccurate works illuminated by Ecclesiarchy scribes to rarer works more grounded in reality and culled from scholastic learning, perhaps even from first-hand accounts. Of this latter kind, the Crimson Bestiaries (so called for their distinctive red serpent skin bindings) produced by the Great Library of Fenksworld are highly regarded. The volumes skirt dangerously close to the edge of knowledge that the Ordo Xenos will allow in the public domain.Deluvial Tincture (Drug)- One of a number of supposedly alien elixirs promising everything from practical immortality to superhuman virility and sold by unscrupulous traders and Hereteks, the so-called Delulvial Tincture is more dangerous than most. It contains proscribed ingredients including xenos retroviral suspensions believed by some Magos Biologis to be distilled from Aeldari blood. The source of the drug is thought to lie somewhere in the Hazeroth Abyss, and it is rapidly gaining ground among those that can afford its dubious benefits.Nightweave Silk- This silk is an opulent fabric woven from a crystalline material that shimmers with a spectrum of soft inner light when worn in twilight or darkness, producing almost hypnotic fascination in onlookers. Nightweave silk is valued for its effect, great beauty, and rarity by the high lords and ladies of the sector, and is sold only by traders who operate on the Halo Stars' margins (who remain tight-lipped about its origins). Despite its favour in numerous courts, it is considered ill-omened by many Voidborn, and some psykers claim to detect the faintest echo of suffering and something inhuman in the silk, likewise shunning it.Zamarkand Rose- Named after the legendary Rogue Trader bloodline of Zamarkand who brought this poisonous gift back to the Calixis Sector centuries ago, the rose is a fast-growing tree that forms huge and intricate skeletal shapes as it matures. An exquisitely beautiful yet sinister thing, the Zamarkand Rose blooms a deep crimson and midnight hue, and produces a gorgeous melancholic scent. Its biology is as much animal as plant, and it grows strongest when its roots are fed with blood and organic decay. Indeed, the merest scratch of its poisonous thorns is enough to kill an adult Human. The rose is a forbidden xeno-species by direct order of the Lord Sector Calixis' decree and has been so for 300 standard years, and with good reason; the crushed petals of the rose form a powerful hallucinogen capable of wreaking dreadful genetic damage to its imbiber. The Zamarkand Rose remains a forbidden thing of dark legend to the Calixis elite, and upon occasion a particularly sadistic weapon of courtly intrigue.Xenos Weapons- Of all the artefacts of alien origin, few are more sought after than xenos-weaponry, and in nearly all cases their possession is highly illegal. Some such weapons are highly desired for their unique destructive qualities, but often people want them simply for the pleasure of the forbidden. Some more Radical of the Ordo Xenos agents also favour such strange and lethal devices to aid their work (turning the weapons of the alien against them), while on the dark frontier of the sector's edge some desperate or corrupt Humans will happily trade with xenos renegades for their potent weaponry regardless of its often heavy and macabre price.Hrud Fusil- Little is known of the reclusive and dangerous species known as the Hrud other than that they dwell only in darkness and possess strange, Warp-based technology which, it is said, allows them to walk between worlds and even corrupt the flow of time with their baleful presence. The Hrud Fusil is one of a scant few Hrud artefacts that occasionally come up for sale and is always in high demand. It is a form of "plasma musket" that uses an unfathomable mechanism to phase a plasma bolt between realspace and the Warp, bypassing its target's defences. Though somewhat unpredictable, the weapon's unique qualities make it useful for assassins and Inquisitorial agents alike. Fusils traded on the black market have been crudely modified to accept Imperial plasma cells. However, if a Fusil's mechanism becomes badly damaged it cannot be repaired by Human hands.Fra'al Glass Knife- The glass knife is a vicious hand weapon of xenos origin that has long been a staple of black market trade on the Halo Stars frontier. Glass knives are jagged, dagger-like blades, seemingly crafted from a single piece of smoky crystal. Renowned for their strength, they are sharp enough to split ceramite. Glass knives maintain their sharpness by continually fracturing tiny shards from their cutting edges, and these splinters are infamous for working their way into wounds, causing agonising injuries. Smugglers' lore among those that operate on the border of the Halo Stars attribute the blades to the legendary Fra'al, although many insist this is merely speculation. Accurate knowledge of the nomadic Fra'al is strictly prohibited by the Ordo Xenos, and aside from a few scattered stories, Mankind remains blissfully ignorant of this merciless, highly psychic species.