Introduction to The Traveller Adventure - The Argent Mistress
The Oberlindes noble family started the shipping company 614 years ago when the Spinward Marches was a colonists' paradise attracting Solomani settlers.
The family matriarch, Roxanne Oberlindes, established the first line to bear the name in
the
This first incarnation of Oberlindes Lines prospered in the feverish growth that characterized the sector in the aftermath of the First Frontier War. Back then, major trade routes were few in number. The region's shipping/communications infrastructure was just being founded, and the frontier was growing.
Oberlindes Lines grew along with it. The company thrived and survived through the centuries and the multiple wars that have burned across the sector since.
Half a millenium later, Oberlindes expanded its fleet to include naval surplus vessels in an effort to spearhead the company's movement outside the Imperium into the new markets of the Vargr Extents.
The company made Traveller News Service headlines with one of these vessels. It was late 1049 - some 66 standard years ago. The memory of the Solomani Rim War was fading from the minds of the citizenry and the Imperial Admiralty alike. Three cruiser divisions centered around Azhanti High Lightning class vessels were decommissioned, declared surplus, and disposed of to commercial interests. Six of these vessels were sold to transport lines through government auction, and although their armament had been removed, bidding for the vessels was fierce.
Oberlindes Lines won one of the cruisers despite the efforts of larger shipping lines and megacorporations alike. This ship was the Sparkling Distress. Oberlindes re-christened her Emissary.
Through a convoluted, irregular, slightly shady, and completely unprecedented procedure, the complete military weaponry package on that vessel was left intact. The Oberlindes family rightly felt that the ship's weaponry was necessary for trading expeditions into the Vargr territory coreward of the empire, home of the infamous Vargr corsair bands.
Because of the public ilk, and pressure from the other trading companies at the release of this information, an Imperial ruling was mandated. The emperor - no doubt due to the influence the Oberlindes family had on the royal court - commanded that Oberlindes Lines would be left in possession of the ship and all its arms and defenses, but the vessel would not be permitted to operate within the borders of the empire.
And this suited Oberlindes' plans fine.
Oberlindes established a trading center and base for Emissary at Pandrin in the Uthe subsector, at the trailing edge of the Gvurrdon sector beyond the reach of Imperial rule. Trade increased drastically between the empire and the Vargr - mainly because of the initiative made by Oberlindes.
In addition to numbers of cultural items exchanged back and forth across the frontier (items of literature, art, and music primarily), the Emissary hauled Imperial high tech machinery into the Extents, returning with bulk loads of lanthanum - one of the most valuable ores known to exist.
Lanthanum is used for the construction of the inner coils of jump drives. Lanthanum is also used to construct jump grids on the hulls of starships - the jump grid being the primary tool used to open a route into jump space enabling a starship to leave normal space when making a jump. Other metals have been used to replace lanthanum, but no ore other than lanthanum has been found better suited to the requirements of jump drive construction.
Even when the price of lanthanum varies, the ore's importance to an interstellar empire remains paramount. Without lanthanum, jump drives do not exist, jump routes do not exist, there is no interstellar communication or transportation, and, under those conditions, an interstellar empire cannot exist. Lanthanum makes an interstellar empire possible.
The Vargr world of Scangen remains today a primary source of this vital ore, and Oberlindes Lines remains a primary importer.
The efforts of Oberlindes Lines, through use of the IMV Emissary, have since been recognized as the catalyst for the current boom in trade with the planets and governments of the Vargr Extents.
Emissary's near-60-year voyage has been made possible because of the ship's heavy armament. The weapons Emissary is able to bring to bear on potential raiders command respect by the Vargr and discourage interference by corsairs and rival Vargr governments. In its near-six-decade voyage, Emissary's guns have never been called upon to speak in anger.
The company's success with Emissary caused Oberlindes officials to look hard at acquiring additional naval surplus vessels. Just two decades ago, events transpired and coincided to allow the company the opportunity to achieve that goal and put Oberlindes Lines on a path to becoming the major shipping power in the Spinward Marches. Many industry analysts, in fact, believe that Oberlindes Lines is now a seed that may someday grow into a megacorporation.
In 1084, The Fourth Frontier War with the Zhodani Consulate came to a close. As a direct result of Emissary's track record, the Emperor granted Oberlindes Lines a charter to begin large fleet operations, bolstering Oberlindes' focus on feeder routes and allowing the company to expand operations by bringing service to major jump lanes as well. The charter allowed for the company's acquisition of naval vessels - surplus warships and support ships from the Fourth Frontier War. These vessels, numbering in the hundreds, have allowed Oberlindes Lines to reinvent itself, placing itself in direct competition with the more established major shipping lines.
The Emperor's major initiative took advantage of the economic growth driven by the war and sent it into overdrive, preventing the recession that normally follows a large scale conflict. The Emperor's intent was to spread maximum prosperity to every Imperial planet in the Spinward Marches, and Oberlindes Lines was one of his tools.
Emperor Strephon's March Program was born at the end of the Fourth Frontier War, a piece of this major initiative, and Oberlindes, with its new fleet, became custodian of the new Program.
Today, Oberlindes
Lines is one of the fastest growing shipping powers in the Spinward
Marches. Its power base is still the
Along the way, the company has alienated many of the older and more conservative shipping agents, especially Tukera Lines, which Oberlindes is in direct competition with on the major jump lanes.
The Emperor, though, has been pleased with Oberlindes Lines' part in his grand scheme. Fourteen years ago, in 1101, Emperor Strephon awarded Sergei hault-Oberlindes, House patriarch and controller of the company, a baronial patent, complete with estates on Feri, for Sergei's contribution to the economic recovery in the Marches over the last three decades.
Sergei has recently stepped down, retiring to the baronal fief, passing control of the company to his son, Marc, who is now the new Baron of Feri and personally spearheading the company's entry into the Aramis subsector.
Adam Smith had always been a loner. He was always one to take chances as well. A retired Imperial Scout, he had left his beloved IISS after twenty years. He had thrived under assignments as a surveyor of the backwater worlds of the Spinward Marches. He had been just about everywhere, and seen just about everything. He had done well in the Scout Service, and had retired at the rank of IS-7, an Assistant Supervisor. Adam loved being a “spacer” and prior to leaving the Scout Service, he had obtained his Merchant Master license.
The year was 1108.
Retirement pay from the Scouts was not
nearly enough to get by on. Regina was a
very busy place, and it wasn’t meshing well with Adam’s
personality in the least bit.
Additionally, dirtside life was boring. Adam longed for a return to space. Then… one day… a long-time acquaintance that
worked as an agent for Oberlindes Lines - at the
On 014-1109, Ling Standard Products Starship Project Registration No. 509FQ872098A4 finally had an owner, and a name… the “Argent Mistress”.
The relative monotony of merchant life
suited Adam nicely. He was back in
space, and he kept to himself. As his
ship dutifully transited the “loop” of the Yori Etents, he was bringing needed goods to the “out of the
way” planets, and bringing back exotic luxuries and raw materials back to the “Spinward Main”. His
crew did well, and practically ran the ship for him. Adam led the typical life of a
slim-profit-margin free trader for nearly five years.
Nobody is really certain how , orwhat, happened, but the Argent Mistress ended up docked in the Rhylanor Orbital Station. Adam claimed bankruptcy, and his ownership shares were relinquished back to Oberlindes. In the meantime, the local Oberlindes Agent on Rhylanor was desperate to find another owner for the ship.
Finally the Rhylanor Oberlindes Agent, in a desperate attempt to find another buyer – agreed to transfer Roberti’s ownership shares of the vessel to any owner willing to assume the title of the ship.
On 291-1114, the title, accrued ownership shares, and subsidy contract of the Argent Mistress was transferred to its new and current owner, Andromeda Ventures, LIC.
Andromeda Ventures is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Andromeda Casinos, LIC. Here’s where the specifics start to get
fuzzy. Try and keep up…
Andromeda Casinos is a part of a
religious organization called “The Brotherhood of Rhylanor”,
where worship services are characterized by ritual drinking, gambling and
feasting. The owner of Andromeda Casinos
is Father Guido Sarducci, a hard driving businessman
with almost unbelievable links to the upper levels of Rhylanor nobility and social status. It is rumored that the Duke of Rhylanor himself has provided some of the funding to buy himself a few shares of the vessel as well. But… that is just wild rumor and baseless
speculation. Let’s move on. Hey… You still there?
So, Father Sarducci
isn’t going to run this merchant ship himself, so he hires a company to run it
for him. Through a friend you
know. That friend is Commodore Daeriush Pargo, the owner of
Gemstar Traders, LIC.
The distilled version of the contract is that you have been hired on by Gemstar Traders to crew this vessel. You are responsible to turn a profit for Gemstar, and by extension Andromeda.
The pay is above average, and there are benefits, (not often seen on a free trader). Will you be joining the crew?
