"I used to be an officer in the Navis Imperialis. No, 'used to be' is not quite right. It was not simply a job -- it was my calling, the essence of my life. I was proud to serve Lord Captain Theodora, but in my heart and mind, I am still an officer of the Imperium."
- —Anonymous
Abelard Werserian is the seneschal of the Rogue Trader dynasty House von Valancius
Abelard Werserian is a former officer of the Navis Imperialis who has served as seneschal of the House von Valancius Rogue Trader dynasty in the Koronus Expanse for solar decades under the leadership of Theodora von Valancius.
When Theodora was recently assassinated during a Warp incursion on her flagship, Werserian had to transfer his solar decades of loyalty and experience to the house's new Rogue Trader, a distantly related individual who had met Theodora only a scant few solar hours before her death.
History[]
Rogue Traders are the bright stars of the Koronus Expanse. They traverse the void, conquering savage worlds, hunting ancient treasures, and bringing the light of the Emperor to the wild frontier. Their great minds are focused on major tasks (or distracted by the pleasures that the lavish lifestyle of Imperial nobility brings...but that's another matter). In any case, each Rogue Trader needs a trusted person to handle the not-so-great tasks, like keeping the colonial governments on all those conquered worlds from falling apart, or turning all those ancient treasures into actual profit. Enter the dynasty's seneschal.
Solar decades ago, the diligent and imperious Abelard Werserian was first officer on a Navis Imperialis cruiser, until fate intervened in the form of Theodora von Valancius, an eccentric, wayward Rogue Trader. Different as night and day, the pair learned to appreciate and respect each other during a joint operation between Navis Imperialis and Rogue Trader forces. Impressed, Theodora used the right of requisition granted by her Warrant of Trade to claim Abelard as her new seneschal -- a position that confers the highest honours, as well as the greatest burdens.
Decades later, Abelard, as the Rogue Trader's right hand, remains vigilant against threats to House von Valancius' trade empire. Time and its tribulations have turned his hair gray and his demeanour even more difficult than it was in his Imperial Navy days. And yet Abelard is still one of the most reliable of the Rogue Trader's crew, fiercely loyal to the trade empire he helped to build and operate. Anything that endangers this precious creation he views as a personal threat. And these dangers are many, for great and fearsome powers lurk in the depths of the Koronus Expanse. Is there still enough strength in the aging seneschal's hands to hold the trade empire together and protect it from ruin as he seeks to guide a new and untested Rogue Trader in their duties?