
The icon of the Imperial Fleet
The Speaker for the Chartist Captains is the high-ranking Imperial official who administratively commands the merchant fleets of the Imperial Fleet and represents the interests of the mercantile Chartist Captains to the High Lords of Terra on the Senatorum Imperialis.
As the representative of the myriad merchant guilds, noble houses and corporations who have been granted Merchant Charters as the Chartist Captains who carry all of the interstellar trade that keeps the Imperium's economy functioning, the Speaker for the Chartist Captains wields enormous political and economic clout. As a result, they are often granted one of the non-permanent, rotating seats on the Senatorum Imperialis.
As some 90% of the Imperial Fleet is comprised of the voidships of the merchant fleets, in times of broader conflict for the Imperium like the War of the Beast the Speaker's power can potentially eclipse even that of the Lord High Admiral who commands the Navis Imperialis.
Naturally, the Speaker for the Chartist Captains is one of the wealthiest individuals in the Imperium, and maintains their headquarters in the opulent Nexus Axiomatic fortress complex on Terra. The Speaker commands and is protected by the Praeses Mercatura, the security forces of the Nexus Axiomatic and the honour guard of the Speaker.
Notable Speakers for the Chartist Captains[]
- Kelsi Demidov - Demidov was the Speaker for the Chartist Captains during the final years of the Horus Heresy. Though she served on the Council of Terra, the precursor to the Senatorum Imperialis, for a short time before it was disbanded due to Horus' approaching invasion of the Sol System, the Imperial Regent Malcador the Sigillite noted that Demidov carried herself as someone used to being obeyed, yet was also willing to listen to others. She was present at the meeting of the High Lords of Terra during the early days of the Siege of Terra.
- Juskina Tull - Tull was the Speaker for the Chartist Captains at the time of the War of the Beast in 544.M32. During that terrible conflict against the Orks she would cynically try to exploit the disaster for her own gain, raising the prices of passage and commercial transportation between the Segmentae Majoris despite a flood of refugees fleeing the conflict zones. Later, following the appearance of an Ork Attack Moon over Terra itself, Tull was able to oust Lord High Admiral Lansung from his position of power with the aid of Ecclesiarch Erekart Mesring. Now ascendant, Tull condemned the efforts of the Imperial Navy to defend Terra and organised a mass offensive against the Ork planetoid by civilian volunteers and merchant fleet vessels known as the "Proletarian Crusade." Thanks to a lack of real military resources, poor planning, and Tull's complete lack of military experience the Proletarian Crusade proved to be a complete disaster, ensuring the Speaker's political ascendancy over the Senatorum Imperialis was brief. In the aftermath of the disaster, Tull fell into a sort of broken fugue state, appearing dishevelled and saying nothing at subsequent meetings of the High Lords of Terra. She temporarily snapped out of her shocked state when she supported Captain Koorland of the Imperial Fists and the agents of the Inquisition in removing Lord Commander of the Imperium Udin Macht Udo from power and replacing him with Koorland. In the aftermath of the war, Tull was among the High Lords killed by Grand Master of Assassins Drakan Vangorich in his coup known as the The Beheading. Tull was slain by her handmaiden Anastay, in truth an agent of Vangorich, who goaded the already mentally fragile High Lord into suicide. Tull, broken and guilty due to the failure of the Proletarian Crusade, easily gave in to Anastay's manipulations and shot herself.
- Kania Dhanda - Dhanda was the Speaker for the Chartist Captains in the 41st Millennium during the 13th Black Crusade and served as one of the High Lords of Terra at that time. Kania was one of the High Lords who supported Chancellor of the Imperial Council Lev Tieron's attempt to push through a Dissolution Act that would free the Adeptus Custodes from their vows to never leave the Imperial Palace on Terra in the weake of thre Emperor's mortal wounding during the Siege of Terra. Kania Dhanda was one of the three High Lords that collaborated with Lord Inquisitor Adamara Rassilo and Master of the Astronomican Leops Franck's cabal to smuggle a Drukhari Haemonculus to Terra in order to repair the failing mechanisms of the Golden Throne. However, when the Haemonculus escaped and began to run amok on the Throneworld, Dhanda panicked and withdrew from the plan. She was later removed from the Senatorum Imperialis and replaced by Lord Commander Militant Mar Av Ashariel during Lord Commander of the Imperium Roboute Guilliman's reforms to the Imperium in the Era Indomitus. Guilliman had decided that in the wake of the Great Rift's creation, the attentions of the Senatorum Imperialis needed to be reoriented more closely towards military, rather than civil matters. However, while Dhanda was no longer counted among the High Lords, she retained her position as Speaker for the Chartist Capatains and retreated to the fortress of the Nexus Axiomatic to rebuild the Imperium's shattered trade routes in the wake of the divison of the galaxy.
Sources[]
- Codex Imperialis (2nd Edition), pg. 10
- Echoes of the Long War (Novel) by David Guymer, Ch. 18
- I Am Slaughter (Novel) by Dan Abnett, Ch. 4
- Predator, Prey (Novel) by Rob Sanders, Ch. 6
- The Beheading (Novel) by Guy Haley, Ch. 9
- The Last Council (Short Story) by L.J. Goulding
- The Lost and the Damned (Novel) by Guy Haley, Ch. 23
- Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Chs. 6, 23
- Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Ch. 2
- Watchers of the Throne: The Regent's Shadow (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Ch. 4
- White Dwarf 140 (UK), pg. 50
High Lords of Terra (Senatorum Imperialis) | |
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Permanent Members | Master of the Administratum • Inquisitorial Representative • Ecclesiarch • Fabricator-General • Grand Provost Marshal • Paternoval Envoy • Master of the Astronomican • Grand Master of Assassins • Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica |
Rotating Members | Lord Commander of the Segmentum Solar • Lord Commander Militant • Lord High Admiral • Cardinal(s) of the Holy Synod of Terra • Abbess Sanctorum • Captain-General • Chancellor of the Estate Imperium • Speaker for the Chartist Captains • Lord Constable |
Ruling Member | Lord Commander of the Imperium • Imperial Regent |