The Broken Line

"We will not go quietly."

The Rykards were once the envy of the noble houses of the Antilles Sector. With trade interests on scores of worlds and a vast private fleet of merchantmen and sprint traders, their wealth and power was all but limitless and their influence could be felt across the greater sector and beyond, with even the Sector Governor answering their missives. 

For nearly six hundred years, the Rykard Trading Dynasty held a stranglehold over much of the mercantile activity in their home sector but it was not to last. When freak warp storms erupted on the rimward edge of Antilles, swallowing up whole systems and cutting trade routes, the Rykards were ruined. As they turned inwards to protect their remaining interests, the Rykard's rivals chose their time to strike. A dozen noble houses, many of them sworn vassals and trusted trading partners, turned on them, pooling their resources to buy up Rykard assets. Spies and assassins revealed themselves, slaughtering family members and shipmasters. The rulers of House Rykard, Elbeth and Abiel, became the victims of a strange genetic curse which through malign science or some darker artifice spread through their bloodline, killing many and leaving the others barren and unable produce children. Within the space of a few short weeks the once thriving family had been all but destroyed, their wealth exhausted and their children dead or dying.

The surviving Rykards, lead by Elbeth, were forced to flee their ancestral homeworld aboard the cruiser Zornitsa. Elbeth vowed that they would have revenge on those who betrayed them and that the curse would be lifted from her family. The remaining members of the family live aboard the ship today, plying the shipping lanes of Antilles as traders, working for anyone with the thrones to hire their vessel and plotting to regain their rightful place amongst the noble houses.

It has been nearly a century since the fall of House Rykard and Elbeth has grown old and quite mad. As such, the day to day running of the Zornitsa has fallen to her last and youngest daughter, Oona. Something of a miracle, Oona was born in mysterious circumstances in the days following the family's flight. Although genetically perfect, there is a certain otherness about her that even those who have only spent a short time in her presence have commented on. It is as though she is far, far older than her years would suggest.

Oona is intelligent, capable and utterly ruthless in her quest to rebuild her family, and to destroy those who brought the Rykards low. Oona has struck a bargain with Inquisitor Vilam Ganzorig, agreeing to transport him throughout the Antilles Sector in secret, while the inquisitor has pledged to help her find a cure for the curse plaguing her family.

Oona at the head of a boarding team

Shipmaster Oona Myranda Rykard

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Hello! Following on from my previous post I'd like to present some photos of another older warband, the survivors of the noble house Rykard. They're on a quest to regain former glories and to destroy their enemies. I started these guys with Shipmaster Oona, only surviving daughter of Elbeth and Abiel Rykard and heir to the Rykard family throne. I built her from Inquisitor Greyfax with arms from the Sisters of Avelorn kit and the head and fan from Yvraine (I think I actually started building her the day Yvraine was released!). Oona is definitely one of my favourite minis, she looks noble but also focused and no-nonsense.

She's accompanied by her chief bosun and a pair of armsmen from her ship, the Zornitsa. I imagine these guys have grown up in the holds of the Zornitsa and are wearing the "house colours" of the Rykards. I'm really pleased with how the weathering turned out on them.

Unlike the last group I posted, this warband is far from finished. House Matriarch Elbeth has been built since last year and I'm hoping to finally get her painted this month. I'm also working on some non-family members such as the roguish Procurator Aemon and his ogryn bodyguard as well as various non-combatants and hangers on. 

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading!