# The Fall of the House of Traf (repost)



## ghostdancer (Sep 8, 2012)

The Fall of the House of Traf
A W40k short story

I woke up with a start, it was totally dark and I was lying on a rough mattress of coarse material with a splitting headache and a disgusting taste in my mouth, I could clearly remember a girl laughing, a voice asking a question, then pain: and an explosion in my head. 

I could hear dripping water and I was cold, very cold, an intensely bright light dispelled the blackness and a silhouette of a man’s head appeared. “Tell the Lady our “guest” is awake will you,” the voice said to an unseen companion seemingly from a considerable distance, but at the same time unbelievably loudly. “Emperors Throne don’t shout, any chance of a recaf” I called, his colourful obscenity was cut off by the slamming of the small opening in what I assumed was a cell door, 

I supposed I could take some comfort from the fact that my captors wanted me alive; if they wanted me dead, I simply would not have woken up, At this point I was I must admit getting worried I had been no idea how long I had been unconscious, where I was, who was holding me or why! 

The door opened, the figure standing in the doorway just gestured me for follow him into the bright corridor. My eyes were watering badly; also, my nose was starting to run so I could not make out any details of my jailer, “About time I sniffed, do you know who I am” I asked, “

Stumbling along the bright corridor, I again tried to engage my jailer in conversation. 
“You should realise you have good reason to be afraid, my man, my family is very powerful, I am sure the Proctors are looking for me. You will be well rewarded if you help me, you know

I tried to turn to speak to him and received a ringing slap across the head and a shove in the back. Opening a door, he shoved me into a dimly lit room the shadows were pooled around the edges only a chair in the centre was well lit, it was facing an ornate desk with a bright light focused on the desk top, effectively hiding the occupant of the seat, it was so childishly theatrical, I almost laughed, “almost” 

The occupant of the seat was obviously a woman, young and shapely, with flame coloured hair with long Burgundy nails, but I could not see her face because of the lighting, the dress she wore was expensive Moravian Silk imported from off world, like the one`s my sister collects. 

“I am not who you think I am, you know”! I spluttered 

“Really”, the figure answered, “You are Delas, Scion of the noble house of Traf, son of Delgar, Grandson of Torek the Trader, she replied in a mildly accented voice. 

I froze they really did know who I was “Look if you know my family then you know we are very powerful and it would be a serious mistake to harm me”, 

“Has it crossed that tiny mind of yours that there are people who would pay us to hurt you, ” remarked the figure who had escorted me to the room. I started to turn and received another ringing slap across the head and was shoved roughly back into the chair, banging my head causing the headache to restart, this was getting tedious.

“Cedor that’s enough, we need him alive and in one piece”, chided the women.

Interesting, I thought she is in charge, this brute answers to her.

“Who would pay you to hurt me” i asked mournfully, “everyone likes me” 

“Oh let’s see now, How about the family of the Scioness of Thel whom you promised to wed, got with child, and then rejected” answered the figure at the desk.

“What Arianna, look if it’s about supporting her brat I will pay, not that I am admitting its mine, of course there were plenty of others in her bed, you know, just ask her! Real party girl, just ask her”

“I am afraid that’s not possible! You see she took poison when you rejected her, killing her and her unborn child, her father was devastated, and he went to your father, who had him ostracised. 

Cheaper than paying him off I suppose”, I shrugged spitefully

I felt rather than saw the figure of my jailer tense up, the figure behind the light took a deep breath, and my jailer seemed to relax slightly
.
Anyway, this is not about you, Scion of the house of Traf, it is about your family, the figure behind the light spoke tightly, almost biting off her words

“What do you mean?” I asked? 

“What do you know about how your fathers business interests” she prompted

“I have almost no say in my father’s business dealings, he is training me, but doesn’t trust me, I have no real power or authority it all has to be sanctioned by my father or Kirov, his Chamberlin anyone can tell you that, it`s common knowledge in the Souk! ” I answered

“But you are the Heir, Leader of the House of Traf on your father’s death aren’t you” the figure at the desk mocked, “Again you are out of luck my father’s in good health, surrounded by lifeguards, “he’s untouchable you low born bitch” “The gentleman, as ever, so when did you last see your father”, “her voice suggested she was smiling again.

I grimaced at the memory, “a couple of days ago at one of his interminable lectures about my behaviour, just after Kirov had bailed me out of some trouble with the Proctors, My fathers a hypercritical old fool, berating me about my behaviour, when he’s off bed hopping with one of his doxies” “Well; One of my doxies to be quite accurate” and then he went about his business, I suppose, she asked “All hale and hearty”, again the voice seemed to smile,

The “my doxies” comment filled me with unease, My Father for his faults had first class security and a paranoid streak a sector wide, if this sump born trash had infiltrated her agents into the house we had a serious problem! 

The figure at the desk leaned forward into the light; “it seems he’s met with an accident”, she said her hands crossing on the desk her nails were long, almost like a Sarcat`s
She nodded to the figure behind me, who placed a bag on my lap “Open it” she said, I fumbled with the draw strings, something was leaking from the bag onto my legs, with mounting dread I pulled the bag down off the object
“Oh Emperor”, I bawled jumping to my feet, my father’s head thumped to the floor bouncing once before rolling to a stop near the desk, face up, his eyes seemed to accuse me, and I stumbled back into my jailer who pushed me back into the chair. 
“My Lady, he’s wet himself, Throne what a stink”, snorted my jailer. 

“Please don’t kill me, don’t hurt me” I ll do anything I whimpered. 

A small device chimed on my jailers wrist “my Lady, our guests are on the way” the servant Cedor remarked 

“Cedor, take this “Gentleman” to one of the guest suites and clean him up will you please. I must welcome our guests, you know how fastidious they can be at times” The figure leaned back in her seat again hiding what little I had seen of her in the gloom. 

Cedor, my jailer gestured me towards a door dimly, outlined in the opposite wall, we walked briefly along a further corridor and came to a door; before it stood the biggest Ogryn I had ever seen he was wearing a well-fitting dress suit, very bizarre. Cedor nodded to the Ogryn, “Chakka, this man is not to leave these rooms” “YUS BOSS, HIM STINK BOSS, HAHAH”! The Ogryn boomed grinning as he opened the door for me, gently pushing me inside, the door closed and I heard the faint click of locks engaging.

Delas regarded the suite with some considerable distaste; it was an outrage, being treated like this, the indignity of it, the lack of House tattoos on the servant Cedor`s face told Delas considerable amount about his captors, Recidivists, possibly, certainly criminal scum, Heretics, to be purged at the first opportunity.

He was not the “guest” of a rival Great House, that much was obvious, they at least would treat him like he should be treated, like a noble of the house of Traf, to be treated with deference and respect. After all, the Emperor had willed the divine order of things; it was his destiny to be a noble and therefore the lower orders place to defer in all things to him. A servant had struck him; the scum would burn for that,

Delas reflected on the events since he woke up in that cell, When he got out of this situation, his social position would be considerably raised, it was at the cost of his Father`s life of course, but everyone dies and better him than me I suppose, he thought. 

He did agree on one thing however, he did stink he walked to the shower cubicle and stripped off, throwing his now ruined clothes into a corner, showering and redressing quickly in the shapeless poor quality clothes left for him, another outrage!












Chapter 2 

Cedor walked back into the office. “That went well I think” he smiled at his employer 

Walking to a side table he poured himself a drink, turning back to the figure at the desk he said, “You know my feeling on this well enough, so I shall not repeat them”. If we are found out, my Lady we will be in for a shit load of serious attention from persons of an “Enquiring Disposition “shall we say!

“I know, but so will the damn nobles, the figure behind the desk answered

“Agreed, no argument from me, Lady, I just think we should kill the little bastard and done with it “ That quip about not having to pay the girls family off hit home, My Lady, I thought you were going to go for him, thought I was going to have to try and stop you killing him. 

“Why do you think I was sitting behind the desk Cedor, harder to get to him, if he pissed me off” she grinned ruefully. 

“Have our guests landed yet”? She asked abruptly changing the subject

“No, My lady they will be delayed: a sudden change in Proctors patrol patterns caused by an accident has caused them to be more cautious, I am assured they will arrive by sunset” And yes lady I have checked, it was an accident nothing more”. “Thank You Cedor”, smiled the Lady 

Cedor regarded his employer, The Lady, as he called her was a stunning redhead at nearly 2 meters tall, she was lithe and athletic, she was as lethal as any Assassin was and easily as remorseless, she looked about 25 Terran years old. It was her face, however which was usually noticed first, something not quite right, something slightly out place, an almost eerie beauty, and this combined with a slightly slanted pair of unnervingly green eyes; made for striking combination. Her apparent youth caused men in particular to underestimate her, usually only once though. 

Although the use of title “Lady” was common with those in her employ, he was the one to coin it, although many who used it did, not know its history. Cedor had literally at full tilt run into her, while running from a shopkeeper whose produce he had stolen, and lost in his haste, but sitting in the muck, partly winded, he could only look up at her expecting the worst , he just smiled and said “Run errands for you, Pretty Lady? As she looked down at him, with those cold green eyes and an amused expression on her face, she tossed him a globefruit, “eat it kid, it’s an upfront payment, understand! You owe me” The child Cedor nodded and slipped away, of course she had not expected to see him again, but he had overheard two of Galvanis men talking about “cutting that green eyed bitch up ” and warned her, Cedor always had took his debts seriously. It had just been the two of them back then, just a skinny kid and an off world player, they had quickly attracted all kinds of attention, 



It was a serious player in the Understack of Centralis Hive, not many would challenge them to a stand up fight, not now, things had certainly changed over the years, from to strong arming numbers games to drugs and joy girls, things had moved on since then. One thing had not changed however, her hatred of the house of Traf; they did not do any business with Traf at any price 

Many of the Noble houses had surreptitious links to the Hive Gangs, allying with them, paying them to play the Great Game, doing the Houses dirty work in the shadows, always deniable, always clandestine. The politics of the Centralis hive was a mirror of the Underhive itself, dark; labyrinthine; and fatal, if you made a wrong move.


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## ghostdancer (Sep 8, 2012)

can i have some feedback pls 
any crits welcome


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## Ambush Beast (Oct 31, 2010)

*hello*

Well, I had a good time reading this and do look forward to more being added. There are some things though, small but important to any story... punctuation and word placement. When switching from one person's conversation to the other it is important to space and clarify somehow who is saying what and not combine two conversations in a way that could be confusing. Also proper punctuation is needed to creat the right mood. Overall though the story was well done.


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## ghostdancer (Sep 8, 2012)

have done a bit of a rewrite any crits welcome 
also trying to get this bit better before i move on to next bit 



The Fall of the House of Traf
A W40k short story​ 
I woke up with a start, it was dark and I was lying on a rough mattress, with a splitting headache and a pain in my mouth, feeling with my tongue. I was missing at least two teeth, spitting out a glob of what I hoped was blood, I hoped that the machine spirits of my missing teeth, had met there ends nobly

This was not how I had envisaged my waking up; I had had a pleasant enough evening, dining with members of my club (a good meal with some passable Fire wine) then off to a gambling house, leaving with some winnings for a change! Then to round it off with some pleasant female company, with one of Melarnie’s girls, a soft bed and even softer skin to wake up to, in all just a normal evening for me. 

However things were starting to come back to me, I remembered, talking to a girl, I remembered, being very drunk, I remembered, male voices and being picked and carried and giggling and slapping hands away, and giggling some more. I remembered; being asked by a new female voice, if I would like something hollow, feeling my sleeve being rolled up, a light touch on my bare arm then a rushing sound in my head and a tunnel filled with lights then …nothing, just waking up in this room 

My rings, my earring and the rest of my jewellery, had all been torn from me without any consideration for my person , as the raw skin on my fingers and a torn earlobe attested, also I was dressed only in my undergarments, I also had a crudely sewn up incision in my upper leg which was leaking blood, not good.

I could hear dripping water and I was cold, very cold, an intensely bright light dispelled the blackness and a silhouette of a man’s head appeared. 

“Tell the Lady our “guest” is awake will you,” the voice said to an unseen companion seemingly from a considerable distance, but at the same time unbelievably loudly. 

“Emperors Throne don’t shout, what do you people want from me”, I groaned, 

I supposed I could take some comfort from the fact that my captors wanted me alive; if they wanted me dead, I simply would not have woken up, At this point I was I must admit getting worried I had been no idea how long I had been asleep (unconscious), where I was, who was holding me or why! Moreover, due to my missing teeth, my House had no way to find me, whereever I was 

The door opened, the figure standing framed in the doorway, just gestured me for follow him into the bright corridor. 

My eyes were watering badly; also, my nose was starting to run, so I could not make out any details of my jailer. 

“About time, I sniffed, 

“Do you know who I am, Why am I being treated like this, my leg hurts” I whined 

Stumbling along the bright corridor, I again tried to engage my jailer in conversation. 

“You should realise, you have good reason to be afraid, and my family is very powerful, I am sure the Proctors are looking for me by now. I will be missed, I have appointments to keep, and if I am not there, questions will be asked. My House troops will find me, and the full force of the Law will come down on you. You will be well rewarded, if you help me escape from this situation, you know”

I tried to turn to speak to him and received a ringing slap across the head and a shove in the back. Opening an heavy wooden door, he shoved me into a dimly lit room, the shadows were pooled around the edges, only a chair in the centre was well lit, it was facing an ornate desk with a bright light focused on the desk top, effectively hiding the occupant of the seat, it was so childishly theatrical, I almost laughed, “almost” 

The occupant of the seat was obviously a woman, young and shapely, the flame coloured hair and long Burgundy nails were all that were clearly visible, I could not see her face because of the lighting, the dress she wore was expensive Moravian Silk, imported from off world, like the one`s my sister collects

“I am not who you think I am you know, you`ve made a serious mistake” I spluttered.

“Really”, the figure answered, “You are Delas, Scion of the noble house of Traf, son of Delgar, Grandson of Torek” she replied in a mildly accented voice. 

I froze; they really did know who I was 

“Look if you know my family, then you know we are very powerful and it would be a serious mistake to harm me”, I spluttered, trying to sound bold 

“Has it crossed that tiny, addled mind of yours that there are people who would pay us to hurt you,” remarked the figure who had escorted me to the room. 

“Is it about the creds I owe to Dornath? look it`s only a paltry amount, not worth damaging me over, I was going to pay him” I exclaimed quickly

“This is not about a small amount of creds, you simpleton, this is strictly family business” grated the male figure beside me 

“My bitch of a sister and that ingrate of a husband, have put you up to this, haven’t they? Or cousin Gorda? Either of them would set this up. How much are they paying you, I will triple it!” 

I started to turn and received another ringing slap across the head and was shoved roughly back into the chair, banging my head causing the headache to restart, this was getting tedious.

STOP HITTING ME! I bawled, eliciting a mocking grin from my jailer

“Cedor, that’s enough, we need him alive and in one piece, for now at least” chided the women gently

“Who would pay *you* to hurt *me*” I sneered,

“Oh let’s see now, How about the family of the Scioness of Thel whom you promised to wed, got with child, and then rejected publically” answered the figure at the desk.[/FONT]

“I am not the sire of that cheap slut’s brat, ask her! she`s always keeps a diary detailing her “activities” I replied snidely

“I am afraid that’s not possible! You see she took poison when you rejected her, killing her and her unborn child, she really did believe you would be her betrothed, you know that, don’t you”? The female replied sharply

“More fool her then! She was only from a low born family, just a tumble, and not even a good one either” I sniggered 

“Her father was devastated, and he went to your father, who had him ruined him financially, then had him killed”, the figure behind the light replied quietly

“Cheaper than paying him off I suppose”, I shrugged spitefully


I felt rather than saw the figure of my jailer tense up, the figure behind the light took a deep breath and tapped those long Burgundy nails on the top of the desk; my jailer seemed to relax slightly

“Anyway, this is not about you, Scion of the house of Traf, it is about your Family”, the figure behind the light spoke tightly, almost biting off her words

“What do you mean?” I asked 

“What do you know about how your fathers business interests here on Draxam?” she prompted

“I have little say in the Families business dealings, Yes, I am being groomed, by my father but he doesn’t trust me, I have no real power or authority, it all has to be sanctioned by my father or Kirov, his Provost Senoris, anyone can tell you that, it`s common knowledge in the Souk! ” I answered bitterly

“But you are the Heir, Leader of the House of Traf on your father’s death aren’t you” the figure at the desk mocked. 

“Yes, providing one of my loving Family hasn’t managed to kill me off or had me disgraced, however you are out of luck, my father’s in good health, surrounded by his lifeguards, “he’s untouchable by the likes of you. You bitch” I replied angrily

“A gentleman, as ever, so when did you last see your father”, “her voice suggested she was smiling again.


I grimaced at the memory, “A couple of days ago at one of his interminable lectures about my behaviour, just after Kirov had bailed me out of some minor scrape with the Proctors. My fathers a hypercritical old fool, berating me about my behaviour, when he’s off bed hopping with one of his doxies”, 

“Well; One of my doxies to be totally accurate, and then he went about his business”, she asked. 

The “my doxies” comment filled me with unease, My Father, for his faults had first class security and a paranoid streak a sector wide, if this offworlder trash had infiltrated her agents into the House, we had a serious problem! 

The figure at the desk leaned slightly forward into the light; “It seems he’s met with an accident”, she said her hands crossing on the desk, her eyes glowed with a green light, her Burgundy nails were long, almost like a Sarcat`s claws, 

She nodded to the figure behind me, who dropped a course bag on my lap “Open it” she said, 

I fumbled with the drawstrings, something cold was leaking from the bag onto my legs, with mounting dread I pulled the bag down off the object

“Oh Emperor”, I squealed, jumping to my feet, my father’s head thumped to the floor bouncing once before rolling to a stop near the desk, face up, his agonised eyes seemed to accuse me, and I stumbled back into my jailer who pushed me back into the chair. 

“My Lady, he’s wet himself, Throne, what a stink”, snorted my jailer. 

“Please don’t kill me, don’t hurt me, for the thrones sake, why are you doing this, I wailed 

A small device chimed on my jailers wrist “My Lady, our guests are on the way” the servant Cedor remarked 

“Cedor, take our “guest” to one of the Private rooms, clean him up and feed him, will you please, I must welcome our guests, and you know how fastidious they can be at times, especially about protocol”. 

“We will speak further, Master of the House of Traf, have no doubt of that,” she intoned coldly

The figure leaned back in her seat again hiding what little I had seen of her in the gloom. 

Cedor, my jailer gestured me towards a door, dimly outlined in the opposite wall, we walked briefly along a further corridor and came to a door; before it stood the biggest Ogryn I had ever seen, It was wearing a well-fitting dress suit, very bizarre. Cedor nodded to the Ogryn, “Chakka, this man is not to leave these rooms” “*YUS BOSS, HIM STINK BOSS, HurHurHur”*! The Ogryn boomed, grinning as he opened the door for me, gently pushing me inside, the door closed and I heard the faint click of locks engaging.



Delas regarded the suite with some considerable distaste; it was an outrage, being treated like this, the indignity of it, the lack of House tattoos on the servant Cedor`s face told Delas considerable amount about his captors, Recidivists possibly, certainly criminal scum, Heretics, to be purged at the first opportunity. Once free, he would inform the Inquisition Fortress on Mindos and demand satisfaction and insist on a Purge, the Inquisition would do as they were told, they were after all only servants, whilst he was an Imperial Noble. After all, the Emperor had willed the divine order of things; it was his destiny to be a noble and therefore the lower orders place to defer in all things to him. A servant had struck him; the scum would burn for that,

He was not the “guest” of a rival Great House, that much was obvious, they at least would treat him like he should be treated, like a noble of the House of Traf, to be treated with deference and respect. There were rules to the Great Game, forms to be observed, and standards to be maintained even during his “stay” with one of the other Houses in the past, he had been treated well, treated like the Gentleman he was. 

Delas reflected on the events since he woke up in that disgusting cell, When he got out of this situation, his social and financial status would be considerably raised, it was at the cost of his Father`s life of course, but, better him than me I suppose, he thought. 

He did agree on one thing however, he did stink he walked to the shower cubicle and stripped off, throwing his now ruined underwear into a corner, showering and redressing quickly in the shapeless poor quality clothes left for him, another outrage!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

An engaging plot so far.

I found the paragraph breaks a touch abrupt; it might flow better if you did not start a new paragraph until there is a larger event/change.


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## ghostdancer (Sep 8, 2012)

thanks for that as i said in my original post before the big site crash 
its a long time since i wrote anything other than shopping lists and factual reports at work 

am 52 now so got a lot of catching up to do grammatically and comprehension wise 

but thanks for the feedback any other crits and suggestions welcome


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