Well hello there! Between having the family visiting, being a bit under the weather and both mine and the nippers birthdays in the same week, I'm falling behind on things again, but if anyone is seriously aggrieved by the situation I am available to fight it out in a range of car parks throughout the East Riding of Yorkshire, so just let me know!
Anyway, over on the Emporium of Rogue Dreams on Facebook, we've had a competition on to convert and paint our interpretation of the infamous Abdul Goldberg, a recurring character in the scenario section of the original Rogue Trader rulebook. I won't go into too much detail here, but there have been extensive posts on many fine blogs about the man himself lately, in fact I'm pretty sure you can click in any blog that I'm following and you'll find something about him. Anyway, as usual I completely disregarded all the other stuff I should be doing and pledged an entry, to be fair I couldn't resist once it was announced that none other than Rick Priestly himself would be judging the entries! Anyway, this is my entry into the competition;
Abdul Goldberg; mercenary, scumbag and general arsehole. Not that he's a bad person as such, just definitely not a good one. Goldberg pulls the strings on countless rackets throughout the sector, from his Spook trafficking enterprise with the scavvy king known as "the Immortan" on (the now strangely quiet) Primus Hive all the way to his dealings in "sentient commodities" with the reprehensible "Funboy Three", Goldberg has so many fingers in different pies that it's easier just to assume that he has a hand in every shady endeavour across the sector.
Tales of his origins are as varied as his business dealings, with theories ranging from an ex guard officer to the heady notion that he is the Emperors own bastard boy. Goldberg doesn't bother to either confirm or deny these claims, but the true story is unknown to all but him. Whatever his origins, none can deny there's something special about him, as inquisitior Annolumen was heard to say, "that one could talk the pants off of a sororitas". His gift of negotiation has seen him build a sector spanning network, and his willingness to get his hands dirty has helped him keep control of it. Unfortunately for Goldberg, he is currently experiencing a slight setback, a meeting with a Blood Axe warboss on the newly ork infested outer rim was interrupted by a howling space marine and a small band of imperial soldiers ambushing the meeting and butchering most of the participants..
Putting his formidable skills of self preservation into action, Goldberg managed to hurriedly negotiate a deal with the strangely soft spoken renegade; in return for his and his remaining minders lives, Goldberg would assist him in his search for the warp gate, between the (now traitor) guardsmens geographical knowledge and his knowledge of the ork enemy and ability to communicate with them, The Gentle should find his mission time cut in half.
Of course, as soon as Goldberg can secure off planet transport he is out of there, and damn that brightly painted lunatic and his "holy quest"
Abdul Goldberg, flanked by his "Door Knockers"
Argyle is actually an agent of "The Funboy Three", permanently attached to Goldbergs organisation. He is ostensibly a go between for Goldberg and the slavers but in recent months has started to lean more towards an enforcement role; obviously Abduls skill at manipulation has been put to good use..
Saul is a degenerate, drug fuelled whirlwind. Goldbergs favourite enforcer by far, this quivering mass of sinew and stimulant is a constant companion always ready to use shockingly excessive force to further his bosses ends. Rumour has it he was an arbites judge that looked a little too deeply into the affairs of the Immortan on Primus, and after being "disappeared" by the scavvy king and worked on by his chemists the one now known as Saul was presented as a gift to Goldberg, the Immortan judging his violent outbursts "too vulgar" for his sensibilities..
Aaand there yis go, my warband entry for this week is done! Thanks for reading folks, stay tuned to The Work of Shaitan for the next installment!
