Editing Setting:Cloudburst/Rogue Traders (section)

====Rogue Trader Dynastic House Arpel====
While some Rogue Trader dynasties begin sharply, with a great triumph against many foes of Mankind, House Arpel did not.  House Arpel got to the position of the second wealthiest Rogue Trader House in the Sector after House Zutash through determination and very cautious battles, but they are all the more difficult to dislodge from their perch for it.

House Arpel got their Warrant only five decades after the turn of the last millennium, and have been slowly pushing their way to the front of the galaxy since then.  The House has by far the largest range of legitimate business interests of all the Cloudburst-based Rogue Trader houses, in terms of both distribution and function.  They have holdings in companies and even schools as far apart as Port Maw and Orask.  Naturally, this has led to some mutterings by other Traders that the family pursues ‘unfair’ business practices, but the House Arpel Warrant of Trade is clear: they may pursue profit and the betterment of the Imperium concurrently in nearly any form they wish, so long as they do not harbor hedge psykers or come into conflict with the Imperium.  The House has simply understood this to mean that they are free to open or sponsor as many businesses as they want without worry.

At the very least, none can doubt that the Rogue Traders of House Arpel are aggressive in their pursuit of Imperial betterment.  Their most famous business is not a trade house, auction hall, shipyard, or even one of the great Thimble clothing foundries, but a school.  The Arpel School of Courtly Conduct is a refined and posh thing indeed; a massive but elegantly designed compound on Celeste where proper manners and etiquette are taught to the youth of noble families.  There, students may learn courtship, equestrian and martial skills, genealogy, refined dining habits, Imperial religious lore, sanitized history, and many more topics that any budding Imperial noble scion may desire to have.

Of course, the Arpel fleet is no more effete than that of any other thousand-year dynasty of ruthless killers.  The Arpel fleet is a sprawling affair, commanded from the heavily modified Vengeance Grand Cruiser Arpel’s Eminence.  The fleet often sends exploratory missions out into the voids of the Cloudburst Circuit and Oldlight Exo-zone with the intent of locating worlds that humans have inhabited in the past, either Imperial colony ventures or Terran Federation worlds.  On some occasions, they have found them, and earmarked them for future colonization by the Adeptus Administratum.  Their most valuable finds have been the so-called ‘wildcat’ colonies that were established by anti-Imperial dissident humans in the aftermath of the Reign of Blood.  They hid their colonies in the Oldlight Exo-zone for hope of evading Inquisitorial oversight, and sometimes succeeded.  By now, of course, the original purpose of these colonies are long forgotten.  Some have succumbed to Chaos, others have been enslaved by aliens, others yet have collapsed due to lack of preparation by their creators, while two were taken by the Dark Mechanicus for use as raw materials in unspeakable tech-heretical rituals.  Others are still functional, and even prosperous.  These are the ones Arpel moves to annex for Mankind, or flatten and burn to ash if they can’t be persuaded to join otherwise.

Their relationship to other great Houses of the Sector is a pleasant one.  The House has done great work in civilizing the frontier, and unlike the fleets of the Prinz or Arins Houses, never cross swords with those of other Houses.  Unlike the ruthless and savage battles between Rogue Trader Houses in the Koronus Expanse, the battles for control of the Cloudburst Circuit are less common and less violent, and mostly fought with money.  House Arpel controls so many interests and businesses outside the Circuit that there is little need for them to throw their weight around in the Circuit.  However, there are some Houses, usually those descended from or led by heroes of the Astra Militarum or Imperial Navy, that find them to be too dainty in conduct outside battle, and look down their noses at the Arpels despite their staggering wealth.