Hailed as a hero by the peole after saving his world from invasion, the Adminstratum only saw him as a loose cannon making trouble. After 'honoring' him with a rogue trader licence to get rid of him Yastoball travelled into the eastern fringes, and his adventures turned him from a hero into a wanted man in a dozen systems. Nobody knows his current whereabouts, but where ever he is now, he's probably still causing trouble. Sculpted by Gary Morley this boxed set contains one Jan Van Yastobaal model that Requires Assembly.
Equipment: Flak armour to abdomen, chest and arms; refractor field; one haywire grenade; advanced bionic eye with motion predictor; autopistol with 2 reloads; digital needler with hallucinogen toxin; digital laspistol; master-crafted plasma pistol; the Yastobaal greatsword.
Master-crafted plasma pistol: This functions as a normal plasma pistol with the exception that firing it is not a risky action and it only takes two turns to recharge.
The Yastobaal greatsword: This weapon has been in the Yastobaal clan for generations and the young scions of the clan are taught to wield it from an early age. The Yastobaal greatsword follows the rules for great axes although it has a reach of 3 and Jan does not suffer any penalties for having a Strength of less than 75. If he uses the greatsword one-handed, he suffers the half-strength penalty as normal.
Special Abilities: Deadeye Shot, First Strike, Heroic, Leader, Nerves of Steel.
Lung blight: In the Recovery phase of any turn where Jan either runs or sprints he must take a Toughness test. If he fails the test he counts as Stunned for the next turn as he is wracked by burning pain in his lungs and coughs up blood (note that Jan is not knocked prone by this). He may act as normal after this, though if he runs or sprints in subsequent turns, he will have to test again in the Recovery phase.
Hrud panacea: Once per game Jan can spend one action administering a dose of the Hrud panacea. This elixir's effects last for D3+1 turns and during this period it renders him immune to the effects of the Lung Blight and increases his Strength and Toughness by +30%. It also has the effect of reducing his Damage points total by D10 and one injured location (chosen at random) is healed back one Injury level.
From humble beginnings on the world of Chiros, Jan van Yastobaal was to become one of the most famous men in the Segmentum Pacificus until boredom and political forces forced him to become a Rogue Trader.
Born during the turbulent times of the Plague of Unbelief, when Cardinal Bucharis attempted to carve out his own domain to the galactic west of Terra, Jan van Yastobaal made his name by famously resisting the Apostate Cardinal's forces when they first landed on Chiros and attempted to seize his family's lands. From this one act, his reputation would grow until it was known across the entire Segmentum. Chiros itself was a wealthy world, covered in lush forests, continent-sized lakes and its beauty was famed across the sector. Its populace numbered only a few million, most of whom were involved in the production of rejuvenating elixirs, fine furs and rare narcotics created from its natural flora and fauna.
Bucharis expected the planet to quickly capitulate to his armies, believing that the pampered inhabitants would surrender rather than see their world destroyed. Troops from the Cardinal's army landed at the height of the Chirosan summer and quickly seized control of communication centres and the planet's only spaceport. Detachments of troops spread throughout the surrounding countryside, seizing the estates of the wealthy families to swell the Cardinal's coffers. One such detachment arrived at the gates of the Yastobaal clan's estates and demanded entry. Jan van Yastobaal was well known as an impetuous young man, full of the fires of youth and had only recently taken up the family greatsword to assume the role of clan patriarch. Together with his bodyguards and armed family retainers, Jan met the detachment's commander at the gates and declared that he would only open the gates to a man of the Emperor, not the lackey of some upstart cardinal with no more sense than a bull grox.
Outraged, the commander reached for his pistol, but before the weapon had even cleared the holster, Jan swept up the Yastobaal greatsword and beheaded the man. A bloody battle erupted over the Yastobaal lands, which saw Jan and his men killing every one of Bucharis' troops. But Jan's victory was not without cost; the estate was in ruins and the Yastobaal mansion in flames. Salvaging what weapons and supplies he could from the blazing mansion, Jan led his ragtag force into the forests and mountains of Chiros. Word of the battle at the Yastobaal estates spread to the other clans and within days every family was resisting the Cardinal's troops. Jan led his army in hit and run attacks, wreaking havoc in the invaders' rear. Supply trains had to be guarded with triple the amount of troops and every enemy camp was kept in a state of exhaustion by deadly accurate sniper fire. Inspired by Jan's acts of reckless bravery, more and more of Chiros' populace flocked to join his growing guerrilla army. Armed with deadly hunting rifles and an intimate knowledge of every hunting trail and secret lodge, the people of Chiros became an invisible army that could not be decisively engaged.
The morale of the invaders plummeted and reports came daily to the Cardinal of the Chirosans' continued resistance. The name of Jan van Yastobaal became a rallying cry to the people of Chiros, a living symbol of their defiance of tyranny. Anxious to nip this troublesome rebellion in the bud, Cardinal Bucharis despatched teams of hired killers to murder Jan, but none could discover the lair of the charismatic leader and none were ever seen again. Bucharis then sent three companies of soldiers to reinforce the army on Chiros, firmly believing that he would soon be hunting the game that ran freely in its forests. The reinforcements fared no better than those troops who had fought on Chiros for the last seven months, and when a suicide bomber charged into their camp and killed the army commanders, morale collapsed completely. Jan accepted the surrender of Bucharis' troops on the last day of summer and personally supervised their withdrawal from Chiros.
Jan was hailed as a hero and offered the role of planetary governor, but he refused, saying that so long as other worlds suffered under the heel of Bucharis, he could not accept such a position. Jan then went on to fight on worlds such as Guryan, Dolsia and Methalor, each time employing the skills he had honed on Chiros to deadly effect. His reputation as a freedom fighter and hero of the people spread far and wide, the tales of his bravery and nobility growing wilder and more exaggerated the further they travelled. When Bucharis was eventually cast down, a wave of popular acclaim united behind Jan van Yastobaal and swept across the worlds he had helped to free. With the Emperor's peace restored to the Segmentum, members of the Administratum travelled through the liberated systems, each time hearing more tales of this remarkable man. Eventually, senior members of the Administratum journeyed to Chiros and met Jan, finding a man now restless at the prospect of peace, brutalised by the long years of war against Bucharis. His life was now grey and colourless, and only the prospect of battle and exploration lifted his foul moods.
The Adepts quickly realised that Jan van Yastobaal was a loose cannon and that, in time, he could potentially be very dangerous to the continued stability of the region. True, he was a hero of the people, but how long would it be before he began suspecting loyal servants of the Emperor of the same treachery as Bucharis? Clearly Jan could not be allowed to remain in such a position but he could not simply be executed as his fame and popularity had spread too far for such a crude solution. To placate the swelling desire of the masses to see Jan rewarded, the Adepts hurriedly bestowed the title of Honourary High Lord of Terra upon him. It was also decided that Jan van Yastobaal would be granted a trade licence and offered a small fleet of starships with which to explore the stars on the Eastern Fringe. To the Adepts' relief, Jan eagerly accepted the commission as a rogue trader and within a month left Chiros for the last time, taking an entourage of his faithful retainers who had fought alongside him during the Plague of Unbelief.
Jan took to the life of a rogue trader with relish, the danger and thrill of venturing into the unknown the only thing that could now lift him from the debilitating depressions that would plague him in the long periods of travel between worlds. Centuries passed in realspace as the fleet journeyed through the warp, Jan and his followers becoming fabulously wealthy as they discovered and plundered alien worlds and ancient civilisations that had remained undisturbed for millennia. Jan's methods became more and more at odds with his reputation as a man of the people and soon his followers began deserting in droves, alarmed by his violent mood swings and cavalier attitude to danger. Soon all that was left of Jan's original fleet was his flagship, the Veritas, and a small cadre of his most loyal supporters. These people were not Jan's friends, they were united only in their greed and belief that Jan could make them even wealthier than they were already.
Cut-throats, renegades and desperadoes; rogues who would kill a man for the laces in his boots were all that remained of Jan's once proud contingent, and their mission had become one of simple plunder rather than exploration in the Emperor's name.
Physically, Jan was also a shadow of his former self. On Mercia, his lungs became afflicted with a cancerous blight that left him coughing blood, and a lost bet with slavers from the Perdus Rift cost him his right eye. He eventually became heavily dependent on life-prolonging drugs obtained from the Hrud, and his mood swings became more violent than ever. In a bar on the lawless world of Shannon's Reach, he was only saved from losing the family greatsword in a rigged game of Preacher's Virtue by blasting his opponent with his digital needler under the table and fighting a path to his shuttle. A wanted man in a dozen systems, Jan was forced to venture further and further into the Eastern Fringe, passing beyond the reach of the Astronomican and Imperial sight. His current whereabouts, or even if he is still alive, are a mystery, though wherever he is it is certain he is causing trouble.
