The Enigma of Abdul Goldberg

The mysterious Abdul Goldberg, in the flesh...

So one of the Facebook 40k groups I'm a member of, 'The Emporium of Rogue Dreams', is having a competition to make a model, background and statline for 'Abdul Goldberg', a famous villain from the early Rogue Trader days. I've spent a lot of time working out how to fit Abdul into both Rogue Trader and 'current' 40k, and so here's my background fluff. Sorry, there's a lot of it, and it probably bends canon until it makes squeaking noises, but there y'go, that's just how I roll...

Abdul Goldberg

"Although most Imperium scholars agree that whilst there probably was originally a real pirate captain named 'Abdul Goldberg’, the consensus is that the name has been passed between fringe pirates as a cross between an honorary title and a method for obfuscation for millennia. There has been, however, some lingering confusion in academic circles over the eerily similar descriptions of the Pirate Abdul whenever he was actually seen; the huge frame and booming voice, the traditional Tallarn headdress, the large 'Biel-Tan' tattoo, not to mention the tired eyes that look like they’ve seen things no human should ever have seen." Fr. Arturusdomum - Liber Astrum Piraticus.

He must be just a myth, mustn’t he?

The true history of Abdul Goldberg is far, far stranger. Little is known of his very early life, save he was born on the desert planet of Tallarn in 7.080.M32, as 'Abd-El Jabal Jalid Al-Dhahabi Min Ture-Nag’. As the eldest son, once he was of age he joined the 12th Desert Raiders as tribal traditions dictated, just in time for The Cursus War. 

Still in military training when the Eldar of the Biel-Tan Craftworld started their attack, he nevertheless impressed his superiors with his quick thinking, military prowess and sheer bravery from the off. Once the Black Oculus opened, and a truce was agreed with the Biel-Tan, he was rapidly promoted to Sergeant and sent out with every other available warrior to join with the Eldar and repel the Daemonic Incursion. 

During this fighting he was pivotal in the success of the battle on the Human side, engaging in the classic Tallarn hit and run tactics that have made them famous, repeatedly drawing out the Daemonic forces of Chaos to weaken and then crush them. The battle reports even had him at one point engaging with and defeating a dreaded Keeper of Secrets. Unfortunately, it was during the final push for victory that he was sent completely insane whilst fighting the unimaginable warp incursions still emerging from the gate. After the battle, he was left a gibbering wreck, his mind broken and his soul wrenched from his body by the forces of Chaos. 

His bravery and prowess in battle, however, impressed even the martial Eldar of the Biel-Tan, and almost uniquely they took him onto their Craftworld to allow their Seers to repair his broken mind. Placing him into psychically induced stasis, Eldar Spiritseers retrieved his lost soul, returned it to his body and repaired his shattered mind. The Eldar work to a different timescale to mere humans though, and this complex, delicate task eventually took the Seers several *thousand* years. When Abd-El was finally awakened from stasis, he found himself in M36, millennia out of time. His name was now a mere footnote in Imperium history, albeit a highly (and posthumously) decorated one; he even found himself written into Eldar war-ballads. When suitably recovered from the shock, he left the Biel-Tan Craftworld and emerged back into the Imperium, armed with a selection of beautifully crafted Eldar weapons, given with gratitude from the Militaristic Biel-Tan to the Human who did so much to help defeat the Chaos incursion. Lost in time, and with everyone he ever knew being millennia dead, Abd-El drifted the far fringes of the galaxy making his way by using his only skills, that of the soldier, joining mercenary units here and there, before eventually, almost accidentally, drifting into piracy. 

It was during this time that Abd-El’s current name emerged. In Tallarn Common Cant his full name was 'Abd-El Jabal Jalid Al-Dhahabi Min Ture-Nag’, of which the Low Gothic literal translation is ‘Abdul of the Golden Iceberg, of the Ture-Nag Tribe'. A mouthful for most Imperial scholars, let alone barely literate pirate scum, Abd-El’s name eventually became corrupted down into the Low Gothic, and now infamous, 'Abdul Goldberg’. 

It was in the decades following his re-emergence into the galaxy that Abd-El also found that something strange was happening to him, or more precisely not happening; he wasn’t getting older. The millennia in Eldar stasis had brought his ageing process to a standstill, and even though he was no longer in stasis, the effects were still evident. He was, to all intents and purposes, immortal. 

Over the next few millennia, ‘Abdul Goldberg’ became a mix between a myth, a legend and a cautionary tale to inexperienced spacefarers. This was a state Abd-El actively encouraged, his infamy helping to pacify any unfortunates he decided to raid. As a pirate, he was harsh yet fair, only killing when the defenders made it clear they wouldn’t surrender, and when stripping captured vessels he always made sure the remaining crew had enough fuel and provisions left to make it back to a safe outpost. 

Over the years, his fortunes repeatedly waxed and waned like the tides of the Warp. At one point even naming himself ‘Abdul Goldberg, Rogue Trader’ in direct defiance of the power of the Imperium, writing his own Letter of Marque, and gleefully showing it to captains of the ships he raided. At his peak, he was in command of a fleet of ships and terrorised entire planets into submission. At his lowest ebb, he scraped a living by confidence trickery and gambling, travelling alone in a battered, semi-ruined cargo lugger.  Somehow, even at his weakest he was never captured, always managing to make a daring escape at the last possible moment. Abd-El would also disband his pirate crews every few decades to avoid raising suspicion of his non-ageing, lest it be thought to be a mutation. Any taint of chaos is swiftly excised from most pirate vessels before it could gain a hold and destroy them all. If his state was discovered, it would lead to his rapid exit via an airlock at the hands of the crew, mutation or not. After hiding out on a planet somewhere for a few decades under an assumed name, he would form a new band and take up the ‘Abdul Goldberg’ moniker again. 

Currently, Abd-El is just emerging from a period of inactivity, after hiding out on Jamakeer, an almost dead planet on the unfashionable outer fringes of Imperium space for the last twenty years. His sole companions at the moment consist of a pair of huge Xenos bodyguards of unknown origin, answering to El’wd and Jek. Highly intelligent and incredibly strong, they were rescued from Jamakeer’s slave pits by Abd-El, and willingly guard him with their lives.

Abdul, El-wd & Jek

Weapons & Equipment:

Abd-El is equipped with a variety of exotic weaponry picked up over the years, but by far his most prized possessions are the gifts bestowed on him by the Eldar. These consist of a Shuriken Pistol that has been exquisitely disguised as an antique blaster, a Power Sword that was forged to resemble a traditional Tallarn 'Shamshir' sword, and a specially modified Advanced Displacer Field, miniaturised and fitted into a golden wristband. Whilst this serves as a standard Displacer Field, it has two added benefits: It has been psychically melded to Abd-El's mind, meaning he can decide how far and in which direction they wish to be displaced, and secondly, it can be activated at will, also operating as a short-range teleportation device. This has been one of the reasons that Abd-El has always evaded capture, allowing him to miraculously 'vanish' in a blinding flash of light. To aid with escapes, He also carries a Jokaero Digital Needler armed with stun charges, a selection of more mundane Smoke and Knock-Out grenades, and a miniturised Digital Las-Cutter, as well as a respirator and photochromatic goggles. 

Stats:

As for the model, he's a lightly converted LotR Haradrim Guard model, and his bodyguards are a couple of converted Half-Trolls. Here's a few more photos:

So, there you go, one Abdul Goldberg, ready for his next adventure!