===In Society===

Wider Imperial society generally shuns the [[abhuman]]s within their midst. While it's true that many are able to find their niche outside the scornful gaze of common men, the Navigators alone enjoy not only acceptance (albeit often begrudged), but nigh universal wealth among the [[mutant]]s of any kind.{{Fn|4b}} Many factions, political, commercial and private, strive to secure a deal with one of the noble houses of Navis Nobilite.{{Fn|2e}} Some are fortunate enough to enjoy complex bonds of honour, debts and patronage, like the [[Imperial Navy]] or naval aristocracies.{{Fn|20b}} [[Rogue Trader]] dynasties are often tied for generations to specific Navigator dynasties, creating lasting bonds of familiarity.{{Fn|12d}} Even if [[Warp Travel|Warp travel]] is vaguely possible without Navigators,{{Fn|2l}} their contracts are often one of the most valuable commodities after the spaceship, and a few mercantile powers of [[Imperial Commercia]] are known to maintain relations with some Nobilite families.{{Fn|2e}}

Due to their status as a mutant, many Navigators lead sheltered lives, which their high status can allow.{{Fn|20a}} While some commoners react with hostility to the presence of Navigators,{{Fn|14c}} others respond either with amusement{{Fn|12c}} or indifference. This uncertainty leads many Navigators to try to hide their nature from the public,{{Fn|14a}} and even if the Imperium might tolerate them, those who don't are found in every corner of Imperial space.{{Fn|4b}} Some [[Space Marine]] chapters such as [[Black Templars]]{{Fn|21a}} and [[Red Scorpions]]{{Fn|22b}} openly loathe contact with their Navigators; these intolerant groups would be directly opposed to the mutants' inclusion aboard their ships if it were not entirely necessary.{{Fn|21a}}{{Fn|22b}} This behaviour is exhibited even among common men of the Imperium, and while many Navigators get a perverse pleasure from strolling down the corridors of ships on which they serve, on other vessels Navigators seclude themselves to their private spires, choosing not to interact with others;{{Fn|23b}} there is at least one instance of Navigator being forced to do so by overtly xenophobic crew.{{Fn|24}}

[[Image:Rogue Trader Epoch Koronus - cover.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Navigator alongside the captain and his other officers{{Fn|28a}}]]

Aboard spaceships, while the crew might have their varied sentiments towards the mutant at the helm, including officers{{Fn|24}} the captain however often keeps amiable terms with the Navigator.{{Fn|12d}} Whether out of necessity{{Fn|3d}} or genuine trust,{{Fn|12d}} the Navigator is recognisable as one of the most important{{Fn|2a}} and staunchly loyal{{Fn|27}} persons on board, often nicknamed the captain's right hand.{{Fn|2a}} Thanks to their importance towards faster-than-light travel many mutinies have been made null due to Navigator's unwillingness to cooperate with the mutineers.{{Fn|55}} There have been instances of the Navigators instigating rebellions or even taking over the ships in question, though these are rare and managed internally by the edict of the Paternova{{Fn|28b}}{{Fn|26f}}, lest it mar the Nobilite's general reputation.{{Fn|27}} Due to the Navigators' economic autonomy{{Fn|2j}} it is not on the whole wise for a captain to fall out of favour with them, since at any given moment they may relinquish their contract and just decide to abandon the post at the nearest rendezvous with a point of transit,{{Fn|3d}} essentially stranding the crew until another Navigator can be recruited.{{Fn|2b}}

As a polity Navis Nobilite is a highly influential faction,{{Fn|4b}} which is known for patronage of both persons{{Fn|12b}} and projects,{{Fn|3e}} mostly concerned with matters of explorations{{Fn|12h}} and settling{{Fn|18b}} or re-establishing footholds of interstellar routes,{{Fn|29b}} funding expeditions to unknown space,{{Fn|12h}} bringing colonies back into the Imperial fold,{{Fn|29a}} quelling rebellions in Imperial systems with their private armies.{{Fn|30}} While each house acts as its own separate entity, they all are legally obliged to have an agreement of Paternova to back their decisions up, although this only comes to question when the consensus of allowed actions is broken,{{Fn|3l}} which might end up with the transgressing project being well in motion before Paternova relays their decision. One such enterprise of the expedition out to [[Canis Major]] dwarf galaxy was considered insane by most of the other unaffiliated houses, however when Paternova dictated their edict the fleet was already outside communicative range, and whether their plan to establish a micro-empire in the alien galaxy ended in success or failure is investigated only by the members of the misbehaving house.{{Fn|3g}} On the other hand, Navis Nobilite keeps both their secrets{{Fn|2d}} and their monopoly on space travel{{Fn|31c}} with absolute ruthlessness;{{Fn|2d}}{{Fn|31c}} it can ruin the career of an aspiring Rogue Trader or even cast their whole noble house into the abyss of history if they were found to be in possession of one of secrets of the Navigator houses, among them the knowledge of lineages, breeding programmes and prominent [[Novator]]s.{{Fn|2d}} One is unlikely to stumble upon this knowledge accidentally, as Navigator houses don't speak in gothic among themselves, instead cultivating among themselves unique dialects of forgotten antiquity,{{Fn|2c}} and if somehow one was even to glance upon their mapping system they'd be confused with methodologies utterly alien from Imperial ones, along with divisions of space diverging from classical subsectors, mapped and named only in accordance with their own hermetic systems.{{Fn|19a}} Similarly, Nobilite has their eye out for any technology or method of travel that might threaten to encroach on their monopoly;{{Fn|12e}}{{Fn|31b}}{{Fn|31c}}{{Fn|4c}} many are outlawed due either to a technical violation of Imperial laws{{Fn|31b}}{{Fn|4c}} or simply as a favour from the [[Adeptus Administratum|Administratum]].{{Fn|31c}} Those that they aren't able to outlaw they often aggressively buy out,{{Fn|12e}} and people who acquire any of those items bring upon themselves the ire of Nobilite.{{Fn|31c}}

Each member of Navis Nobilite debates conditions of their contract with the fleets' owners on their own, there is no standard agreement, only that the employer grants a set share of whatever profits they come to earn in their enterprises towards the Navigator's house, with the Navigator's own additional stipulations.{{Fn|3d}} The most deserving Navigators might be given a [[Free Charter]], able to lease their services with utter accordance to their own free will.{{Fn|32}} The loyalty of Navigators to the Imperium is well noted, and it is no surprise how few rogue naval powers there exist, if only due to it boiling down to the matter of the coin.{{Fn|2m}} While loyal to the Imperium, their individual employers aren't always a subject of utmost fidelity, some houses choosing to employ their members as spies who'd pick up anything that might allow Nobilite any leverage within further deals.{{Fn|31a}} However, there are many houses that either fall into relative poverty or out of favour of Paternova, essentially blacklisting them to any available employers. The so-called [[Shrouded House|Shrouded or Beggar houses]] are forced to the brinks of the known galaxy, where they develop a special sly and opportunistic outlook, that forces them towards less than legal compacts with shadier individuals. [[Renegade House|Renegade houses]], even if they didn't start with contempt towards their extended kin, mostly become bitter towards the society that pushed them out. Casting aside their prior allegiances and restrictions of Imperial dogma, they fully devote their services to whatever power of discord, criminal or heretical is the highest bidder.{{Fn|2g}}