Imperial Splendour - IC Thread

[Ghazkull]

Imperial Splendour​

OOC-Thread
Halo. Formerly the "temporary" seat of the Patriarch of the Orthodoxy. Now "temporary" seat of the Imperial Palace. Not that the Orthodoxy had much choice in the matter when a good dozen Jomsviking-Class Battleships hovered in Orbit. Ships not seen since the Downfall. The former Patriarchal Palace (now outsourced into another building) had been refurbished. Despite loud protests of the Church all religious symbols had been removed by the Grey Guard.

In the former Synod-Chamber now the Raven-Banner of the Grey Guard covered frescos and mosaics. The massive emblazoned golden sun of the Orthodoxy had been removed and in it's stead the Grey Guards sign, the Imperial Raven had been raised. The original sign of the Emperor, the eagle was nowhere to be seen, a reminder of who exactly made this new empire possible.

Helmeted and gasmasked Grey Guardsmen were posted at the entrances and most Nobles of the major houses were seated in a vast semi-circle around the lectern on which Lord Commander Tychus Malcador stood. Despite being now well over two hundred years old, he appeared as if in his early sixties, the secret (and propably proscribed and heretic) technology of the Guard doing its wonders. He stood at just over two meters, built like a tank; he certainly didn't look his age. The armor of the Lord commander was a work of art. A stylized ribcage made from a whitish alloy adorned the armour and matched the stylized skull adorning his gas-masked helmet. However out of courtesy towards the nobles he had removed that one; putting it next to him on the lectern showing his white-haired well trimmed beard and hairs. Green eyes stared sternly upon the seated crowd.

Finally he raised his voice, augmented by the vox-caster in front of him, it still carried a voice used to giving orders, a rough voice without any love or appreciation of those in front of him.

"Houses of the Empire. Lords and Ladies. At long last we once more assemble to vote on an Emperor who shall lead us."

He makes a long pause glaring at the crowd, withbarely hidden contempt. It becomes painfully clear, that it is only through his grace and that of his order that this event even came to pass, that they no longer sat on their primitive scrap heaps fighting over the leftovers of their ancestors, but sat here united in one purpose: to restore the Empire.
He had already picked out all the current Major Houses; they were the ones that mattered, the minors would fall in line.
On the far right and left House Azores and House Wittelsbach, Houses once of great military renown, now an assembly of inbred fools and skirt-chasers...wastrels the lot of them in his opinion.
In the back the Houses from Si'kar, Cr'tok and Nova. Cr'tok, melders of flesh, madmen, armed with too many Weapons of Mass Destruction for their own good, they made even his skin crawl, the things he had seen on Si'kar when the Archon of Si'kar used Cr'tok weapons on the planet...madness.
And Nova, a hosue much diminished, it gets to show were pride dost take one. Into the abyss. Still there were still embers in those pitiful remnants of a house...
Finally in the front Al-Hazar. Church Lapdogs. Mercenaries...he had respect for the fighting skill of the Mirrodan people if not for their fanatical church support or their willingness to lend their guns to whomever could pay. If he could, he would have done away with them as he had with most of the church...as it was,however, this was what he had to work with...and he would make it work. It was his job, his calling, his birthright...his duty.

"One of you that is. Nobles of the galaxy, today it falls upon you to elect one of your midst to lead us in these trying times and restore the Empire to its old glory, to recover Urth, Sabbat, Stigmata and so many other worlds and systems we have lost to the Downfall, we will serve the empire dutifully until we are no more, but it is not upon us to lead it. I hereby leave to you the lectern."

As the Lord Commander stepped back, reattaching his helmet and vanishing among the ranks of Grey Guardsmen one might have heard a low rumbling sound but surely it was just imagination.
"May the Gods have mercy upon us all..."

Other Info on the Galactic Nobility
Despite the Downfall, many technological artifacts are still around, most important of which are the Rejuvination Treatments. Extremely Expensive, they are only employed by the most important Houses...you. These treatments allow one to live far beyond ones natural lifespan. Were you once were old with 60, you are now old with 120. Thus the common age at which one no longer can concieve children is around 100. Men of course are in this regard a bit less restricted than women.

While artificial womb fertilization was practiced in the early Imperium it became declared heretical by the church. The only ones in the Galaxy still known to possess this technology are House Cr'tok and the Grey Guard. House Cr'tok however is very conservative with this technology since it is closely supervised by the Grey Guard...that in turn is of course not known to most of the Nobles...

Commonly a Noble is seen as an adult when reaching the age of 15. Why that is, nobody knows...its just tradition.

Age Descriptions:
Child(5), Teenager(10), Young Adult(15), Early Twenties (20), Mid-Twenties(25), Adult(30), Mid-Thirties(35),Middle-Aged(40), Mid-Fourties(45), Aged (50), Mid-Fifties (55), Growing Old (60), Mid-Sixties (65), Old (70), Mid-Seventies (75), Elderly (80), Mid-Eighties (85), Senior(90), Mid-Ninties(95), Gray (100), White (105), Elder (110), Antique (115),Ancient (120)....

House Wittelsbach-Schauenburg
Total Fiefs: 3
Wealth Available: 15 (18-3 from nobles)

Patriarch Maximilian Theodor Wittelsbach-Schauenburg
Age: Middle-Aged
Traits: Suave, Gambler, Foolhardy, Attractive
Fiefs:

Elisabeth-Augusta Wittelsbach-Schauenburg Twin-Sister of the Patriarch
Age: Middle-Aged
Traits: Attractive, Brave

Leopold "The Lion" Wittelsbach-Schauenburg, Cousin of the Twins
Age: Mid-Fifties
Traits: Skilled Diplomat (+1), Skilled Spymaster (+2), Skilled Administrator (+2),Attractive, Loyal, Quick, Alcoholic
Fiefs: Wittelsbach Holdings (Size 3) - produces 18 Wealth (3+ 6 Administration x2 Intelligence)

House Al-Hazar
Total Fiefs: 12
Wealth Available: 10 (15-4 from Nobles)

Coric Al-Hazar, Patriarch of the House
Age: middle-aged
Traits: Gregarious
Fiefs: Al-Hazar Holdings (Size 3)

Zantaria Al-Alard, Matriarch of the House
Age: middle-aged
Traits: Alcoholic, Suave, Nymphomaniac
Fiefs: Al-Alard Holdings (Size 3)

Korr Al-Hazar, Son of the Patriarch
Age: Young Adult
Traits:
Fiefs: Hazar Mercenary Inc. (Size 3)

Lithie Al-Hazar, Daughter of the Patriarch
Name: Lithie Al-Hazar
Age: Mid-Twenties
Traits:
Fiefs: Mirrodan Fleetworks (Size 3)

Zora Al-Alard, Sister of the Matriarch
Age: Mid-Fourties
Traits: Brave, Faithful, Natural Spymaster (+1)
Fiefs: Alard Mercenaries (Size 3)

House Cr'tok
Total Fiefs: 6
Wealth Available: 9 (15-6 from Nobles)


Patriarch Shin'Ten Cr'tok
Age: Middle-Aged
Traits: Natural Commander (+1), Duelist, Lunatic
Fiefs:

Matriarch Rebecca Ravenwood
Age: Middle-Aged
Traits: Skilled Administrator (+3), Gambler, Zealot
Fiefs:
Ravenwood Family Holdings (Size 3) -produces 12 wealth (3+9 Administration)

Zhu'Rong Cr'tok, Sister of the Patriarch
Age: Mid-Fourties
Traits: Gregarious, Lustful, Tall, Strong
Fiefs:

Ja'Bon Cr'tok, Son of the Patriarch
Age: Early Twenties
Traits: Suave, Strong, Natural Spymaster(+2)
Fiefs: Cr'tok Family Holdings (Size 3) - produces 3 Wealth

Camilla Ravenwood, Sister of the Matriarch
Age: Middle-Aged
Traits: Lustful, Silver-Tongued, Beautiful
Fiefs:

Joa'Aga Cr'tok, Female, Cousin of the Patriarch
Age: Mid-Fourties
Traits: Lunatic, Natural Spymaster(+1), Natural Commander(+1), Brave, Zealot
Fiefs:

 

[Sailor Midgard]

Imperial Splendour​

OOC-Thread
Halo. Formerly the "temporary" seat of the Patriarch of the Orthodoxy. Now "temporary" seat of the Imperial Palace. Not that the Orthodoxy had much choice in the matter when a good dozen Jomsviking-Class Battleships hovered in Orbit. Ships not seen since the Downfall. The former Patriarchal Palace (now outsourced into another building) had been refurbished. Despite loud protests of the Church all religious symbols had been removed by the Grey Guard.

In the former Synod-Chamber now the Raven-Banner of the Grey Guard covered frescos and mosaics. The massive emblazoned golden sun of the Orthodoxy had been removed and in it's stead the Grey Guards sign, the Imperial Raven had been raised. The original sign of the Emperor, the eagle was nowhere to be seen, a reminder of who exactly made this new empire possible.

Helmeted and gasmasked Grey Guardsmen were posted at the entrances and most Nobles of the major houses were seated in a vast semi-circle around the lectern on which Lord Commander Tychus Malcador stood. Despite being now well over two hundred years old, he appeared as if in his early sixties, the secret (and propably proscribed and heretic) technology of the Guard doing its wonders. He stood at just over two meters, built like a tank; he certainly didn't look his age. The armor of the Lord commander was a work of art. A stylized ribcage made from a whitish alloy adorned the armour and matched the stylized skull adorning his gas-masked helmet. However out of courtesy towards the nobles he had removed that one; putting it next to him on the lectern showing his white-haired well trimmed beard and hairs. Green eyes stared sternly upon the seated crowd.

Finally he raised his voice, augmented by the vox-caster in front of him, it still carried a voice used to giving orders, a rough voice without any love or appreciation of those in front of him.

"Houses of the Empire. Lords and Ladies. At long last we once more assemble to vote on an Emperor who shall lead us."

He makes a long pause glaring at the crowd, withbarely hidden contempt. It becomes painfully clear, that it is only through his grace and that of his order that this event even came to pass, that they no longer sat on their primitive scrap heaps fighting over the leftovers of their ancestors, but sat here united in one purpose: to restore the Empire.
He had already picked out all the current Major Houses; they were the ones that mattered, the minors would fall in line.
On the far right and left House Azores and House Wittelsbach, Houses once of great military renown, now an assembly of inbred fools and skirt-chasers...wastrels the lot of them in his opinion.
In the back the Houses from Si'kar, Cr'tok and Nova. Cr'tok, melders of flesh, madmen, armed with too many Weapons of Mass Destruction for their own good, they made even his skin crawl, the things he had seen on Si'kar when the Archon of Si'kar used Cr'tok weapons on the planet...madness.
And Nova, a hosue much diminished, it gets to show were pride dost take one. Into the abyss. Still there were still embers in those pitiful remnants of a house...
Finally in the front Al-Hazar. Church Lapdogs. Mercenaries...he had respect for the fighting skill of the Mirrodan people if not for their fanatical church support or their willingness to lend their guns to whomever could pay. If he could, he would have done away with them as he had with most of the church...as it was,however, this was what he had to work with...and he would make it work. It was his job, his calling, his birthright...his duty.

"One of you that is. Nobles of the galaxy, today it falls upon you to elect one of your midst to lead us in these trying times and restore the Empire to its old glory, to recover Urth, Sabbat, Stigmata and so many other worlds and systems we have lost to the Downfall, we will serve the empire dutifully until we are no more, but it is not upon us to lead it. I hereby leave to you the lectern."

As the Lord Commander stepped back, reattaching his helmet and vanishing among the ranks of Grey Guardsmen one might have heard a low rumbling sound but surely it was just imagination.
"May the Gods have mercy upon us all..."

Other Info on the Galactic Nobility
Despite the Downfall, many technological artifacts are still around, most important of which are the Rejuvination Treatments. Extremely Expensive, they are only employed by the most important Houses...you. These treatments allow one to live far beyond ones natural lifespan. Were you once were old with 60, you are now old with 120. Thus the common age at which one no longer can concieve children is around 100. Men of course are in this regard a bit less restricted than women.

While artificial womb fertilization was practiced in the early Imperium it became declared heretical by the church. The only ones in the Galaxy still known to possess this technology are House Cr'tok and the Grey Guard. House Cr'tok however is very conservative with this technology since it is closely supervised by the Grey Guard...that in turn is of course not known to most of the Nobles...

Commonly a Noble is seen as an adult when reaching the age of 15. Why that is, nobody knows...its just tradition.

Age Descriptions:
Child(5), Teenager(10), Young Adult(15), Early Twenties (20), Mid-Twenties(25), Adult(30), Mid-Thirties(35),Middle-Aged(40), Mid-Fourties(45), Aged (50), Mid-Fifties (55), Growing Old (60), Mid-Sixties (65), Old (70), Mid-Seventies (75), Elderly (80), Mid-Eighties (85), Senior(90), Mid-Ninties(95), Gray (100), White (105), Elder (110), Antique (115),Ancient (120)....

[Insert Dynasties here once they are finished]

Click to shrink...

Hmph.
The tall, suave Patriarch of the Wittlesbach would have liked to snort at the Lord Commander , whose disapproval for him and the Azores he felt oh-so keenly.
If this waz not one of the most important pillars of the restored imperaial order, he would have done so anyways.
Now, here they all were, the Patriarchs and nobles, the ambassadors and aides, ready to declare an Emperor of the Known Worlds....
A title not unheard of in the history of his house, if not quite the incarnation of it at hand.
He looked over to his beautifull, tall and raventressed sister, who nodded a bit.
Then, he waited.
In seating order, House Azores had the floor.
He was quite willing to let the Stiff -necks start the proceedings.... the last word would then be spoken by his house.

 

[CommanderBlade]

While Coric would have loved to put his hat in for the running for Emperor his families connection to the Church hurts his prospects at even being considered. This makes Coric angry but Coric knows that at the moment if he waits and plots he can have his family sitting on the throne. So for now Coric is gonna throw his hat in the ring supporting one of the others in hopes of getting in their good graces.

 

[Ceslas]

Rebecca Ravenwood, the Matriarch of the Cr'tok and the true ruler of the House, placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder as he examined a songbird in a nearby cage from the comfort of a hover-chair used normally by invalids. Obviously Shin'Ten could not be Emperor but thankfully he had no interest in the position. He had other plans. Still, there needed to be an Emperor. She learned down and made it seem as though he was whispering something in her ear and then approached the lectern. "Lord Shin'Ten Cr'tok is not up to the task of speaking today but he wishes it known that he supports House Nova for the Throne. Their tenacity in coping with Sik'ar has impressed our House and their present position means they can approach the position with the humility and reverence it deserves."

 

[CommanderBlade]

Rebecca Ravenwood, the Matriarch of the Cr'tok and the true ruler of the House, placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder as he examined a songbird in a nearby cage from the comfort of a hover-chair used normally by invalids. Obviously Shin'Ten could not be Emperor but thankfully he had no interest in the position. He had other plans. Still, there needed to be an Emperor. She learned down and made it seem as though he was whispering something in her ear and then approached the lectern. "Lord Shin'Ten Cr'tok is not up to the task of speaking today but he wishes it known that he supports House Nova for the Throne. Their tenacity in coping with Sik'ar has impressed our House and their present position means they can approach the position with the humility and reverence it deserves."

Click to shrink...

With that Coric says's this.

" I too would like to support House Nova's claim to the throne. "

 

[Sailor Midgard]

Rebecca Ravenwood, the Matriarch of the Cr'tok and the true ruler of the House, placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder as he examined a songbird in a nearby cage from the comfort of a hover-chair used normally by invalids. Obviously Shin'Ten could not be Emperor but thankfully he had no interest in the position. He had other plans. Still, there needed to be an Emperor. She learned down and made it seem as though he was whispering something in her ear and then approached the lectern. "Lord Shin'Ten Cr'tok is not up to the task of speaking today but he wishes it known that he supports House Nova for the Throne. Their tenacity in coping with Sik'ar has impressed our House and their present position means they can approach the position with the humility and reverence it deserves."

Click to shrink...

So... Nova of Sik'ar.
Interesting.
Well, tne status of the Cr'tok leader made him unfit for the office, the al-Hazar were too much in the churchs pocket.... the Neighbours were too much ENEMIES of the Church....this DiD leave the Nova.
And his house, but he knew the others were probably afraid he would spend the entire fleet budget on a new Imperial summer palace or a renewal of the Panopticon University....

 

[Theravis]

Sigfried Azores twirled his waxed mustaches.

"House Azores would like to put forward our candidacy. I should think the benefits of such an arrangement should be obvious."

 

[DevilinDetail]

Terra Nova, Matriarch of House Nova, was within a whirlwind of thoughts. Her face remained carefully neutral, born of many years of task and some of not so respectable gambling, as she considered the situation. But soon after House Al-Hazar's vote, she had resigned herself. "House Nova will be honored to serve upon the Throne, for the betterment of all the Empire. We will nominate ourselves for Emperor."

 

[Sailor Midgard]

Terra Nova, Matriarch of House Nova, was within a whirlwind of thoughts. Her face remained carefully neutral, born of many years of task and some of not so respectable gambling, as she considered the situation. But soon after House Al-Hazar's vote, she had resigned herself. "House Nova will be honored to serve upon the Throne, for the betterment of all the Empire. We will nominate ourselves for Emperor."

Click to shrink...

Okay, that cinched it. Better to agree now.
"House Wittelsbach-Schauenburg concurs and sjupports House Nova for the imperial dignity."

 

[Ghazkull]

In the History of Humanity many a ruler had been crowned. By the Grace of God, the Grace of the State, the Grace of the People and on occasion by the Grace of the Ruler himself. However never in the history of humanity has someone been crowned by the Grace of his Military, much less exclusively by the Grace of ones own Imperial Guard.

An uproar went through the assembled ranks of the guests from far and wide when it became known that Empress Terra I. would be crowned by the Grace of the Grey Guard. A further uproar went through the ranks of church and nobles when the ceremony was led by the Lord Commander himself.

The Ceremony itself was grand, but not overly so. Not that anyone greatly cared for the splendour since all eyes were on the show of blatant military force on display here. The Unforms of the Guard, even though parade ones, were grey as always, gas masks gave the entire ceremony a tinge of the dystopic, more a coronation on the field than in the Cathedral of His Saintly Mistress as it was actually situated in. The Eagle of the Emperor had to share his place with the Raven of the Grey Guard and the very muted and subtly displayed Coat of Arms of House Nova itself.

But the blatant submission to the Grey Guard as ultimate Authority was but one of the exotic and new that came with Nova on the Throne. Among the Guests where the expected ones: The Nobles of the Empire, great and small all had assembled, the Orthodoxy of course had been invited, The High Archons of the various Ecclesias had made an appearance and even the Patriarch of the Orthodoxy himself had taken the opportunity to see the new Empress crowned.

High Archon Uris of the Ecclesia Custodes, The Holy Warriors of Light, Defenders of the Orthodoxy and it's faithful stood towering even over the guard, a mountain of a man, clad in full artifact power armor, handed down through generations of the Commanders of the Custodes.

High Archon Juris of the Ecclesia Iudicatores, the Inquisition. A woman with a constant polite smile on her face, unmoving, untwitching as if a statue.

High Archon Felix of the Ecclesia Sacerdoris, The Lay Church. Missionaries, Monks and the Administration of the Church Finances fell into the Hands of the ancient wizened man.

High Archon Lucia of the Ecclesia Scriptoris, The Scientists of the Church. Although much less scientists than far more those who gathered the ancient technologies and kept them running

and finally a man who looked out of place next to the richly ornamented and clothed people next to him. Archon Jevgeni of the Ecclesia Exploratores. He was there as a mere replacement for the actual High Archon who had been outside of the Empire for the past fifty years.

More illustrous among the Guests however were those not of the Empire. High Factor Tomasz came from the rich worlds of the Triumvirate. Behind him shuffled several representatives of the Telemarchies, officially independent Lords of Humanity in truth they were but puppets serving as marcher lords for the Triumvirate.

Behind them however came the true people all the contention and uproar was all about. Xenos, Babarians and Xenophiles.

The representative of the Kaldir marches out in the front. He literally marches, the Kaldir are known as a highly militarized and militant people, their technology far surpassing that of humanity and even the Triumvirate. Behind him like beaten dogs the Voivods. Even as they walk past nobles , some can't quite contain themselves in the face of Collaborators with Xenos of all things.

Beyond those however arrive a being which caused the entire room to fall into an icy silence. The Empress had invited one of the Wreckan Chieftains, a man of the people who so long ago had destroyed the Crusade for Vengeance, a people who was universally despised amongst the faithful in the Empire.

Truly it was a turbulent gathering in that hallowed Cathedral, one which was far removed from tradition, yet showed that the time for a new Empire had come, a progressive one and maybe something experimental...

 

[Sailor Midgard]

In the History of Humanity many a ruler had been crowned. By the Grace of God, the Grace of the State, the Grace of the People and on occasion by the Grace of the Ruler himself. However never in the history of humanity has someone been crowned by the Grace of his Military, much less exclusively by the Grace of ones own Imperial Guard.

An uproar went through the assembled ranks of the guests from far and wide when it became known that Empress Terra I. would be crowned by the Grace of the Grey Guard. A further uproar went through the ranks of church and nobles when the ceremony was led by the Lord Commander himself.

The Ceremony itself was grand, but not overly so. Not that anyone greatly cared for the splendour since all eyes were on the show of blatant military force on display here. The Unforms of the Guard, even though parade ones, were grey as always, gas masks gave the entire ceremony a tinge of the dystopic, more a coronation on the field than in the Cathedral of His Saintly Mistress as it was actually situated in. The Eagle of the Emperor had to share his place with the Raven of the Grey Guard and the very muted and subtly displayed Coat of Arms of House Nova itself.

But the blatant submission to the Grey Guard as ultimate Authority was but one of the exotic and new that came with Nova on the Throne. Among the Guests where the expected ones: The Nobles of the Empire, great and small all had assembled, the Orthodoxy of course had been invited, The High Archons of the various Ecclesias had made an appearance and even the Patriarch of the Orthodoxy himself had taken the opportunity to see the new Empress crowned.

High Archon Uris of the Ecclesia Custodes, The Holy Warriors of Light, Defenders of the Orthodoxy and it's faithful stood towering even over the guard, a mountain of a man, clad in full artifact power armor, handed down through generations of the Commanders of the Custodes.

High Archon Juris of the Ecclesia Iudicatores, the Inquisition. A woman with a constant polite smile on her face, unmoving, untwitching as if a statue.

High Archon Felix of the Ecclesia Sacerdoris, The Lay Church. Missionaries, Monks and the Administration of the Church Finances fell into the Hands of the ancient wizened man.

High Archon Lucia of the Ecclesia Scriptoris, The Scientists of the Church. Although much less scientists than far more those who gathered the ancient technologies and kept them running

and finally a man who looked out of place next to the richly ornamented and clothed people next to him. Archon Jevgeni of the Ecclesia Exploratores. He was there as a mere replacement for the actual High Archon who had been outside of the Empire for the past fifty years.

More illustrous among the Guests however were those not of the Empire. High Factor Tomasz came from the rich worlds of the Triumvirate. Behind him shuffled several representatives of the Telemarchies, officially independent Lords of Humanity in truth they were but puppets serving as marcher lords for the Triumvirate.

Behind them however came the true people all the contention and uproar was all about. Xenos, Babarians and Xenophiles.

The representative of the Kaldir marches out in the front. He literally marches, the Kaldir are known as a highly militarized and militant people, their technology far surpassing that of humanity and even the Triumvirate. Behind him like beaten dogs the Voivods. Even as they walk past nobles , some can't quite contain themselves in the face of Collaborators with Xenos of all things.

Beyond those however arrive a being which caused the entire room to fall into an icy silence. The Empress had invited one of the Wreckan Chieftains, a man of the people who so long ago had destroyed the Crusade for Vengeance, a people who was universally despised amongst the faithful in the Empire.

Truly it was a turbulent gathering in that hallowed Cathedral, one which was far removed from tradition, yet showed that the time for a new Empire had come, a progressive one and maybe something experimental...

Click to shrink...

Under the lion and the swan, the Wittlesbach delegation stood, observing with hawks eyes the procession of guests....
So, the Church was out in force, well, whh not.
The Empress did well to mend fences now she was in power, Maximillian thought.
And after all, the Archontes Ecclesiae were each a power onto themsel...
What?
The Keldir.
The quisling Voivods.
And .... oh Pancreator Increatus..... a Wreckan.

This was not even a gamble.
This was sheer folly.

 

[CommanderBlade]

In the History of Humanity many a ruler had been crowned. By the Grace of God, the Grace of the State, the Grace of the People and on occasion by the Grace of the Ruler himself. However never in the history of humanity has someone been crowned by the Grace of his Military, much less exclusively by the Grace of ones own Imperial Guard.

An uproar went through the assembled ranks of the guests from far and wide when it became known that Empress Terra I. would be crowned by the Grace of the Grey Guard. A further uproar went through the ranks of church and nobles when the ceremony was led by the Lord Commander himself.

The Ceremony itself was grand, but not overly so. Not that anyone greatly cared for the splendour since all eyes were on the show of blatant military force on display here. The Unforms of the Guard, even though parade ones, were grey as always, gas masks gave the entire ceremony a tinge of the dystopic, more a coronation on the field than in the Cathedral of His Saintly Mistress as it was actually situated in. The Eagle of the Emperor had to share his place with the Raven of the Grey Guard and the very muted and subtly displayed Coat of Arms of House Nova itself.

But the blatant submission to the Grey Guard as ultimate Authority was but one of the exotic and new that came with Nova on the Throne. Among the Guests where the expected ones: The Nobles of the Empire, great and small all had assembled, the Orthodoxy of course had been invited, The High Archons of the various Ecclesias had made an appearance and even the Patriarch of the Orthodoxy himself had taken the opportunity to see the new Empress crowned.

High Archon Uris of the Ecclesia Custodes, The Holy Warriors of Light, Defenders of the Orthodoxy and it's faithful stood towering even over the guard, a mountain of a man, clad in full artifact power armor, handed down through generations of the Commanders of the Custodes.

High Archon Juris of the Ecclesia Iudicatores, the Inquisition. A woman with a constant polite smile on her face, unmoving, untwitching as if a statue.

High Archon Felix of the Ecclesia Sacerdoris, The Lay Church. Missionaries, Monks and the Administration of the Church Finances fell into the Hands of the ancient wizened man.

High Archon Lucia of the Ecclesia Scriptoris, The Scientists of the Church. Although much less scientists than far more those who gathered the ancient technologies and kept them running

and finally a man who looked out of place next to the richly ornamented and clothed people next to him. Archon Jevgeni of the Ecclesia Exploratores. He was there as a mere replacement for the actual High Archon who had been outside of the Empire for the past fifty years.

More illustrous among the Guests however were those not of the Empire. High Factor Tomasz came from the rich worlds of the Triumvirate. Behind him shuffled several representatives of the Telemarchies, officially independent Lords of Humanity in truth they were but puppets serving as marcher lords for the Triumvirate.

Behind them however came the true people all the contention and uproar was all about. Xenos, Babarians and Xenophiles.

The representative of the Kaldir marches out in the front. He literally marches, the Kaldir are known as a highly militarized and militant people, their technology far surpassing that of humanity and even the Triumvirate. Behind him like beaten dogs the Voivods. Even as they walk past nobles , some can't quite contain themselves in the face of Collaborators with Xenos of all things.

Beyond those however arrive a being which caused the entire room to fall into an icy silence. The Empress had invited one of the Wreckan Chieftains, a man of the people who so long ago had destroyed the Crusade for Vengeance, a people who was universally despised amongst the faithful in the Empire.

Truly it was a turbulent gathering in that hallowed Cathedral, one which was far removed from tradition, yet showed that the time for a new Empire had come, a progressive one and maybe something experimental...

Click to shrink...

House Al-Hazar was the closet group of the five families to the Church reps due to their connection to the church. Their reaction to the rest of the delegation while mentality was horrible outside was a schooled smile and body language.

 

[Theravis]

In the History of Humanity many a ruler had been crowned. By the Grace of God, the Grace of the State, the Grace of the People and on occasion by the Grace of the Ruler himself. However never in the history of humanity has someone been crowned by the Grace of his Military, much less exclusively by the Grace of ones own Imperial Guard.

An uproar went through the assembled ranks of the guests from far and wide when it became known that Empress Terra I. would be crowned by the Grace of the Grey Guard. A further uproar went through the ranks of church and nobles when the ceremony was led by the Lord Commander himself.

The Ceremony itself was grand, but not overly so. Not that anyone greatly cared for the splendour since all eyes were on the show of blatant military force on display here. The Unforms of the Guard, even though parade ones, were grey as always, gas masks gave the entire ceremony a tinge of the dystopic, more a coronation on the field than in the Cathedral of His Saintly Mistress as it was actually situated in. The Eagle of the Emperor had to share his place with the Raven of the Grey Guard and the very muted and subtly displayed Coat of Arms of House Nova itself.

But the blatant submission to the Grey Guard as ultimate Authority was but one of the exotic and new that came with Nova on the Throne. Among the Guests where the expected ones: The Nobles of the Empire, great and small all had assembled, the Orthodoxy of course had been invited, The High Archons of the various Ecclesias had made an appearance and even the Patriarch of the Orthodoxy himself had taken the opportunity to see the new Empress crowned.

High Archon Uris of the Ecclesia Custodes, The Holy Warriors of Light, Defenders of the Orthodoxy and it's faithful stood towering even over the guard, a mountain of a man, clad in full artifact power armor, handed down through generations of the Commanders of the Custodes.

High Archon Juris of the Ecclesia Iudicatores, the Inquisition. A woman with a constant polite smile on her face, unmoving, untwitching as if a statue.

High Archon Felix of the Ecclesia Sacerdoris, The Lay Church. Missionaries, Monks and the Administration of the Church Finances fell into the Hands of the ancient wizened man.

High Archon Lucia of the Ecclesia Scriptoris, The Scientists of the Church. Although much less scientists than far more those who gathered the ancient technologies and kept them running

and finally a man who looked out of place next to the richly ornamented and clothed people next to him. Archon Jevgeni of the Ecclesia Exploratores. He was there as a mere replacement for the actual High Archon who had been outside of the Empire for the past fifty years.

More illustrous among the Guests however were those not of the Empire. High Factor Tomasz came from the rich worlds of the Triumvirate. Behind him shuffled several representatives of the Telemarchies, officially independent Lords of Humanity in truth they were but puppets serving as marcher lords for the Triumvirate.

Behind them however came the true people all the contention and uproar was all about. Xenos, Babarians and Xenophiles.

The representative of the Kaldir marches out in the front. He literally marches, the Kaldir are known as a highly militarized and militant people, their technology far surpassing that of humanity and even the Triumvirate. Behind him like beaten dogs the Voivods. Even as they walk past nobles , some can't quite contain themselves in the face of Collaborators with Xenos of all things.

Beyond those however arrive a being which caused the entire room to fall into an icy silence. The Empress had invited one of the Wreckan Chieftains, a man of the people who so long ago had destroyed the Crusade for Vengeance, a people who was universally despised amongst the faithful in the Empire.

Truly it was a turbulent gathering in that hallowed Cathedral, one which was far removed from tradition, yet showed that the time for a new Empire had come, a progressive one and maybe something experimental...

Click to shrink...

They'll see what a mistake this election was any second now.

 

[Ghazkull]

The Day after the Coronation

The five major Noble Houses of the Empire had assembled in a conference room behind the actual Imperial Throne Room. Inside The Lord Commander of the Grey Guard and a young woman in a bland, unadorned, field grey uniform awaited.

[color= grey]Gentlemen and Ladies. With our new Emperor crowned i think it is time to inform you of the State of the Empire and the Galaxy[/color]

A young woman in a field grey officers uniform steps forward. Her pale blue eyes flit over the gathered nobility with disinterest, taking them in, processing them and then discounting them before she begins an impassionate rundown of the information on the Empire:

" As of this moment the Empire is in a major state of disarray. Despite our best efforts almost every planet is plagued by major problems of every kind. The Imperial Star Maps are inaccurate, outdated or plain wrong and instead of alleviating the Church Situation, their current weakness have made things dangerously unstable.

But lets get into the Details. First Domestic Issues:

The Reclamation Program on Si'kar, is progressing as slow as one might expect. Since the Church used up Cr'toks stocks of chemical, bio and gods know what other warheads on the Planet to vanquish House Nova and the native Xeno Population, the Planet has been requalified from a Earth-like to a Death World. The situation is dire, two-thirds of the planet are uninhabitable and tthe rest will follow suit if the Empire doesn't take action to alleviate this Ecological Catastrophe.

Agri-Primes massive Slave Population has always been a problem. And while several Uprisings have been put down recently, the situation is rapidly deteriorating, and a full blown rebellion is imminent. We have determined three solutions to the current problem: Stepping up the Anti-Insurgency actions, Extermination or Deportation of the Slave Population or Emancipation of said population.

Vengeance is an entire hotbed of issues. It is of major interest to the Church, not only because it is a Holy World and Graveyard World, but also since the Church lost most of its power, influence and fleet in the failed two crusades for the Planet. In fact the only Imperial presence on the planet as of this moment is House Rastyqua, who is situated there to fulfill some kind of Penance to the Church.
Human population has decreased to an estimated 25 million after the most recent crusade, while mutant population is stagnant at about 4 to 500 million. The Mutant population are the main issue currently why the planet can not be safely settled. That aside large scale recolonization would require major hydroponic farming operations, since the planets biosphere can barely sustain the current population.
Otherwise Space Trade could be reestablished to import food from other worlds, this however brings me to the other major issue of the planet: Wrecks. The Planet is surrounded by some odd four hundred shipwrecks and uncounted corpses of the Wreckan People. making Space Travel around the planets orbit a dangerous proposition.

Finally there is Garthon III. It is a planet with some major potential, if the dangerous flora, fauna and the local mutant tribes are brought into line. Also law and order would need to be restored in Bastion, the only Hive City of the Planet.

That being said lets move on to External Issues:

The Church is the main issue. Not only do they wish to know their position in the new empire, they also wish to know when we are going to move the Imperial Palace onto one of our "own" Planets . Furthermore our General Stance towards Xenos, Mutants, Heresy, Heathenism and Technology is of interest to them. Per ancient Documents dating back to even before the Downfall the Church has a right to interfere in state issues and the world of Halo was granted to them by Emperor Kalros "The Pious" about 300 years before the downfall. While the Church was weakened through the two crusades it is still a major political player. If they manages to contact the Exploratoris Fleets they will be able to muster more ships and troops than we currently can. But that is a big if, most of the fleets are far outside of comms reach, at least if our intel on their tech is correct.

The Gered Remnant was allowed to settle on the world of Braxis in the Si'kar System, by the now apostate Archon Luthias Hartwing. The self-same man who bombed Si'kar into oblivion.
He allowed the Gered to settle on the Ice World and so far they have made no attempts to colonize more worlds. In fact the barren Ice Planet has turned into a hospitable Garden World. So Far the Gered themselves have proven Isolationist mainly because of their Teg' brethren.
The following information is highly confidential and apart from your here this information is not known to the Church. They know nothing about Braxis and we should keep it that way, lest they decide to call another crusade.
Fact is that the Gered have apparently been a highly advanced civilization. What we could garner so far is that they are humanoid, in fact they are very closely related to humans...they might even be a sub-species of the homo genus. In any case through some catastrophe they had to evacuate their worlds in massive sleeper ships. Several are still scattered about, a few have started moving towards Braxis however. The Gered themselves are no threat to us but the Teg' are. Their weapons technology even surpasses that of the Grey Guard and the fact that they are animated Gered corpses puzzles our best researchers. In general the Gered are amiable towards keeping peace. The Grey Guard would advise against military actions, since we are not sure on how well our fleets would perform against one of these Teg'Gered Motherships.

Then there is the Triumvirate. As you all know they were already a majorly powerful Guild House before the Downfall and this allowed them to form a seperate entity after the War. The Triumvirate currently rules over the Trinity System, one of the richest and most populated systems even before the Downfall. It contains no less than SEVEN habitable Worlds, and they rule over a combined population of an estimated 17 billion people. They have developed an alternative to old hyperspace travel, which is slower but reliable. In fact without our artifact technology we would be hopelessly outclassed. Furthermore the Triumvirate is the lifeline of our Empire. Most of interplanetary trade and commerce is handled by them. But as it is it might be in our interest to integrate them somehow into the empire. Subterfuge may be advisable here instead of military action.
But that is not all, they also all but own the Telemarchies. Officially free and independent systems, they are in truth beholden to the Triumvirate and provide most of the manpower for their fleets and armies.

The Kaldir have never been a great issue for us. As far as we are aware they have kept out of our Business and we out of theirs even before the Downfall. Not that we could hold a candle against them in any case. The true issue here are the Voivodes which serve as a buffer zone between us and them. Since the Downfall however there haven't been any border clashes.

Finally the Lost Worlds. It is widely known that many worlds have been lost during and before the Downfall. Most notably Earth itself. But also other major Imperial Worlds like Artemis and Stigmata have been lost to time.

Beyond that some Political Posts need to be filled out. Foremost that of the Treasurer and the uh...Spymaster."

Having finished her report the officer salutes and turns around to leave the room, oddly enough the Malcador stands at attention when she passes him.

 

[Theravis]

The Day after the Coronation

The five major Noble Houses of the Empire had assembled in a conference room behind the actual Imperial Throne Room. Inside The Lord Commander of the Grey Guard and a young woman in a bland, unadorned, field grey uniform awaited.

Gentlemen and Ladies. With our new Emperor crowned i think it is time to inform you of the State of the Empire and the Galaxy

A young woman in a field grey officers uniform steps forward. Her pale blue eyes flit over the gathered nobility with disinterest, taking them in, processing them and then discounting them before she begins an impassionate rundown of the information on the Empire:

" As of this moment the Empire is in a major state of disarray. Despite our best efforts almost every planet is plagued by major problems of every kind. The Imperial Star Maps are inaccurate, outdated or plain wrong and instead of alleviating the Church Situation, their current weakness have made things dangerously unstable.

But lets get into the Details. First Domestic Issues:

The Reclamation Program on Si'kar, is progressing as slow as one might expect. Since the Church used up Cr'toks stocks of chemical, bio and gods know what other warheads on the Planet to vanquish House Nova and the native Xeno Population, the Planet has been requalified from a Earth-like to a Death World. The situation is dire, two-thirds of the planet are uninhabitable and tthe rest will follow suit if the Empire doesn't take action to alleviate this Ecological Catastrophe.

Agri-Primes massive Slave Population has always been a problem. And while several Uprisings have been put down recently, the situation is rapidly deteriorating, and a full blown rebellion is imminent. We have determined three solutions to the current problem: Stepping up the Anti-Insurgency actions, Extermination or Deportation of the Slave Population or Emancipation of said population.

Vengeance is an entire hotbed of issues. It is of major interest to the Church, not only because it is a Holy World and Graveyard World, but also since the Church lost most of its power, influence and fleet in the failed two crusades for the Planet. In fact the only Imperial presence on the planet as of this moment is House Rastyqua, who is situated there to fulfill some kind of Penance to the Church.
Human population has decreased to an estimated 25 million after the most recent crusade, while mutant population is stagnant at about 4 to 500 million. The Mutant population are the main issue currently why the planet can not be safely settled. That aside large scale recolonization would require major hydroponic farming operations, since the planets biosphere can barely sustain the current population.
Otherwise Space Trade could be reestablished to import food from other worlds, this however brings me to the other major issue of the planet: Wrecks. The Planet is surrounded by some odd four hundred shipwrecks and uncounted corpses of the Wreckan People. making Space Travel around the planets orbit a dangerous proposition.

Finally there is Garthon III. It is a planet with some major potential, if the dangerous flora, fauna and the local mutant tribes are brought into line. Also law and order would need to be restored in Bastion, the only Hive City of the Planet.

That being said lets move on to External Issues:

The Church is the main issue. Not only do they wish to know their position in the new empire, they also wish to know when we are going to move the Imperial Palace onto one of our "own" Planets . Furthermore our General Stance towards Xenos, Mutants, Heresy, Heathenism and Technology is of interest to them. Per ancient Documents dating back to even before the Downfall the Church has a right to interfere in state issues and the world of Halo was granted to them by Emperor Kalros "The Pious" about 300 years before the downfall. While the Church was weakened through the two crusades it is still a major political player. If they manages to contact the Exploratoris Fleets they will be able to muster more ships and troops than we currently can. But that is a big if, most of the fleets are far outside of comms reach, at least if our intel on their tech is correct.

The Gered Remnant was allowed to settle on the world of Braxis in the Si'kar System, by the now apostate Archon Luthias Hartwing. The self-same man who bombed Si'kar into oblivion.
He allowed the Gered to settle on the Ice World and so far they have made no attempts to colonize more worlds. In fact the barren Ice Planet has turned into a hospitable Garden World. So Far the Gered themselves have proven Isolationist mainly because of their Teg' brethren.
The following information is highly confidential and apart from your here this information is not known to the Church. They know nothing about Braxis and we should keep it that way, lest they decide to call another crusade.
Fact is that the Gered have apparently been a highly advanced civilization. What we could garner so far is that they are humanoid, in fact they are very closely related to humans...they might even be a sub-species of the homo genus. In any case through some catastrophe they had to evacuate their worlds in massive sleeper ships. Several are still scattered about, a few have started moving towards Braxis however. The Gered themselves are no threat to us but the Teg' are. Their weapons technology even surpasses that of the Grey Guard and the fact that they are animated Gered corpses puzzles our best researchers. In general the Gered are amiable towards keeping peace. The Grey Guard would advise against military actions, since we are not sure on how well our fleets would perform against one of these Teg'Gered Motherships.

Then there is the Triumvirate. As you all know they were already a majorly powerful Guild House before the Downfall and this allowed them to form a seperate entity after the War. The Triumvirate currently rules over the Trinity System, one of the richest and most populated systems even before the Downfall. It contains no less than SEVEN habitable Worlds, and they rule over a combined population of an estimated 17 billion people. They have developed an alternative to old hyperspace travel, which is slower but reliable. In fact without our artifact technology we would be hopelessly outclassed. Furthermore the Triumvirate is the lifeline of our Empire. Most of interplanetary trade and commerce is handled by them. But as it is it might be in our interest to integrate them somehow into the empire. Subterfuge may be advisable here instead of military action.
But that is not all, they also all but own the Telemarchies. Officially free and independent systems, they are in truth beholden to the Triumvirate and provide most of the manpower for their fleets and armies.

The Kaldir have never been a great issue for us. As far as we are aware they have kept out of our Business and we out of theirs even before the Downfall. Not that we could hold a candle against them in any case. The true issue here are the Voivodes which serve as a buffer zone between us and them. Since the Downfall however there haven't been any border clashes.

Finally the Lost Worlds. It is widely known that many worlds have been lost during and before the Downfall. Most notably Earth itself. But also other major Imperial Worlds like Artemis and Stigmata have been lost to time.

Beyond that some Political Posts need to be filled out. Foremost that of the Treasurer and the uh...Spymaster."

Having finished her report the officer salutes and turns around to leave the room, oddly enough the Malcador stands at attention when she passes him.

Click to shrink...

"Agri-Prime will be handled. Should the slaves attempt anything, they will be crushed, like the subhuman scum they are."

 

[Sailor Midgard]

"Agri-Prime will be handled. Should the slaves attempt anything, they will be crushed, like the subhuman scum they are."

Click to shrink...

"And the House Azores again shows its dedication to taking the most , ah, severe solution possible.I would start by asking if we NEED them to keep our economy stable.
Or if a gradual manumission could be on the cards, with the promise of faster freedom for one self or ones children if one shows dedication to ones tasks and proper loyalty.My house works with a regional model not unlike that and the results are...promising."
Maximillian steepled his hands.
"I would rather draw attention to the question of the lost worlds and Gathon III .We of Haus Wittlesbach-Schauenburg confess it is our opinion that this Empire of ours should expand again, and these are to us the least controversial areas.
By the way, that might also be a place to , ah, dispose of the former slaves if we go for gradual manumission...."

 

[Theravis]

"And the House Azores again shows its dedication to taking the most , ah, severe solution possible.I would start by asking if we NEED them to keep our economy stable.
Or if a gradual manumission could be on the cards, with the promise of faster freedom for one self or ones children if one shows dedication to ones tasks and proper loyalty.My house works with a regional model not unlike that and the results are...promising."
Maximillian steepled his hands.
"I would rather draw attention to the question of the lost worlds and Gathon III .We of Haus Wittlesbach-Schauenburg confess it is our opinion that this Empire of ours should expand again, and these are to us the least controversial areas.
By the way, that might also be a place to , ah, dispose of the former slaves if we go for gradual manumission...."

Click to shrink...

"Agri-Prime is OUR world. Unless House Wittlesbach have moved in since I checked last, it should be none of your concern."

 

[Sailor Midgard]

"Agri-Prime is OUR world. Unless House Wittlesbach have moved in since I checked last, it should be none of your concern."

Click to shrink...

"Actually....." Maximillian sighed "look on your maps of Agri-prime.Do you see the territory marked as "Mitttgart" or perhaps Midguard?"
He stared at the other."That IS our domain."8

 

[Theravis]

"Actually....." Maximillian sighed "look on your maps of Agri-prime.Do you see the territory marked as "Mitttgart" or perhaps Midguard?"
He stared at the other."That IS our domain."8

Click to shrink...

OOC: Thought I was all alone there.
"So you should respect an elder house. If we pay off the slaves once, we will lose all credibility for future crises."

 

[Sailor Midgard]

OOC: Thought I was all alone there.
"So you should respect an elder house. If we pay off the slaves once, we will lose all credibility for future crises."

Click to shrink...

"And if you crush them, you will incite rebellion after rebellion.Besides.... I hate to tell you, but a full chattel slave economy alwys suffers from certain economic problems.Such as inefficiency.I always thought the Azores were big on efficiency?

 

[Theravis]

"And if you crush them, you will incite rebellion after rebellion.Besides.... I hate to tell you, but a full chattel slave economy alwys suffers from certain economic problems.Such as inefficiency.I always thought the Azores were big on efficiency?

Click to shrink...

"You clearly aren't crushing hard enough then. As to the inefficiency, there is a reason they are only used in the most basic and untrained tasks."

 

[Sailor Midgard]

"You clearly aren't crushing hard enough then. As to the inefficiency, there is a reason they are only used in the most basic and untrained tasks."

Click to shrink...

"There is such a thing as passive resistance,It is why the stereotypical slave is seen as stupid and lazy.. they have no reason to be anything but.Also, slaves are keeping you from finding better solutions.It is the old surplus of cheap labor problem.... why find a better wau to handle things when you can throw warm bodies at them forever.
Only that makes the FREE men lazy in mind. And if you spend all the time brutally crushing human and near human beings, your relations among each other and to free people elsewhere will..be tainted by that stance, too."

 

[Theravis]

"There is such a thing as passive resistance,It is why the stereotypical slave is seen as stupid and lazy.. they have no reason to be anything but.Also, slaves are keeping you from finding better solutions.It is the old surplus of cheap labor problem.... why find a better wau to handle things when you can throw warm bodies at them forever.
Only that makes the FREE men lazy in mind. And if you spend all the time brutally crushing human and near human beings, your relations among each other and to free people elsewhere will..be tainted by that stance, too."

Click to shrink...

Sigfried sighed. "Do as you will. So long as our production and stability are not impacted, I really don't care."

 

[CommanderBlade]

My house can foster good relations with the Church. I don't expect much opposition to us handing that or do you deem us as to loyal to the Church to be trusted.

 

[Rindel]

"House Avernus would be delighted to greet the Gerad Remnant. Grant us the honor of service, that we may bring glory to the Empire anew."

The voice of Xhosa Avernus, Matriarch of House Avernus, echoed in the halls of the former Synod. Though their arrival had silent, it was time to speak plainly, and this was something at which she excelled. Quite tall and alabaster of complexion, the Matriarch stood ramrod straight despite her age and her eyes were as piercing as the trained hunting eagle that typically graced her shoulder. She had left it aboard her ship out of respect for what the hall had once stood for, but she still wore the armored falconry gauntlet... it was an essential part of her wardrobe, and it stood in stark contrast to her otherwise spartan clothing. At her side stood the far more demure Patriarch of the House, Aragorn Argonian. Mousy haired and dark of eye, his wardrobe consisted of muted, earthy tones; if one didn't know his status, it would be easy indeed to lose him in a crowd. His eyes, however, were just as sharp as his wife, and twice as attentive to minute detail. It was a little known fact that he was possessed of an eidetic memory, and could often recreate scenes from memory after glimpsing them for as little as a few moments. His belly was of impressive girth; it was often joked (and not incorrectly) that he went through personal chefs like the Grey Guard went through ammunition... but such jokers often found themselves in working shifts near rusting airlocks. The pair were illustrious indeed and renowned for their conquests, both military and diplomatic, and would thus make an excellent choice for a diplomatic mission to a foreign race.