Halemnet

Hive World Planetary Capital: Dien Song Primary Exports: Servitors, Song Blades Warp Passages: GS/PC02 (Three months), Rebo (Four days with no chance of warp encounters), Platea (one month), Lithore (One month, two weeks) Tarot reading: Three of Blades, inverted The world of Halemnet suffered badly during the Black Crusade. No less than nine of the planets twenty hives turned traitor under the influence of the Alpha Legion chaos space marines. Of these hives only one, Pumi Sala, was reclaimed the others cleansed by orbital bombardment. The inhabitants of Pumi Sala are even now a strange and reclusive lot, known for their over the top piety and strict observances of faith. Halemnet is the largest producer of servitors in the cluster and the orbital lanes are often filled with crowded prison ships bringing the condemned for conversion. Rumours claim that unscrupulous ship owners offer passage offworld to the unfortunates across the sub-sector and sell them as raw material to servitor farms.

Lithore Worlds of the Cyclops Cluster Rebo

Hive World Planetary Capital: Kasara Continental Hive Primary exports: Scrap metal, Processed Goods. Warp Passages: Nman (One Month), Halemnet (Four Days with no chance of warp encounters), Verstap (Two weeks) Tarot reading: xx.Judgement Before the 12th Black Crusade, Rebo was the capital of the Cyclops Cluster. Protected by one of the mighty Blackstone Fortresses, Rebo suffered as the first imperial world to feel the fury of Abbadons fleet. Rebos third continent-city, Marana, was almost completely destroyed by falling debris from the warring fleets. Today, the remnants of Marana are mined by scavenger kings who strip the ruins for anything they can sell. Rebo stands as the bureaucratic centre of the Cyclops Cluster. The Administratum and Departmento Munitorium both operate large facilities in the Kasara Continental Hive and the Denos Continental Hive is primarily given over to manufactoria. Denos is one of the few licensed producers of the Chelos prefabricated bunkers favoured by Explorator fleets and Imperial Guard units. Void Station (Mining World) Primary Exports: Photonic Hydrogen Warp Passages: Numitor (Two weeks), Halemnet (One month, two weeks), Mezoa (One week) Tarot reading: xiii.Death, inverted The Lithore void-station orbits IS-118, draining photonic hydrogen from the decaying star. The photonic hydrogen is refined down into a form used as ammunition for plasma weaponry across the entire Gothic sector. The station would be otherwise unremarkable, other than its position on a major warp route. The lack of interest this unremarkable station raises from imperial authorities makes it the perfect location for shady deals and illicit encounters. The station attendants enforce the peace upon the station with the heavyhanded applications of shotcannon and shock mauls and all visitors arriving on the station must relinquish all weapons before being allowed to board.

Numitor
Imperial World (Agri-world) Planetary Capital: Renshold Barge Primary exports: Foodstuffs Warp Passages: Lithore (One week), Mezoa (Three days) Tarot reading: xiv.Temperance, inverted

Numitor is an oceanic agri-world. Harvest barges ply continent sized algae fields and schools of fish numbering in the millions are scooped up by citysized submersibles. The various harvests are processed in vast floating manufactoria and shipped across the sub-sector. After the destruction of Marana, many noble families who held estate spires in that doomed hive have relocated to the Numitor orbital docks. The void-stations above Numitor have been heavily modified to show off the wealth of the Noble house to which it owes allegiance. Void-station Mierla, owned by House Vierghast, is particularly ostentatious, being clad in entirely in gold and each control panel being inlaid with precious stones. The Numitor docks are known for their decadence and the parties that are thrown have attained legendary status.

these orbital defences is the Ordinatus Nova, a massive void station that mounts a battery of four Nova cannon. It takes the Ordinatus Nova almost eight hours to charge between each barrage, but each barrage has enough firepower to cripple or destroy entire squadrons of cruisers. The Angels Ascendant battle barge, the Sanguine Duty was constructed on Mezoa and as such a tactical squad of space marines from that chapter are permanently stationed upon the void stations that surround Mezoa, ready to repel any boarders.

Moab
Imperial World (Shrine world) Planetary Capital: Damaris Warp Passages: Thanet (One month. WARNING! Warp beasts plague this route!), Mezoa (Two weeks) Tarot reading: Four of Blades After the Black Crusade, the Ecclesiarchy declared Moab a shrine world and established it as the heart of ecclesiarchal power within the Cyclops cluster. Until recently, Moab was the destination to millions of pilgrims a year who flocked to the Chapel of His Benediction, the Onyx Memorial and the Parade of Saint Aebastian. Now, Moab is a shattered shell of a world after the invasion of Hive Fleet Jormungandr. While the xenos menace was driven back, Moab's planetary infrastructure was all but completely destroyed, with two of the three planetary continents still only barely inhabitable. The planetary capital of Delba has been abandoned, with Administratum workers moving to the Bulwark - an orbiting Ramilles class star fort. The city of Damaris, the heart of the defense against the Tyranid menace, has become to all extents the new capital city. The Silent Brethren of Saint Augustine have their chapel-hospice in the outskirts of Delba, carved into one of the cliffs surrounding the holy city. There neophytes of the order train in the arts of healing before travelling on their long pilgrimages across the sub-sector.

Mezoa
Forge World Planetary Capital: Forge-complex Mundi Primary Export: Manufactured goods, Energy weaponry. Warp Passages: Misere (Three weeks), Moab (Two weeks), Numitor (Three days), Lithore (One week) Tarot reading: xi.Justice The forge world of Mezoa is the industrial heart of the Cyclops Cluster. Its manufactoria churn out weapons and vehicles for the Imperial guard, construct and consecrate ammunition and the blessed vehicles for the Angels Ascendant space marine chapter, and even slowly create new voidships. Mezoa has extensive orbital docks that surround both its moons that provide repair and refitting for imperial ships that can afford the exorbitant docking fees. Mezoa is known for its high quality energy weaponry, with Mezoa pattern plasma and melta weapons being exported as far afield as the Calixis sector. Mezoa provides many opportunities to captains who are willing to transport goods from the forge world. The machine cult of this world does require such captains to allow their vessel to be properly blessed by the tech priests before any cargo is transported, leaving those captains who have made modifications to their vessels, such as secret compartments, over powered weapon systems or captured xenos components, in a precarious position. An illegal operation which uses clean vessels to collect Mechanicus goods and deliver them to another ship in an adjacent system is said to operate out of the Tarequetza void-fortress, but such a service comes with a great financial cost not to mention the ramifications should the Mechanicus find out. Mezoa has significant orbital defences and was actually avoided by the ships of the Black Crusade as they invaded the sub-sector. Most significant of

Misere
Death World (Mining world) Warp Passages: Denerair (Two months), Mezoa (Three weeks) Tarot reading: Ace of Pentagrams Misere is a world famed for its beauty and for its danger. Early explorers found a world teeming with plant life, all of it deadly to humans. Every plant is in some way narcotic and all of them are poisonous. The vast majority of the flora on Misere secrete scents that most find irresistible, forcing them to approach close enough to breathe in the

clouds of spores, impale themselves on poisoned thorns or otherwise meet a dozen gruesome deaths. Despite the lethality of the world, several guilds have set up harvesting operations on the planets surface. Misere contains hundreds of plants that can be harvested for medical purposes and hundreds more that can be refined into various grades of narcotics. These harvesting operations are usually carried out by custom-designed servitors who rarely last for more than a few months at a time before being reclaimed by the planet. Of the few living personnel that live on the world, perhaps the only truly comfortable ones are a regiment of the infamous Catachan jungle fighters garrisoning the Department Munitorium harvest facility who all agree that it feels just like home!!. The remainder of the onsite personnel tend towards paranoia, knowing even a single spore brought through the airlocks may result in the death of hundreds.

System capital: Drenaste Void-station Primary Exports: Mineral ores Warp Passages: Halemnet (One month), Verstap (Three weeks) Tarot reading: vii.The Chariot Platea is not a single world but a set of colonies that inhabit the dense Platean asteroid belt. Once a full system, some ancient catastrophe ripped every world surrounding their star to pieces. Now, mining ships pick over the mineral rich Platean belt, gathering and refining the various ores and naturally occurring alloys. Several mining guilds squabble over the rights to various mineral rich clusters and it is not uncommon for mining frigates to open fire on ships that approach too close to an asteroid that has already been claimed. The belt is occasionally visited by the strange and silent ships of the Demiurg xeno-breed. Their massive Stronghold ships broadcast no vox-signals, nor do they engage imperial ships in combat. They simply drift though the system, gathering what lies in the path and then they leave again. The Demiurg ships appear once every seven years as regular as clockwork. The governors of Platea have traditionally let the Demiurg ships pass without confrontation, although this is probably due less to a xenophilliac urge and more due to the lack of ships they have that could confront the silent behemoths.

Denerair
Imperial World (Agri-world) Planetary capital: Marrows Landing Primary exports: Foodstuffs Warp Passages: Misere (Two months), Thanet (One month) Tarot reading: Three of Pentagrams, inverted When imperial citizens across the Cyclops cluster sit around a glass of Sacra with friends and start telling jokes about a bumpkin and a techpriest entering a bar, the bumpkin is almost always from Denerair. A feudal world, Denerair is largely given over to vast grain fields, the vast majority of which are still harvested by animal drawn machinery. Notoriously resistant to change, the ecclesiarchy of Denerair has denied all attempts by the Adeptus mechanicus to even land on the surface, only allowing a single void station to hang in orbit around the agri-world. Most traders simply pass through, grabbing holds of grain on the way. Those that take the time to visit the surface can find excellent examples of well crafted, low tech weaponry and armour as well as exceptional ecclesiarchal material.

Verstap
Imperial World (Agri-world) Planetary capital: None Primary Exports: Foodstuff Warp Passages: Rebo (Two weeks), Platea (Three weeks) Tarot reading: Six of Blades The world of Verstap was once known for its rolling plains and countless hers of Grox. All this was to change with the Black Crusade. With the imperial navy stretched to breaking point, Ork raiders managed to slip past naval patrols and land on Verstap. With the Despoilers forces rampaging through the Gothic sector, the decision was made to abandon Verstap to the Ork until the fleets of the Arch-enemy were driven off and the sector restored to relative peace. It took fifty years after the defeat of the Black Crusade to cleanse Verstap. Half a million Imperial Guardsmen and four full companies of the Angels Ascendant space marine chapter fought for five decades to kill every Ork on the planet and to ensure they left no trace of their filth behind. The verdant fields of Verstap, however, had been well and truly destroyed. The herds of Grox and other mega-fauna stripped clean from the world by voracious greenskin appetites. The world had been reclaimed, but at a significant cost.

Thanet
Sanctioned World Warp Passages: Denerair (Two months), Moab (One month. WARNING! Warp beasts plague this route!), CCX-104 (One week) Tarot reading: xii.The Hanged Man All details of this world have been removed from imperial archives. Inquisitorial edict %%7719-SCyclops/Thanet. Craft travelling the warp route are required to translate outside of the system.

Platea
Mining World

Today, Verstap is a pale shadow of its former glory. Much of the world has suffered such ecological damage, both from the greenskins and the weapons used to clean that stain from the world, that great swathes of land have collapsed into desert. The majority of the cities of Verstap were reduced to rubble, so now the population travels in convoys of long cargo haulers, outrider buggies and scout bikes. They cluster around the few mega-herds that still roam the planet, moving from one patch of vegetation to another, covering twenty leagues a day. Verstap still officially does not have a planetary governor, the title being disbanded when the Orks took the world. The Administratum officially controls the planet, but the big decisions are made at yearly meat-fairs, where the mega-herds are brought together for off-world sale and the herdmasters gather.

Those that have seen the extreme lengths to which the Arbites go to ensure such a feat is impossible find such rumours very hard to believe.

CCX-104 (Xibalba)
Death World Primary Colony: Morgana's Landing Primary exports: Exotic beasts, pharmaceutical compounds. Warp Passages: Thanet (One Week), Rebo (Secret Route - 1 Month) CCX-104 was, for many years, the only way to enter the Cyclops Cluster safely, without having to penetrate the dense stellar networks that surround the sub-sector. During the Gothic War, it was a hotly contested system, with the Imperial Navy, Abbadon's warships and Ork pirates all fighting to control the solitary stable warp route leading towards Port Maw. Towards the end of the war, as the Imperial forces gained the upper hand in controlling the system, one of Abbadons Chosen made a dark pact that consumed the world in a warpstorm, cutting it off completely from the rest of the sub-sector. Nearly eight hundred years later, the warpstorm has nearly completely abated and transport through CCX-104 is once again achievable. The HulegaardXanatov Rogue Trader dynasty has capitalised on this and has created a colony on CCX-104/2, now renamed Xibalba. A Death World, plant life never evolved on Xibalba and everything, down to the trees and grass, are carnivorous animals. Given the dangerous state of the world, the Rebo, Halemnet and Numitor Imperial Guard levies have expressed interest in setting up permanent training camps, and the Beast trade is starting to take off with Carnivoria across the sector starting to feature the beasts of Xibalba. Xibalba is home to a number of ancient Eldar ruins. Most of them were destroyed by Inquisitor Rayne in 998M41, but surveyor teams are constantly finding new sites, potentially heralding a frenzy of archeoxenology in the near future.

Nman
Sanctioned World Warp Passages: Rebo (One month) Tarot reading: Four of Staves, inverted All details of this world have been removed from imperial archives. Inquisitorial edict %%7719-SCyclops/N&@2Man. .

GS/PC02 Slade
Penal Colony Planetary capital: Void-station Theta Primary export: Condemned prisoners Warp Passages: Halemnet (Three months) Tarot reading: xvii.The Star, inverted Slade is a penal colony, run under the authority of the Adeptus Arbites. Condemned men and women whose crimes do not warrant summary execution, yet are too heinous to allow them to stay on their world of origin are shipped to the frozen hellhole. Some are granted a chance to redeem their souls by joining the Slade Penal Legion, a division of the Imperial Guard where prisoners are given the chance to earn redemption in death, fighting against the foes of the Emperor. Some prisoners have no fate other than being shipped to Halemnet, Mezoa or to the notorious Slade Reclamation Cathedral for processing into servitors. Some captains with close ties to the Ecclesiarchy are occasionally asked to provide shiploads of blasphemers from the deepest pits of Slade in order to undergo conversion into arco-flagellants, with the most faithful rewarded with a hold of the insane weapon-beasts for personal use. Even with daytime temperatures reaching no higher than forty below and the demi-legion of Arbites that man every access point to the worlds sole space port, rumours regarding escape are rife.

The Hands that Shape the Stars:

Dramatis Personae and the Major Players of the Cyclops Cluster

The Angels of Death

The Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines. The Angels Ascendant Influence: na Worlds of Origin: Presumed Misere Known goals: na Notable Benefactors: na Notable Rivals: na Descended from the primogenitor Blood Angels chapter, these Astartes have a fortress monastery hidden somewhere within the Cyclops cluster. Rumour places their location on the inhospitable northern continent of Misere, although no auger scans have ever been able to locate it. The battle barge Sanguine Duty is a common sight amongst the space lanes of the Cyclops Cluster, ships crew claiming that a sighting of the vessel brings good fortune on even the most troubled journey.

Cardinal Titus Orden is the spiritual leader of the entirety of the Cyclops Cluster. Elevated from a mere Confessor serving House Merlos, Orden has had a career largely founded on following ritual to the letter, opposing any change to the social order of the sub-sector and being quick to punish those that dare question the natural order of things. It is the Ecclesiarchies worst kept secret that the Cult of the Red Redemption and the Brothers of Saint Aebastian both have the personal support of the Cardinal, who likens them to holy exterminators, weeding out the sins of those that would otherwise avoid the church. Cardinal Orden has recently lost much face with the church after fleeing Moab as soon as the early effects of the Tyranid fleet were felt. Fleeing to Numitor to seek sanctuary within the House Merlos orbital estates, Orden was turned away at the door for reasons unknown. Since then he has relocated to the Chapel of His Eternal Illumination in the Dien Song hive on Halemnet. Bishop Mikael Arint Influence: 32 Worlds of Origin: Moab Known goals: Restore the world of Moab Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: none Bishop Arint has recently called attention to himself after remaining on Moab as so many of his peers and superiors fled alongside Cardinal Orden. Bishop Arint distinguished himself by joining members of the Moab 3rd Mechanised Regiment in frontline combat against the foul Tyranid xenos breed, inspiring them to greater heights of valour against steep odds. Many of his peers, both off and on-world, are now looking at Mikael as being the exact sort of priest who would be suitable at restoring the power of the Ecclesiarchy in the sub-sector, should something untowards happen to Cardinal Orden... Death Cults and Assassins The Brothers of Saint Aebastian Influence: 45 Worlds of Origin: Halemnet Known goals: Cleanse all sin from the Cyclops Cluster, Propagate the worship of St. Aebastian Notable Benefactors: Cardinal Titus Orden. Notable Rivals: House Phra Hui When the Pumi Sala hive on Halemnet fell to chaos, a preacher named Aebastian was set upon by cultists and tortured unto death. As the final act of desecration, the cultists removed Aebastians legs, arms and, finally, decapitated him. It is said that after this dismemberment, Aebastians eyes

With Fire and Faith!

Ecclesiarchal societies: The Silent Brethren of Saint Augustine Influence: 40 Worlds of Origin: Moab Known goals: Provide comfort for the ailing Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: none The Silent Brethren of Saint Augustine are a group of wandering healer-monks. They are trained on Moab where they take vows of silence, poverty and itinerancy. The Silent Brethren never speak a word, never ask for payment and never refuse a request for aid. They are treated as expressions of the Emperors beneficence by those that encounter them, and it rare to see anyone refuse one of the Silent Brethren a place to sleep, food to eat or a bunk to occupy. Due to their vow of itinerancy, no Brethren may sleep three times under the same roof. This causes some problems during void travel, so many brethren spend entire journeys through the void kept awake through the use of stimulants known only to their order. Cardinal Titus Orden Influence: 72 Worlds of Origin: Moab Known goals: Restore the might of the Ecclesiarchy, punish those that let Moab fall Notable Benefactors: Xavier Vierghast Notable Rivals: Bishop Mikael Arint, The Warpcaller

flickered open and his head gave a prophecy that the forces of the Arch-enemy would be forced from the hive at the hands of the righteous. Hearing this, the prisoners of the chaos cultists broke free from their shackles and destroyed their captors before leading a resistance against the forces of chaos. The Brothers of Saint Aebastian are a death cult focussed around the ordeal of the saint. They believe that the prophecy did not merely mean the hive of Pumi Sala, but extended to the entirety of the Cyclops Cluster. The Brothers can be easily identified. All are missing a single limb which in most cases is replaced with a cybernetic engraved with the words of Saint Aebastian. Most cultists use heavy, tearing weapons, such as chain axes and chain fists, although a few rare cases carry power weapons. They believe that sinners can be redeemed by dismemberment and that only decapitation completely absolves all sin. Despite their fervour, the Brothers of Saint Aebastian are under constant investigation by the Inquisition, who have noted certain traits that the Brothers have in common with many Khornate cults... The Silk Women Influence: 68 Worlds of Origin: Halemnet Known goals: Cleanse all sin from the Cyclops Cluster, Cleanse the taint of the Warp from Humanity Notable Benefactors: unknown Notable Rivals: Brothers of St. Aebastian, House Vierghast The Silk Women are a death cult based in the Dien Song hive on Halemnet. The cult believes that to kill any human that is not touched by the warp, by heresy or by the xenos is the most unforgivable sin. With this knowledge, and the knowledge that sometimes Imperial citizens must due for the greater good, the Silk Women recruit pleasure girls, thieves and murders, those already steeped in sin, and indoctrinate them into the ways of the cult. After all, who better to stain their souls with sin than those already beyond redemption? New recruits to the Silk Women are tested on the ways of the cult extensively to ensure that they only kill when the cult leaders deem it necessary and not to fulfil any desires on behalf of the neophyte. Once this testing is complete, she undergoes a painful process of bleaching, her hair turning white and her skin hardening and taking on the complexion and hue of porcelain. She is dressed in flowing pink robes and granted her Sin Blade, a long, double handed power sword set with suspensors along the blade to reduce its weight. Her hair and robes are woven with more suspensors, so that a Silk Woman always seems to be floating in null gravity.

Silk Women are a common enough sight in the Cyclops Cluster, the sight of even one can stop a riot from forming in a way that even a dozen fully armed Arbites cannot. The Red Redemption Influence: 98 Worlds of Origin: na Known goals: Cleanse the sin from Humanity, burn the unbelievers Notable Benefactors: Xavier Vierghast, Cardinal Titus Orden Notable Rivals: House Roe, Adeptus Arbites Otherwise known as Redemptionists, the Cult of the Red redemption is infamous throughout the Imperium. Believing that sinners can only be purified through holy fire, the Redemptionist movement is one of the more extreme cults found in the Cyclops Cluster. Their crusades travel from world to world, purifying all they see as tainted and gathering more and more of the discontented to their flock. To stand in the way of the Red Redemption is to sin and to sin is to burn. The Warpcaller Influence: na Worlds of Origin: unknown Known goals: Cast down Cardinal Orden Notable Benefactors: unknown Notable Rivals: The Ecclesiarchy The mysterious assassin known only as the Warpcaller is one of the most wanted men in the sector. Little is known of the assassin, other than his hatred for Cardinal Orden and his willingness to destroy anyone who stands between him and his target. Countless Ecclesiarchal bodyguards have been destroyed by the assassin, little more than bloody chunks every being found of his victims, but the Cardinal has thus far managed to stay one step ahead. A death cult emulating the Warpcaller is starting to form on many of the orbital stations around the sub-sector, notably Lithore. These cultists all wear heavy duty void suits, the same as the Warpcaller is rumoured to wear, and kill with the same brutal lethality. If you have more information about the Warpcaller, contact the local Ordos and wait to be collected.

The Will of the Omnissiah

The Sisters Maisae, The Bright and Burning, Fabricators Ordinatus Influence: 117 Worlds of Origin: Mezoa Known goals: Recover STCs, expand the knowledge of humanity.

Notable Benefactors: None Notable Rivals: None Twins recruited into the Mechanicus nearly a millennia ago, the Sisters Maisae have been the greatest Fabricator Mezoa has seen in its recorded history. Recovering no less than four STC fragments relating to energy weapons from the cursed Borealis Crystal, the sisters have granted Mezoa a reputation for high end energy weapons to nearly rival the famed forge of Ryza itself. As the sisters progressed through their studies, they performed a large number of cortical modifications to best understand all concepts in existence. One sister underwent the Rite of Pure Thought purging all emotions from her mind. The other implanted chem glands and removed neural filters from her mind, driving her to a state of constantly heighted emotions and instincts. Working together, the two of them could understand all aspects of a problem, using a mix of cold logic and intuitive jumps. After one of their bodies was damaged beyond the point of repair in a disastrous plasma overload, the sisters underwent the Rite of Duality - two minds in one body. This, if anything, has massively increased the quality of their work. Mechanicus organisations: Legio Trismegistus Influence: 102 Worlds of Origin: Mezoa Known goals: na Notable Benefactors: na Notable Rivals: na The Legio Trismegistus is a Titan Legion based out of Mezoa. Consisting primarily of smaller engines, such as Warhound and Reaver titans, the Legio was almost destroyed entirely during the Black Crusade. Legio Trismegistus has changed its colour scheme as a mark of respect to the engines that were lost during the Black Crusade. The engines are now quartered grey and red, with the names of all the fallen engines of the Legio engraved into the red armour plates and inlaid with gold. When these plates become damaged by enemy fire, the machine spirits of the engines tent to become wrathful and unrestrainable until the enemy that dared dishonour its fallen brothers is destroyed.

Known goals: Become the most powerful Navigator House in the Segmentum Obscuras Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: Other Navigator houses especially Navis Sophia The most populous navigator house within the Cyclops Cluster, Navis Vida are known as much for their excellent navigators as they are their arrogance and wealth. Navis Sophia Influence: 129 Worlds of Origin: Sophia Worldship Known goals: Expand the reach of the House across the Imperium Notable Benefactors: House Roe Notable Rivals:Other Navigator houses, especially Navis Vida A travelling house, Navis Sophia are generally found on large merchant vessels, offering their services for short runs before moving on. Navis Sophia is popular amongst the poorer void-captains who cant afford a Navigator full time. Navis Cassin Influence: 137 Worlds of Origin: Rebo Known goals: Reinforce the power of the Battlefleet Gothic and House Hulegaard Notable Benefactors: House Hulegaard, Battlefleet Gothic Notable Rivals: Other navigator houses Navis Cassin holds the contract for providing Navigators for Battlefleet Gothic itself. It is known for stale, reliable Navigators. They may not get you there as fast as you might like, but they will certainly get you there in one piece. Navis Sydorius Dux Influence: 89 Worlds of Origin: Sydorius Worldship Known goals: Survive, restore reputation. Notable Benefactors: Inquisitor Lukas Bel Notable Rivals: Other navigator houses, the Inquisition Navis Sydorius Dux is a prime example of how even the mightiest of imperial organisations can fall. The navis has been disbanded and the vast majority of the family exiled or executed after the inquisition discovered a Slaaneshi cult running deep within the family. Now, the few surviving members of the house peddle their wares to any who will accept them.

The Opened Eye

Navigator Houses: Navis Vida Influence: 148 Worlds of Origin: Rebo

The Heart of the Imperium

Noble Houses:

House Vierghast
Influence: Worlds of Origin: Numitor Known goals: Control the narcotics and pharmaceuticals trade in the Gothic Sector, gain control of the sector governorship. Notable Benefactors: Adeptus Mechanicus (Misere forge) Notable Rivals: House Roe When a tale speaks of decadent nobility or week long parties, inevitably it speaks of Vierghast. The house is descended from the first settlers of Misere and has built its fortune from the pharmaceutical wonders that planet can provide. From birth, the scions of Vierghast are exposed to hundreds of different narcotics and are usually addicted to three or four at any given time. Interestingly enough, Vierghast tithes a great deal of its profits to the Ecclesiarchy and is known not just for its decadence, but also its piety. Despite this, many inquisitors keep a careful eye on the house, lest they cross the line from decadence to a true worship of the Prince of Pleasure. Xavier Vierghast Influence: 97 Worlds of Origin: Numitor Known goals: Repent for the sins of his youth, crush the faithless, burn the heretic. Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: Many members of House Vierghast Legend has it that Xavier Vierghast walked the surface of Misere without an environment suit for a day and found it bracing. Tales speak of the day Eldar Corsairs filled him full of venom from their dreaded splinter rifles and he just laughed. Everyone knows the story of how his rivals, one by one, tried to poison him and how they all failed. Ancient and toxic, Lord Xavier Vierghast is dying and nearly everybody knows it. After years of acclimatising to every toxin and drug he could find, Lord Vierghast has finally outwitted himself and has built up an immunity to the rejuvenat procedure. Slowly succumbing to his old age, Lord Vierghast has discovered religion and has taken on the vestments of the Red Redemption. With his patronage, the Redemptionists are starting to swell in numbers, feeding largely off the large numbers of refugees fleeing Moab. Several of the Numitor Orbital Manufactoria have already started to mass produce the flamers and exterminator cartridges favoured by the Redemptionists, and three Vierghast ships loaded with combat drugs destined for the Imperial Guard have gone missing under suspicious circumstances. Many amongst the Vierghast are starting to doubt their venerable patriarch's sanity, but none thus far have had the courage to rise against him.

House Phra Hui

Influence: Worlds of Origin: Halemnet Known goals: Control the Servitor trade, become the wealthiest house in the Sector, acquire as many Rogue Trader warrants as possible. Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: House Roe, House Merlos Phra Hui (Paa - Hoo) is the youngest of the houses that comprise the nobility of the sub-sector. Hailing from Halemnet, the Phra Hui are the traditional crafters of Song blades. Each member of the family are instructed in the art of crafting a Song blade, and each craftsman creates only one blade during their entire life. The Phra Hui took the wealth that their blades garnered them and bought out most of the other large manufactoria and guilds on Halemnet. Since gaining controlling interest over Halemnet, the Phra Hui have concentrated on spreading their mercantile power through the cluster. While they are the youngest family, they are one of the wealthiest and they seem to have quickly learned how to hold grudges against those that cross them. Phra Hui Intimara, the Flame Shroud Influence: 94 Worlds of Origin: Halemnet. Known goals: Get more power Notable Benefactors: Inquisitor Malan Drell Notable Rivals: The Red Redemption, The Silk Women, Edsan Roe, Alizabeth Hulegaard Intimara is a true anomaly amongst the noble houses of the sub-sector. Known as the Flame Shroud for his devestating abilities, Intimara is a powerful pyrokine, a psyker specialising on the harnessing and unleashing of fiery energy. Before rising to eminence n his house, Intimara served in the retinue for Inquisitor Malan Drell and has called upon that relationship a number of times in the past to intimidate or, as is rumoured, eliminate rivals. Intimara has recently set his sights on the seat of power in the Cyclops Cluster and has been urging his House to support him in going for the Subsector governorship. While support for him is currently low, his inquisitorial backing has made him an unwelcome addition to the worries of Edsan Roe. Fortunantly for the Govenor, most of the influence Intimara can wield is currently being used to hold off the attentions of those that would rather see the witch put down, rather than elevated to a lofty position of power. Under normal situations, Intimara would be able to buy off half of the cults after his head, but Xavier Vierghast's recent health issues and subsequent sponsoring of

the Red Redemption has rendered them immune to Intimara's influence.

House Merlos
Influence: Worlds of Origin: Originally Rebo, now Numitor Known goals: unknown Notable Benefactors: unknown Notable Rivals: unknown The Merlos are an enigma to most. The oldest noble house of the Cyclops cluster, they are shrouded and keep themselves apart from the traditional inter-house conflicts that plague the Imperium. No one is sure how far their influence spreads, but when they present a candidate for planetary govenor or for sector warmaster, their wishes are usually granted. Rumour has it that the Merlos are sponsored by a darker power, but no inquisitor has ever discovered any signs of involvement from Xenos or the Ruinous powers. Discovered and live to tell his tale, at least. Lady Anda Merlos Influence: 12 Worlds of Origin: Lithore Known goals: Provide the best tea service on Lithore Orbital Notable Benefactors: unknown Notable Rivals: Various crime lords and protection rackets. If anyone wishes to speak with House Merlos and doesn't simply wait to be approached, their first stop is usually the White Dove Teahouse on Lithore orbital. The Lady Anda operates a surprisingly clean operation for that station, and her tea house is patronised by many who wish to escape the toil and hardship of working on the solar collectors for long enough to enjoy a simple tea ceremony. Lady Anda will be the first to tell you that she has no wish of entering into the power struggles and squabbles of her family, simply that she wishes to operate a simple shop. Those that do approach her with overtures to the family, and are willing to wait patiently as the various courtesans in the store serve them their brewed beverages, often find themselves approached soon afterwards by representatives of the Merlos - for good or ill.

House Roe are widely regarded as one of the most potent mercantile forces in the cluster, if not the Gothic sector as a whole. They primarily deal in foodstuffs, holding controlling interest in Lithore and Verstap, as well as a number of smaller colony on worlds whose identity and location they keep secure. Roe have recently been attempting to drive a wedge between Vierghast and the Ecclesiarchy, trying to become the favoured scions of the church in the cluster. Sub-sector Governor Edsan Roe Influence: 122 Worlds of Origin: Rebo. Known goals: Survive Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: Noble Houses, Alizabeth Hulegaard, Phra Hui Intimuna The governor is on borrowed time, and he knows it. Governor Roe is little more than a figurehead, signing off on House Roe petitions to gain more trade routes with each passing year. His position would have been unassailable, but for the desperation of House Hulegaard. Seeing their power waning eith every day that passed, House Hulegaard has started to seek ways of gaining as much power as possible in one major push, trying to raise themselves to a position where no mystery malady could bring them low. Seeing another house gearing up for a major influence grab, the young Phra Hui family has also started looking at the governorship in order to expand their territories if there is any leadership battle. With two of the houses staring at Governor Roe's throne, he has taken matters into his own hands, slowly and legally transferring more and more of the sub-sectors power into his own hands until he has garnered more personal influence than any other individual in the Cyclops Cluster. Should another House attempt to steal his title, Roe will be more than ready to fight to defend it.

House Hulegaard
Influence: Worlds of Origin: Rebo Known goals: Cure the Madness, enhance the power of Battlefleet Gothic, gain control of the sector by raising a crusade army. Notable Benefactors: Battlefleet Gothic, Adeptus mechanicus (Rebo forge) Notable Rivals: unknown Hulegaard are cold and proud. A dying line, they have always been associated with the Imperial Navy and have many strong bonds and compacts with the Adeptus Mechanicus. A sickness has begun to plague their ranks, a madness that overcomes the male heirs to the line as they enter

House Roe
Influence: Worlds of Origin: Originally Rebo, now Numitor Known goals: Gain complete control of Verstap and Denerair, steal House Vierghasts position as favoured scions of the Ecclesiarchy, drive criminal elements from Lithore, purchase more colonies to expand mercantile grasp. Notable Benefactors: unknown Notable Rivals: House Vierghast, House Phra Hui

adulthood and eventually leads to death. The madness waxes and wanes within the house, some generations are almost untouched, some descent into raving maniacs. The Mechanicus' greatest Biologis agents are at a loss, claiming the madness can have no natural source. Fortunately, the female scions of the house tend to be just as good at strategy and naval tactics as their counterparts and, as a result, it is almost only female members of the house met outside of their extensive compounds above Rebo and Mezoa. Grand Admiral Alizabeth Hulegaard Influence: 87 Worlds of Origin: Rebo Known goals: Start a new Crusade, become sector governess. Notable Benefactors: none Notable Rivals: House Roe Third in line to the Matriarchy and Grand Admiral of the Battlefleet Gothic, Alizabeth Hulegaard is one of the up and coming power houses of the Cyclops Cluster. Possessed of a keen tactical mind and cold ambition, Admiral Hulegaard is known to friends and enemies alike as being ruthless in both war and politics, considering them largely to be the same thing. Her ambition to gain control over the sector is well known and many members of the nobility, not just her own house, believe she has the capacity to take it. This has made her exceptionally unpopular amongst the members of House Roe. Admiral Hulegaard is probably best known for her Flagship, the Mars-class Battlecruiser Spear of Tartarus. The Spear is dangerous enough as it is, but combined with the Admiral and her handpicked officer cadre, it is almost unbeatable in battle.