Editing Avalonus (section)

===Culture===
Hive Gildwynn’s glittering spires are inhabited by a peculiar class of Imperial noble, one that proudly upholds archaic notions of honor and chivalry within a viper’s nest of intrigue, blood feuds, and secret heresies. This attitude, of respecting a sworn oath, of giving a personal trophy to a chosen champion, of spilling blood in the name of slighted honor contrasts sharply or dovetails neatly, depending on the viewer, with the Avalonian capacity for malicious betrayal, cold-hearted manipulation, and brutal extermination. To an outsider, the combination of nearly blind honor and loyalty and vicious intrigue are hard to reconcile, but these attitudes can be seen through all levels of Avalonian society, and most prevalently amongst the nobles of Hive Gildwynn, who claim direct descent from the first colonists to repopulate this world. 

Middle hivers are oath-bound to a noble house or merchant cartel, who are themselves bound themselves to a higher noble house in a complex web of blood and shared history. A similar web governs the relations between the families and merchants of the middle hive, leading to a world in constant tension as citizens attempt to keep the latest updates to the pattern of ancient blood-feuds and friendships in mind. Through these connections, the regions of Hive Gildwynn are split into pocket empires for the greatest of the noble houses of Avalonus, which are expanded either through outright conquest, the raising of a middle hive family to “noble” status, and the claiming of wagers. 

Those in the underhive are frequently written off as unproductive and bane on the hive, but any action against them is forestalled by more worldly up-hive nobles. The greatest knights and bodyguards have risen from the denizens of the underhive, and a significant portion of Avalonus’ Imperial Tithe is paid by the presence of conscripted underhivers. The final resource of the underhive are the rare discoveries of archeotech, which fuel a continuous train of Rogue Trader and Mechanicus expeditions into the hive’s depths.