Avalonus

The Capital of the Victorum Sector, Avalonus has been the heart for the region since the Dark Age of Technology, when the Empire of Blades ruled this region of space. The planet is blessed with the largest planetary population within the sector, as well as easy access to vital warp routes and productive mining and agri-worlds, which has made it a vital lynchpin in the productivity of the sector. Six massive hives dominate the planet’s surface, while a seventh lurks within Avalonus’ planetary ocean. Between them, in those regions of the world that have not been consumed by massive conurbations or destroyed by the industrial runoff of hive manufactories, lie great planet-spanning deserts and vast mountain ranges covered in dense jungles and fed by broad rivers.

Overview

Avalonus is a world of unimaginable wealth, where the treasures of a thousand worlds is gathered by Chartist fleets plying the space-lanes of the Imperium and Rogue Traders plunging into the distant and unconquered frontiers. The patronage of a million nobles pay for the creation of art and soldiers known even to the distant spires of Holy Terra, while ponderous and stately examples of the pinnacle of Mechanicus craft can be seen on every upper hive street. Mineshafts plunge deep beneath the surface of the planet, seeking untapped mineral riches and deposits of ancient war ruins to process into useful commodities which it exports to lesser worlds and distant sectors.

It is also a world of stately anachronism and brutal killings, where oath-bonds and noble knights are as woven into the fabric of Avalonian society as bespoke dueling and gladiatorial arenas. Every citizen, from the lowest underhive scunner to decadent spire noble carries a blade with them to settle matters of honor, swear blood oaths or simply show willing. Wandering sell-blades known as knights are pledged to noble families and guard their claims, taking to arenas to settle matters of dispute. Vying “dukes” and “earls” and other titles of peerage dot the landscape of the hive, bestowed upon the allies of the great ruling families, fighting shadow wars of influence and control from the base of the noble spires to the very depths of the Underhive.

In the shadows of Avalonus, however, lurk secrets vile enough to chill the heart of even an Inquisitor Lord. Slumbering treasures from the Dark Age of Technology are hunted by Mechanicus hereteks seeking secrets that could consume these stars in a tide of blood and death once again. Death cults dedicated to the Skull Throne vie with the pleasure cults of the Prince of Lies, the excess of bloodletting fuelling dark deeds as decadent and dissolute nobles seek ever greater pleasures that the Imperium denies them. The complex weave of noble politics draws the unwelcome attention of the Changer of Ways, while seditionists whisper of a future where Avalonus stands at the heart of a vast human empire and heretical priests speak of the return to an age of aggrandized worship. The age and wealth of Avalonus has long been a breeding ground for conspiracies of a most ancient provenance, and perhaps one day they will boil to the surface in a frenzy of damnation, tearing down the structures of the Imperium and replacing them with once-dead nightmares and long-hidden designs.

Hives

Avalonus can be broadly divided into four main regions. The first, the Great Conurbation, spans the northernmost pair of continents and the polluted sea beneath. Born from a melding of Hives Gildwynn, Calivere and Jaranoct, it is the heart of the planetary and sector government. To the south lies the great expanse of water known as the Grail Sea and home to the undersea hive of Aronlot which clings to the seamounts of Avalonus’ planetary ocean. The wet, tropical continent beyond it could be another world, were it not for the looming bulk of Hive Verethkyn. On the other side of the planet lie the twin hives of Gergenir and Exewain, based in the vast expanses of desert that mark the landing zones of Saint Castor’s forces six millennia ago. These hives are mostly independent, ruled by nobles that jealously guard their holdings and influence, but each hive sends a representative to the Arch-Council of Avalonus to negotiate matters of inter-hive importance.

Gildwynn

The oldest, most expansive hive on Avalonus, Hive Gildwynn is the heart of the Victorum Sector’s administration. Its cyclopean, blade-like towers cover nearly half the continent and spill out over the polluted remnants of the Sea of Tiran to merge with the towering bulk of Hive Calivere. The hive competes with Hive Exewain for dominance of the orbital trade, but neither hive alone would be able to cope with the sheer volume of traffic that Avalonus attracts.

Surprisingly for such an ancient hive, Gildwynn has remained relatively uniform through its phases of expansion. The design of its towers, soaring high into the air as a golden monolith before curving to a shimmering, glass-covered point, were divinely inspired by the orders of Saint Castor. This First Sword, built to the express design of the Saint, was erected upon the surface of Avalonus to commemorate the victory of the crusade and became the foundation for Hive Gildwynn. By ancient tradition, no blade can be built that exceeds its height within the hive limits. Thus, the hive has expanded over the continent as its population of nobles has grown, and several sub-spires have arisen scattered around the blade-towers of legendary noble families and ancient mountain ranges. The overall effect has been to make Gildwynn appear to be the result of several smaller hives having merged themselves to the central spire of the First Sword. Travel between these upper regions can be done through the graceful roadways built by the skilled architects of the hive, but this is normally left to the liveried servants and other lesser beings who are granted residence in the upper hive. Instead, fleets of private aircraft and skimmers fly in a chaotic tangle of aerial flight paths determined by the Administratum for maximum efficiency and minimal risk.

Despite its name, only the highest, densest regions of Gildwynn’s sharp spires are sheathed in shining gold and electrum. Hundreds of kilometers, to be sure, but beyond the boundaries of the Golden Heart the hive gives way to blades gray and black steel, obscured by the smog of Imperial industry. This region, the Steel, is the home to the “pretender” noble houses raised by the true nobles of the upper hive, as well as less successful merchant cartels and prosperous knight orders. Up close, each and every spire is blazoned the history of its denizens, a practice that began with the First Sword. In either brilliant gold statuary or simple steel engravings, noble families and merchant cartels emblazon their triumphs and trials upon the spires of Gildwynn. When the spire is transferred or lost, new layers are added through either massive lifting projects or the construction of another outer layer, to tell the tale of the latest lordlings to dwell within. Only the most dishonored, those cleansed by the Inquisition or who betrayed the complex rules of Avalonian politics one too many times, find their histories stripped down and erased. To do otherwise would insult the Saint’s decree, and bring bad luck upon a spire’s new masters. Fed by the progress of ages, some spires have grown fat and round, while others have taken it upon themselves to plant a new blade into the surface of Avalonus.

The middle hive is a warren of tithe-houses, manufactories and shuttleports amidst dense blocks of tenements and armories. Large portions of the maze are pierced by wide arterial transitways which feed the hive’s many engines of production and spread out into the dense labyrinth of the Conurbation. Amidst this dense urban maze are hundreds of domed arenas, where the average citizen can battle for glory or settle disputes of honor and contract. Even here, the practice of blazoning continues; arenas celebrate the greatest honor jousts and bloodiest performances upon their armored domes, merchants brand their seals or logos into the doors of their storefronts, dwellers carve their names into the crumbling brick of their new tenement. The middle hive is also home to the hive’s seaward docks, which open onto the Sea of Tiran.

Farther down, the underhive is made up of those segments of the lower hives that have not been crushed by the weight of the growing hive, those spires that have collapsed due to sabotage (not unheard of) or simple incompetence, and the most ancient ruins of the Saint’s first settlement. In the darkness of the underhive, one can also find pools of industrial waste, abandoned mining tunnels or excavations, and even, it is whispered, structures dating back to the time of the Empire of Blood. These hazards constitute the only way most underhive denizens have of surviving, either by cultivating the mutated life-forms that spring up from these dismal places or scavenging them for anything they can sell to up-hive expeditions.

Notable Locations

This First Sword still serves as the heart of Imperial rule, with Sector Governess Rosella Khassom-Ownevere holding court from within its glass-topped apex. Rising nearly 15 kilometers into the air, it towers over the lesser blades of the hive. At its peak is the Imperial Curia, where Sector Governess Khassom-Ownever, also known as the Lady Sector or Lady Victorum, meets with representatives of the Imperial Adepta and the worlds of the Victorum Sector. Beneath stained glass renditions of Saint Castor’s victories, the powerbrokers of the Imperium negotiate tithes, review the latest developments of the Trident War, and plot the course of the sector.

Just below the Imperial Curia is the Grande Court of the Perilous Round, where the Arch-Council of Avalonus meets to discuss matters of planetary import. While not as grand as the Curia, its soaring walls are covered with adamantium shields, each emblazoned with the coat of arms of Avalonus’ greatest noble houses. At the center of the Court are the eleven Seats Superior, where the representatives of the six other hives sit around a round table with the Lord-Generals of the two PDF armies, the Inquisitorial Agent, the Mechanicus Envoy and the Saint’s Voice. At the nominal head of the table is the Throne Perilous, which only the ruler of Hive Gildwynn or their chosen representative may take on pain of death.

Under the Grande Court are thousands of chambers and rooms that host emissaries and agents of the nobles, cartels and governments of the Victorum Sector, as well as representatives of the Imperial Adepta and dignitaries from beyond the sector’s borders. Somewhere in the tangle of the hive, the golden shell ends, and the spire joins the sprawling network of transit avenues and interlocking levels of the middle hive. This is the heart of the Administratum, which creeps over a dozen square kilometers of records rooms and clerical quarters. Millions of clerks and servitors collate the output and consumption of Avalonus’ manufactories and people, ensuring that the people of Avalonus fulfill the demands of the Imperial Tithe.

Abutting the First Sword is the slightly lower Tower of Sight, home to Avalonus’ primary Astropathic choir. An electrum-plated spire, thin and sharp like a needle, it is home to the two dozen astropaths that maintain the Victorum Sector’s links to the greater Imperium. It also hosts the planet’s Adeptus Astra Telepathica, which dispatches psykers newly arrived from distant Terra across the sector. Unknown to all but the highest levels of the Imperial adepta, the Tower maintains a battalion of sanctioned battle-psykers within its silvery depths, ready to be deployed against daemonic incursions and rogue psykers.

In the midst of the gleaming blades of Hive Gildwynn’s Golden Heart sits a squat black fortress built in the shape of the Imperial Aquila. This is the Court of Sin, the heart of the Adeptus Arbites operations in Hive Gildwynn. Visible from all the higher towers, it is a reminder of Imperial Justice and the cost of failing your Emperor-given duties to the rulers of Avalonus. Imposing show trials, full of pomp and ceremony, are held monthly beneath the withering gaze of Judge Marshal Leo Makk, who takes great care to personally invite the worthies of the planet to witness the Imperium’s judgment. Less important trials and sentencings take place within the many lesser courtrooms that are spread throughout the fortress, and hundreds of magistrates and arbitrators find themselves delving into the great archives of legal tomes kept beneath its imposing black walls in the Sector Judicial archive. A small market has sprung up to supply and house the many petitioners that seek audience with the Arbites within on matters of law and contract, but given the Avalonian predilection for honor duels, it is far smaller than one would expect of a hive world of this size.

Located in the Mount Amalath subspire is Varranus Spaceport. The spaceport is critical to Hive Gildwynn’s economy, as it represents the primary landing point for a vast majority of the raw goods and materials imported to Avalonus. From there, it is sent along the wide and ancient transitways to the other great hives of the Conurbation, to be made into all manner of finished goods. These then return to Varranus Spaceport and are lifted to the great fleets in orbit. It is also the official spaceport of Avalonus, where any Imperial presence will first land and disembark. As such, it has been built to combine both Avalonian traditions and Imperial design, to impress upon guests both the unique character of the capital world and its loyalty to the Imperium.

Inquisitorial Holdings

Though Hive Gildwynn’s towers and hab-blocks are usually packed close together, one stands alone, surrounded by a circle of courtyards made of white Terran marble that rest upon the middle hive. This spire is far larger than the average blade, cylindrical rather than flat and nearly reaching the heights of the First Sword despite being built over the low-lying area above the Sea of Tiran. It is the Court of Last Remembrance, the fortress-palace of the Fidelis Ordos of the Conclave Victorum. Its impressive bulk is carved with images of Inquisitors, Saints and other heroes of the Imperium, each in a position of battle. While awe-inspiring, this façade also conceals the deadly defenses of the Court; las-cannons hidden in massive golden powerblades, bolters in open mouths and glaring eyes, missile ports within the shadowed crevices of frozen power armor. In a time of crisis, the Spire’s hidden arsenal and the marble killing grounds below it would prevent any enemy from truly besieging this fortress of the Imperium.

The Court is also the subject of intense rumor and myth among the people of Avalonus. Beyond the usual horror stories that accompany an Inquisitorial fortress, the history of its construction is shrouded in mystery. It is said that it appeared suddenly one night, rising from the black depths of the Sea of Tiran, or falling from the sky on fiery rockets, or being lifted from a massive land-train that stretched twenty kilometers into the continent. None can say whether any of this is true, not even the Inquisition itself. Likewise, the Inquisition has never responded to rumors that, in times of dire need, the entire hive spire could be either sunk into the Sea or lifted back into space.

The Conclave has been lead (some say ruled) by Lord Inquisitor Shandolh Qatasoum for the last thirty-two years. Answerable only to the High Lords of the Inquisition, Lord Qatasoum’s reign over the conclave has seen it slowly unravel into factions and infighting. A staunch Amalathian, he viewed his appointment to the Victorum sector as a holy duty to the saint and the Emperor. This only deepened his disappointment as the Radical depths to which the Conclave Victorum had sunk became evident. With a heavy heart, Qatasoum began a series of inquests and trials that ended only eight years ago, when the last excommunicate Inquisitor was fired into the stellar remnant known as the Vision of Castor. This pogrom, which claimed more than a dozen Inquisitors and their retinues, has led to a growing movement of Radical and unaligned Inquisitors to seek to either distance themselves from the High Council or otherwise remove the influence of the Lord Inquisitor. At the same time, it has led the Puritans to attempt to retrench their control and establish their orthodoxy upon the Conclave.

The Court of Last Remembrance is home to roughly ten thousand agents, clerks and Inquisitorial troopers, in addition to passing bands of Acolytes and Inquisitors. In the bowels of the spire, sealed off from the rest of the middle hive, are banks of cogitators and vast echoing vaults of arms and equipment. Deeper still, descending into the pollution of the Sea of Tiran, are the forbidden vaults, where arch-heretics are questioned and potentially heretical, and certainly dangerous, artifacts are sealed. In the time of Lord Qatasoum, their contents have remained untouched for fear of arousing his ire, and those artifacts recovered have tended to disappear into the fusion fires of nearby stars instead.

Hive Society

Hive Gildwynn’s glittering spires are inhabited by a peculiar class of Imperial noble, one that holds archaic notions of honor and chivalry within a viper’s nest of political intrigue, ancient blood feuds, and wars over stolen swine. 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 either contrasts sharply or dovetails neatly with the Avalonian capacity for malicious betrayal, proxy warfare and brutal culls of defeated bloodlines.

The courts of an Avalonian noble are a hotbed of shadowy promises and traded loyalties, martial friendships and bitter blood feuds, and the most backstabbing you will find outside of a nest of hedgehogs. The ancient and twisted histories of bribery, conquest, marriage, elopement, murder, vengeance, loyalty and ambition that bind the noble houses of Avalonus have led to open civil war hundreds of times within the last millennia over what on other worlds would be seen as pragmatic readjustments of position, simple youthful exuberance and the completely appropriate use of disposable cats-paws to achieve one’s ends. Yet these self-same nobles will quite freely meet and mingle within the great gladiatorial arenas and place friendly wagers upon one another’s champions, follow chivalric rule to the spirit if not the letter, swear and keep binding oaths of loyalty even as their partner’s power falls to the lowest ebb, even as thrice-removed proxies wage micro-wars within the arenas of the hive. 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.

Gildwynn’s nobles style themselves as the supreme guardians of Imperial aesthetics, and strive to hold themselves and their surroundings to an exacting standard. The fashions of Gildwynn avoid the outlandish attempts of lesser worlds to attract the eye, following instead a noticeable and steady evolution from earlier successes. The manner of dress and decoration of both the nobles and their palaces today would be recognizable to the first settlers of the world, if much evolved and refined. Slim, heavy gowns remain in fashion for both men and women, while the wearing of arms and armor is common enough that one could be forgiven for thinking most of the upper hive was populated by private armies. Beautiful works of statuary compete with magnificent paintings in the grandest of Imperial traditions, the paragons of which are frequently displayed and commented upon at the grand jousts hosted weekly by individual noble houses. The practice of blazoning becomes all-present, visible on all manner of clothing, weapons and other goods. The quality and history of an emblazoned object determines its value and prestige amongst the up-hive nobles, and some truly masterful schools of craftsmen have remained in vogue for several thousand years.

To safeguard these valuables and worthies, the hive relies upon the services of the Knights of Avalon. Essentially, these part-time soldiers serve as the planetary Enforcers, riding mighty beasts descended from the Terran horse in suits of gleaming silver armor and wielding sword-like metal clubs known as iron whips. Skilled with the many uses of this versatile weapon as well as the hell-pistols holstered on their hips, the Knights of Avalon exemplify the Avalonian concepts of chivalry and honor, and are much praised for their pursuit of all crimes committed against the wealthy and powerful of the upper hive. Middle hive life is a poor reflection of the lives of the up-hive nobles. The unreachable beauty of the upper hive is reflected by a tendency towards garish colors, large and bold experiences, and the poor imitation of the complex emblazoning that is so important to Avalonian society. Life in the cramped and twisting warrens of the middle hive is shaped by the economic processes that drive Hive Gildwynn’s economy. The transport of raw material from the hive spaceport, the industrial production of the great manufactories of The Steel, and the feeding of the popular arenas that provide entertainment and release for the masses have shaped the middle hive’s construction and people.

The great arterial transitways that link Gildwynn to the rest of the Conurbation are viewed as sacred and holy, and desecrators who threaten them with graffiti or damage are hung from their ramparts by coils of steel wire. The maintenance of these transitways are a responsibility left solely to the Guild of Passages, who also maintain the bridges and roads of the upper hive and the Conurbation. It is not uncommon to see the spaces beneath the great arches that hold them up being used as improvised cathedrals by the wandering monks known as friars, their home-spun parables mingling with High Gothic prayers and shared stories of courage, honor and the values of the Saints.

All who live within Gildwynn’s middle hive are oath-bound to a noble house or merchant cartel, which are often 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.

When two noble houses clash, subjects are expected to offer their services to their noble rulers, often bringing their own ancestral weaponry to bear. Oftentimes, middle-hive families that bear bad blood have found themselves fighting alongside each other as household troops of the same nobles thanks to the obscurity and denseness of Avalonian politics; on these occasions, it is not unknown for sudden thaws between rivals and the rapid shifting of middle hive territories as a result of shared sufferings and victories.

Here, the power of the Knights of Avalon weakens as one descends the hive. The knights become fewer in number and pursue only the most heinous of crimes, such as murder or oath-breaking, and their equipment is both rougher and tougher than that issued to their up-hive brothers. The most important function of the Knights in the middle hive is maintenance of social order, most especially through the control of the knight orders and mercenary troops based in the middle hive. These organizations are the easiest path for ambitious hivers to rise in hive society, and through their arena victories and proxy wars, they can be sure of capturing the attention of the rich and powerful. The lives of middle hivers caught in the crossfire and bloodshed is a small price to pay for a well-trained body of elite armed forces, ready to be paid to the Imperium or used in the frequent civil wars; however, any damage to the hive’s infrastructure or disruption of the hive’s business will be met by the force of the Knights of Avalon.

The wretched dwellers of the underhive have no such protection. For them, life is a poisonous struggle for existence. Industrial run-off is the only source of fresh water, and the mutated plants and animals that live within the ancient and decayed layers of the hive remain toxic even after extensive primitive processing. Vicious gangs rule large segments of twisted ruins in a parody of the spire nobles, extracting tithes of food and water from their frightened “subjects,” and press them into service for brutal gang wars. The most powerful of the gangs are borne of large extended families, tied by blood and loyal only to those that share it.

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.