Empire of Silence

by Christopher Ruocchio

  —TOR GIBSON, tutor to the Marlowe children and a minor functionary on the archon’s advisory council. A graduate of Nov Acor on Syracuse.

  —TOR ALMA, personal physician to House Marlowe. Authorized to do work with High College birthing vats in the delivery of palatine children.

  —EUSEBIA, prior of the Holy Chantry in Meidua Prefecture and a chief advisor to the archon.

  —Her acolytes:

  —SEVERN, a young chanter who serves as secretary to the prior.

  —ABIATHA, an old chanter who runs the Chantry services at Devil’s Rest on most occasions.

  —HELENE, chamberlain of Devil’s Rest and chief of the domestic and social servants, including the wait staff, cooks, maids, and grooms.

  ON THE PLANET DELOS

  Delos is one of the older examples of successful terraforming in Imperial history. Formally settled in the fourth millennium ISD, the project took several centuries to complete. It originally had no biosphere, oxygen cycle, or oceans, but the gravity and magnetospheres were just right. Comets were brought in to introduce water, and many of the animals introduced were of terranic stock, leading to a world as much like Old Earth as could be readily produced. Due to its clement environment and strategic placement on the Imperial trade routes with the Sagittarine provinces, the world has always been prosperous. It flourished first under House Ormund, then again under House Kephalos when the Ormund Dukes fell into disfavor during the Chablon Rebellion in the thirteenth millennium and were removed from power. This prosperity was compounded by the discovery of the system’s amazing uranium deposits, which have long been the subject of internecine struggles between the palatine houses of the system.

  A cultural and commercial hub, Delos has attracted interstellar trade among Nipponese and Mandari corporations as well as the Eudorans, Durantines, and Free Traders.

  Here follows a list of those persons appearing in the Delos episode of Lord Marlowe’s account:

  ADAEZE FENG, Director of the Wong-Hopper Consortium for the Auriga Province.

  —Her retainers:

  —XUN GONG SUN, a junior minister dealing with the trade of raw materials.

  —TOR TERENCE, a scholiast advisor to the director’s personal office.

  LENA BALEM, factionarius of the Delian Miners Guild, Meidua chapter; tasked with the oversight of all uranium mining in-system.

  JEM and ZEB, two criminals.

  DEMETRI ARELLO, a Jaddian Free Trader, captain of the starship Eurynasir.

  —His wife, JUNO ARELLO, co-owner of the ship.

  —Their crew:

  —BASSEM, a fellow Jaddian and the ship’s helmsman.

  —SARRIC JUGO, a Tavrosi expatriate and the ship’s physician.

  —SALTUS, a homunculus of inappropriate humor.

  —EMAR and IMANI, twins.

  HOUSE MATARO OF EMESH

  Borne by Conquest

  A comparatively young house, the Mataros of Emesh are one of several nouveau riche families that rose to prominence during the years of Imperial conquest in Norma and in the Veil of Marinus in particular. Only plutocrats some few generations ago, the Mataros made their money buying and selling slaves, particularly bulk-order homunculi for agricultural and industrial labor in new colonies. Exceedingly wealthy, Armand Mataro—only a patrician—outfitted three private legions and used them to conquer Emesh without Imperial mandate. Such private wars typified the Norman conquests, and those who were successful were granted palatine status. The Mataros are not yet aligned with any of the great ancient constellations of the houses palatine, being of relatively low blood and low status.

  Emesh is an unimportant demesne on the very edge of human-civilized space, constantly under the shadow of the Cielcin threat. Relatively poor, the residents have been trying to capitalize on the planet’s Umandh coloni, though the natives are so biologically alien that their usefulness as slaves is questionable at best. Still, the planet gets by on the export of seafood and petroleum extracted from the seabed. House Mataro’s sigil is a golden sphinx dormant on a green field, sometimes trimmed in white.

  Here follows a list of those members and retainers of House Mataro mentioned in Lord Hadrian’s account:

  LORD BALIAN MATARO, third Count of Emesh, Archon of Borosevo Prefecture, and Lord of Castle Borosevo.

  —His husband, LORD LUTHOR ASTIN-SHIN-MATARO, a Mandari man, Minister of Finance for the county and formerly of the Marinus office of the Wong-Hopper Consortium.

  —Their children:

  —DORIAN MATARO, presumptive heir to the County of Emesh, a young man in the year of his Ephebeia.

  —His friend, MELANDRA, a patrician from a loyal family in Borosevo.

  —ANAÏS MATARO, a young and canny socialite.

  —His ancestor {LORD ARMAND MATARO}, first Count of Emesh, conqueror of the Norman United Fellowship. Oversaw the construction of the military base in Borosevo and the beginnings of the city itself.

  —His household:

  —LIADA OGIR, High Chancellor and chief of the palace logothetes, head of the civil service.

  —LIGEIA VAS, Grand Prior of the Holy Chantry on Emesh.

  —Her acolyte, GILLIAM VAS, a chanter and the grand prior’s bastard son, a genetically mutated intus.

  —K. F. AGARI, chief inquisitor of the Holy Chantry in Borosevo.

  —Brothers RHOM and UDAN, cathars of the Chantry Inquisition.

  —SIR PRESTON RAU, the elderly fencing instructor tasked with teaching the count’s children.

  —DAME CAMILLA, a lictor tasked with the protection of the count and his family.

  —TOR VLADIMIR, chief scholiast advisor to the count.

  —MALO, a palace concubine in the count’s service.

  —His vassals:

  —LORD PERUN VEISI, Archon of Tolbaran Prefecture and Lord of Springdeep Castle.

  —His wife, LADY LYDIA REDGRAVE-VEISI, an offworld palatine.

  —Her uncle, SIR ELOMAS REDGRAVE, a famous traveler, adventurer, and duelist. Retired to a life in the country as an amateur xenologist.

  —His associate, TOR ADA, a scholiast, director of the archaeological dig at Calagah.

  —Her assistants, MAROS and BEL, lay archaeologists from the University of Tolbaran.

  —His servants, ORSO and DAMARA, brought with him from his travels.

  —Their children:

  —ALEXANDER VEISI, presumptive heir to the prefecture.

  —KARTHIK VEISI, a young man, squire to his great-uncle Elomas.

  —His mother, LADY KAMALA VEISI.

  —ETAN VRIELL, a centurion in his service.

  —LORD TIVAN MELLUAN, Archon and Exsul of Binah Prefecture.

  —LORD IVANIS KVAR, Archon and Exsul of Armand Prefecture.

  ON THE PLANET EMESH

  Emesh was colonized by the Norman United Fellowship, a small-state direct democracy, in the early sixteenth millennium. The planet is mostly oceanic with a diverse native aquaculture, and as such many of Emesh’s settlements were built on atolls or islands that are all that remain of the planet’s long-dead volcanic past. It has only one continent, Anshar, a small, volcanic outcrop a mere fifteen hundred miles across. There the NUF built its capital, Tolbaran. When House Mataro invaded, they built an advanced military base on Borosevo atoll, which in the centuries since has grown into a sprawling labyrinth of canals and platforms. Tolbaran has now been relegated to a secondary role in civic life. Much of Anshar’s land in given over to agriculture, as the volcanic soil has proved amenable to agriculture and viticulture.

  The planet has two moons, Armand and Binah. Binah, the larger moon, has recently been opened for terraforming, and algae cultures have taken hold extremely aggressively. Armand is too small to hold an atmosphere but plays host to vigorous mining operations, especially of h
eavy metals.

  Here follows a list of those persons appearing in the Emesh episode of Lord Marlowe’s account:

  VALKA ONDERRA VHAD EDDA, a xenologist and de facto dignitary visiting from Edda in the Demarchy of Tavros. A researcher of the Umandh and of the ruins on the southern continent. Attached to Sir Elomas Redgrave’s amateur expedition.

  CAT, a poor girl eking out a living in the streets.

  SEPHA, an old woman who runs a clinic for the city’s poor and homeless, often for free.

  —Her assistant, MARIS, a young woman.

  GILA, head of a reclamation dock for abandoned lighter ships.

  —Her employees, SKAG and BOR, starship mechanics.

  RELLS, the head of a street gang that menaces the city and terrorizes the other homeless and disaffected people.

  —His underlings, JOI, KALLER, and TUR, common criminals.

  GIN, prefect-inspector of the Criminal Response Division, chief enemy of the street gangs.

  —KO, REN, and YOH, all urban prefects.

  NILES ENGIN, vilicus of the Umandh alienage at Ulakiel, high-ranking member of the Fishers Guild.

  —QUINTUS, a douleter in the employ of the Ulakiel sanctuary and the Fishers Guild.

  CROW, a traveler from an antique land.

  —In the colosso:

  —WILLIAM OF DANU, called SWITCH, an inexperienced fighter. Formerly a chartered catamite and cabin boy aboard a Mandari starship.

  —His former master, SET, a ship owner, pederast, and merchanter.

  —PALLINO, a one-eyed, forty-year active-service veteran of the Imperial Legions. One of the de facto captains of the myrmidon team.

  —His lover, ELARA, a local woman with a taste for the sarcastic.

  —GHEN and SIRAN, prisoners forced to fight.

  —BANKS, a grizzled veteran. One of the de facto captains of the myrmidon team.

  —KIRI, a middle-aged woman fighting voluntarily, hoping to earn enough to send her son to school.

  —Her son, DAR, a young man on the cusp of being old enough to take the civil service exams.

  —Among the others, KEDDWEN, ERDRO, ALIS, and LIGHT.

  —KOGAN, a former Whitehorse Company mercenary, veteran of the Battle of Wodan. Recently joined the myrmidons at the Colosso.

  —JAFFA and AMAREI, professional gladiators.

  —CHAND, a slave and physician to the myrmidons. A Lothrian ex-patriot and former Imperial auxiliary.

  —STROMOS, chef in the coliseum’s hypogean gaol. Considers himself too great an artist for his post.

  —SLOW and SLOWER, prison guards tasked by the count with guarding special prisoners.

  —Their charge, MAKISOMN, a Cielcin gifted to the count by the Whitehorse Company, meant for public execution.

  THE WIDER WORLD

  Here follows a list of those persons tied neither to Delos nor Emesh in Lord Marlowe’s account:

  His Imperial Radiance, EMPEROR WILLIAM THE TWENTY-THIRD OF THE HOUSE AVENT; Firstborn Son of the Earth; Guardian of the Solar System; King of Avalon; Lord Sovereign of the Kingdom of Windsor-in-Exile; Prince Imperator of the Arms of Orion, of Sagittarius, of Perseus, and of Centaurus; Primarch of Orion; Conqueror of Norma; Grand Strategos of the Legions of the Sun; Supreme Lord of the Cities of Forum; North Star of the Constellations of the Blood Palatine; Defender of the Children of Men; and Servant of the Servants of Earth.

  —His Strategos, SIR TITUS HAUPTMANN, Duke of Andernach and First Strategos of the Legions of Centaurus.

  —His tribune, DAME RAINE SMYTHE, a Tribune of the 437th Legion of Centaurus, captain of the ISV Obdurate.

  —Her first officer, SIR WILLIAM CROSSFLANE, Commander, First Grade. An elderly palatine.

  —Her lieutenant, BASSANDER LIN, a promising young senior security officer aboard the Obdurate. Frequently serves as a lictor to the tribune on political affairs.

  —SIR ALEXEI KARELIN, Lord Chairman and Captain of the Whitehorse Company, a group of foederati composed primarily of Imperial ex-legionnaires. Attached to the 437th Legion.

  —VARRIC COUSLAND, Lord Chairman, founder, and Captain of the Cousland Drakes, a foederati company operating out of the Norman Freehold of Monmara. Attached to the 437th Legion.

  —EDOUARD ALBE, a Legion intelligence operative.

  His Royal Highness ALDIA AHMAD RODRIGO-PHILLIPE DI OTRANTO, High Prince of Jadd; Prince of Laran; First-Among-Equals of the Princes of the Principalities of the Jaddian Peoples; Lord of the Encircling Moons; Keeper of the Planet of Fire; Chief of the Dham-Eali.

  —LADY KALIMA ALIARADA UDIRI DI SAYYIPH, Satrap of Ubar, loyal to the Prince of Thessaloniki. A formal envoy to the war front on behalf of the High Prince.

  —Her lictor, SIR OLORIN MILTA, a Maeskolos swordmaster of the Fire School.

  —His lieutenant, JINAN AZHAR, a promising young officer.

  UTSEBIMN ARANATA OTIOLO, Aeta Prince-Chieftain and Captain of Its Scianda; Master-Keeper of its People; Servant to Its Slaves.

  —Its property:

  —CASANTORA TANARAN IAKATO, baetan priest-historian of the scianda.

  —ITANA UVANARI AYATOMN, ichakta captain of the starship Yad Ga Higatte and a proud military officer.

  —Its property and slave-soldier, SVATAROM.

  INDEX OF WORLDS

  A Note on Astrography

  IT IS CLEAR FROM reading Lord Marlowe’s account that the man was acutely familiar with the astropolitical landscape of the seventeenth millennium. He references several dozen settled worlds, whereas most among the peasantry of the time would not have known more than a handful of names. This is no surprise, given his training in interstellar diplomacy.

  As of today, human colonial efforts have seeded more than a half-billion habitable worlds distributed across five of our galaxy’s arms. Nearly half of these worlds owe their allegiance to the Sollan Empire, with the remainder distributed amongst smaller polities such as the Lothrian Commonwealth, the Principalities of Jadd, the Durantine Republic, the Demarchy of Tavros, and in microstates such as the freeholds common in both the Norman Veil of Marinus and the Outer Perseus. Since the Exodus and the first peregrinations from Old Earth system before the fall of the Mericanii, human colonial efforts have trended in two general directions. The first is toward the galaxy’s core, through the Sagittarius and Centaurus Arms and across the Sullen Gulf to Norma. The other is toward the galaxy’s edge from the Spur of Orion into the Perseus Arm, where rapid expansion led to the breakaway of the Jaddian states.

  Broadly, the Sollan Empire is divided into four primarchates: one in Orion; one in Perseus; one in Sagittarius; and most recently, one in Centaurus. Efforts to establish a fifth primarchate in Norma were stymied by the Cielcin invasion, and following the Battle of Gododdin and the death of Emperor William XXIII Avent, the Norman colonies remained unincorporated and under the oversight of the Centaurine primarch at Nessus. The primarchs are appointed by the Emperor, who is himself the Primarch of Orion. Each of the Imperial primarchates is subdivided into several provinces, each governed by an Imperial viceroy appointed by the primarch. Nominally, the title of viceroy is an appointed one, but in practice the viceroyalties of many provinces pass from parent to child, as do the palatine titles of archduke, grand duke, duke, marquis, count, viscount, and baron. Each of these lords rules a palatinate comprising their planetary demesnes and the attendant solar systems. The difference between a baron and a duke, for example, is determined by the relative import of the palatinate in question. Archons serve these palatine lords in administering districts of said demesnes. They may pass their holdings on to their children, though many archons are appointed and are little more than governors. An appointed archon, as in the case of a colonial consul, is said to rule a fief, not a demesne, as his claim to said territory expires in the event of his death and does not pa
ss to his children.

  For the convenience of the reader, I have also appended this index of the planets mentioned by the magus in his account, offering a brief description of each, enough to understand the significance of the references made by Lord Marlowe.

  —Tor Paulos of Nov Belgaer

  Andun: An Imperial planet in the Sagittarius Arm known for its starship manufacturing facilities.

  Ares: One of the oldest Imperial worlds in the Spur of Orion. Site of the Ares Command School, where the best Legion officers are trained.

  Armand: One of the two moons of Emesh; small and white. It has a few underground settlements and is ruled by House Kvar. Named for Lord Armand Mataro, who took Emesh from the Normans.

  Ascia: A planet in the Lothriad.

  Asherah: Arid, tectonically active world known for its mountains and for a species of massive reptilian creatures.

  Avalon: One of the original human colonies and site of heavy European colonization by generation ark. Birthplace of the Sollan Empire.

  Bellos: Imperial colony in the Norman Expanse; site of the Battle of Bellos.

  Binah: One of the two moons of Emesh, ruled by House Melluan. A successful case for early terraforming—its surface is green from massive tree-growth.

  Cai Shen: An ethnically Mandari world in the Imperium famed for its Bashang Temple. It was ruled by House Min Chen until ISD 16130, when it was destroyed by the Cielcin.

  Colchis: The first Imperial colony in the Centaurus Arm. A moon of the gas giant Atlas. Never an important colony, it is nevertheless known for the massive scholiast athenaeum at Nov Belgaer.

  Cressgard: A lost Imperial colony in the Veil of Marinus. Site of the first contact with the Cielcin in the Battle of Cressgard in ISD 15792.