The-Great-Game-Houses-of-the-Landsraad

H o u s e A l e x i n 44 H o u s e Ma ro s “OURS IS THE HUNT” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Sunshine Yellow Crest: BullO v e rv i e w House Traits: Just, Respectful PRIMARY DOMAINS Farming (Produce): The tender, buttery meat of the famous Marosdeer is a sought-after delicacy throughout the Imperium. SECONDARY DOMAINS Industrial (Machinery): House Maros values its idyllic planet and has created ways to make their factories and abattoirs as unobtrusive as possible by banishing them to their moons. Artistic (Expertise): Their dedication to the beauty of nature has produced some of the leading landscape and environmental designers in the Known Universe.H o m e w o r l d Grenbelle (Mycopterra XIV) is a serene, pastoral planet full of verdant valleys, rolling hills lush with grain dancing in the gentle breezes, and picturesque snow-covered mountains. The vast meadows are like concert halls as the herds of Marosdeer call to each other with their distinctive musical warble. Other Holdings: Qardhyr (Mycopterra XVIII) is a small planet nicknamed ‘The Slaughterhouse’ and has been transformed over time into a massive, nightmarish factory farm run by Xekma, a House Minor under Maros. Grenbelle also has three small moons that House Maros controls. All unsavory or ‘ugly’ work or processes occur off-planet to ensure Grenbelle’s unspoiled and bucolic image. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r Mostly, this House Major relies on its stellar reputation and highly coveted Marosdeer venison to discourage conflict with other Houses. No one with any kind of standing within the Imperium would ever consider serving something other than Marosdeer at their finest functions. The risk of having House Maros cut off access is too great for most Houses to dare open conflict with them. Assassins and economic sabotage are what this House fears from other Houses. Spies, bodyguards, undercover agents, and all manner of personal protection are where this House Major focuses its coffers for defense. As a result, House Maros keeps only a tiny contingent of soldiers on Grenbelle itself. They have a small, highly trained military and planetary defense system on its moons. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Grenbelle is a beautiful, sparsely populated planet with only a few cities artfully integrated into the environment. All existence on House Maros’ homeworld focuses on farming and the careful, compassionate husbandry of Marosdeer, which are raised in famed luxury. The people of Grenbelle enjoy an idealized rustic life and provide a comfortable, sanitized agrarian experience for the wealthy tourists from around the Imperium who are looking for such. The moons orbiting Grenbelle, on the other hand, are crowded, polluted, and factory-centric, dedicated to making conditions on Grenbelle tranquil and unspoiled. Qardhyr and the moons look nothing like Grenbelle. Here, every job is industrial labor, and while everyone wants to work on Grenbelle, jobs and prospects for offworlders on the main Maros planet are few and far between. For their offworld citizens, House Maros cultivates a policy of benign neglect and calls it independence. They don’t meddle much in how their Houses Minor choose to govern their various domains and they refuse to interfere in their citizens’ lives. At the same time, they also don’t provide any opportunities for offworlders. House Maros has done such a good job with their image and reputation among the residents within their holdings that the people who live there resent the Houses Minor but are devoted and loyal to House Maros. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Cacica Silinth Aegrivi Maros (Ruler) – Silinth has a reputation for being a conscientious, principled ruler with a hands-off approach that empowers her people and Houses Minor to accept responsibility for their actions. She has worked hard

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 45 to cultivate this image. It means that other Houses tend not to pull House Maros into their struggles with each other. It also means that she is rarely blamed for the sometimes ethically questionable conduct of the Houses Minor or those with authority under her. Looking the other way with the excuse of providing autonomy (if only in name) has benefited her and previous House Maros rulers for centuries. Cacica Willowwind Cawrnet Maros (Consort) – Willowwind is from House Cawrnet, a Minor House on the distant planet of Alorvau. Like many other noble women, she was educated by the Bene Gesserit. She and Silinth were a love match, as opposed to an intentional political pairing. Meadow Aegrivi Maros (Heir) – Silinth and Willowwind’s child, Meadow is the sole heir to House Maros and is in their late teens. Shrixe Ghi (Spymaster) – Shrixe grew up as a servant-spy on Kaitain, watching the Wars of Assassins play out and witnessing the dark side of politics. With a keen eye for intrigue and unscrupulous political maneuvering, he has kept the ruler of Grenbelle alive for two decades and is an invaluable asset to House Maros. H i s t o ry A logistical genius, Czinnra Aegrivi Maros managed supply lines to many different divisions of humanity during the Great Revolt. They kept a lot of people alive and armed, even as they built the primitive foundations of what would one day become House Maros during the Butlerian Jihad. After the war against the thinking machines, Czinnra spent the rest of their life coordinating and managing humanity’s necessities, keeping the fledgling Imperium running. Their descendants did the same. It was only after several generations, and after the new Imperium finally stabilized to Czinnra’s scions’ satisfaction, that they founded House Maros in an official capacity. In gratitude for their service, the Padishah Emperor granted the newly formed House Maros the lush planet of Grenbelle and the Mycopterra system. This is when House Maros turned to animal husbandry as a means of income. Though they are a House focused on meat and butchery, over the generations House Maros has cultivated a strong name for itself, promoted it tirelessly among the Imperium’s elite, and created a wholesome image of idyllic, pastoral luxury. They sell their Marosdeer venison directly to their customers. They don’t tolerate reselling, brokers, or imitations ... and have killed any who dared try. Few reputable Houses among the Landsraad hold a function without serving delectable Marosdeer. That means House Maros can put pressure on other Houses, merchants, the Guild, or anyone looking to show off their wealth with an elegant dish of Marosdeer, by refusing to sell to them. House Maros has healthy coffers thanks to its Marosdeer trade. Most of the wealth stays on Grenbelle. However, small amounts of it go to purchase goods and support from its moons and Qardhyr. As far as reputation within the Imperium, they are seen as the extremely romanticized version of farmers. They do, however, use their clout and access to Marosdeer as leverage to further their many goals. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE XEKMA This House Minor runs Qardhyr, the slaughterhouse planet, massproducing low-quality meat under terrible conditions for the Imperium. Officially, House Maros disapproves of their farming methods but claims that allowing their Houses Minor independence is of the utmost importance. House Maros secretly encourages the lucrative venture while retaining their wholesome appearance. HOUSE COEL Managing the packaging and shipping logistics of gourmet delicacies for House Maros and the massive number of shipments needed for House Xekma isn’t glamorous, but it gives House Coel powerful contacts across the Imperium and particularly close ties with the Guild. HOUSE TALOLIA In tanning factories relegated to Grenbelle’s smallest moon, House Talolia performs the messy, smelly job of turning the discarded Marosdeer hides into the supple, workable leather coveted throughout the Imperium. A g e n d a House Maros has done a phenomenal job of making their venison the fashionable dish to serve across the Imperium. And it gives them influence over other Houses, to some extent. There is, in their opinion, always room for amassing more power, however. Cacica Silinth Aegrivi Maros has a plan to breed a new class of Marosdeer that will be even more exclusive, sell for an even higher price, and have an addicting quality. This, she feels, will cement her House’s standing and power within the Landsraad. To do this, she needs a cache of spice to feed to the highest quality line of Marosdeer they have. Not only is Silinth working to stockpile spice, but she’s trying to petition the Padishah Emperor to give House Maros control of Arrakis ... without explaining why she needs it. Additionally, House Maros sees the Tleilaxu as a major competitor in the gourmet food arena. Their strange but delicious slig product is a prestigious dish among the nobility and in high demand. Slig and other popular Tleilaxu-engineered meat sells for an exorbitant price but requires vastly fewer resources by the Tleilaxu to grow, making it much more profitable. And all this is a threat to House Maros’ power. House Maros want to sabotage the Tleilaxu meat market. They are willing to pay to have the reputation of slig ruined among the highborn — perhaps hair, mold, pests, or deadly poisons could somehow end up in the Tleilaxu products. If the Tleilaxu were no longer tolerated and were removed from power, House Maros would not shed a tear and would reward any who could perform such an execution of their hated rivals.

H o u s e A l e x i n 46 H o u s e Mi k a r ro l “WE HOLD THE CHAINS” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s : Colors: Purple Crest: Mailed Fist O v e rv i e w House Traits: Cruel, Amoral PRIMARY DOMAINS Farming and Industrial (Workers): Vast dens of human misery, beneath the mega-cities of Tengrid lie House Mikarrol’s slave holdings. Here human beings are brought, appraised, costed, and offered up for sale. Some brought to these huge pens have been kidnapped, by Mikarrol’s roving bands of slave takers. Many more have been sold into slavery to pay off debts. Mikarrol’s financial center buys bad debts from the other Houses, applies crippling interest, and then enslaves anyone unable to pay. The holdings themselves are, as one might expect, ugly, loathsome spaces. SECONDARY DOMAINS Farming (Produce): The grass plains of Tengrid are home to a host of herd animals, many of which were brought from ancient Earth at some point in the remote past. Carefully tended by the Tengridians over millennia before their destruction at the hands of the Mikarrol, these vast reserves of meat represent a considerable source of revenue for the House, as well as a desperately needed source of food for the enslaved. Science (Understanding): Mikarrol’s frequent expeditions to other planets in search of more unfortunates to subject to their barbaric treatment brings them into frequent contact with alien flora and fauna. As a result, despite their primary response usually being to kill or capture the creatures for sale, House Mikarrol’s databases on alien creatures and plant life is impressive. H o m e w o r l d Tengrid (Kublai XII) – A lush, verdant world covered with vast grasslands, Tengrid is a world of open spaces, interspersed with enormous megacities. With a population of approximately one billion, House Mikarrol possesses a relatively small indigenous population. This is supplemented by almost four billion slaves, kept on-planet either to work for House Mikarrol or preparatory to being sold. The flatness of Tengrid makes it an excellent breeding ground for herd animals and for producing the vast amount of food needed to keep the slave population fed. It also renders escape difficult — there are few places to hide. With a moderate climate and rainfall, Tengrid is a beautiful environment. Many nobles from other, more prominent Houses maintain holiday villas on Tengrid, spending enormous sums of money to arrange travel there. Tengrid possesses one moon, but it is unused and uninhabited. Other Holdings: None Mi l i ta ry P ow e r Possessing no major armed forces but large numbers of allied pirates and raiders, House Mikarrol can bring a substantial army to bear when and if called upon. Its planetary defense forces are moderate at best, though they rely on their status as pariahs as a form of defense. Who would sully their hands dealing with such a House? P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Life as a subject of House Mikarrol is one with precious little in the way of pleasure or relief. The House’s reliance on slavery for much of their income means their citizens live in a constant state of fear of being reduced to slavery themselves. This is, the Marquis have long thought, a fitting state for them. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Marquis Bartholomew Mikarrol (Ruler) – Tall, heavily bearded, and possessed of the kind of formidable good health only the truly despicable ever lay claim to, Bartholomew Mikarrol is the seventy-first Marquis of House Mikarrol. Despite being the fourth son in his family, it was evident Bartholomew was the heir apparent

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 47 when, on his thirteenth birthday, he killed two of his elder brothers. Such activities are encouraged amongst the Mikarrol elite. Letting rank and position prevent elevation is considered the worst weakness. Long aware of the contempt his House is held in, Bartholomew adopted a policy of deliberate outrageousness upon his ascension to the position of Marquis. Where, in the past, Mikarrol did not flaunt its activities, now Bartholomew insists upon being accompanied to meetings of the Landsraad by slaves. He has worn jewelry either looted from ships House Mikarrol’s raiders attacked, or purchased from high-ranking debtors who were forced to sell. He has also referred openly to targets of Mikarrol assassination, describing the agonies the poisons used on them would inflict. In recent years, this arrogance and bluster has diminished somewhat. House Mikarrol’s fortunes have suffered in the intervening years, as more Houses follow the dignified example of the Atreides. Despite this outward change, the Marquis remains as brutal as ever. Several assassination attempts from other branches of the Mikarrol family have been thwarted in the preceding decade, and Bartholomew’s vengeance upon these erstwhile usurpers is now legendary amidst the Landsraad. Lesser Prince Gordian Mikarrol (Advisor) – The only other surviving brother of the Marquis, Gordian Mikarrol was spared by his brother’s ambition for two reasons. The Marquis recognized his brother’s remarkable intelligence, and he recognized the abject terror Gordian held him in. Despite being five years older than Bartholomew, Gordian identified his brother’s remorseless ambition early on and tried to keep out of his way. Given his lack of ambition, Bartholomew found Gordian’s advice helpful and encouraged him in a multitude of scholarly pursuits. But once Gordian had completed a series of academic qualifications, Bartholomew had a reward for his brother. He forcibly had Gordian’s spine removed, replacing it with a series of suspensors, rendering Gordian a flesh puppet, forever hanging at his brother’s side, imparting critical advice when needed. Guinevere Minsk (Swordmaster) – A drunk and outcast daughter of a Major House (though which is unknown), Guinevere Minsk is a Swordmaster of talent, courage, and utter efficiency. Her main task is that of bodyguard to the Marquis. Though her duties are, at least in theory, considerably broader than this, the singular nature of Mikarrol internecine politics and the contempt in which House Mikarrol is held mean there are almost constant threats to his life. While she detests her employer, it’s believed the Marquis possesses some hold over her she dares not test. H i s t o ry Some rumors, ancient and halfforgotten, speak of a Mikarrol ruling over ancient Earth. Whether this is true or simply the grandiose fiction many Houses invent about themselves to justify grubby pasts is unknown. What is known is that the Mikarrols emerged during the founding of the Great Houses. While an insignificant House at the time, their willingness to do anything, no matter how contemptible, enabled them to grow quickly. Soon, they were given the planet Tengrid — a perpetual fief, as a gift from the then-Emperor for exterminating the populace — and began to invest in the purchase of human beings. Their history is one of perpetual bloodshed, of deceit, and of turmoil. The House employs no historians or chroniclers of its own; it is said no words could effectively capture so great a shame. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE REYDER Less a House than a congregation of pirates and slavers using the iconography of a House to evade censure, House Reyder possesses no home planets or anything similar. Used by House Mikarrol to perform the tasks so unpleasant even they balk at them, the House is considered an embarrassment by most of the Landsraad who refuse to even utter the name. To House Mikarrol, House Reyder is a valuable resource, deployed whenever necessary. A g e n d a House Mikarrol’s plans revolve around the sowing of chaos. This uncertainty is valuable for a House without even the concept of morality. Chaos causes sudden fluctuations in the markets, causes unanticipated debt, creates opportunities. Chaos is the leveler, the circumstances rendering the grotesque suddenly attractive. In a time where nothing is certain, a House prepared to do anything can find itself in demand. And so House Mikarrol schemes — any form of chaos might prove of benefit, after all. Slavery is becoming a controversial topic amongst the Landsraad. While a few Houses refuse to entertain such regressive practices, most retain some form of unpaid and enforced labor force. They might not call it slavery, but it is the same in all but name. However, it is House Mikarrol’s pride in its revolting trade that is grotesque, though not so awful that other Houses won’t patronize their markets when deemed necessary. The Mikarrol dedicate themselves to lobbying against any thought or movement in the Landsraad toward the elimination of slavery, using any and all means at their disposal, while at the same time endeavoring not to push the Landsraad so far that they’re forced to go renegade.

H o u s e A l e x i n 48 H o u s e Mo r i ta n i “MIGHT IS POWER” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Black Crest: Horse O v e rv i e w House Traits: Independent, Vengeful PRIMARY DOMAINS Military (Machinery): An immense stockpile of atomics and other munitions, far beyond the House’s ability to transport and utilize on the battlefield. SECONDARY DOMAINS Industrial (Produce): The House sells raw materials, chiefly salt, that it cannot invest directly into its war effort. Kanly (Expertise): Lifetime spent in bitter feuds with its rivals has trained Moritani mercenaries and assassins to be the best. H o m e w o r l d House Moritani’s ancestral home is Grumman, second planet in the Niushe star system (officially known as Xi Draconis 2). It is a dying planet with scant resources remaining, its two continents boasting great tropical forests steadily being harvested and not replaced. Grumman has been strip-mined for most valuable minerals, teetering at the precipice of ecological collapse as a result. The capital city of Grumman is Ritka, situated at the rim of the massive Great Salt Basin, which is honeycombed with tunnels and mining shafts. Despite these excavations being played out, Moritani’s military continues to work there. The countryside is poisoned with manufacturing waste products, its natural abundance all but depleted. Its cities now teem with rural refugees forced into the increasingly unlivable cities. Other Holdings: Many weapons caches, hidden military bases, and defensive satellites orbiting Grumman. Moritani also owns the pleasure planet Gamont, the third planet in its system, famed for its hedonism and sexual progressiveness. Moritani access to Gamont is restricted solely to military personnel and allies of the House, while others from the Landsraad often visit Gamont as a destination for debauchery and licentiousness. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r House Moritani has always been warlike, but under the rule of Viscount Hundro Moritani, its current (and final) leader, its militaristic nature dominates. Longsimmering grudges with Houses Ecaz and Ginaz have led to open conflict with both, and thus Moritani maintains a status of heightened readiness against retaliation. Its stores of atomic weapons and explosive munitions far outscale those required for its defense, and the House lacks sufficient air and space power to use this arsenal effectively. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Life on Grumman under House Moritani was never pleasant for their subjects, but in the last few decades under Hundro’s rule, quality of life has dramatically worsened. Though the citizens are not treated inhumanely, the near-continual tension from looming war, near-fanatical militarism, dwindling social services, sustenance-level rationing, and strict martial law have combined to make the Moritani homeworld as oppressive as Giedi Prime is under the Harkonnens. The people of Grumman don’t understand why they are always at war with their fellow Houses, and morale diminishes daily. Hundro floods the state communication channels with propaganda, paranoid rants, paranoid conspiracies, and boasts of his coming vengeance, hinting that the Landsraad and the Emperor are the source of Grumman’s miseries. His secret police are ever-vigilant against spies from Ecaz, Ginaz, and even the Atreides, though none ever seem to materialize. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Viscount Hundro Moritani (Ruler) – A stubborn and erratic man, the Viscount is prone to mood swings and independence from the rest of the Landsraad, defying the Emperor as much as is possible without courting treason. He has found recent allies with the Harkonnens, who share his enmity toward House Atreides. Cilla Moritani (Consort) – The Viscount’s wife, who died barely a year after giving birth to his only son, Wolfram. Wolfram Moritani (Heir) – Wolfram is the sole heir to House Moritani. Unfortunately, the boy suffers a horrible wasting illness, his frail body racked with incredible pain while his muscles rapidly atrophy. To ease his suffering, Wolfram remains in a constant semuta trance, placed there by the family’s Suk Doctor, Vando Terboli. Trin Kronos (Swordmaster) – The acting ‘Swordmaster’ of House Moritani, Kronos was a student under the Swordmasters of Ginaz. When relations soured between Moritani and Ginaz, Kronos rejected the Swordmasters and returned

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 49 to Grumman. Though his training was incomplete, he became Swordmaster. He was slain by Duncan Idaho, Swordmaster to House Atreides. Hiih Resser (Swordmaster) – The current House Swordmaster. Unlike his predecessor, when asked to renounce the Swordmasters, Resser remained loyal to them and remained on Ginaz. Captured in battle by his own people, he later escaped and was elevated to the rank of Swordmaster by the Ginaz School. Years after that conflict, he returned to Grumman and was not only allowed to remain free but became Swordmaster to the House, even later (unsuccessfully) attacking House Caladan along with the Harkonnens. H i s t o ry House Moritani, despite being a House Major, is a recent one compared to most, having emerged only within the last few thousand years. As such, they did not participate in the events of the Butlerian Jihad and grew from House Minor status though loyal service to the Emperor and their own burgeoning wealth and power. Over the last few centuries, House Moritani began a bitter rivalry with two notable enemies, Houses Ecaz and Ginaz, that spiraled into a much larger conflict involving other Houses Major. The feud with Ecaz was sparked with an incident of ecological sabotage on Ecaz in 10,166 A.G., which Moritani was blamed for. This escalated into outright violence, forcing the Emperor to intervene. When the Emperor’s eyes were turned to other matters, Hundro sent his forces to kidnap Archduke Ecaz’s brother and oldest daughter, publicly executing them both. Drawn into the conflict, Ecaz allies among the Ginaz Swordmaster School evicted all Moritani students and insulted Hundro savagely in front of the Landsraad. In 10,171 A.G., Duke Leto of House Atreides intervened, throwing his political weight behind House Ecaz and drawing the ire of Hundro Moritani. Despite his efforts, Atreides was able to do little other than escalate hostilities, and in 10,174 A.G., House Moritani responded with a sneak attack on Ginaz that killed more than a hundred Swordmasters. Soon after, Moritani proposed an alliance with Glossu Rabban of House Harkonnen to attack the Atreides castle on Caladan while Atreides forces were deployed on Ix. The attack was unsuccessful, doing little to ease the tensions between all involved parties. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE DUSARA A somewhat remote House with little to offer other than its own people, specializing in enlisting its healthy sons and daughters as soldiers in the Moritani military, and its less valuable citizens as slaves. HOUSE ELACCA Unbeknownst to House Ecaz, one of their own vassals, Duke Prad Vidal of Elacca, is secretly an ally of Moritani and figures prominently into Hundro’s plans of vengeance. HOUSE ZHELOV An up-and-coming House Minor with an outstanding educational system, focused primarily on mass production of low-cost, vat-produced foodstuffs particularly suited for military endeavors or long-lasting siege conditions. A g e n d a Until its fall, House Moritani was engaged in a state of open kanly with both House Ecaz and House Ginaz, with plans to escalate this conflict to include retribution against House Atreides for their participation in the strike against the Moritani homeworld. Adding fuel to his hatred of Ecaz is that the only remedy for his son Wolfram’s illness requires a plant named esoitpoay, grown solely on Ecaz and denied to Moritani due to their enmity. Hundro seeks means of obtaining this plant and the means to grow more and is increasingly suspicious of the ‘coincidence’ of his heir dying of an illness only an enemy possesses the cure for. Past 10,181, the fate of House Moritani enters a doomed spiral that ends in its destruction. Hundro’s reasons for this are his own, not even shared with his top generals and leaders (see House Moritani in the Timeline). In 10,187 A.G., Hundro claims responsibility for the death of the oldest surviving daughter of House Ecaz, and later that year, his long-standing feud with the Ginaz Swordmasters intensifies into an open War of Assassins. When Ecaz and Atreides forces attack Grumman, the Emperor intervenes once again, arriving in person, accompanied with a host of Sardaukar. Hundro announces that this has been his plan all along, revealing that he is the heir of House Tantor, who brought Salusa Secundus to ruin thousands of years ago and was destroyed for it by the Emperor’s ancestor. Hundro’s stockpile of atomics has been stored beneath the battlefield and his capital city, ready to kill everyone in a in a suicidal strike. Unfortunately for him, he is betrayed by his own Swordmaster, Hiih Resser, who placed the weapons but did not set them to explode. For this attempt upon his life, the Emperor sentences Hundro to life in the Imperial Prison in Corrinth City, but Hundro is slain en route in a suspicious accident. After this, House Moritani largely ceases to exist, its assets going to House Ecaz. H o u s e Mo r i ta n i i n t h e T i m e l i n e House Moritani falls shortly before the events of the novel Dune so is presented here just before its destruction for campaigns set earlier in the timeline. However, its Minor Houses and holdings may still be in contention when the Atreides take control of Arrakis. So the remains of House Moritani may still be a potent, if incohesive, force in the Imperium. AN ANCIENT LEGACY The following is known only to the noble family members of House Moritani. No one else in the Landsraad, including even the Bene Gesserit, is aware of this secret history. In the second millennium A.G., the once-powerful House Tantor waged a vicious war with House Corrino, resulting in Salusa Secundus being ravaged by atomic weapons. In retaliation, then-Emperor Hassik Corrino III ordered House Tantor’s utter destruction. All members of the House were slain, its remaining properties redistributed to other Houses. However, the royal Tantor bloodline survived this purge, and the descendants of House Tantor have remained in hiding for thousands of years within the very Landsraad itself as House Moritani. Only upon their coming-of-age is a Moritani noble informed of this secret and terrible legacy. If it were to become known, the Emperor would likely order the destruction of House Moritani. Meanwhile, the Viscount of Moritani plots his Tantor’s vengeance, even after all this time.

H o u s e A l e x i n 50 H o u s e Mu t e ll i “WE KNOW” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: White Crest: Tudor Rose O v e rv i e w House Traits: Respected, Unthreatening PRIMARY DOMAINS Political (Expertise): Diplomacy and mediation, in the form of both general advice and sending specific diplomats and mediators. SECONDARY DOMAINS Political (Produce): Information, secrets, and favors, commonly gathered by the House’s advisors, diplomats, and mediators. Kanly (Expertise): From time to time, the House’s advice to another is to solve their problems with murder, and they offer consultation as to the best means to do so. H o m e w o r l d Katinov (Alderamin IV) is a cold world with a more pleasant temperate zone around the equator, where most of the population lives. The planet is popular as a meeting place for individuals or faction representatives who need House Mutelli’s mediation or other diplomatic services, especially those who enjoy skiing. Other Holdings: House Mutelli has established several space stations near key systems to better supply more of the Imperium with their diplomatic services. More than half of the House’s clients meet at one of these stations, though some prefer the cool weather and recreational opportunities on Katinov itself. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r While House Mutelli is not known for its soldiers or weaponry, their forces are competently trained and numerous enough to protect the House’s assets. This is important to the House because clients seeking their services must feel that they are safe from assault by outside forces — especially those of the very people with whom they are engaged in negotiations. Some of the House’s diplomatic stations are protected by hired security, contracted out from planets in each station’s vicinity. The stations themselves are moderately welldefended, with capital-scale weapons integrated into their outer hulls, but they rely on a handful of ships per station to patrol and investigate any ships that come near. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Katinov is mostly self-sufficient, having a decent base of both food production and workable mines for industrial resources, though like most worlds it needs to import a few items that cannot be grown or mined there. Most citizens live in the equatorial band, though it is extremely popular to spend vacation time in the snowy mountainous regions. Diplomatic professions are well-respected here, and while all common occupations are represented on Katinov, the training and contracting of diplomats and mediators is big business. Those at the pinnacle of the profession are treated like celebrities. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Count Zoltan Bernd Flambert (Ruler) – An elderly, heavyset man with such poor memory that many people call him senile. Because of his memory problems, Count Flambert makes constant use of a trusted aide who serves as a sort of portable memory. Count Flambert likes being at the center of all Major House activities, a fact that some House representatives find embarrassing. The Count was a respected mediator in his youth before becoming the leader of the House, and though he rarely acts in that role now, he still has the skill to do so, when he can work around his memory issues. Countess Evadne Flambert (Consort) – A vibrant young woman who is Count Flambert’s eighth wife. The Countess is often embarrassed by her husband’s lapses in memory, especially when he forgets the names of his grandchildren. She mostly gets along well with the Count’s children (who are the offspring of the Count and his seventh wife), even though she is at least a decade younger than they are. Aburne Fanell (Advisor) – Count Flambert’s most valuable aide, Fanell is a former Mentat candidate who did not successfully complete his training. However, he learned enough to be a valuable memory and calculation tool, and now his job is to provide the Count

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 51 with all the data he needs and remind him of anything he might forget. Fanell is a short and squat man with blond hair and looks much younger than his extremely advanced years. Sarth and Yarna Flambert (Heirs) – Count Flambert’s potential heirs are his twin children, both in their 50s. Yarna, technically born first, believes that her father should be retired because he is no longer in charge of his mental faculties. Sarth, on the other hand, is dedicated to his father and thinks that just because the old man has a failing memory is no reason to call him feebleminded. Both are active in helping to run the House: Sarth is one of the House’s best negotiators, while Yarna is an expert in matters of kanly. Yarna has some innovative ideas about the use of planned equipment failures that lead to a single, specific death, and has funded research on methods of modifying humans to serve as efficient unarmed assassination tools. Mediator Iba Savris (Advisor) – While they are not a member of the House court, Iba Savris is House Mutelli’s most renowned and accomplished mediator. Nearly everyone who knows about the House’s specialty also knows that Mediator Savris is a big part of their modern reputation and their success. Savris has admirers across the Imperium — as well as a number of enemies, and even a few jealous rivals in House Mutelli. H i s t o ry House Mutelli showed itself to be an asset during the Butlerian Jihad in mostly support roles, especially in coordinating mixed groups of soldiers and handling the logistics of supplies, planning, and transportation involving numerous planets. After the war, the House was invaluable in helping to strengthen the bonds between the surviving families that would become the Houses of the Landsraad. The House’s first two leaders struggled to find an identity for their House after the Jihad was over, aiming for a prestigious path such as providing a strong military or producing valuable supplies. In the House’s third generation, Countess Ilona Mutelli began to capitalize on its well-regarded skill at diplomacy and mediation, laying the foundation for offering these services to whomever in the Imperium needed them. A generation later, Ilona’s son (and heir) Berton started the House down the path of advising on assassination and other kanly-related topics. In addition to being the site of a tremendous amount of negotiating and advising work, Katinov receives a lot of visitors who enjoy the planet’s winter resorts. All year round, facilities to the north and south of the equator play host to skiing, sledding, snow- or suspensor-boarding, riding snowskimmers, ice fishing, and simply relaxing in the planet’s quaintly-designed winter villages. House Mutelli is currently a wellrespected member of the Landsraad, and more importantly they have no significant enemies. One of the many marriages of Padishah Emperor Elrood Corrino IX (father of Shaddam IV) was to Barbara Mutelli, which solidified the connection between Houses Corrino and Mutelli. The House has begun to have financial difficulties recently, as many of their homeworld’s resources are becoming mined out and the House is having to rely more on costly imports. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE MASPON A House of assassins that receives a lot of referral business when House Mutelli diplomats advise a client to pursue this more serious method of settling differences. House Maspon is primarily based at Katinov’s south polar region. HOUSE KASILDA An industrial House specializing in space station construction. This House has built every Mutelli diplomatic station since the very first one. Their designs are robust and artistic; each station looks completely different from all the others. HOUSE RUKONI An espionage House that provides House Mutelli with recording and surveillance devices to help them gather information on their clients. Count Flambert always believed that knowledge is power. A g e n d a House Mutelli likes to have its hands in everyone else’s pies, so their agents actively seek out inter-faction conflicts that the House can become involved in as advisors, negotiators, or arbitrators. They are also not above using agent provocateurs to fan the flames when doing so would make a hot zone hotter though they are careful to keep a situation at a simmer, as there’s little call for diplomats after the start of a full-scale conflict. However, the Mutelli work very hard to maintain the appearance of neutrality, as to do otherwise would hurt their reputation as unbiased arbiters. The House caters to its clients based on the type, intensity, and size of the conflict involved. Small matters might involve only a single mediator (often with an escort or two) visiting the site of a dispute, such as a manor where two family members are at odds over some issue. At the other end of the spectrum, House Mutelli might work toward establishing a treaty between bitter rival Houses, in which case they would generally have representatives of each party meet on Katinov or a Mutelli diplomatic station. Such large mediations can involve multiple teams of mediators and support personnel, including interviewers, legal experts, security guards, and sometimes even Bene Gesserit Truthsayers. Assassination advising has turned out to be a growth industry, and over the past few decades House Mutelli has been diverting more of its focus to this area. Count Flambert and his advisors are considering how they can shift the House toward its own production of assassination tools, poisons, and personnel without jeopardizing its reputation as a wholesome, bloodless, neutral party. One wrinkle in this plan of shifting focus is House Maspon, the Minor House that currently sees all Mutelli’s kanly referral business. Count Flambert — or his heir — may soon decide that taking the assassin business into their own hands would be easier if some disaster were to befall House Maspon.

H o u s e A l e x i n 52 H o u s e N o v e b ru n s “PROSPERITY FROM DARKNESS” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Cave Brown Crest: Cut Gemstone O v e rv i e w House Traits: Cutthroat, Expansionist PRIMARY DOMAINS Industrial (Produce): Valuable refined ore of numerous varieties from mines located all over the Imperium. SECONDARY DOMAINS Industrial (Machinery): Mineral extraction tools, machinery, and vehicles, as well as smelting and ore-processing facilities. Science (Understanding): Planetological data and expertise (including geology, ecology, seismology, and more), which is the basis for the House’s unparalleled skill at mining. H o m e w o r l d Novebruns (Menkar II) is a mostlybarren, rust-colored, desolate planet bathed in the glow of a red giant sun. House Novebruns is now effectively one of its own best customers, as they have efficiently mined out their own world to the point where it is almost totally depleted. Parts of the planet are so riddled with underground tunnels that they have become major safety concerns. Less than half of the planet is inhabited, which is fortunate because the rest is not suitable for occupation due to either being structurally unsound or covered in industrial waste products. Other Holdings: The royal palace was relocated from Novebruns to its moon, Clione, twenty years ago, as a wedding gift to Lady Silta (despite Lady Silta’s objections that this would increase the divide between the rulers of the House and their subjects). In addition to the homeworld, Menkar III, V, VI, and several moons of Menkar IV have also been partially or mostly mined out. Mining is currently taking place on the moons of Menkar VII and will begin on those of Menkar VIII later this year. The House hopes to begin mining from the super-hot surface of Menkar I within the next few years, as soon as they can engineer a means to do so somewhat safely. They also operate numerous mining stations throughout the Imperium, strategically placed to be near both current and future resources and/or clients. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r The House does not possess much of a military at all, beyond its reasonably well-trained royal guard and security officers that patrol and watch over key locations. For occasions when the House feels the need for better protection, it hires elite mercenary defense troops from House Lanell, one of its closely-affiliated Minor Houses. The gold-and-white suited Lanell troops have a standing presence on the moon Clione to help protect the royal palace. A rivalry between the royal guard and the Lanell defenders has arisen on the moon, but so long as the conflict is over who can best guard the royal family, Lady Eulaia is happy to let it continue. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Life on Novebruns is difficult and oppressive, due to both the devastated planetary environment and the nature of the work of most of the population. Most of the food the people eat comes from the orbital farms circling the planet—except of course for the royal family, who dine on higher-quality food imported from other worlds. Most people do not have strong opinions about the royal family, other than those in their orbit who work to curry favor and receive special treatment. This special treatment rarely elevates miners or other laborers beyond their station. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Lady Eulaia Novebruns (Ruler) – A stern woman more concerned with productivity than the concerns of the populace, Lady Eulaia leads House Novebruns from the royal palace on Clione, the planet’s moon. Lady Eulaia is tall and imposing and always dresses to be noticed. Though she is not an empathetic woman, Lady Eulaia is devoted and caring regarding her wife and son. Lady Silta Defonsa (Consort) – An older and more ephemeral woman than her wife, Lady Silta sometimes serves as the face of the House because most people know she is the personable one. Those who know the Novebruns well understand that they are more likely to get a fair deal with the House if Lady Silta is present.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 53 Nevel Defonsa Novebruns (Heir) – An active teenage boy, Nevel is the genetic son of Lady Eulaia and Lady Silta, and heir to House Novebruns. A polymath and speaker of several languages, Nevel is rarely allowed to leave the royal palace, though he eagerly wants to do so. H i s t o ry Orton Novebruns was a famed planetologist whose skill served the cause of the Butlerian Jihad. After the conflict ended and Novebruns was granted House status, Lord Orton shrewdly focused on claiming mining rights to several planets — most of which had been battlefields during the Jihad — successfully making the argument that he and his specialists could extract resources from these sites more efficiently than anyone. Over the centuries since, House Novebruns has worked constantly to dominate the mining business in the Imperium, establishing mining bases on planets throughout the Known Universe. Rather than gold, silver, and gems, they specialize in mining base materials like coal, tin, lead, cobalt, and copper. Besides traditional mining, which involves cutting minerals out of a planet’s crust using drills or mining lasers, much of the House’s business comes from mining ice and water (to provide water in places that don’t have enough) and harvesting ores from asteroids. In addition to running their own mining operations, they also take contracts to help other Houses establish mines and process ore efficiently. Since it is far more cost-effective to mine materials and use them on the same planet, the House does a brisk business in setting up and sometimes running mine operations on planets for such Houses. They rent out mining experts and laborers, sell mining and processing equipment, and provide advisors to give recommendations on techniques, mine construction, and optimum mining sites. Much of House Novebruns’ mining holdings have come through the aggressive acquisition of Minor Houses’ holdings. As they did at the very beginning, House leaders have been quick to request mining rights to planets that have become otherwise undesirable due to the devastation of warfare (as on the planet Zanovar) or natural disaster (such as the asteroid collision on Bolvan, which was never definitively proven to be artificially engineered). While the House has been actively establishing mines everywhere it can, it has also succeeded at stripping its own homeworld of nearly all its resources. While it has the wealth to import more from its mines elsewhere (including other planets in its own system), this has resulted in a great decline in the quality of life of those who live on the Novebruns planet. For this reason, the Novebruns royal palace was moved from the planet to its moon. House Novebruns is currently in good standing with the Emperor, and most other Houses are reasonably respectful — especially those that must do business with it. However, a growing number of Minor Houses are building enmity against House Novebruns, especially those that have lost holdings to it after several of the House leaders over the last few generations successfully convinced the Emperor to grant them mining rights in one of these Houses’ fiefs. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE LANELL A military House that provides defensive forces when House Novebruns believes its assets (or its homeworld) needs protection. HOUSE TUMA An industrial House that manufactures ore-hauling spaceships and control systems for mining vehicles. HOUSE NEMISTO An artistic House that makes popular music and lowbrow entertainment to keep the planet’s workers occupied and pacified during their off hours. A g e n d a In recent decades House Novebruns has overextended itself, both from mining out its own homeworld and from trying to claim mining rights on increasingly distant holdings. Some of these mines are not well protected, considering the House’s lack of a strong military of its own, and if any of its pushy business dealings lead to enmity with the wrong opposing House, the Novebruns could find themselves losing control of numerous mines in a short amount of time. One current hot spot for the House is the Odinani system, a popular mining area currently dominated by the Novebruns. However, other Houses have mining interests in the system as well, which does not please Lady Eulaia, who wishes to have exclusive control of the entire system. Unknown to her more moral consort, Lady Eulaia is setting plans in motion to hurt the other Houses’ interests here, involving mercenaries at first, but escalating to piracy if necessary. The House is also in danger of angering the Emperor. As with previous leaders of the House, Lady Eulaia is not above employing a bit of ‘creative accounting’ to secure mining deals from the Emperor, often overpromising how much wealth (and therefore tax revenue) the operations will generate. She has recently considered making use of slave labor to reduce personnel costs, though she hesitates to do so, knowing that Lady Silta would strongly disapprove. House Novebruns currently has numerous experimental projects underway with the aim of improving productivity. Equipment experts are trying to adapt their mining vehicles, refineries, and other gear so they can function in extremely hot environments such as Menkar I. Spaceship specialists work to coax more speed out of mining-ship engines to maximize their turnaround time when transporting ore on their ships via Guild Heighliner from planets at the outer edge of the system. And planetologists are constantly searching for a new homeworld for the House, where the Novebruns can have a fresh start on a pristine new planet — for a while.

H o u s e A l e x i n 54 H o u s e R i c h e s e “TECHNOLOGY UNDER FAITH” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Light Blue Crest: Lamp O v e rv i e w House Traits: Innovative, Resourceful PRIMARY DOMAINS Industrial (Produce): Industrial Miniaturization. House Richese’s crowning achievement is reflective mirrors which serve as miniaturized power chips for sophisticated machinery used throughout the Empire. They are also known for their more recently developed Richesian data coils. SECONDARY DOMAINS Industrial (Machinery): Heighliners. Though still recovering from their economic war with House Vernius, Richese continues the mass construction of interplanetary transports. H o m e w o r l d Though once devastated by Omnius, Richese is once again a bright bluegreen world. War and environmental devastation forced the population into several moderately-sized cities scattered across the planet. Elevated rails connect each of these population centers, with Richese City serving as the primary hub. Weather satellites maintain the atmosphere and occasionally intercept debris from the shattered moon of Korona. Unfortunately, some wreckage still makes it through the gauntlet, striking the surface every few months. Other Holdings: None. Any holdings outside of Epsilon Eridani were sold or lost during the Great Spice War. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r Ever since the Emperor destroyed Korona, Richese’s artificial moon, the House has adopted a strictly defensive posture. They have devoted the bulk of their military to planetary defense to delay a potential invasion long enough to provide the population ample opportunity to escape. What the House lacks in offensive capability they more than make up for in redundant shielding, antimissile batteries, and fast, maneuverable shuttles. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e The Richesians strive toward a work-life balance where the success of the society is equal to the family’s accomplishments. Intelligence is a sought-after characteristic that parents encourage from a young age and educational institutions quantify through standardized tests. These tests ensure the most gifted individuals work on the most cutting-edge innovations. Economically speaking, though, this social stratification lacks social mobility and keeps the bulk of the population confined to the same class they were born in. This socialized meritocracy allows every citizen to live and die in relative comfort but ultimately suffers from high taxation, redundant bureaucracies, legal battles over patents, and a stagnant class system. As a result, many Richesian scientists in search of fame and fortune find employment within rival Houses. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Countess Ilbana Richese (Ruler) – Granddaughter of the famous Ilban Richese. In public, Ilbana is severe and relentless, issuing commands without restraint or room for doubt. In private, however, the consequences of her decisions weigh on her. Like a peasant who will not rise to nobility on Richese, Ilbana will not escape her role as Countess regardless of her desire to disappear. So, she has created two personalities for herself — the public symbol and the private woman. While currently young and unwed, many nobles within her court urge her to marry. She does not appear to be in any rush. Reverend Mother Cora Arlana (Advisor) – The old crone is like a wrinkled moon in steady orbit around Countess Ilbana and serves as her advisor. Blinded from the destruction of Korona, the Bene Gesserit opted not to accept artificial Tleilaxu eyes, claiming the loss of her sight liberated her from illusions. Her remaining senses are exceptional, and rumors say she can hear a hunter-seeker float through the air. Penelope Jax (Spymaster) – This young Mentat serves as Countess Ilbana’s confidant and Spymaster. She

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 55 has contacts and couriers embedded throughout Richese who have infiltrated various Minor Houses sworn in fealty to Countess Ilbana. Most are servants to multiple nobles and political figures, but a few become lovers, advisors, and even doctors to influential people. Penelope, Countess Ilbana, and Reverend Mother Arlana form an inseparable trio, guiding Richese out of its present troubles. Edwyn Richese (Envoy) – Representing the political interests of House Richese, Edwyn spends most of his time on Kaitain. Twin brother to Ilbana, he is a gifted spokesperson and politician. He is also next in the line of succession, though he has no apparent desire for the Richesian throne himself. Because of this, he spends a great deal of time vetting potential suitors for Ilbana, all of whom he has thus far dubbed unworthy. H i s t o ry The story of House Richese is a cautionary tale, illustrating how a Great House may rise and fall within a generation. After surviving the Great Purge, the Richesian people inherited a blighted planet with dwindling resources and a polluted atmosphere. But House Richese rose to power and spearheaded their planet’s total embrace of science and technology. Within a century the planet and its people thrived, though they became entirely dependent on machines. Mastery over miniaturization paved the way for them to become the primary distributor of Heighliners to the Spacing Guild. Then, having caught the attention of the Emperor, he granted House Richese the siridar governorship of Arrakis. As a result, rival Houses grew jealous and quickly moved against the Richesians. House Richese also suffered numerous losses and setbacks from constant guerrilla sabotage caused by Fremen rebels, which led to their great embarrassment before the Emperor. In addition to the problems on Arrakis, House Vernius started competing openly with House Richese to massproduce Heighliners. Soon the two were trading blows using economic tactics, countless legal battles, the occasional theft of proprietary knowledge, and industrial sabotage. As the pressure mounted in trade and on Arrakis, House Richese became more desperate, and the quality of their products suffered as a result. House Richese lost their exclusive Heighliner contract with the Spacing Guild. Then, they lost control of Arrakis. And finally, during the Great Spice War, Emperor Shaddam IV destroyed Richese’s artificial moon for the crime of stockpiling illegal melange. The Richesian mirrors reflected the blasts of the atomic weapons used to destroy the moon, resulting in a light so bright a quarter of the planet’s population went blind. In response, the Tleilaxu provided most of the victims with artificial eyes. The Richesians have stemmed the bleeding in the years since but have not recovered from these past calamities. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE VANDOR In charge of House Richese’s Heighliner shipyards, House Vandor suffers from the demanding strain Countess Ilbana places on them and an army of unhappy workers. These workers, trapped by their position and with little room for advancement, have often talked of organizing, but House Vandor has thus far been able to stave off a potential worker’s strike. Were an accident to occur, that fact would rapidly change. And were that accident to cost actual lives, then a worker’s strike might quickly escalate into a full-blown violent riot. HOUSE TASINI In command of the Richesian royal navy, House Tasini once took pride in their fearsome demeanor. That all changed after Korona. The general populace holds them at least partially at fault for the loss, and people often insult Tasini soldiers in the street. House Richese has since relegated them to maintaining the planet’s pitiful fortifications, but they can only endure so much ridicule as a House. It would take very little for them to defect to another House. HOUSE RUND Though once part of the Richesian bloodline, House Rund is now too far removed to count themselves among the royal family. Devoted to research and development, House Rund continues to recreate, albeit unsuccessfully, a prototype no-field generator, initially developed for the Harkonnen by Tenu Chobyn. In theory, it could cloak an entire vessel from long-range sensors. However, after turning over his research and prototype to the Baron on Giedi Prime, the Baron had Rabban murder Chobyn. A g e n d a After the destruction of Korona, Richese fell into economic ruin. The bulk of their resources went to tend to the dead and dying, along with repairing the significant damage caused by the Emperor’s attack. While they have mended the physical damage, the economic wounds remain. House Richese is a shell of its former self, maintaining order through strict laws and a stagnant social hierarchy. Richese feeds and shelters its people, but very few advance beyond the class into which they were born. Only through exceptional intellect or technological talents does anyone aside from the upper class advance their status. This austerity has been for a reason. Countess Ilbana has poured countless solaris into developing new technologies. Several research and development programs, including House Rund and their no-field generator, are in their final stages, any one of which may return House Richese to its former glory. In the interim, House Richese defends itself against corporate spies and sabotage, many of whom House Vernius employs. Should House Richese regain its footing, it intends to turn its attention toward those who have wronged them, beginning with House Vernius and ending with the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam Corrino IV. But to accomplish this remarkable feat, they need allies. To start, they have sent emissaries to Houses the Emperor has wronged, for quiet backroom conversations. And if spies are correct, to secure a significant alliance, Countess Ilbana is even willing to do that which, until now, she has averted — to offer her hand in marriage.

H o u s e A l e x i n 56 H o u s e Spi n n e t t e “THE TWO SIDED BLADE” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Twilight Orange Crest: Knife O v e rv i e w House Traits: Cunning, Discreet PRIMARY DOMAIN Kanly (Workers): House Spinnette trains assassins on their homeworld of Draemh and deploys them all over the Imperium ... for a price. SECONDARY DOMAINS Artistic (Expertise): Not only does House Spinnette know how to work with poisons, but they have also developed extensive techniques to hide them in elaborate meals ... meaning they also train incredible chefs, renowned for their skills and soughtafter throughout the Imperium. Science (Produce): To stay competitive, House Spinnette creates drugs, poisons, and a variety of unique flavor extracts used by both assassins and culinary geniuses. H o m e w o r l d Draemh (Enthi VII) – A planet of extreme environments. Harsh tundra, steep mountain peaks, scorching deserts, and dense forests, all populated by vicious animals and deadly plants. The capital city of Giliurd is a grim, crowded, savage metropolis. The entire planet is the perfect place to cultivate assassination skills and turn out skilled agents who can infiltrate and survive almost anywhere in the Known Universe. Other Holdings: House Spinnette has no other holdings outside of their homeworld. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r Any House who has such influence over the Imperium’s assassinations, and has such inside knowledge of who is in political conflict with whom, tends to have quite an advantage within the Landsraad. And it often makes them a target. On top of that, no one wants to hire an assassin from a House that can’t even protect itself. So, House Spinnette has a sizable, well-trained military and planetary defenses. This is persuasive marketing and good for business. Attacking other Houses doesn’t encourage great relationships or trust, however, so their military is purely for defending Draemh and House Spinnette. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Carving out a life on Draemh isn’t easy. Only the toughest and most stubborn can endure its severe landscapes and lethal flora and fauna. The Houses, Major and Minor, obey the concept of natural selection, confident that only the strongest will survive and promoting that ideal among their people. Because of this approach, House Spinnette and its Houses Minor are distant, indifferent overlords and do not interfere in their peoples’ lives. They neither help nor hinder. The people have been left to create their own society on Draemh with very few opportunities for upward mobility. Unlike the aloof and unconcerned Houses, the citizens of Draemh work together for their survival, with neighbors coming to each other’s aid regularly. There is a strong pressure to contribute, and anyone who can’t pitch in is expected to head into the wilderness alone to die of exposure or become fodder for the ruthless world. Those who turn to crime or take advantage of their neighbors face few consequences from the ruling establishment. But consequently, there is no one to moderate the response from the community if it feels it has been wronged.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 57 N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Choudhry Baizuk Spinnette (Ruler) – Rumor has it that the head of House Spinnette is an accomplished assassin, but no one has proof. Baizuk is coy about it and refuses to admit or deny it. They are a canny ruler and have been around long enough to play the political game dangerously well. They famously have no bodyguards or Swordmasters in their employ. Zamindar Rannin Spinnette (Heir) – Rannin has recently taken over the business side of House Spinnette, while Baizuk continues to handle the bureaucratic and diplomatic end of things. He is even-tempered for the most part but is ferocious when angered. He takes after Baizuk and is never accompanied by bodyguards. Mihglen Okkenak (Warmaster) – Mihglen is a battle-tested Warmaster who has been with House Spinnette for decades. There has been more than one House who believed they could take on House Spinnette in open warfare over the years, whether for revenge or with the intent of adding House Spinnette’s secrets and power to their own. When that happens, Mihglen steps in. She leads the military with precision and minimal casualties and has never lost a war. H i s t o ry The members of House Spinnette worked as spies and saboteurs during the Butlerian Jihad. After the defeat of the thinking machines and the implementation of the Great Convention, Gilliurd Spinnette, the ruler of House Spinnette at the end of the Great Revolt, realized that Wars of Assassins were going to be the primary method of power shifts in the Imperium. So, as a House, Gilliurd started training assassins to ensure Spinnette wouldn’t fall to the new political reality. Over time, the rulers of House Spinnette started a tradition of working as assassins themselves before becoming the head of the House. Because their assassins are in such high demand, House Spinnette has quite a lot of insider knowledge into the conflicts within the Imperium. They are not passive participants, however. House Spinnette encourages and manufactures hostility within the Landsraad. They benefit from any disagreements and have no qualms about hiring out their assassins to any House that asks and has deep enough pockets. There are certain disputes that help House Spinnette accumulate more power, however, and they do try to direct feuds and discord in those directions when they have the chance. Wars of Assassins are a booming business in the Imperium, which is paying off for House Spinnette. They are incredibly wealthy and provide a necessary service for the Great Houses and for anyone else who has the solaris to pay for a high-quality assassin. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE SOSSUON This House Minor specializes in creating stunning costumes for various performances around the Imperium and convincing disguises for their local assassins. HOUSE EZRAXIN Ruffians for hire is what this House does. They send groups to ‘convince’ a faction during negotiations or to intimidate a group into paying unofficial taxes. HOUSE NINGALE House Ningale peddles in secrets. They buy and sell confidential information. They dig up embarrassing private affairs. Sin, scandal, or shame? House Ningale knows about it. A g e n d a House Spinnette, claiming egalitarianism and the prioritization of human life, is working to make kanly and Wars of Assassins the primary way of managing disagreements across all classes. From the Great Houses of the Landsraad to Imperium merchants to the laborers who allow the Known Universe to function, House Spinnette wants everyone to feel that they can eliminate their rivals with impunity just like Serena and Manion Butler would have wanted. Or so they say. As a House that specializes in assassination, they would happen to profit should such a cultural shift occur, but as they petition other Houses and try to sway the Landsraad to encourage this kind of conflict resolution, they explain that they can speak on both kanly and Wars of Assassinations with authority and expertise. They have data and evidence that these methods drastically reduce collateral damage in all instances across all social divisions, and with the codified procedures in place, all parties come away satisfied, or at least unable to complain about the results. Unsurprisingly, House Spinnette is implementing kanly and Wars of Assassination to persuade other powers within the Imperium to their viewpoint. They also have a fierce ancient feud with House Singh, another House specializing in kanly. Both Houses are looking for ways to sabotage the other and will hire teams for exorbitant amounts of solaris to execute on their plans to destroy their rivals. They will also welcome any clever ideas that will give them an edge against their ancestral enemies. Additionally, House Spinnette despises the Spacing Guild’s monopoly on space travel. They find it restrictive and feel it gives the Guild too much insight into the power plays happening within the Imperium. Hiding their operatives as passengers without drawing too much attention is an intricate dance House Spinnette would love to avoid. Publicly, they claim they want to undermine the Spacing Guild in the name of equality.

H o u s e A l e x i n 58 H o u s e T a l i g a r i “NOBILITY IS ALL” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Teal Crest: Scales O v e rv i e w House Traits: Artistic, Deceptive PRIMARY DOMAINS Artistic (Expertise): House Taligari is recognized across the Imperium for its poets, dancers, playwrights, and all manner of creative talent. SECONDARY DOMAINS Artistic (Machinery): As a House of performers, House Taligari leads the way in stagecraft and performance technology. Politics (Workers): Many actors and stage technicians, etc., get their training here and then go on to join troupes resident with Houses or traveling the Imperium. H o m e w o r l d Artisia, a beautiful vacation spot, almost a rival to Kaitain. As House Taligari generates wealth through artistic pursuits it has not needed to commit to mining, industry, or farming, leaving the planet its natural beauty. One of its primary attractions is the Ingravid Opera. Other Holdings: After their foundation, the Taligari were gifted nine planets as fiefs by the Emperor. This vast fortune of land has allowed them to grow wealthy with only minimal exploitation. Unfortunately, one of these planets, Zanovar, is now a blasted wasteland following an attack during the Great Spice War. The previous homeworld of Taligari is also uninhabitable after an asteroid collision. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r Taligari has no real military presence in the Empire. They retain family atomics on Artisia and a small standing army whose function is largely ceremonial. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Perhaps more than anywhere else in the Imperium, House Taligari operates as a meritocracy. The Taligari themselves take a back seat, preferring to entertain themselves and sit in judgment over the artistic creations of the populace. They delegate the running of their holdings to docents who operate much like a civil service, appointing and promoting on merit. At least in theory. There is much competition amongst the ranks of the docents, and they are quite prepared to sabotage each other to achieve high rank. Whereas docents hold much of what most regard as real power in House Taligari, artists and creators have more status and enjoy higher regard, both from the ruling family and from the general population. House Taligari remains the premier House for artistic training outside House Jongleur, and those who attend its various colleges have their choice of troupes when they graduate. The original home planet of House Taligari is uninhabitable, having had an unfortunate encounter with a meteor half a century before the Imperial grant of their other holdings. The House still mines minerals from the wreckage of the home planet. Vultus, Meradon, and Morinth are popular resort planets (as was Zanovar, prior to the Spice Wars) with pleasant climates and fine vegetation. Oxcania and Terradon are mainly agricultural. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Basilissa Elissa Taligari (Ruler)– The current ruler of the House. She has three children by her current consort, docent Coran Xibala. Merlo, now a young adult, is the oldest, followed by Felicia, a few years younger, and Corio who is a teenager. Of the three, Felicia seems most able to handle House rulership, although, like her mother, she is obsessed with fashion. Merlo is intellectually challenged, unable to learn the simplest of verses, and Corio thinks of nothing except his music. Coran handles all the necessary business of the ruling family, though he delegates much of it to his army of bureaucrats. Elissa herself is not interested in politics; she spends her time studying fashion and designing costumes for the ballet. H i s t o ry House Taligari was established as a Minor House after the Butlerian Jihad. At that time, the House was best known for the creation of anthems to inspire the rulers and fighters of other Houses. They continue to provide entertainment of all kinds, from highbrow opera to lowbrow slapstick comedy. In 3684 A.G., a meteor collided with Taligari, the home planet, although thankfully nearly all the population was evacuated before the collision made the planet uninhabitable. At this time, the Padishah Emperor Hyek Corrino II, famed more for his appreciation of the arts than for politics or warfare, awarded House Taligari nine planets as fiefs, in recognition of his appreciation of an opera composed in his honor, thus promoting them to the status of a House

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 59 Major. Taligari numbers grew exponentially with the acquisition of these planets, nearly all of which are habitable. The three unhabitable planets and what remains of Taligari itself provide nearly all the Taligari’s mineral needs. Four of these new planets (Zanovar, Vultus, Meradon and Morinth) havealmost perfect climates, so House Taligari branched out into a form of tourist industry, creating beautiful environments for entertainment and relaxation. Zanovar once contained the most extensive amusement park in the Known Universe, Vultus is best known for exotic cocktails and gourmet dining, Meradon is a hunters’ paradise with a wide variety of fauna both edible and fierce, and Morinth is an unspoiled nature reserve of great scenic beauty (though the cities contain famed opera houses, art galleries, and theatres to rival those of the capital Artesia itself). The House has continued to distinguish itself by providing all forms of entertainment. Their high art is the best the Known Universe has to offer, and their amusement parks continue to offer education as well as enjoyment to their patrons. Zanovar housed the most famed amusement park in the Imperium. Alongside the thrilling rides and spectacular shows, the park contained gardens, showcasing models of the most prominent features of many other notable planets. Patrons could wander through a jewel-studded model of Kaitain, complete with waxworks depicting all the historical emperors with their most prominent consorts and staff. Nearby was a maritime exhibit said to be typical of Caladan. The area devoted to Arrakis contained sand heaped up to resemble dunes, among which prowled a huge model of a sandworm, well known for frightening small children. Many noted this area had a strong scent of the spice melange for which Arrakis is famous. Zanovar was flattened in the first raid of the Great Spice War, when the Emperor insisted the smell of spice at that monument proved it was an illegal spice store. What very few people are aware of is that the attack was mainly an attempt for Emperor Shaddam to kill his half brother, Tyros Reffa, who lived on the planet. He failed in this, as Tyros was attending the opera on Artisia at the time of the attack. He did, however, succeed in flattening the beautiful parks and gardens of Zanovar and killing over 14 million people. Supreme Bashar Zum Garon ordered a Sardaukar firing squad to kill Glax Othn, a well-known docent who had often spoken for the Taligari in the Landsraad. Although it is still a Major House, it is rare for a member of the family to appear in public. They leave diplomacy and politics, as well as the day-to-day running of their affairs, in the hands of capable docents. As docents gain their positions on grounds of ability rather than due to any accident of birth, House finances are currently very healthy. They have not disgraced themselves in the eyes of the Imperium but some Houses, proud of their blood and heritage, regard them as diminished because their family members avoid prominent positions in anything other than the arts. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE JONGLEUR The troubadours of Jongleur are known throughout the Imperium for their acting ability. They have a technique, like the voice of the Bene Gesserit, which affects the emotions of their audience. HOUSE PETRONI Art is fine but does not fill the belly. The Petroni are adept at agriculture and, more importantly, deal with distribution of food and other essentials across the Taligari holdings. HOUSE XIBALA This Minor House supplies many of the docents who run House Taligari business. Some believe it is really Xibalas who run Taligari, though no one is sure why they choose to do so from the shadows. Some say they lack the courage to challenge the ruling House, others say, as they already have the power and influence, there is no motivation for them to do so. A g e n d a House Taligari has an interest in maintaining peace between the various Houses and factions. People at war do not appreciate high art, nor do they take expensive vacations. House artists in all fields often tour the Imperium, showing their paintings or sculptures and performing their symphonies, ballets, and plays. Most travel with docents skilled in diplomacy. The official role of these docents is to smooth the way for the commissioned artist or troupe, ensuring their needs are met for the duration of the tour. Their real function, however, is to negotiate and seal treaties and deals for the benefit of House Taligari. A touring artist or troupe has ample opportunity to conduct all kinds of negotiations, and many artists double as spies or diplomats, buying and selling information and forming relationships to pave the way for valuable deals to be sealed in the Landsraad. Most docents are aware financial stability comes not from the high art for which the House is famous, but from the recreation industry which they promote with great vigor. House Taligari also creates propaganda for other Houses. Speechwriting is a major source of revenue for the House. Propaganda is just as effective at undermining one’s enemies as it is at self-promotion, and having House Taligari prepare and even publish propaganda gives a certain plausible deniability as well as guaranteeing a high-quality product. There are rumors that some artists of the House take bribes to ‘spike’ commissioned propaganda with subliminal messages harmful to the paying customer. The planets of House Taligari include the most desirable vacation spots in the Known Universe — the best places to go for a bit of rest and recreation. Due to their popularity, they are excellent places to conduct clandestine meetings. Under normal circumstances, it can be difficult to arrange a meeting with a potentially treacherous member of a rival House, but if you both happen to be at the same luxury vacation resort, who is going to listen to small talk exchanged over exotic cocktails around the pool? House Taligari have no problem facilitating this. So far, House Taligari has never sought to get revenge for the destruction of Zanovar. This is not surprising when it means taking on the Emperor and his Sardaukar. However, they hold Shaddam himself responsible as an individual and bear no grudge against House Corrino in general. So, they do everything in their power to undermine Shaddam Corrino IV and quietly gather support within the Landsraad.

H o u s e A l e x i n 60 H o u s e T h o rva l d “THE HAMMER OF WEALTH” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Indigo and Yellow Crest: Hammer O v e rv i e w House Traits: Diligent, Competitive Primary Domains: Refined Alloys (Produce): Reflected in the hammer, their House crest, House Thorvald specializes in the smelting and refining of precious alloys often required for spacecraft and other large vehicles. Secondary Domains: Military (Understanding): The War Academy on Ipyr is known for producing some of the most tactical minds in the galaxy. Run entirely by Mentats, it teaches students how to secure victory using cunning and guile rather than brute strength or technological might. Homeworld: Ipyr is a habitable planet dominated by extensive hills and mountain ranges. The cities surround smelting factories, with underground tunnels connecting each of them. Other Holdings: The Ipyrian Asteroid Belt surrounds the planet Ipyr and serves as the primary source of House Thorvald’s supply of alloys and minerals. Merchant vessels and mining ships travel to and from the belt daily, dropping off their precious cargo at the Heighforge, an orbital refinery. The refinery is so large, gravimetrically speaking, it acts as Ipyr’s unofficial moon. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r House Thorvald does not have the military might of Houses like Atreides and Harkonnen and is not as fearsome as the Emperor’s dreaded Sardaukar, but it has turned guerrilla warfare into an art. Those who do not join one of the several Houses mining the asteroid belt typically join the military, with those who distinguish themselves invited to enroll in the War Academy. Graduates of the War Academy often start as captains and lieutenants with hopes of eventually becoming squad leaders. Unlike a military controlled from the top down, strategic decisions are made from the ground up. The army, favoring cell structures, considers the squad the most critical military unit and has given them the ability to take independent action based on chain-of-command recommendations. The calculation is that decision-making efficiency outstrips the advantages of a single point of control like generals commanding troops on a battlefield. Therefore, tactical information moves from the field up the chain where officers, often Mentats or Mentats-in-training, offer recommendations but function more as coordinators, making sure no two squads jeopardize each other’s objectives. In the end, squad leaders give orders based on recommendations made by platoon lieutenants and benefit from the personal celebrity they cultivate. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Ipyrians maintain a solid, pragmatic attitude when it comes to work and leisure. They take their jobs seriously, but when not working, they throw themselves into revelry with little reserve. They put down their tools and devote themselves entirely to enjoying the present moment with the understanding that rest is just as important to productivity as training and long hours. Though once quite representative of the common people, the ruling family has not fully recovered from the brief but bloody Ipyrian civil war. The conflict split the planet politically between those loyal to Earl Memnon Thorvald and those loyal to his deceased brother, Kenji. The feud bleeds into almost every aspect of Ipyrian society, so much so that to speak of it publicly is to invite heated debate and conflict. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Earl Memnon Thorvald (Ruler) – Though once patient and kind, the Earl has been bitter ever since his sister, Firenza Thorvald, became Emperor Shaddam IV’s fifth wife and died after only six months. In the aftermath, Memnon continues to grow distant and irritable. Fabrizi Thorvald (Heir) – Niece to Earl Memnon and de facto heir to House Thorvald, Fabrizi has spent her entire life protected. During the Ipyrian civil war, her father was overthrown by her uncle. Tonight, outwardly, she is a thankful niece, both innocent and devoted to Memnon’s rule. Secretly, she plots her uncle’s destruction.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 61 Vercing Koji (Warmaster) – A veteran of the Ipyrian civil war, Koji proved himself a master tactician as well as a respectable duelist. A graduate of the War Academy, he serves House Thorvald as their Warmaster. But for Thorvald military forces, this means he focuses less on leading troops into battle and more on assassinating those who can coordinate attacks on the Earl’s holdings. Loura Dae (Advisor) – A Mentat in service to House Thorvald and Vice Chancellor of the War Academy, she handles the school’s day-to-day operations and has the final say in enrolling prospective students and passing graduates. H i s t o ry After the Butlerian Jihad, the nobles of Ipyr returned to their homeworld victorious. Their leader, Ubar Thorvald, seized power and established his dynasty. He then turned to the refinement of precious minerals native to the planet and used experimental alloys as leverage to make compacts and agreements within the Landsraad. While they could never compete with Ix or Richese in terms of technology, Thorvald’s metallurgic skills made them attractive partners. Soon, their alloys were used to construct everything from Sardaukar war machines to luxurious towers on Kaitain. When climate initiatives cautioned against continued mining operations, House Thorvald moved their attention to the asteroid belt. Within a generation, their wealth and influence quadrupled. Using their new wealth, House Thorvald constructed the Heighforge, an orbital refinery taking materials from the belt to process into building materials. As demand has increased, the refinery has grown over several centuries and now nears the size of a small moon. The Heighforge houses thousands of resident workers, and ships from across the Landsraad conduct business there, making it a focal point for legitimate business and illegal activity. The black market thrives on the Heighforge, and rumors suggest the criminals who reside there pay House Thorvald handsomely for the privilege. Legitimate merchants stay away from the lower decks unless they want to bump into several warring syndicates and violent gangs. But House Thorvald’s influence has stagnated. Some claim this is because House Thorvald is too focused on processing raw materials rather than exploring technological developments outside those related to mining and metallurgy. While their alloy exports are vital to the Empire, they do not manufacture products. Others suggest this is because Earl Memnon still mourns the loss of his sister and the ramifications of the Ipyrian civil war. Regardless, the influence wielded by House Thorvald has plateaued, allowing competitors to strengthen their position. Rivals to the House are poised to strike, hoping to overthrow Memnon and install Lady Fabrizi as Earline. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE DUVA A House devoted to rare-element extraction. Of all the organizations responsible for mining the Ipyrian Asteroid Belt, they are the most influential. Earl Memnon relies on their support to maintain power, and any potential coup would require their assistance. While the Duvas have been courted by those seeking to overthrow Memnon, for the moment, they remain neutral, waiting to see which way the political winds blow. HOUSE SANG For their aid during the Ipyrian civil war, House Sang took custody of the Heighforge. They are a Minor House primarily focused on trade and distribution, and who also accepts large bribes from the criminal organizations who frequent the station, making them both wealthy and corrupt. HOUSE EIN A military House with the reputation of producing a long line of brilliant squad leaders. Soldiers often compete to join House Ein’s squads, which offers the House immense leverage in domestic planetary negotiations. They have pledged their lives to the earldom, whoever that may be. A g e n d a Thirty years ago, House Thorvald suffered a self-inflicted wound. Upon the death of their matriarch, the leadership of the House fell into question, and civil war ensued. The two heirs to House Thorvald, Kenji the elder and Memnon the younger, drew a line between themselves. Kenji drove his sibling into the mountains of Ipyr. A guerrilla war followed, and an outnumbered Memnon survived his brother’s assault and rallied the nobles to his banner. Within several years he reclaimed the earldom of House Thorvald and executed his brother, though he lost his wife and children in the process. After the dust settled, Memnon surveyed the cost of his victory and realized he needed to act to preserve his legacy. The future of the House fell to his sister, Firenza, and Kenji’s daughter, his niece, Fabrizi. Memnon arranged for Firenza to wed Shaddam IV as the Emperor’s fifth wife. Unfortunately, Firenza died after only six months of wedlock. The news shattered Memnon. Tonight, he lives in deep despair, rarely leaving his homeworld, issuing commands from the safety of his fortress. He has had quite enough of emperors, choosing instead to focus his attention on finding a suitable partner for Fabrizi. Those Minor and nascent Houses loyal to Memnon govern by consensus in his wake, but the longer his absence, the more the political fault lines widen. Barring some unifying force or individual, a second civil war feels inevitable. T h e F a ll o f Me m n o n After the ascension of Paul Muad’Dib Atreides to the throne of the Known Universe, Memnon leads a conspiracy against the newly crowned Emperor. Joined by several disgruntled Houses, the rebellion is short-lived. When Paul learns of a planned attack against his ancestral home of Caladan, he commands the Spacing Guild to strand Memnon and his entire rebel fleet in the vast emptiness of deep space with no supplies or additional air. Paul then orders the complete sterilization of Ipyr, destroying all life on the planet entirely.

H o u s e A l e x i n 62 H o u s e Ve r n i u s “TRUTH FROM SCIENCE” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Purple and Copper Crest: Double Helix O v e rv i e w House Traits: Cunning, Creative PRIMARY DOMAINS Industrial Technology (Machinery): Having supplanted their rival, House Richese, House Vernius is the primary producer of Heighliners for the Spacing Guild. It also manufactures sophisticated machines, orships (a form of space-capable ornithopter),weather controls, and Ixian memory stones. SECONDARY DOMAINS Spy Equipment (Machinery): Known for its secrets, House Vernius also produces spy-eyes, hunter-seekers, and surveillance devices. H o m e w o r l d From orbit, the planet Ix is a devastated wasteland, complete with deep craters, jagged chasms, and the broken skeletons of ancient urban centers. A half-dozen newer cities dot the surface, including Ixian Majorius, which houses the planet’s only spaceport. The vast majority of Ixians, however, dwell beneath the surface. Other Holdings: For their efforts during the Ecazi Revolt, Emperor Elrood IX granted House Vernius several additional planets. The Bene Tleilax then took these worlds for a time, but they have since been reclaimed. One such world located far from Ix, Petra III, serves as an offworld ‘black site’ for House Vernius, where they conduct experiments into artificial intelligence in secret. For their part, House Vernius pays the Spacing Guild handsomely for transportation to and from Petra III and even more so to maintain their discretion. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r The standing army of House Vernius is formidable. Its commanders and most of the rank-and-file shield infantry are fearless in battle and hardened by the war to retake Ix from the Bene Tleilax. This fact, matched with their sophisticated technology and counter-surveillance apparatus, gives most potential adversaries a moment of pause. The Ixians make no secret of the fact they will not allow their world to be taken again, no matter the cost. This alone should give any would-be invader pause. P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Most Ixians live in an elegantly designed subterranean world. Beneath the blighted mantle, its citizens reside in upside-down cities supported by glittering pillars that stretch from floor to cavern ceiling. An artificial sky stretches across the dome above. Specializing in secrecy, Ixians learn at a young age the subtle art of spycraft. Parents and guardians encourage the children to observe their friends and family, often spying on them to unearth their mysteries. Privacy, therefore, is a controversial topic and usually only achieved by the truly careful. Once Ixian children become adults, they fall under the purview of the Technocrat Council—a conglomerate of organizations devoted to manufacturing, scientific research, and technological development. The Council has inserted itself into almost every aspect of Ixian society, including the ruling House Vernius. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Earl Bronso Vernius (Ruler) – As the Earl of House Vernius, Bronso is accountable to the Technocrat Council. He functions as their puppet, unable to escape their political grasp. Nor is he able to resign; the Technocrats are aware of his true ancestry. Bronso is not the son of Rhombur Vernius but rather, genetically, Tyros Reffa, the illegitimate son of Emperor Elrood Corrino IX. This grants Bronso a secret claim (legitimate or otherwise) to the Golden Lion Throne. The Technocrats hold this card close to their chest, saving it for the day they genuinely need to exploit it. Jon Tur (President/Councilor) – Head of the Technocrat Council, Tur is arguably the most influential individual on Ix. With the Technocrats under his command, he pursues an aggressive agenda, seeking to become as influential as the Spacing Guild or the Bene Gesserit. Paranoid and erratic, he fears the Emperor will one day return with his dreaded Sardaukar soldiers and ravage Ix once again. As a result, Tur suspects spies around every corner and has individuals executed with regularity.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 63 Doris Silvian (Spymaster) – Head of House Vernius’ internal security, Silvian controls a vast network of spies and assassins throughout the Landsraad. Though she has made many enemies, none dare oppose her, due to the copious amount of incriminating evidence she has on critical members of the Technocrat Council. With her loyalty to Earl Bronso and the demands of President Tur, Silvian feels caught between the two powers. However, when pressed, she will protect the son of the late Earl Rhombur, whom she loved deeply. Darius (Warrior) – House Vernius’ chief champion, Darius, served alongside Gurney Halleck when the combined forces of Vernius and Atreides defeated the Bene Tleilax. Darius nearly died that day, suffering grievous wounds. But he ultimately lived, and in the same vein as the late Earl Rhombur, he survives solely using artificial body parts. More machine than man, he is loyal only to Bronso and will not hesitate to fight and die for the Earl even if that means going against President Tur and the Technocrat Council. H i s t o ry The Butlerian Jihad left the surface of Ix almost completely uninhabitable, forcing its people to migrate to areas beneath the surface. There, within the deep subterranean caverns and using their mastery over technology, House Vernius rebuilt Ixian society. Centuries later, during the reign of Emperor Elrood Corrino IX, Vernius competed openly with its chief rival, House Richese. Through propaganda and well-placed saboteurs, House Vernius prevailed and gained the coveted Heighliner contract with the Spacing Guild. Then House Vernius assisted the Emperor in putting down the Ecazi Revolt, which led to the restoration of Archduke Ferdinand Ecaz to the Mahogany Throne. A very young Dominic Vernius fought alongside an equally youthful Duke Paulus Atreides of Caladan. The two became fast friends and, for their assistance to the Emperor, were rewarded handsomely. Eventually, Emperor Elrood turned against House Vernius. However, it is unclear if Elrood’s ire stemmed from alarm at Ix’s swift rise to fame and fortune or if he was jealous that Earl Dominic Vernius had wed the Emperor’s former concubine Shando Balut. Soon the Emperor aligned himself with the Bene Tleilax to conspire against Ix. First, they accused House Vernius of developing thinking machines in violation of the Butlerian Edicts. Then makeshift riots erupted on Ix. Finally, the Emperor sent in his elite Sardaukar to conquer the planet. They succeeded, forcing House Vernius offworld, and the Emperor granted custody of Ix to the Bene Tleilax. During the occupation, House Vernius was declared renegade, and Dominic and Shando became rebels. They were hunted down and eventually executed. But their children, safely in the custody of House Atreides, survived. Dominic’s son, Rhombur, worked with Duke Leto and Duncan Idaho to retake Ix. They succeeded, and House Vernius was formally reinstated as a Major House within the Landsraad. A few years later, Rhombur was killed in an assassination attempt against young Paul Atreides, leaving Bronso Vernius as the sole heir. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE ALDRICK From one of Ix’s artificial moons, House Aldrick constructs surveillance equipment. From spy-eyes to hunter-seekers, they provide tools of espionage for the entire Empire. They also sell their equipment on the black market and spy on Earl Bronso on behalf of the Technocrat Council. Unscrupulous and greedy, they are willing to put eyes on almost anyone for the right price. HOUSE VAVAR With sole custody over the Ixian Shipyards, House VaVar builds and repairs all types of transportation, including small shuttles and massive Heighliners. Of all the Minor Houses loyal to House Vernius, they are by far the most lucrative. This offers them a measure of political influence and is the only thing keeping the Technocrat Council out of their affairs. HOUSE RANDAL Located on Petra II, House Randal specializes in sophisticated circuitry used in starship instrumentation. They are also behind the administration of the nearby planet Petra III, where they conduct secret research into artificial intelligence and send their reports directly to President Tur. It is unclear if Earl Bronso is aware of their illegal activities. What is clear is that security is exceptionally tight, and House Randal keeps the number of people aware of the project to a bare minimum. While few individuals travel to Petra III, even fewer can leave it. A g e n d a As it works toward reclamation of their former glory, House Vernius becomes more and more an extension of the Technocrat Council. The Technocrats need Bronso’s official position as Earl along with his coveted place on the Landsraad High Council. But Bronso also needs the Technocrats for the general day-to-day operations of Ix. As much as they might resent each other, a symbiotic relationship chains these two bodies to each other. But Bronso’s patience is wearing thin, and the young Earl considers testing the tensile strength of his proverbial leash. In this, Bronso delicately weighs the threat President Tur represents against the future of the Ixian people. He does not yet know if he can convince the Ixians to overthrow the Council or need to rely on outside parties to achieve the same end. In the meantime, heavily influenced by the Technocrat Council, House Vernius makes aggressive strides throughout the Landsraad. It inserts itself throughout the Empire via economic trade, industrial espionage, and political maneuvering, sometimes conflicting with other Houses. And, as the Technocrat Council explores the extent of its reach, it collects incriminating evidence on its rivals and pays hefty bribes to Shaddam IV so the court will turn a blind eye.

H o u s e A l e x i n 64 H o u s e Wy d r a s “THE SHADOWS ARE LISTENING” B a n n e r s a n d A r m s Colors: Sea Green Crest: Laza Tiger O v e rv i e w House Traits: Subtle, Impartial, Refined PRIMARY DOMAINS Espionage (Understanding): The main activity and specialty of House Wydras is the art of espionage. They claim to be its greatest practitioners, routinely developing new techniques to ensure they remain undetectable, refining approaches and methods, and inventing new means of avoiding capture and gathering information. This expertise is also communicated to others outside House Wydras for enormous sums of money. The Espionage Schools of House Wydras are legendary. SECONDARY DOMAINS Espionage (Produce): Spying is the collection of information covertly. Where, then, does that information go? To the data banks, on Meuse. This enormous expanse of libraries, archives, vid-files and other repositories dominates much of the world-city, constantly added to and expanding. This is tended to by more than a billion archivists, carefully collating and assembling the raw data for use by House Wydras itself, as well as Mentats and any other prepared to pay for access. Religion (Expertise): Independence of thought is vital for successful espionage. House Wydras cultivates it in its citizens, encouraging questions, challenges to orthodoxy, and new ideas. It does so with care, but its universities and schools are some of the highest quality. This is especially true of its Theological Colleges, dedicated to promulgating the Orange Catholic faith. Wydrasian priests are amongst the most revered and respected in the Imperium, being devoted to their faith but also constantly trying to deepen their understanding and comprehension of the always-complex questions of divinity. H o m e w o r l d Almost entirely urbanized, Meuse is a sprawl of steel and glass and clockwork. House Wydras’ reputation as a hub for information, as a center for the constant teeming data of the Imperium, resulted in the planet’s once dense forests, lakes, rivers, and mountains all being consumed by the city. Meuse is now simply one city, a city-world with a population of approximately four billion. Meuse is far from a large planet, though it is notable for having one of the largest populations of Mentats in the Imperium. Here, there are whole islands dedicated to the minutest of calculations regarding the cost of spice, or the time required for shipping the contents of a great palace to another world. The temperature on Meuse rose considerably as the urbanization of the planet hit critical mass, with it now settling around 30 degrees Celsius on an average day, and rising much higher during the lengthy summers the planet enjoys. The air quality on Meuse is low, and the rain is highly acidic — something Imperial ecologists are working to redress, with slow but measurable success. Other Holdings: Fournier is a large planet within the same system as Meuse and largely covered over with dense jungle. It is used by the Minor House Apollinaire as a facility for experimentation and research into new espionage techniques. Access to Fournier is strictly limited and, despite its relatively small population, possesses extensive planetary defenses, including a small supply of atomics. Mi l i ta ry P ow e r Possessing formidable planetary defenses, Meuse is considered among the most well-defended planets in the Imperium. House Wydras’ standing army is, in contrast, restricted to a series of small, well-trained commando squadrons. Should House Wydras ever be directly attacked, their carefully positioned assets inside virtually every Major House and organization in the Imperium mean they possess far more direct means of defending themselves. Or so goes the theory.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 65 P o p u l at i o n a n d Li f e s t y l e Despite the stifling atmosphere on Meuse, the population of both the planet and House Wydras in general possess one of the better qualities of life within the Imperium. Houses are carefully constructed, with air filters and other protective features. Travel is typically undertaken by underground train to avoid the need to breathe in the air on the surface, and most Wydras subjects are granted several days a week for personal pursuits and other leisure activities. N o b i l i s F a m i l i a Lady Cordelia L’Hiver (Ruler) – A woman of commanding reputation, Cordelia L’Hiver appears strikingly short the first time she is encountered. This feeling is soon replaced by something approaching fear when the head of House Wydras begins to talk. Her voice cuts through any noise or disturbance with absolute authority. This is something born purely of innate talent, as Cordelia L’Hiver proudly states her total ignorance of Bene Gesserit methods. While she was, of course, trained in the Wydras schools, and, so many presume, possesses some Mentat abilities as well, she rejects any associations with the Bene Gesserit. Lady L’Hiver is loved and admired across Meuse for her fair-mindedness but also her ruthlessness. Such traits are prized on Meuse, and Lady L’Hiver’s willingness to strike at any enemy suddenly and viciously is considered proof of her fitness to rule. Griffith L’Hiver (Consort) – While Lady L’Hiver is indisputably the head of House Wydras, her husband commands a great deal of respect and loyalty too. He adopted the L’Hiver name as his own and has proven an excellent consort, providing Lady L’Hiver with two children and proving a fine host for the myriad parties and events the heads of Houses must throw, but which Lady L’Hiver detests. Madame Hyacinth (Master of Assassins) – As tall as Lady L’Hiver is short, Madame Hyacinth is a Mentat specializing in assassination. Such things are often required to further, or prevent, espionage, and Madame Hyacinth is among the finest of assassins. Trusted absolutely by Lady L’Hiver, she supervises all of the ‘necessary removals’, as House Wydras terms them, though for the most special and essential of assignments, Madame Hyacinth conducts them in person. H i s t o ry Formed a little later than most of the other Great Houses, House Wydras was created as part of a pact by the early Landsraad to try and achieve the same sort of control and order regarding espionage as the Order of the Mentats, and to counter the growing power of the Guild over other important elements of Imperial life. House Wydras was also formed as an attempted check against the power of the Bene Gesserit, as well as their network of agents and informers. House Wydras quickly achieved these stated goals and continued to grow. Its access to information, and the bond it was able to form with the Mentats as a result, enabled it to deftly avoid any attempt to intervene by the Great Houses responsible for its foundation. In the time since this, House Wydras’ position as an impartial supplier of both espionage and information has seen its wealth and prestige grow. P ro m i n e n t Mi n o r H o u s e s HOUSE VILLON Certain aspects of espionage are essential, such as thievery, but ... déclassé. The extraction of valuable artifacts or repositories of information sometimes must be done, but for House Wydras it is preferable if someone else does it. Like House Villon, for example. House Villon produces the most skilled of larcenists, able to bypass the most stringent of security without detection. HOUSE MALLARMÉ The archivists of House Mallarmé are the protectors of the most forbidden and secret elements of the knowledge assembled by the massed intelligencers of House Wydras. Those things humanity should forget, but certain people seek to learn anyway, are relegated to the Vault. Located on the smallest moon in the broader Meuse system, House Mallarmé protects this knowledge, ensuring it remains entirely concealed. HOUSE APOLLINAIRE The innovators, the relentless pursuers of the new, House Apollinaire is at the forefront of the more experimental elements of spycraft. Whether it is new forms of hunter-seeker drones, new hidden recording devices, or remote observation systems, House Apollinaire seeks to find them by any means. A g e n d a For House Wydras, and the L’Hiver family, two elements govern its decisions and actions above all things. First, the preservation of its secrets, and the secrets of those it works for, and second, the protection of its impartiality. Any attempt to breach the Wydras data banks, or to force a Wydras agent to change sides, would be met with considerable ferocity. As with many of the Imperium’s organizations, such as the Bene Gesserit and the Guild, House Wydras endeavors to preserve its absolute impartiality in all matters. Its services are available to any House, and those Wydras spies (or Wydras-trained spies) employed by that House are loyal to it. While they report certain facts to their superiors on Meuse, that information is sacrosanct. It is never to be revealed or sold. This trust is sacred to the House, and anyone deemed liable to break it, or threatening to, is dealt with quickly and lethally. Information collected by Wydras spies not employed by a House can be sold and used as the market dictates. As a result, the House is always interested in the possibility of a power play, a grand maneuver, or a subtle change in the balance of power. House Wydras sniffs around such things as a dog does raw meat, waiting for its chance to snatch some. The House never foments such situations — to do so would be to fracture its famed impartiality — but it is always pursuing news of such events, and wherever an emissary of House Wydras is found, some major event is sure to follow.

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HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 67 C h a p t e r � : The Spacing Guild GUILD: the Spacing Guild, one leg of the political tripod maintaining the Great Convention. The Guild was the second mental-physical training school (see Bene Gesserit) after the Butlerian Jihad. The Guild monopoly on space travel and transport and upon international banking is taken as the beginning point of the Imperial Calendar. —Terminology of the Imperium

he Spacing Guild is regularly described as the third point of the triangle of power within the Imperium — the other two points being the Landsraad and the Imperium. It is perhaps the most secretive of the three, serving each equally and working in tandem with CHOAM (described on p.14). However, CHOAM’s bureaucracy exists entirely in the bureaucracy of the Landsraad, with its officers appointed from the Houses it serves. The Guild, by contrast, is a fiefdom unto itself. Members are either born into the Guild or recruited through searches for potential Navigator candidates. The Guild guards its secrecy and its operations zealously, acting independently of the Landsraad and the Emperor himself. Even the Bene Gesserit are unable to reliably pierce the veil of secrecy surrounding the Guild’s operations. Navigators, and by extension, the Guild itself, find the ‘witches’ abhorrent and frequently refuse to deal with them at all, save the merest courtesy of passage. Additional information on the Spacing Guild is in the Dune Core Rulebook on p. 30 and 47–50. The following addresses the Guild’s interaction with the Landsraad and individual Houses, and the types of personnel that represent the face of the Guild to them. T h e G u i l d B a n k A core part of the Guild is the Guild Bank, the internal division responsible for the handling of all the economic aspects related to trade. This covers transport fees and duties, taxes and surcharges, the transportation and accounting of all profits, insurance for transport, and finally the delivery of these funds to CHOAM, from where they can be disbursed to the Landsraad and the Imperial Court. Despite the degree to which their roles overlap, the difference between the Guild Bank and CHOAM is profound. Metaphorically speaking, while CHOAM is the spigot from which funds, like water, flow into the homes of the noble Houses, the Guild Bank is the plumbing that feeds that spigot, the pumps that drive that water pressure, the main that delivers the water to the household, and the reservoir that holds that water. Without the Guild Bank, all profits and earnings made from trade would be held planetside and all trade between planets would be impossible. It is worth noting, however, that very little of these funds being transported are in the form of physical money, such as bins of solaris. Instead, the Guild keeps careful and extensive lines of credit for each House. Each House then draws from that line of credit for expenses and feeds it with their profits, which the Guild then transmits to CHOAM, which disburses profits, minus their own fees, of course. Thus, the Guild Bank works closely with CHOAM but always with its own priorities paramount, their deliberately dull, nondescript agents often wearing concealing lenses to hide their spice-blued eyes from those they meet. T h e G u i l d , C HOAM, a n d t h e L a n d s r a a d As far as the Houses of the Landsraad are concerned, CHOAM and the Guild Bank are essentially the same, indivisible for all intents and purposes, but they are distinct and separate entities with different agendas and goals. CHOAM’s loyalty is first and foremost to its shareholders, the Landsraad and the Emperor, while the Guild — and by extension, its Bank — serves only itself. The most powerful tool the Guild has at its disposal is simple refusal of service. For a House, this can represent a ruinous loss of revenue from exports, a catastrophic shortage of necessary goods (particularly spice) from elsewhere in the Imperium, and the inability to exert military force outside its own systems. For while Houses have starships capable of faster than light (FTL) travel, such journeys are measured in weeks, months, or longer, while the Guild facilitates near-instantaneous transport across the Imperium. Thus, while the Landsraad and Emperor possess military power and are the actual generators of wealth – with the Emperor owning everything within the Landsraad — they must negotiate carefully with the Guild for their own ability to access and use those assets. Similarly, while CHOAM handles the disbursement of monies and profits into the Landsraad’s coffers, CHOAM can do little without the Guild providing them with the funds by which they pay out their shareholders. Spice may be the fulcrum about which the universe turns, but the Spacing Guild is the force that moves it. Ultimately, though, while the Spacing Guild seems to hold all the cards in this arrangement, its ambitions are even more throttled by its need for access to vast quantities of spice, and thus it carefully gauges every negotiation with the Landsraad, the Emperor, and particularly the House currently governing and controlling the spice trade. It is a well-known secret that the Guild, like most Houses, cooperates with smugglers while claiming to be opposed to them and their activities. On Arrakis and relating to spice, the Guild has made many arrangements with smugglers to provide spice in necessary quantities at a below-market cost, especially when the legitimate supply is threatened or limited. All the while, it continues to purchase spice through CHOAM. This lets the Guild sustain the illusion that it does not participate in that illicit trade, and more importantly, it conceals the true extent of its actual spice requirements. So most Houses turn a willfully blind eye to the smuggling of goods upon their own shuttles and transports, as well as the clandestine movement of unidentified smuggling vessels from the surface up to the waiting Guild Heighliners. 68 T

J u n c t i o n The name ‘Junction’ refers to both a planet and two orbital space stations where the Guild’s great Heighliners are maintained and Navigators are trained, spending their entire lives in zero-gravity environments, never breathing atmosphere, never touching the ground. Though the enigmatic Navigators are the most critical members of the Guild, Junction itself is where vast bureaucratic and engineering castes who keep the Spacing Guild running dwell, tens of thousands of individuals to a single Navigator. Legend within the Spacing Guild has it that the primary planet of Junction was once named Kohlar. This was the site where spacefolding pioneer Norma Cenva founded the Guild, constructing the earliest spacefolding vessels in the VenKee Enterprises foundries there. Decades later, the manufacturing facilities suffered a devastating atomic attack that destroyed almost everything above ground, causing the survivors to seek refuge underground in vast complexes that sprawl beneath almost all the planet’s surface. Millennia of reclamation and terraforming have restored the planet from a radioactive wasteland to a thriving world dominated by a single industry — that of the Guild. As such, most of Junction’s surface is dedicated to immense parts manufacturers and engineering complexes where the spacefolding components of the immense Heighliners are constructed and maintained under intense secrecy and sent up to the two great space docks to be installed into the massive Heighliners, whether manufactured by the Guild itself or by House Richese, who has an exclusive contract for their construction. As trusted as House Richese is, however, they only build the Heighliners’ fuselages and internal shells, which are shipped via Heighliner in sections to Junction. There, the Guild assembles the Heighliners and installs their spacefolding engines as well as the necessary life support and sealed environmental pods to house the Navigator pilots. Not every Heighliner is manufactured on Junction, however. House Richese and the denizens of Ix have licenses to make Heighliner hulls, with the techniques of manufacturing the spacefolding Holtzman engine drives conducted in utmost secrecy and security. There are minor facilities, well-guarded and isolated, where off-worlders and those not of the Guild can visit, a courtesy extended only to the most elevated of members of the Landsraad or Imperial Court, or the many functionaries of CHOAM who must coordinate their activities with that of the Guild Bank. One particular location of note upon Junction is Navigator’s Field, a necropolis established to entomb and pay homage to the Navigators who have died, whether in service to the Guild or through old age. Org a n i z at i o n & Pe r s o n n el To those of the Landsraad, the Spacing Guild is utterly enigmatic. Except in the rarest of circumstances, members of noble Houses, and infrequently, their subjects, deal only with human agents of the Guild, and then only under circumstances controlled solely by the Guild. Representatives of the Guild reveal no titles and never refer to any internal division within the Guild other than the Guild Bank. Even the leadership of that subgroup is unknown outside the Guild itself, save for a few individuals such as the Emperor. Members of the Landsraad regularly interact with Guild ambassadors, Guild brokers, and Guild Bank officials in their own Houses and on the ground, whether in their estates, in the Landsraad headquarters, or at the Imperial Court on Kaitain. When traveling with the Guild, there is the occasional interaction with technical and engineering staff, as well as the small array of attendants and service personnel for those traveling without a starship of their own. When dealing with most nobles within the Landsraad, whether Major or Minor Houses, the Spacing Guild has two postures: humble and functional obeisance, such as when dealing with rote matters, and a position of unassailable pragmatism bordering on arrogance. The Guild is unimpressed with titles and noble bloodlines and does not care what wealth or military might a House has. It can nullify these with a simple command, shutting off sources of income and confining a House to its home system, and all the Houses, and even the Emperor himself, can do little in return. Thus, many nobles find negotiations with the Guild to be excruciatingly dull, yet they hope against hope that things stay that way. Behind the veil of confidentiality, however, the Guild has four functional divisions, named simply Administration, Operations, the Guild Bank, and the Navigator School. Outside the Guild, only the most well-informed of House members will have any idea on this level of detail about the Guild’s operations and personnel. @ Administration is the leadership branch, made up of Administers who answer to a Chief Administer. They coordinate and facilitate all the Guild’s activity, and within their ranks are the Guild ambassadors. @ Operations handles the day-to-day functionality of the Guild, and their order consists of Guild technicians and all acting Navigators. This is by far the largest of the groups within the Spacing Guild, outnumbering the rest by at least a thousand to one. @ The Guild Bank interfaces with CHOAM and the Landsraad directly and is the most likely point of contact outside the Guild that any House will have. Their primary agents are brokers and Guild Bank representatives. HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 69

70 @ Finally, the most secretive and least numerous of the Guild’s internal divisions is the Guild Navigator ‘School’. The name is a misnomer, as it is in actuality an enormous breeding and genetic screening program, with agents searching across the Imperium for qualified candidates and subjecting them to the intense regimen of psychological testing, forced mutation, and training that creates a Navigator. Other than Navigators, whose garments are specially constructed to support their mutated forms, the standard ‘uniform’ for almost all members of the Guild is plain and dark gray, bearing the linked analemma symbol upon it. This style of garment is tailored to the needs of the Guild member, whether heavy protective coveralls for technicians, suits for brokers, bankers, and ambassadors, and spacesuits for those of the Guild who must go extravehicular to maintain the Heighliners or deal with problems relating to Landsraad vehicles in their care. BROKERS The most public members of the Guild, brokers handle logistics and payment for the transport of goods and personnel in Guild spaceships, arranging surface-tospace shuttles for those who do not possess ships capable of spaceflight, and providing instructions for how to load and prepare spaceships and their passengers for transport within a Heighliner. They may be assigned permanently to a House, handling their arrangements exclusively, or only dealt with on a periodic basis, summoned when required. GUILD BANK REPRESENTATIVES The most nondescript of Guild personnel, these are the accountants, tax officials, and actuaries handling the complex financial arrangements required by multiple streams of goods throughout the Imperium. They work directly with officers of CHOAM to ensure that every solari is accounted for, every fee levied, and tax paid upon all profits. TECHNICIANS This caste is largely unidentified outside the Guild, but their numbers are vast, making up the throngs of engineers, crafters, mechanics, technicians, designers, and other maintenance personnel required to keep the giant Heighliners operational as well as the conventional space fleet of transports, shuttles, and other craft. AMBASSADORS The Guild ambassadors hold no actual title but operate within the Landsraad’s council and the Imperial Court as representatives for the Guild, speaking for it and negotiating where necessary to ensure that its operations are unhindered, that its business practices remain free from scrutiny, and that the Houses comply with its edicts and directives. A Great or Major House will inevitably have a full-time Guild ambassador assigned to it, usually with full — if one-way — access to the House’s highest levels of administration. ADMINISTRATORS The only title of the Guild’s hierarchy known outside the Guild are the Administrators, managerial functionaries who answer to a Chief Administrator, whose identity is unknown. Distinctions within the Guild are subtle and complex, designations based on training and assignment, but to the rest of the Landsraad, a Guild representative is either an Administrator or has no title. The Chief Administrator, in turn, answers to only one other being — the Oracle of Time — whose identity is never spoken of outside the highest echelons of the Guild and is unknown beyond the Administrators and Navigators. NAVIGATORS Guild Navigators, mutated heavily by the spice intrinsic to the successful calculations required for spacefolding, are perhaps the rarest individuals in the Imperium. They are either bred for this role or are sought out by agents ever-vigilant for the qualities that indicate a potential candidate. Many are disqualified early through the extensive testing and training, and few of those who make it through that screening process can endure and survive the massive spice indoctrination that unlocks true prescient abilities and turns a human into a Navigator. A large training facility of specialized medical personnel and failed Navigator candidates staff each of the secret Navigator training facilities, located upon the planet and satellites of Junction as well as at least one other undisclosed location. Some of the survivors of this process who do not qualify as Navigators muster out and become Guild agents, serving in other capacities, while some others are too far gone and spend their lives in medical isolation, maddened or mutated beyond any recovery. Those final few who thrive are trained and begin careers as Navigators, spending the rest of their lives swimming upon suspensor fields in environments saturated with spice gas and consuming it elsewise in quantities that would kill a normal human. Early-stage Navigators are called ‘Pilots’, while later and more experienced ones are referred to as ‘Steersmen’. Though the first true ‘Navigator’, Norma Cenva, was female, Guild Navigators are for the most part male, though not exclusively so. Once they become a Navigator, gender and sexuality (and even humanity to a certain extent) all become irrelevant to them. Rarely, a Navigator’s attendants may deal with those outside the Guild, and almost never does anyone from the Landsraad meet an actual Navigator face-to-face, even if separated by a wall of transparent plasteeland shrouded in a thick veil of spice gas. Should the members of a House or the Imperial Court ever meet a Navigator outside a Heighliner or Junction, it will be under the most extraordinary levels of secrecy and security, and only in the most extraordinary of circumstances, such as a threat to the Guild or the Imperium itself, or the spice trade, critical to everything in the universe.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 71 G u i l d A g e n t s Adding an agent-level character from the Spacing Guild is a dynamic and intriguing addition to a House’s resource, but it is an even more challenging addition than that of the Bene Gesserit or other characters belonging to outside organizations. Unlike the Suk or Swordmaster Schools or Mentat training, where candidates are selected and trained explicitly to serve Houses from within their ranks, it is rare, but not impossible, that members of the Guild find places in a House and operate ‘outside’ the Guild. The importance of the Spacing Guild to all Houses of the Landsraad and its integral part in all Imperial commerce means that such figures are necessary, ensuring greater cooperation and coordination whenever the activities of the House and the Guild intersect, whether from simple travel to ongoing transportation and logistics, such as those involving trade, or when necessary, military personnel, munitions, and warships. The Spacing Guild does not recruit youths or adults into its ranks, except possibly its banking institutions. Instead, it operates much as a House itself, with potential candidates for Navigators selected as early in life as possible, often shortly after birth, if not born within the Guild itself, bred for the transformative process. Many who fail the Navigator test are cast out of the Guild if they are unsuitable in any other role. Creating a player character connected to the Spacing Guild is outlined in the Dune Core Rulebook, with the Spacing Guild Agent template provided on p. 112. The following sections provide guidance and support for this option. In all cases these characters will be agents, and relatively human. The process and expense of creating a Navigator and their extraordinary abilities and limitations makes them unsuitable as agent-level characters. When choosing to play a House-based Guild agent player character, the first question that should be asked is what function they serve within the House. Another important consideration is why the Guild has sent this specific agent to serve within this specific House. Is there a personal connection, such as the player character being from the House’s home world or one of their holdings? Or are they already a member of the House, reunited with it after their indoctrination into the Guild? Such would provide the Guild and the player character with significant advantages, lowering resistance to their influence, but may also cause a test of loyalties if ever the House’s and Guild’s paths diverge. INDEPENDENT AGENTS There is little professional mobility within the Imperium and the Faufreluches caste system, and generally once one’s path is set in life, there one lives and dies. The intense secrecy of the Guild makes it rare that an acting member of the Guild will be actively participating in a House unless it is serving both the Guild and the House simultaneously. Despite this, there are some few who have left the Guild or been forced out, who utilize their knowledge of the Guild’s inner workings on behalf of their allies within a House or on their own behalf.

GUILD ENGINEER While most people first think of the famous Navigators when the topic of space travel arises, there would be no ships to navigate without the engineers who design and build them. Many Guild engineers never leave their shipyards or drydocks to travel into the field, but plenty of others do, either in service of the Guild or as independent agents. Some keep spaceships in good repair, some work as technicians in related technological fields, and some like to get exposure to different classes of ship in the field so they can learn from other designers. @ Trait: Guild Engineer @ Primary Skill: Understand @ Secondary Skill: Discipline @ Focuses: Advanced Technology, Spaceship Technology @ Talents: Cool Under Pressure (Understand), Putting Theory into Practice @ Drives: Guild engineers know that the jobs of keeping the fleet operational and expanding it when possible are of paramount importance, and they take this Duty seriously. They also put tremendous Faith into the technology they work with every day. 72 N e w S pac i n g G u i l d A rc h e t y p e s These archetypes help to differentiate Guild characters and facilitate the creation of additional types of personnel within the faction. If you choose the Spacing Guild Agent when creating your character, you may select one of the following archetypes instead of the usual choices (Dune Core Rulebook, p. 113). These new Spacing Guild archetypes are no more powerful, but they offer more of a Guild flavor to such characters. GUILD FINANCIER The Guild’s banking institutions are as widespread as its transport facilities and just as important in binding the Imperium together. A legion of clerks and administrators run the system, and above them are an equal number of financial experts who manage the accounts of the noble Houses and try to predict fiscal trends across the Known Universe. @ Trait: Guild Financier @ Primary Skill: Understand @ Secondary Skill: Communicate @ Focuses: Finance, Guild Bureaucracy @ Talents: Check the Books, Methodical Efficiency @ Drives: Guild Financiers are dedicated to the numbers that drive the Imperium. In some cases, they make judgments based on reason and experience, but often they need to follow their Faith about how the market will play out. Like all Guild agents, their Duty to the Guild is also vitally important, but they do their best to temper that with Justice to keep the market balanced.

GUILD SCIENTIST In many respects the Spacing Guild has operated in the same way for thousands of years, but it still has need for innovation in its technologies and methods. Guild Scientists can travel the Known Universe to study just about anything, though, especially unique phenomena, strange locations, and important discoveries the Guild might want to exploit. @ Trait: Guild Scientist @ Primary Skill: Understand @ Secondary Skill: Communicate @ Focuses: Mathematics, Physics (or other science focus) @ Talents: Intense Study, Power of Neutrality @ Drives: Scientists believe that the scientific method is the best way to arrive at the Truth, which is their goal. For some, this goal is only a milestone on the way to their ultimate target, the Power that such knowledge can grant. GUILD SPY Specially trained Guild Agents perform the dangerous work of infiltrating the territory, installations, and even households of other factions to gain intelligence for the Spacing Guild. In some operations they pose as someone else, while in others their goal is to never be seen at all. Guild Spies sometimes ally themselves with other types of operatives they can use to get things done. @ Trait: Guild Spy @ Primary Skill: Communicate @ Secondary Skill: Battle @ Focuses: Espionage, Infiltration @ Talents: Code of Secrecy, Play Both Ends Against the Middle @ Drives: It takes an agent who feels a strong Duty toward their Guild to take the risks that are common in a spy’s job. The assignment can also fill such operatives with a feeling of Power, knowing that anyone’s secrets are theirs for the taking. GUILD INSPECTOR The stereotype of the analytical Guild agent is that of a route administrator, tariff collector, or some similar bureaucrat back home on Junction. There are, however, field agents who have just as much need for the Guild’s well-known methodical efficiency. Prime among these are the Guild Inspectors, individuals who examine cargoes, investigate crash sites, and perform any other field analysis duties the Spacing Guild requires. Inspectors’ assignments can vary in length from a single brief inspection to an extended series of investigations which see the Inspector allied with members of other professions (or even factions) working in the same domain. @ Trait: Guild Inspector @ Primary Skill: Communicate @ Secondary Skill: Understand @ Focuses: Deductive Reasoning, Finance @ Talents: Methodical Efficiency, Nose for Cargo @ Drives: Getting at the Truth is the number-one purpose of an Inspector. Some Inspectors, but not all, perform their job with the additional desire to see that Justice is maintained and that no one is taking advantage of the Guild or its representatives. GUILD SCOUT The Guild has many reasons to send explorers out into the Known Universe. Some of them explore newly discovered planets or seek out cosmic phenomena, the better to understand the universe and its hazards. A few are dedicated to the quest for additional planets where spice exists, or something like it. Others are just dedicated to learning what’s out there, confident that their journeys will always yield something worth discovering. @ Trait: Guild Scout @ Primary Skill: Move @ Secondary Skill: Battle @ Focuses: Pilot (Spaceship), Space Navigation @ Talents: Power of Neutrality, Rapid Maneuver @ Drives: Exploring the universe and documenting important finds is a Duty the Guild Scouts take seriously. Many have strong Faith that their searches will be worthwhile, no matter how far off course they may wander. HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 73

74 N e w F o c u s e s These new focus options are especially suited to Spacing Guild characters, though they may also be taken by other characters with the gamemaster’s permission. Focuses from the Dune Core Rulebook that work especially well for Guild characters include Bartering, Data Analysis, Diplomacy, Faction Lore (Spacing Guild), Observe, Precision, and Unobtrusive. @ Bribery (Communicate) – Knowing how to safely offer a bribe and what to bribe with, and determining an appropriate amount. @ Finance (Understand) – Managing large sums of money, as for a company, House, or bank. @ Foldspace Navigation (Understand) – Plotting a safe FTL course through foldspace via use of the Holtzman engines, as enabled by a Navigator’s melange-fueled prescience. This focus is only available to Guild Navigators. Note that Heighliners cannot land on planets due to their size. @ Guild Bureaucracy (Understand) – Knowing how the Spacing Guild operates behind the scenes. @ Low-Gravity Operation (Move) – Knowing how to move and work effectively in low gravity or microgravity. @ Mathematics (Understand) – The study of numbers, quantities, formulas, and spaces, the key to Navigator thinking and the Guild language. @ Pilot (Spaceship) (Move) – Controlling and maneuvering a standard non-foldspace-capable spacecraft, including takeoffs and landings. Does not enable the operation of a Heighliner. @ Secret Language (Guild Navigator) (Communicate) – Knowledge of the higher-order mathematical language spoken only by Guild Navigators. @ Secret Language (Spacing Guild) (Communicate) – Familiarity with the Spacing Guild’s internal tongue, a clipped language that serves as a shorthand for complex concepts among non-Navigator Guild representatives. @ Space Navigation (Understand) – Determining where you are and how to get somewhere else using traditional (non-foldspace) interplanetary navigation. @ Space Tactics (Battle) – Knowledge of combat involving spacecraft. @ Spaceship Technology (Understand) – Knowing how to construct and repair spacecraft of all types. @ Spaceship Weapons (Battle) – Use of weapons mounted on spacecraft. @ Stunner (Battle) – Effective use of stunner weapons, commonly used by Guild agents. N e w T a l e n t s These new talents are especially appropriate to Spacing Guild characters. They can be selected as usual by Spacing Guild characters, although none are mandatory Talents. Note that some of the CHOAM talents on p.18 are also available to Guild agents. CODE OF SECRECY (SPACING GUILD TALENT) The Spacing Guild takes its promise of client confidentiality seriously and enforces it through a regimen of indoctrination and mental conditioning in its key agents. To date, a Guild pledge of secrecy has never been broken. Any attempt to get you to reveal confidential information about a client is one Difficulty level higher, whether it comes via persuasion, intimidation, or even torture. GUILD PEACE (SPACING GUILD TALENT) The neutrality of the Guild can be a powerful tool in the right hands. Some agents are good at reminding others that the Guild will not stand for violence. For the cost of 1 Momentum, you may add the trait ‘Guild Peace’ to a scene, reminding all those present of the power of the Guild. This trait works like any other environmental trait and will usually penalize violent actions. GUILD UPBRINGING (SPACING GUILD TALENT) You were brought up on spacecraft, moving around the galaxy. Stepping aboard a spacecraft is like coming home to familiar ground. When you step aboard a Guild Heighliner, or leave a planetary atmosphere, you gain 1 Momentum. METHODICAL EFFICIENCY (SPACING GUILD TALENT) The Spacing Guild has the best auditors, bankers, and commerce experts in the Known Universe because of their mathematical ability and their training in methodical, well-tested analytical techniques. When making an Understand test that applies to finance, commerce, or bureaucracy, you may re-roll one of the d20s in your pool. MINOR SPICE MUTATION (SPACING GUILD TALENT) Though you were unable to complete the Navigator training, your early exposure to a hyper-rich spice-laden environment caused your body and consciousness to mutate enough to mark you as of the Guild. A blessing and a curse, the spice has given you the intense blue-within-blue eyes and twisted your physical body with mutations you are mostly able to conceal.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 75 You gain the trait ‘Mutated’ that may not be removed to represent this minor deformity. The nature of it is for you to detail. However, you have gained a special relationship with spice due to your extreme exposure. When you use a Spice talent (see Sand and Dust, p. 70) you may reroll 1d20. You may also consume a spice asset to gain the benefits of having spent Determination on a test. This ability can only be used once per game session. NOSE FOR CARGO (SPACING GUILD TALENT) You have a knack for spotting irregularities in cargo holds or on manifests. Whenever you attempt a skill test to detect contraband or locate a specific item or substance in a collection of cargo, you reduce the Difficulty by 1, to a minimum of 0. PLAY BOTH ENDS AGAINST THE MIDDLE (SPACING GUILD TALENT) The Spacing Guild is often compared to a parasite, as it has a reputation for carefully feeding off other entities instead of seeking leadership on its own. As the Guild itself says, its basic rule is “Never govern.” You embrace this philosophy, and you are skilled at pitting other parties against each other. If you are involved as a neutral party in a conflict between two other parties, you may spend 4 Momentum (from the group pool) to gain 1 point of Determination (for yourself) if you do not currently have any. You may use this ability only once per scene. POWER OF NEUTRALITY (SPACING GUILD TALENT) Though the Spacing Guild has no troops, weapons, or other military power of its own, its carefully cultivated neutrality serves as a powerful safety net. Thanks to a mutual treaty, attacks on the Guild can lead to the Emperor sending Imperial Sardaukar to respond to the threat. You are good at leveraging this fact, and the Guild’s famed neutrality, to protect yourself. If you are recognizably a Guild agent, enemies must spend 2 Momentum (or Threat) to attack you or move against you directly in a physical challenge. If you accept a duel or make an attack, you lose this advantage. SPACE POWER (SPACING GUILD TALENT) You hold a position of respect and power within the Guild and may request its assistance in military matters, such as when the House you are aligned with must demonstrate its power or act in ways beyond its capabilities. This talent adds access to a Guild-only asset, a Heighliner. You do not command it and cannot compel it to appear at will, but unlike any other member of a House, you have the means of requesting one and directing it to transport you and whatever other assets you require. The gamemaster is the ultimate arbiter of its availability. SPACER (SPACING GUILD TALENT) You’ve grown up in space, and the tug of gravity hangs upon you like shackles when you’re on a planetary surface. Once away from gravity’s pull, you become yourself. While in zero-gravity or light-gravity environments, or even when maneuvering in artificial gravity such as is found in capital ships and frigates, you may re-roll 1d20 for any Move test, whether piloting a spacecraft, moving within it, or while extravehicular. THE CYLINDER MUST GET THROUGH (SPACING GUILD TALENT) Spacing Guild couriers undergo a harsh program of indoctrination to ensure their accuracy, loyalty, and punctuality. When taking actions directly related to delivering a message you’ve been tasked with, you may re-roll a single d20 in your dice pool. You may also spend Determination on such tasks regardless of whether your Belief statement applies to the test.

T r av e l i n g t h e U n i v e r s e Booking a journey aboard a Guild Heighliner is a straightforward process for most denizens of the Imperium. The Guild Bank has accounts for personal and commercial use, and House accounts through which arrangements are made to transport people and cargo. On every world the Heighliners have regular transit routes, and each spaceport has a kiosk to facilitate booking passage. Additionally, the Guild has an extensive communinet system through which bookings can be made. The Guild works closely with CHOAM (many claim that they even collude to keep up the monopoly) to ensure the proper taxes and tariffs are paid to the Emperor and other shareholders when cargo is moved. The Guild has posted standard rates for passenger travel for economy, luxury, and private travel. Further, rates for bulk transport, secure transport and (extremely expensive) military transport are also standardized. As part of the booking process, one has the option to specify if Guild shuttle service is required to and off-world. Given that Heighliners do not land on planets due to their size, passengers must make their own arrangements for reaching it when it arrives in orbit, although the Guild offers its shuttle service to those without ships of their own. Another requirement is filling a manifest of all cargo and personnel being transported. The Guild takes it very seriously if contraband, weapons, or undeclared spice is transported. The result can be fines, being barred from Guild services, or even being turned over to Imperial authorities for prosecution. For most Houses, the transport fees are a negligible cost of doing business, and routine travel does not stress the budget. However, private passage, military transport, or a single ‘off the books’ transport request will stress the finances of all but the wealthiest Houses. While most planets are served by a regular Heighliner route of some form, a House can charter a Heighliner, at vast cost, if it cannot wait. Once passage is booked and paid for, the Guild issues a boarding pass with details of the transit route and journey times. The securing of visas or dealing with political issues passengers encounter at departure and arrival are beyond the scope of the Guild. The Guild maintains a strictly apolitical stance and no violence is allowed to spill over into Guild territory. The simple threat of being stranded without Heighliner access is enough to deter most malcontents. J o u r n e y a n d L oa d i n g T i m e s By folding space, the massive Heighliner ships can move instantaneously from any one point in the universe to another. Thanks to the prescience abilities of the Guild Navigators, the transport is completely safe. The journey itself is unnoticeable to all passengers and has no known material effect on anything aboard the Heighliner. One moment you are here, and the next moment, there. Most of the transit time journeying via the Guild network across the Imperium is the delay of loading and offloading passengers and cargo. This can vary from hours to days, depending on the spaceport facilities and what exactly the cargo manifest is. As most Heighliners carry a hybrid of cargo and passengers, each transit point has its own set of circumstances and time to complete the loading and offloading processes. 76

For the most part there is a mix of Guild automated transit shuttles for passengers and automated cargo drop boxes that ferry things from planetside or to a space dock. Many non-Guild ships are also berthed in the expansive Heighliner hold for the journey. This means such ships do not need to load or unload cargo, and nobles can enjoy the security of their own ship during the voyage. All ships must turn off any shields upon docking though, as they can interfere dangerously with the foldspace Holtzman engines, and even the use of personal shields while onboard a Heighliner is forbidden. It is not uncommon for a Heighliner to be carrying a mix of civilian and military cargo, passengers, ships, and anything else that moves across Imperium space on any given journey. Only the Guild knows what the Heighliner is carrying at any time, and they guard that information zealously. G u i l d H e i g h l i n e r s Only two Houses manufacture Guild Heighliners at this time: House Ix and House Richese. The ships made by House Ix are generally considered to be of higher quality, but there is pressure from CHOAM and the Landsraad to retire this newest design. As this Heighliner is larger, and taxes are based on each journey, not the volume of cargo, CHOAM feels it is being cheated of its due. The number of Heighliners in service is unknown except to the Guild, and they keep this information a secret. Many Heighliners have been in service for thousands of years, retrofitted on Junction to maintain service as time and use wears them down. Despite minor modifications over the centuries, the general design of every Heighliner is similar: cylindrical in shape and approximately twenty kilometers long. Most of the volume is given to the vast Holtzman engines and the cavernous cargo hold. All Heighliners are equipped with defensive shields, antigravity generators, and communication systems. However, all ships being carried by a Heighliner must deactivate any shields while inside, as even those of a small ship can disastrously disrupt the foldspace field. The main purpose of a Heighliner is as a bulk transport. It is essentially a vast cargo hauler with many sectioned holds containing automated cargo drop pods, berths for other transports, and specialized transports for gas, liquid, and other classes of dangerous materials. These ships are the backbone of the Imperial economy, and without the vast resources they move, the Imperium would cease to function. Food items, luxury goods, raw materials, and finished goods all are transported by the type of ship commonly known as the Bulk Freight Heighliner. As well as cargo, Heighliners are also used as passenger transports. For the most part, this just means passengers dock their own ships in the hold and fly down to their destination when the Heighliner arrives. But some passengers don’t have their own ships, and in these cases they can book passage on one of the many House Wayku ships that remain permanently berthed in several Heighliners. In these cases, a shuttle is arranged to ferry passengers to and from the Wayku ship in the Heighliner. Such ships have restaurants, shops, and hotels, all tended by the Wayku in service of the passengers boarding the Heighliner. The Heighliner itself also has a few passenger lounges, which include small meeting spaces for hire. But they are very functional and austere. It is rare for nonGuild personnel to be allowed to enter the decks of a Heighliner itself outside these designated passenger areas. Passengers are restricted to the ships they are booked on and expected not to interfere with the crew or their duties. Penalties for such interference are harsh. Typically, a Heighliner has a set route and often spends hours or sometimes days at each stop while goods are unloaded and new goods are loaded. The Emperor, the Guild, CHOAM, and the Houses all earn most of their income from this business. T r av e l i n g w i t h o u t t h e G u i l d The Guild has existed for over 10,000 years and traces its origins back into the legendary times of the Butlerian Jihad. Space travel of any other kind is a rarity in the Imperium and virtually unknown for the mass of humankind. In the era before Guild Navigators, space travel was slow and dangerous. One in ten ships attempting FTL travel either crashed into space debris or simply disappeared from the Known Universe. Journeying below light speed would take years to reach even the closest star systems and travel in the galaxy thousands of years without spacefolding. Travel anywhere in the Known Universe is for the most part beyond the reach of even FTL travel. Myths of generational ships out there still traversing the starways still abound, but most have also passed beyond human memory. Most Houses have extensive space fleets well equipped for travel inside their star systems. For travel beyond that, they book transport on Guild Heighliners. No House ship is fitted with foldspace-capable Holtzman engines, as the Guild keeps that technology secret. Even were a House to get access to foldspace technology, they would be useless without Guild Navigators to plot safe courses across the Known Universe. However, given the fanatical nature of many factions, desperate measures may drive some to attempt foldspace travel without a Guild Navigator. Provided they can get hold of a ship equipped with a Holtzman foldspace drive, to even attempt a foldspace jump is to risk utter HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 77

78 annihilation, as even the most powerful of Mentats are incapable of making the intuitive leap necessary to plot astronomical coordinates and predict the presence of the unpredictable. Should engineers be capable of activating the Holtzman drive without destroying the ship upon takeoff, the relative emptiness of space is their only comfort at such suicidal folly. H o u s e Way ku A Major House at one point, House Wayku was obliterated in the Third Coalsack War and forbidden from setting foot on any Imperium world by the Padishah Emperor. For undisclosed reasons, the Guild offered the House sanctuary and life aboard the Heighliners, but as a subservient caste. For many generations, the House has only known existence aboard the Guild’s ships, though it is likely that they are also able to visit the world of Junction, both of which are beyond the reach of Imperial power. Perhaps one day an appeal to the Emperor may grant them amnesty and a return to life in the Imperium proper, but currently that does not seem to be a goal for Wayku. The House seems content to serve the Guild for now in the niche the universe has made for them. It should be noted that what remains of House Wayku is primarily just the name. The House has no formally recognized Ruler, no noble or leadership or even central figure of authority. Those within the House are born into servitude to the Guild and are trained to be mindful of this precarious position. Over generations, those of the House have essentially become a caste, specializing in providing for the needs of those traversing the great Heighliners, working alongside the Guild members, but never admitted into that organization. The Wayku serve aboard Guild ships as vendors, stevedores, servants, janitors, and other staff working in the restaurants, casinos, and hotels of the passenger ships the Guild operates. The Guild prefer House Wayku to handle those tasks, freeing up their own staff to run the ships, perform maintenance, and serve the Navigators directly. Most travelers find the Wayku an irritation, as they are constantly hawking cheap trinkets, souvenirs, and food items aggressively to everyone boarding Guild ships other than on ships of their own. It is yet another way in which the Guild uses its monopoly on space travel to squeeze more solaris out of the Imperium passengers. Another unspoken reason House Wayku is allowed to remain ‘intact’ is as a buffer, an intermediary between the Guild and the Houses of the Landsraad. As a onetime noble House, even without a Ruler they have a representative within the Landsraad and often serve as a barometer for Landsraad affairs concerning the Spacing Guild. Many within the Landsraad assume that House Wayku also provides a source of genetic opportunity for the Guild, from birth its members carefully tested and vetted as potential Navigator candidates. The folk of House Wayku are not particularly religious but follow a philosophy or spirituality unique to themselves. They constantly subject themselves to visual and audio immersion best described as a ‘sensory cacophony’. They wear headphones and glasses that keep them in this immersion, which they believe brings them closer to the true harmony of the natural universe. Living and traveling in space also aids in this immersion as it places them beyond the normal distractions of life bound to an Imperium world. By most standards of life in the Imperium their existence is simple and decent, as they have the protection of the Guild, and all their material needs are provided in return for their service. There is, however, no path for advancement beyond the menial duties the Guild assigns them. House Wayku are ranked just above bonded serfs in the Faufreluches system, but House Wayku seems content with that lot for the time being. Detail of a House Wayku ship and some of its staff can be found in the Gamemaster’s Toolkit (p. 34–35). PLAYING AS HOUSE WAYKU Due to the limited role and nature of how the Wayku exist, it is hard to envision many roleplaying opportunities with them. Still, not everyone born into the Wayku might be content to live under the limited benevolence of the Guild. A role for them might be a spy for the Guild or a free agent for hire, possibly even spying on the Guild itself. Having access to Guild Heighliners and relatively free travel across the Imperium would certainly be an advantage for a spy character. There may even be an opportunity for a spy to assume the role of a Wayku to penetrate the secretive Guild. These are just some adventure seeds to consider on how to use this limited resource. However, for any Wayku, a false identity is required to be able to travel into the Imperium, as there is an edict against them setting foot on any Imperial world. For an organization the size and extent of the Guild, such identification is not difficult to obtain, but the likely punishment for such a breach of the Emperor’s law is execution. Those willing to brave such risks must operate in the shadowy and gray areas as smugglers and criminals, at least in the eyes of the Imperium. Bribes to authorities to look the other way can also open more avenues for roleplaying as the Wayku. Perhaps a noble House might even take in one of the Wayku as a valued agent to their cause, trading the immense risk for the invaluable opportunities they provide. If so, a player character from House Wayku should take a trait such as ‘Secret (House Wayku)’ to reflect this origin and ever-present danger of discovery.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 79 Va r i a n t H e i g h l i n e r s The following Heighliners are all speculative, the stuff of legend, rumor, and purely hypothetical conjecture by Mentats and renegade former Guild agents. The existence of any one of these, if actual, would be a desperately guarded secret by the Guild, and they would go to textraordinary measures to ensure that secrecy. If known, the repercussions would be dramatic, for fear that their vaunted neutrality would be shown to be merely a ruse. ARMED HEIGHLINER While speculative, it is not outside the realm of possibility for a Heighliner to be refitted with weapons. This might be a possibility with a rogue Navigator or other situation where control of a Heighliner is wrestled away from the Guild. The Guild relies on its political neutrality and transport monopoly exclusively as a shield from hostile actions. No entity in the Imperium would risk losing Guild transport, as it would be economic and political suicide. Hence there has never been a need for an armed Heighliner, but such a thing might exist in your game world. Great care needs to be taken with the military implications of such a craft that can instantaneously travel to anywhere in the Known Universe and project such a fearsome arsenal. An armed Heighliner could easily carry an impressive invasion force and even have atomics as part of the available firepower. The political ramifications would change the Imperium and disrupt the balance of power, hence the Guild avoids development of such craft. Another closely guarded secret is the nature and extent of the Spacing Guild’s own arsenal, for it is almost certain that it possesses some offensive and defensive capabilities beyond censure and near-instantaneous escape. This likely extends to atomics, and any Heighliner is more than sizable enough to accommodate frigates and weaponry of the Guild’s own, concealed or even disguised as needed. COLONY HEIGHLINER Another speculative Heighliner design that may possibly exist outside the eyes of the Imperium is one that would aid in colonization. Given that the Guild can operate beyond the scrutiny of the Emperor and the Landsraad and regularly venture out beyond the Known Universe, they may very well have specialized Heighliners for exploration and colonization. It would seem prudent for the Guild to have other hidden worlds such as Junction and systems other than Tupile as sanctuaries and redoubts, should developments go badly for them in the Imperium. Such ships would be equipped to operate for much longer durations on their own and have equipment for resource utilization in the vast unknown regions of space. Furthermore, the Guild’s interests and awareness go beyond the extent of the Known Universe, and should the Navigators predict future disruptions in their operations within the Imperium, acting to secure their future is simple expediency. COURIER HEIGHLINER While it is impossible to move faster than the means of folding space, Guild Heighliners are locked into regular routes across the Known Universe and cannot divert without dramatically affecting profits and schedules. For this reason, the Guild maintains a few smaller foldspace vessels for ‘off book’ travel. These are used for Guild business they want to keep secret, such as collecting illegal spice bribes from Fremen and transporting agents across the Known Universe to do their bidding. They are also used as fast couriers and messenger transports, when getting news and information across the Known Universe is too important to wait for the long loading times and multiple jumps of a standard Heighliner route, or even the rate of communinet communication.

C r e at i n g Pl a n e t s ne of the many titles of the Padishah Emperor is ‘Emperor of a Million Worlds’, no mere hyperbole, as there are estimated to be more than 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone. The Known Universe contains billions and billions of galaxies, a number that may possibly stretch to infinity, given that the Unknown Universe is also reachable by spacefolding. The gamemaster may need to quickly create a random world or something specific for an adventure at hand. It might be an empty planet, or one owned by another House. These tables allow for the random creation of a world or can be used as lists for the gamemaster to pick from to suit their requirements. To use this system, roll a d20 for each table and determine one characteristic from each category. When complete, this will give a randomly generated world. The gamemaster can also choose one characteristic from each table to have a tailored world or even a mix of some random characteristics and chosen ones. The gamemaster should re-roll any results that seem incongruous based on prior rolls or pick a suitable entry if desired. Worlds are fantastically large places, however, and it is possible for two seemingly incompatible features to both be true simultaneously, whether alongside one another or separated by thousands of kilometers. In some cases, the tension between different results can suggest political challenges or social dynamics above and beyond those presented in these tables. O 80

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 81 PLANET TYPE This table determines the base type of world. Many planets in this table are ‘uninhabitable’ and generally useless, so this table is weighted to produce results more suitable for an adventure. The results that produce an ‘inhabitable’ planet are assumed to have some kind of sealed and climate-controlled structure such as a space station, domed production facility, deep caverns, or research station to allow habitation. Any journey on the surface requires a sealed or protected vehicle, or an environmental suit of some form. POLITICAL AFFILIATION This table will determine how the planet fits within the Imperium. A core world is one that has regular traffic and is a frequent stop for the Guild. The inhabitants enjoy discourse and trade within the Imperium and are protected by the Great Convention and regular laws of whatever House governs them. An outlier world is off the path of regular Imperium traffic and generally has little contact with Imperium business. The rest of the planets fall into a mix based on their trade importance to the Imperium and how far they are from the Guild routes. ROLL PLANET TYPE 1 Uninhabitable Gas Giant 2 Uninhabitable Rocky World 3 Uninhabitable Moon Planetoid 4 Uninhabitable Ice Giant 5 Uninhabitable Toxic Atmosphere Planet 6 Uninhabitable Furnace Planet 7 Abandoned Volcanic Planet 8 Asteroid 9 Ice Asteroid 10 Mineral Rich Asteroid 11 Habitable Alpine World 12 Habitable Mineral World 13 Habitable Frozen World 14 Habitable Ocean World 15 Habitable Arid World 16 Habitable Forested World 17 Habitable Tropical World 18 Habitable Savanna World 19 Habitable Mined-out World 20 Earth like Planet ROLL POLITICAL AFFILIATION 1 Core world of the Imperium under direct control of House Corrino 2 Core world of the Imperium under control of a Great House 3 Core world of the Imperium under control of a Major House 4 Core world of the Imperium under control of a Minor/Nascent House 5 Industrial world under governorship of House Corrino 6 Agricultural world under governorship of House Corrino 7 Mineral mining world under governorship of House Corrino 8 Industrial world under governorship of a Great House 9 Industrial world under governorship of a Major House 10 Industrial world under governorship of a Minor/Nascent House 11 Agricultural world under governorship of a Great House 12 Agricultural world under governorship of a Major House 13 Agricultural world under governorship of a Minor/Nascent House 14 Mineral mining world under governorship of a Great House 15 Mineral mining world under governorship of a Major House 16 Mineral mining world under governorship of a Minor/Nascent House 17 Military training planet under control of House Corrino 18 Military training planet under control of a Great House 19 Military training planet under control of a Major House 20 Outlier independent world with no political affiliation

82 MILITARY POWER It is difficult to define the exact attributes of how capable a world is in projecting force in both a defensive and offensive nature. The Military Power table is a general guide, with latitude for the gamemaster to customize. The gamemaster should consider if the military power is limited to terrestrial operations only or if the planetary defense force is space-capable. Each world will dictate the type of military mixture of ground, naval, air, or space power required to defend itself. The gamemaster is highly recommended to characterize these assets as required, as well as determining their overall disposition, whether badly funded versus well-equipped, poorly drilled versus well-trained, unwillingly conscripted versus highly motivated careerists, and their overall morale. POPULATION AND LIFESTYLE This table determines how populous the planet is and the general lifestyle of the inhabitants. Planetary wealth is also a marker of general population health and the access to its habitants have to higher positions in the Imperium, as well as their amount and quality of leisure time. ROLL MILITARY POWER 1 Important world of the Imperium with major ground forces, space fleet, and heavy planetary defenses 2 Major ground forces, space fleet, and heavy planetary defenses 3 Ground forces, space fleet, and medium planetary defenses 4 Ground forces and medium planetary defenses 5 Police forces and medium planetary defenses 6 Police forces, small fleet, and medium planetary defenses 7 Space fleet and heavy planetary defenses 8 Major space fleet, ground forces, and medium planetary defenses 9 Military outpost with only a space fleet 10 Military outpost with only a space fleet 11 Ground forces and medium planetary defenses 12 Ground forces, small fleet, and medium planetary defenses 13 Ground forces, large space fleet, and medium planetary defenses 14 Very large ground-forces training post, small fleet, and medium planetary defenses 15 Police forces, medium fleet, and basic planetary defenses 16 Police forces, medium fleet, and no planetary defenses 17 Police forces, small fleet, and no planetary defenses ROLL POPULATION AND LIFESTYLE 1 Core world with massive population, trade wealth, mostly bureaucratic service business 2 Core world with massive population and agrarian cultural 3 Core world with massive population and industrial cultural 4 Core world with massive population and mining/smelting 5 Average population with mixed business 6 Average population specializing in higher education and training 7 Average population, military training facility 8 Average population specializing in agriculture 9 Average population specializing in space shipyards and refitting spaceships 10 Average population specializing in entertainment production and entertainment products 11 Low population, nature reserves, zoos, or hunting 12 Low population, casinos, pleasure palaces, hedonistic vacation resorts 13 Low population, agriculture and fisheries 14 Low population, religious planet offering retreats and monistic solitude 15 Low population, ore-refining stations 16 Low population, gas refining stations 17 Low population, smuggler outpost(s) 18 Low population, Imperial outpost(s) 19 Small towns with subsistence-level farming 20 Small village(s) with a few dozen people ROLL MILITARY POWER 18 Police forces on the ground and no planetary defenses 19 Undefended with some police forces on the ground and no planetary defenses 20 Undefended with only local militia and no planetary defenses

EXAMPLE OF CREATING A WORLD Right is an example of creating a random world. This information can be summarized easily on an index card. The gamemaster may want to keep such index cards for future reference or as a quick way to pull some pregenerated worlds for an adventure. @ On the Planet Type table (p.81), the first roll of a d20 is 12 indicating a Habitable Mineral World. @ The Political Affiliation table (p.81) roll results in a 15, indicating a mineral mining world under governorship of a Major House. @ The Military Power table (p.82) roll yields a 10, indicating the planet has ground forces,space fleet, and basic planetary defenses. @ The final roll on the Population and Lifestyle table (p.82) is another 15, indicating the planet has low population and one or more ore-refining stations as its main lifestyle. Va ll a b h i (BETA TUCANAE IV) World Type: Habitable Mineral World (Mountainous with many lakes and islands). House Affiliation or Political Standing: House Nagara (served primarily by two minor Houses, House Molay and House Arcuri) Military Power: Ground forces, a space fleet, and basic planetary defenses Population: Low, less than a few million inhabitants on the planet Industries: Ore-refining of local metals and gems Planet Notes: Vallabhi is a mountainous world with deep valleys. It has vast lakes rather than seas, and many islands. These islands are dangerous to live on due to unpredictable and violent tides, but fishermen and smugglers from minor Houses make a home here. Other Notes: House Nagara’s home city of Kyotashi is set upon one of the broad mountain terraces that make up the Rinumian Ridge, a chain of mountains that are extensively mined. House Nagara manages the mineral wealth of the planet, with the assistance of the minor House Arcuri. However the dramatic landscape has also inspired poets, who are drawn to the training halls of the other minor House Molay.

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HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 85 C h a p t e r � : Ma n ag i n g Y o u r Ho u s e “A world is supported by four things: the teaming of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous, and the valor of the brave. But all of these are as nothing without a ruler who knows the art of ruling.” —Prince Raphael Corrino, Discourses on Galactic Leadership

86 he House is the central foundation of both the player character group and the Dune campaign. As such, its fortunes affect the player characters, who might also be responsible for seeing their House rise, or fall. In the Dune Core Rulebook we detail how to create a player character-run noble House. Here, we provide guidelines for managing and expanding player character Houses. Using this system the gamemaster and player characters can develop new domains, expand their House’s military power, or even lead it into war. The House management system allows players to develop several aspects of their House. But how much of the system is used, and how the system is used, is up to each individual group, based on taste and necessity. House management can be the central crux of a campaign, or the group can just pick a few options after an adventure and only superficially contribute to the development of their House. Some player character groups love working out all the facilities, projects, and ventures of their House, while others may find it a chore. So, the gamemaster and players are encouraged here to take what works for them and make it their own. The group should also feel free to amend some of the options to suit them. One might increase or reduce the Wealth or Resources or the amount of ventures that can be pursued, for example. But your group might just as easily just do the News from the Imperium’, pick a venture to complete without a need for Wealth or Resources, and call it a day. In all cases this system is a toolbox for the players and gamemaster to use to develop not only the details of their House but its story in the Imperium. The material here is addressed to both players for their own House and to the gamemaster for potential guidance in handling, detailing, and advancing non-player character Houses, if desired. T

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 87 H o u s e Ma n a g e m e n t The first thing you should decide when using this system is how often the group is going to use it. Should you roll each session, each adventure, each scene? In general, each session of House management is assumed to take place once each game year. How this relates to your game time is up to you. In a breakneck style of play, the whole campaign might take place over one very busy year. In another game you might assume your player characters get into one adventure a year and so run House management at the end of each adventure. Essentially, it depends how much trouble your player characters tend to get into. Conversely, you might enjoy using the system and shorten the timescale, so you are running a session of House management biannually, or even monthly. Just bear in mind that the more often you run a House management session, the quicker the House will progress. So, the gamemaster should set the level of House growth like you would decide the speed of advancement for player characters. As a rule of thumb, the players and gamemaster should run a House management session after every two or three adventures. Working it out by adventure is a little easier, as the end of an adventure is a natural break in the flow of play. Whatever you decide, make sure everyone knows what the timescale is and agrees to this beforehand. The events of House management are also designed to create new conflicts and possibly adventures. So, one way of running a campaign is to use House management as the springboard for each adventure. F e at u r e s A House has several defining features which influence play. @ Domains: This is a description of the business or interests of the House. These domains are already defined from House Creation (Dune Core Rulebook, p. 86–90) and form the basis for what holdings and resources the House has when play begins. @ Wealth: Wealth is an abstract representation of the House's finances and investments. Wealth is always represented as a number, which rises and falls over time, representing changes in the House’s fortunes. Each point of Wealth represents thousands of solaris. @ Resources: Where Wealth represents the overall finances of the House, Resources represents what is immediately available to use. Resources are workers, materials, and construction expertise. @ Holdings: A House’s holdings are the territories, facilities, and infrastructure it possesses. Finding the right balance of holdings is vital to securing prosperity and status for a House. Each type of holding grants a different benefit, usually producing something to support the House’s control of a domain. @ Boons: Each House uses its wealth and power to curry favor and buy a little goodwill from the other powers, Houses, and factions in the Imperium. These might be the support of the Bene Gesserit, a long-term contract with the Guild, or a trading partnership with another House, etc. Boons are like holdings in that they are something the House must work to build but are more ephemeral as they represent goodwill and favor. @ Ventures: To build new facilities and gain new boons, the House must make an investment in time, wealth, and resources. Ventures are the projects that lead to the construction of new facilities or alliances. @ Status: This defines the relative power and influence the House has, distinct from its Wealth. A House with high status is well-regarded by the Landsraad or the Major House it owes fealty to. But if status is too high it may create jealousy and fear among the House’s peers. A certain amount of House status is already present for player characters by way of the House traits they can use, which represent the reputation of that House. T h e R h y t h m o f Pl ay Year by year complex or important events are played out in more detail before returning to House management to conclude the year. Each House management session follows these steps: 1. News from the Imperium (Optional): The gamemaster presents news of any major events happening in the wider Imperium in the past year, as well as news of events closer to home such as any known developments with neighboring Houses. Players can also create rumors to add flavor to the setting. 2. Income: Each House receives a quantity of Resource and Wealth points defined by their domains. 3. Event (Optional): You should now make a roll to see if the House gains an opportunity or suffers a crisis during this session. 4. Upkeep: The players must decide if they will spend any of their fortune to maintain certain aspects of their House or allow them to fade and reallocate the funds. 5. Ventures: The players may now pursue any ventures (building facilities and gaining boons) they wish. They may perform up to two ventures but can buy more with Wealth. 6. End of Year and Downtime: Any unspent Resources and Wealth may be stockpiled. Players can also detail what their characters have been up to and undertake personal ventures.

88 H o u s e S tat i s t i c s While it doesn’t act like a character, a House has many resources and agents that might be under the command of the player characters. As such, the House has similar statistics as a character to represent the resources it can bring into play. When taking actions on behalf of the House as a whole, a player character uses the House’s skills in place of their own to determine the target number, but they use their own drive as usual. House actions are always done as Architect-level play, as they represent the player character leading the actions of a vast array of resources and agents. But when using House skills, one can usually assume any assets required in terms of soldiers or machines are already available. H o u s e S k i ll s A House’s skills are the same as those for characters and work in the same way. But what they represent is different. SKILL BATTLE: COMMUNICATE: DISCIPLINE: MOVE: UNDERSTAND: @ ‘Battle’ is the military power of the House. It represents the quality of the training and equipment of the House’s soldiers, spacecraft, and weapons, etc. But it really represents the tactical skill of its lieutenants and generals and how well-placed and positioned its military forces are. It is used when the House goes to war. @ ‘Communicate’ is a measure of the House’s diplomatic reputation and the favors it is owed. It also represents the acumen of its various envoys, spies, and diplomats across the Imperium. It is used when trying to exert influence in the court or the Landsraad. @ ‘Discipline’ shows the loyalty of the people and forces at its command. If it cannot trust its people, there is a strong chance the House will not have the support it needs to act. It will also make it easier for the enemies of the House to plant false information, spies, and rumors. How the House maintains this loyalty is up to its ruler. Both House Atreides and House Harkonnen command high levels of Discipline from their subjects. But where the Atreides are loved by their people, the Harkonnens are feared. Discipline might be used just before any House action to ensure there are no internal problems that will endanger the mission. @ ‘Move’ is a measure of the House’s response time for any crisis. It is determined by the amount of wellplaced agents and resources across the Imperium. The ability to Move is not restricted to weapons and war. A well-placed diplomat can respond to allegations made against the House quickly before they become more damaging. @ ‘Understand’ shows the level of academic excellence the House can rely on. This might be in terms of new scientific research or advanced art and craft. It is a vital skill when developing a new project or trying to upgrade and improve the technology the House has available. DETERMINING STARTING HOUSE SKILLS A newly created House determines their starting skills in a similar way to creating a player character, by assigning set values. However, these skills cost Wealth to maintain, and without investment, will gradually drop. As a House cannot gain advancement points like a character, these skills can only be improved with further investment, which is managed with a venture (see p.104). House skills do not have focuses as a general rule, but the gamemaster may allow them if the House has enough experts and resources to warrant one. When assigning values to skills the players should consider the domains of their House. A House with a lot of military domains should have a high Battle, a scientific House should have a high Understand, etc. The gamemaster should also use the following as a guide for enemy or other non-player character Houses, assigning these values as they see fit. @ Great House: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 @ Major House: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 @ Minor House: 7, 6, 6, 5, 4 @ Nascent House: 6, 5, 5, 4, 4 NON-PLAYER CHARACTER HOUSES AND DRIVES Houses themselves do not have drives. Just as with player characters, non-player characters performing House actions use their personal drives matched with the skills of the House they serve/rule. However, if there is no particular non-player character involved in the action, the gamemaster must determine a drive for the House to use. For this the gamemaster should

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 89 HATRED DRIVE Ambivalent 4 Dislike 5 Loathing 6 Rival 7 Kanly 8 DRIVE STATEMENT TYPES Duty Debt, Family Ties Faith Ancient Feud, Morality Justice Slight, Servitude, Theft Power Competition Truth Jealousy determine how much the other House hates the player character’s House (which may have been done during House creation). It is this hatred that determines what rating should be used for the drive. If the House has no particular animosity, the ‘Ambivalent’ rating should be used. But regardless of the outcome of the test, chances are that may rise to ‘Dislike’ pretty swiftly. It is not important which drive the House is using, however. In this case the statistic can be treated much like the single drive score used by minor supporting characters. However, if the gamemaster wants to include some sort of style for the encounter based on a specific drive, this is perfectly fine. Just pick the drive that seems appropriate. If stuck for ideas, the drive can be based on the reason for the Hatred, as determined in character creation (with ‘No reason’ being a free choice). Example: House Molay is a House Minor known for poetry and assassination. So, using the scores for a Minor House, they decide their House skills should begin: @ Battle: 6 @ Communicate: 6 @ Discipline: 7 @ Move: 5 @ Understanding: 4 Their enemy, House Acturi, loathes them due to a difference in morality. Unless they are facing a specific character, House Acturi actions use a drive of 6, usually based on Faith.

90 * A Nascent House is a Minor House in terms of status, but one that begins with a lower rating (see p.117 and Dune Core Rulebook p. 86) ** A Great House is essentially a House Major but with holdings encompassing more than one homeworld. Becoming a Great House (or House Major) is a venture (see p.117). A House retains its status when changing from one House type to another. HOUSE TYPE MINOR HOUSE* MAJOR HOUSE GREAT HOUSE** Feeble: This House is considered alone and without allies. Any attempt it makes to secure new allies or make an aggressive action suffers a two-step Difficulty penalty. No one is frightened of their power, and no one wants to ally with someone on their way down. Attacks by other Houses, both politically and even militarily, are inevitable, as they smell blood in the water. 0–10 0–20 0–40 Weak: This House has recently taken a few knocks but still has friends. Its word doesn’t carry the same weight it did before. All Difficulties the House attempts in aggressive actions or attempts to gain allies and favor suffer a one-step penalty to the Difficulty. 11–20 21–40 41–60 Respected: For this House, everything is as it should be. They are occupying exactly the space in the Imperium their peers expect of them. They suffer no penalties or modifiers. 21–40 41–60 61–70 Strong: This House is doing well for itself, not beyond the boundaries of its power, but still very well. All Difficulties for House actions reduce their Difficulty by one step, as other Houses are hesitant to stand in their way. The people of the House too are more confident and enthusiastic to be on the ‘winning team’ and work harder for their House. 41–50 61–70 71–80 Problematic: This House is getting a little too ambitious. It may be planning a move for greater power, which makes others very nervous. If the House is trying to make aggressive actions, the Difficulty is reduced by two steps, as few want to stand in its way. However, partnerships are starting to look decidedly unequal, making attempts to gain favor or an alliance suffer a one-step Difficulty penalty. At this stage, other Houses are discussing what might have to be done about the problematic House. Any House action or venture the House undertakes generates 1 Threat for the gamemaster. 51–70 71–80 81–90 Dangerous: This House is doing far too well for itself and clearly has designs on the resources and power of those above it. In fact, several of its peers (and possibly even the Emperor) are already plotting its downfall. However, no one is quite ready to challenge them yet. The House can reduce the Difficulty of any aggressive or threatening actions it takes by two steps, but it also suffers a two-step penalty to all diplomatic actions it attempts. Any House action or venture the House performs also generates 2 Threat as their enemies look to capitalize on any weakness. 71+ 81+ 91+ S tat u s a n d R e p u tat i o n Of primary importance to a House among its peers are the reputation and the status the House holds. But high status is not always a good thing. A rising House with many allies may be considered a challenge to others, even to the Emperor. But too-low status is a sign of weakness and an invitation to enemies to strike. A sensible House must carefully manage their status so as to always appear powerful, but not so much as to concern the Landsraad and Emperor. House status is measured on a scale of 1–100. Theoretically it can go even higher but surpassing the popularity and respect of the Imperial throne (status 90) is never sensible. The trick is to make sure a House’s status does not generally surpass that of anyone who should be above them. So, a Minor House that has the status of a Major House is potentially in trouble as well. Status is generally perceived according to the table below.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 91 Each level of status on the table comes with a Difficulty modifier to dealing with other Houses that will apply to almost all House actions. Each level except Respected (the average) may also be considered a House trait. It is important to note that this table and these details are simply a guide for the gamemaster, not a hard and fast rule. The moment a Major House hits 61 status it isn’t instantly considered strong. The gamemaster should look at the House’s current status in light of its recent actions and decide whether to apply any modifier. As status rises or falls it may be clear that the House has reached a particular level of reputation. But the gamemaster might not consider applying the modifier of a certain level until the House’s status is at the middle point or even higher. The players should never really be sure how the other Houses feel about theirs. The same applies to ‘aggressive’ or ‘diplomatic’ actions. It is entirely up to the gamemaster to decide what actions should be covered by such a description. While military actions are the obvious choice, any political move can also be considered aggressive as well, depending on how a House is viewed and what a particular enemy thinks of it. Each House, after all, has its propagandists, able to characterize, or mischaracterize, reality to suit their agenda. It is up to the gamemaster to decide how the Landsraad and the House’s peers are responding to the rise or fall of the House, not just to apply a specific modifier in all cases. Status is a thing to be managed, not simply gained. Houses like the Harkonnens care nothing for diplomacy and want to be feared. The Atreides are somewhat naïve about how their growing support is upsetting the wrong people. Most Houses work to maintain a strong demeanor, but not so strong they cause too many ripples among their enemies. It is up to the player character House to decide their own right path and what risks they are willing to take. S ta rt i n g S tat u s A player character-led House begins with the following level of status based on the House type picked during House creation. @ Nascent House: 15 @ Minor House: 25 @ House Major: 45 @ Great House: 65 The gamemaster should determine the status of any non-player character House, if needed, based on their role within the campaign. R e p u tat i o n While status offers a measure of the all-around power and position of the House within the Imperium, ‘reputation’ governs what it is known for. This is defined by a mixture of the House’s status and traits (Dune Core Rulebook, p. 91). A House with a trait of ‘Cunning’ has a reputation for cunning plots and manipulation. The higher its status, the more highly its skill in that area is regarded (or loathed). It is possible for the House to gain more traits with ventures, adding to its reputation and in some cases to its status. As a House’s reputation is defined by the traits of the House, there is no need for a separate reputation rating. After all, a House Minor known for its cunning is considered just as specialized as a House Major known for the same. However, the higher the status of the House, the more likely it will be regarded as an expert in that field. For example, there are many Houses known for being ‘Brutal’, but the status of the Harkonnens ensures they are considered among the most Brutal of all Houses. Example: House Molay is a House Minor and so starts with a status of 25, which is Respected. They have the House traits of Artistic and Secretive, so that is the basis for their reputation.

92 D o m a i n s Houses are more like corporations than feudal landlords, so their wealth is determined by their domains. The Wealth and Resources from these allow each House to advance new ventures but must also be spent to maintain the holdings and power the House already has. Pl a n e ta ry S c a l e Most Houses have a planet under their control, with some also controlling moons and other planetary bodies as well. Some of the largest Great Houses have several planets in their demesne. The amount of planetary real estate a House controls determines the maximum amount of space it can exploit to gain wealth. A farming House can only grow as much as it has space to plant in. An industrial House needs room for factories. But even artistic and philosophical domains need academic buildings and research institutes to advance and develop. As such, each planet or moon is assumed to have a maximum number of ‘spaces’ to build holdings, mines, or the like. On average, a planet has 80 spaces and a moon has 30, but the gamemaster may allow larger or smaller planetary bodies. This represents the area that is reasonably straightforward to exploit and can be cleared and made ready to build on straight away. However, a House can gain more space on a planet or moon by taking some rather drastic measures. They might reduce living space for the population or destroy natural habitat to develop less easily accessible regions. Doing so makes the population more unhappy and likely to work against the nobility, or it makes the planet polluted or unpleasant to live on. But for the House, it generates more wealth. Example: Caladan is a beautiful world where the Atreides work with the space they have available for farming. It has 80 spaces, all of which are full, but that is enough for the Atreides. Giedi Prime, home of the Harkonnen, is a horrific place. The population are crammed into tiny houses or situated on land that is barren and useless. Factories are everywhere and pollution is rife, but the planet may have as many as 100 or more spaces, all full of industrial monstrosities.

HOUSES OF THE LANDSRAAD 93 Mi n o r H o u s e s a n d Ma j o r H o u s e s Where a House Major controls a planet, it relies on the support of several Minor Houses to help manage and administrate it. Technically, any family with a claim to nobility and possibly title can be considered a Minor House. However, only those with significant holdings and a powerbase of their own can really expect to be counted as such. While there may be several noble families on the planet, most have only between three and five true Minor Houses in service to the ruling House Major. These are Houses who have proved their business acumen either by building a domain themselves or managing it effectively on behalf of the House Major. While a Minor House technically has land and spaces, it is important to remember that it does not always own this land. Instead, it usually manages and administers it under the lordship of the House Major that controls the planet. This means that any choices the Minor House makes must be something the House Major agrees to. The gamemaster may also force certain choices on a Minor House. For example, a highly religious House Major may insist that a certain amount of the House Minor’s land is given over to religious buildings and endeavors. Until a Minor House has greater status, it cannot act against the wishes and whims of its patron House. However, a few rare Minor Houses do not owe fealty to a specific House Major. House Richese is a good example of this. The holdings and trade power are not large enough to claim House Major status. But the House controls a planet and does not owe fealty to another House. If a House controls only a small moon or minor planet they have not fully exploited, they might still be considered a Minor House. However, while freedom from fealty might sound good, it also means there is no House Major willing to protect the Minor House if it is threatened. In most cases, a Minor House can only claim dominion over at most a third of any planetary body. Usually no more than two-thirds of the planet will be divided (unequally) between all the Minor Houses. Any sensible House Major makes sure its vassals don’t get any more powerful than that. There are many stories of arrogant Houses Major being usurped by cleverer Houses Minor eager to claim power. Player character Minor Houses are generally assumed to be a cut above the rest. They are the most reliable and powerful of the vassals serving their patron. Minor Houses begin with a primary domain and a single secondary domain, both of which they possess land and resources to manage. See the Dune Core Rulebook, p. 87, for more information about starting domains for player character Houses. The beginning number of starting spaces across a House’s planetary holdings depends on the level of the House. While these spaces might be on a single planet, they may be instead spread across multiple planets, moons, and stations if the gamemaster allows: While a planet has a certain amount of space, what it can produce depends on its environment. A desert world like Arrakis cannot support a farm. A barren moon might suit a remote research facility but isn’t going to offer many opportunities for animal husbandry. In general, assume that any planet controlled by a House Major supports all types of environments and is essentially ‘Earth-like’, granting a wide variety of terrain and climate. But if the player group wishes to control (for example) an ice planet or an ocean world, and their domains would still reasonably flourish there, then that is perfectly acceptable. HOUSE SPACES DESCRIPTION Nascent 10 A small area of land on the planet of the House Major they serve. Minor 35 Around a third to half of a planet, or an independent small moon, usually administrated on behalf of the House Major they serve. Major 60 Most of an entire planet. Great 100 Two planets, or at least one planet and several moons.