This is a reminder to myself, as I've already forgotten once.

I'm going to do a post on the Fraufreleches system, specifically the Sumptory Laws portion of it (Things like Sapho, the Suk brand/hair ring, and so forth)
Then I really want to dive into CHOAM and, thus, CHOAM characters. Less rules focused (as the Bene Gesserit), but more their role in the Game.  I left that out of the Bene Gesserit, since we see so much of them in the books/movies that really I'm not sure anyone who wants to play one would NEED ideas from me on how to fit into a group/campaign.
Obviously, if I do CHOAM, I'll need to do the Spacing Guild, but honestly I'm not feeling it for some reason. Its... kinda a gruntwork job.
I've also got the post where I lay out the setting of 9191, since we can't really use the Wiki/books much. That would include a gloss on a number of example houses. Probably a big job, multiple posts... and should be done as a closer, but probably won't be the last.
I've got to so something more on Smugglers, and thus Starships (and along with it a bunch of Campaign Hooks to spur ideas of how to play mixed groups in Dune without sticking to big picture book plot shit)
Also I promised a gearhead post

So... that's a random order of things to expect over the next few days of posting?  These are rougher than I'd like because I'm usually half brainstorming them out in a crude First Draft. Usually I've got the ideas in mind, but until I start putting them out, they aren't fully jelled yet. Sometimes good ideas are getting lost, but mostly I'm finding more than I'm losing, so I think you guys are getting a good deal out of the process... though I admit its badly organized and wordy as fuck.  

I appreciate the comments, but I'm actually eager to hear Ideas.  Praise just makes me turn into Jimmy Stewart, holding my hat and going 'aw shucks'.  Well, I would hold my hat, but apparently I ate it some time ago... whatever. No pressure, guys... no pressure.  

Fraufreluches and Sumptory Law:

As noted earlier the Fraufreluches system was set up to preserve the power of the Nobility, and predates the Empire itself, and was probably coded into the OCB. We know it predates the Empire, because among its notable 'failures' was that it was used by House Harkonnen to preserve their power after they were banished for cowardice after the Battle of Corrin, almost a century before the official founding of the Empire.  In some ways we can suggest that it also preserves the power of House Corrino in a similar fashion from the Great Houses, as there is a strong cultural tradition of not seeking to raise one's status too far, so only someone with great personal motivations and a functioning Out-group mentality could seriously challenge the Status Quo.  

We could go on about Siridar Fiefs, but I'd rather focus on the curious way the Fraufreluches plays out on a more individual level.

We know that only Suk Doctors have the forehead brand and silver hair-ring, and this is a legally protected status display.
We know that the Mentats are identifiable by stained lips from their use of the Juice of Sapho, and that the use of the Sapho is similarly restricted.
No one ever asks if someone is, or is not, a Bene Gesserit, and they are identified by their robes.
The list goes on, but those are the most readily identifiable examples.  

The point is that almost any identifiable, legitimate political group (not the Bene Tlielaxu, not formally the Fremen), with seek official recognition, probably with a vote in the Landsraad, or an Imperial Decree, to have some easily identifiable Uniform recognized by law. Most, probably ALL Noble Houses have their family heraldry and uniforms legally protected, which means if we accept Green for Atredies, means that one issue they was that their legally protected (and more or less compulsory) Green uniforms were not at all suitable for the desert.  Paul, adopting the clothes of the Fremen became very difficult to identify as an Atredies.

With this legal recognition comes legal protection and a form of security in the very stable (and yes, Stagnant) State, which is why it was sought out.  Note that no one cares who Lady Jessica's parents are, her status as a Bene Gesserit trumps questions of birth (though, of course, she is of Noble birth! Note too that in some ways the secrecy about her parentage works against the goals of the Order AND Lady Jessica, as Duke Leto 'cannot' marry her, in order to keep himself ready for a politically advantageous marriage.)

What this means in a Game is that almost anyone of merit is readily identifiable by title, if not name, on sight.  There is a scene in the Sci-Fi Dune miniseries where a young Paul readily identifies all the guests at a fancy dinner (except a disguised Irulan) by their jobs, to include a prominant Spice Smuggler, and thats the sort of thing that should be possible in game.  Perhaps lore or etiquette checks to nail down details, but the GM should generally not 'surprise' PCs by revealing the man they've been talking down to is actually the Duke Himself, unless he is in disguise. Membership in a House and general social class, as well as membership in well known factions, is just... seen.

It also puts a spin on disguises. Its one thing to hide who you are, thats not necessarily uncommon, but pretending to be someone you are not? That's a very specific and, in the eyes of the Nobility, intolerable crime, on par with Treachery.... and not just the Nobles.  We can imagine that the pacifistic Suk Doctors would readily kill anyone, or at least demand the death, of an Imposter Suk... if only to guard their very very valuable reputation, and the wealth that comes with it.

Which leads me to a minor point about legalities of things like Sapho. Given that the primary Law is the Nobles, through their House Guards, with secondaries from both CHOAM and the Spacing Guild in more specific cases, Nobles can be viewed as being almost entirely above concerns like legality.  They are concerned with propriety, with appearances.  Get to vulgar and you risk a censurious vote in the Landsraad, or the Emperor will take your Siridar Fief (homeworld) and give it to your rivals... and without allies in teh Landsraad to back you up, you can't prevent it.

And no noble would lower himself to taking on the uniform of a lesser caste, even if qualified.  Consider the Mentat Trained Noble. Does he, or does he not, use Sapho?  It depends, but he'd never consent to staining his lips, and risk being mistaken for an actual Mentat.  We can also assume people being trained as Mentats are not allowed to stain their lips until they are fully qualified... as the Mentats wouldn't want all the failures walking around declaring their status (though undoubtedly there are a few 'not quite there' Mentats wandering around with stained (purple? Red? Yellow Polkadotted?) lips, having to tell everyone that yes they are a trained mentat, but no, they can't answer your math problems because they are lame.

So its not just the USE of Sapho, but how its used that stains the lips. Its a CHOICE to drink it in such a way that it stains, and the choice is part of Fraufreluches.

Consider also the case of Gurney Halleck, a man who wears the uniform of House Atredies, but also bears on his face a very painful Inkvine stain, which marks him as a slave from Geidi Prime. Clearly the medical technology exists that could remove the stain, but he (probably) chooses not to remove it as a public declaration of who he was, and of his hate of the Harkonnen. Its possible that even Duke Leto lacks the legal power to allow him to remove it, but that is unlikely.   Or Patrick Stewart just makes everything better... whatever.

As noted, at least on some level there is social mobility, but it is entirely through joining larger organizations, be it a House, the Bene Gesserit order or what have you, and its usually for life.  Lady Jessica throws a thousand years of planning out the window for Love, and is still a member of the Bene Gesserit, and is treated as such by the Bene Gesserit. Not happy with her, certainly, but they don't oust her. They probably can't, not in legally, not in Fraufreluches.

Dis'll be a biggun.

The Combine Honnete Ober/Over Advancer Mercantiles is, simply stated, the ONLY interstellar company in Dune.  Almost everything bought or sold, is through CHOAM. Despite this, CHOAM officially produces nothing at all*

History:
CHOAM predates the Butlerian Jihad, like so many elements of the Empire, and like so many it has changed over the long millennia.  Prior to the Jihad, CHOAM was just a shipping company, probably one of several. I should note that CHOAM still IS a Shipping Company, the Spacing Guild merely owns the Ships.  During the Jihad they rose in prominance for their logistical support of the Jihad forces, and by being on the winning side** proved very beneficial. The discovery and rapid expansion of the Spice Trade made CHOAM absolutely central to the new Empire, and in fact a threat to the newly formed Empire under House Corrino.  The solution was simple, the Nobles simply bought CHOAM at firesale prices, bringing the non-noble shareholders (it was a mixed bunch) into the Houses through marriage and adoption.  At the time House Corrino was merely the first among equals, and consolidating their hold as the First Director of CHOAM was part of their power play to become Emperor. Oddly, the economic battles to control CHOAM were actually more important to the creation of Empire than military might, as all the Nobles still had Jihad era Atomic arsenals at their command.  The Landsraad officially became the Board Meetings of CHOAM, and the seperation between politics and finances disappeared.

Organization:

At the very top of CHOAM is the First Director, which is the Padishah Emperor.  This is essentially the Chief Executive, or the Chairman of the Board, and legally belongs to whomever has the most shares in CHOAM. The rise of Maud'dib was only legally accomplished by divesting Shaddam IV of his shares, which passed them to Irulan, who then married Paul, giving him control over CHOAM.  The First Director's primary power, aside from setting the path of CHOAM as a business, is the ability to remove and assign Directorships.  Usually the power of First Director is held in Proxy, meaning the Emperor doesn't actually DO very much, meaning the only real power is, well, Directorships.

Belong the First Director are all the rest of the Directors, or Shareholders. This includes the Bene Gesserit and Spacing Guild as silent partnerships.  Directorships cover areas of economic activity, which primarily consists of Worlds. There are, obviously, many more Directorships than there are Noble Houses to hold them, more in fact than there are Titled Nobles (who, it should be noted, are Share Holders, and thus eligible for a Directorship) to hold them all.  A lot of this winds up being mere formality, a Noble House manages its Homeworld and Siridar Fief in the fashion of a fuedal lord, as they did before CHOAM, rather than as a corporate manager, and Directorships are merely ways of managing the finances of a House.

Notably, while the Emperor can divest a House of its Directorship, and therefore Siridar Fief, he can't remove their Shares in CHOAM, their Seats in the Landsraad or their Noble status. Even an unpopular house won't be without a Directorship for long, as the Landsraad protects its own.  There are exceptions, however. Houses have bought worlds with piles of Spice from time to time. That could be a bribe for a Directorship, but more often they simply purchase the world. Even if someone else has the Directorship, and the Fief, the owner of the world (and thus the first person to profit from exploiting it) can not be removed, so usually its better to assign a Directorship to the owner in the long run.

A great deal of politicking in the Landsraad govern the trading of Directorships.  Atredies traditionally held only the Directorship of Caladan (though they may have had lesser Directorships over non-planetary interest, we can't know), which meant that when they acquired other Directorships they preferred to trade them away for a political, rather than financial advantage, while Harkonnen, at least as of 10191 held two, Geidi Prime and Lankiveil.  Arrakis was a 'special' case, in that no House could be trusted to hold it for long by House Corrino, and the Landsraad wouldn't let House Corrino hold it personally for the same reason.  We can observe how this system works by looking at Dune (the first book/movie) in isolation.  The Emperor assigns the Directorship to Arrakis to Duke Leto, taking it from Harkonnen (who took it from Richese in turn). Leto knows this is a trap for one very good reason: He loses Caladan to Fenring, while Harkonens never lost Geidi Prime. This forces him to move his personal seat of power to Arrakis, making him vulnerable.  After the trap is sprung, the Emperor restores the Directorship back to Harkonen (again, not taking either Geidi Prime or Lankiveil from them), knowing that their management of Arrakis has been traditionally very poor... and therefor no threat to him.

Again, the Directors of CHOAM don't actually do much with their various and sundry powers, and most Nobles probably consider a Directorship to be simply an empty title that nets them some money, being more traditionally fuedal in their outlook.  They are rather busy with their Noble Duties and don't really want to get into the fusty business of managing a company that seems to be running just fine.

Because, it turns out, underneath the Directors are the Administrators.  These are essentially the Civilian Proxies for the Directors. They rose through the ranks by skill and effort, and are fairly wealthy powerful men, but there is always a sword of damocles over their heads. While very few Nobles care who their proxies are, if they DO take notice, its usually to fire someone.  Oddly, this is one of the few places in Dune where it is better to be forgettable, where success and 'fame' comes from being unnoticed.  

It is the Administrators who manage the various directorates on behalf of the Directors. In most cases this is automatic and doesn't actually involve much power. The Nobles are perfectly happy to manage their own worlds in the Feudal fashion, so the Administrator normally just handles the contractual business of buying goods from the surface industries and finding markets to sell them in.  The Administrators biggest role in planetary 'management' is actually ensuring a constant flow of necessary good TO the planet.  CHOAM tries to sell to the highest bidder, like any good company, its the local Administrator that ensures you don't have your food supplies cut off simply because another Administrator thinks he can get a better price elsewhere.

There are some exceptions. Silent Partner Directors don't have worlds or even industries to manage, and they don't usually require, or want, a Proxy. This gives them more power in CHOAM, as a Director outranks an Administrator, though they do have Administrators under them, handling the grunt work of managing entire departments.

Then there is Dune, Arrakis.  With a constant change of Directors and the sheer importance of the world and its industries, the Administrators of Arrakis are a bit different. First, they serve at the pleasure of the Emperor, not the local lord... though more than a few 'uppity' Administrators have simply been killed since they can't be fired.  Second they are much more focused on the actual production of Spice itself, rather than simply making buy orders, and they have no real authority over selling Spice in the galaxy at large. Their job is to ensure the Spice Flows... and that it Flows through CHOAM.  CHOAM, and CHOAM's Arrakis Administrator are literally the only people who oppose Spice Smuggling.  Even the Emperor tries to get more than his share through Smugglers!  

Regarding Spice Harvesting Operations, CHOAM generally owns all the equipment, and provides training for the House personnel who eventually do the job. There are plenty of small independent (but legitimate) outfits working the surface, so long as they sell their Spice to CHOAM they can do business... and this is where the local Lord's management really takes over.  Nobles prefer to have their own people doing the work, despite often lacking much skill or talent for it. Some houses try to crack down on the independents, others ignore them... smart ones work with them. Independent outfits usually lack the infrastructure, the heavy equipment (such as Carryalls), relying on small vehicles and speed to avoid Sandworms, but they are usually 'native' to Arrakis and very good at what they do.  Many Independents double-deal, selling some of what they gather to Smugglers, and some to CHOAM... and the House gets none of either unless they are smart.

Whenever CHOAM acts, such as joining the Landsraad in deposing Shaddam IV in favor of Maud'dib, this is the Administrators, as a group, declaring what CHOAM needs to keep doing business.  In many ways the Administrators of CHOAM, collectively, have the same power as the Landsraad, with the single ultimate Caveat: The Administrators can be removed by the Nobles, so CHOAM rarely acts unless an overwhelming majority agree it is necessary.  Individual Administrators may make stands on specific issues, risking their careers to do so, but that is a personal choice.  Legally, as proxies, teh Administrators are obliged to obey orders from the Director above them.

CHOAM, it should be noted, is the single largest 'body' in all of human history.  Consider that every world has a full staff of CHOAM administrators, every continent or major Region... or both... has a similar staff, every city has a staff, every noble household has a staff of Liaisons, every Heighliner has a staff who do nothing by coordinate the order in which ships load and unload, every major trade route (and there are hundreds, perhaps thousands) has a staff who coordinates the buying and selling of goods from... everwhere.  The capital, Kaitan, undoubtedly has a suitably epic headquarters staffed with millions of accountants, lawyers, sales people and political analysts... possibly numbering in the millions.  CHOAM is both the beaurocratic arm of the Empire, and the local Walmart, and the local Port authority and... and.. and.

Just about the only major economic activity that CHOAM doesn't manage is Banking, that's managed by the Spacing Guild... and yet CHOAM has the power to audit.

This absolute Monopoly only works, however, because the Nobles, at the very top, profit from both ends of a Transaction.  CHOAM can't deflate prices at one end, or inflate them at the other end, without pissing off the Directors.

So that's CHOAM as a Company. What about CHOAM as a 'players', as individuals.

Well, first of CHOAM is an equal opportunity employer. Just about anyone can seek work in CHOAM and find a job, and that is just is CHOAM is a business, and for the most part they exist outside the Fraufreluches restrictions, which ironically ties them to it.  In order to make money, they need the freedom to be a meritocracy, which means they get special dispensation. In some ways CHOAM is a safety valve... and members of CHOAM wind up displaying the same Sumptory Law status symbols as every else, just to show how above it all they really are.  For the most part you won't find any Titled Nobles working their way up the ranks but you will find plenty of non-inheriting, second son, nobles... trading family connections for lucrative jobs. In fact most Administrators are only a few generations, at most, from belonging to a Noble House themselves, though within CHOAM itself its considered gauche to talk about it.  What matters most in CHOAM is not who you are, but what you can get done, and they can be ruthless and bloodthirsty in the pursuit of higher salaries and bigger Spice allowances and expense accounts.

Given the demonstrated ethical system in Dune, we can guess that CHOAM personnel only worry about the law as a matter of appearances, making money for CHOAM is what is important. Sabotaging a rival in CHOAM is totes legit... so long as that Sabotage doesn't cost CHOAM money.

Beyond that, what CHOAM agents look like, and what their internal culture is like is wide open.

So what sort of work IS there?

I've already pointed out that CHOAM agents are much like the Reeve in Fading Suns, a lot of accountants and lawyerly types, guys who do a lot of work with contracts and spread sheets.  But there are plenty of more hand's on jobs as well in the 'port side' jobs. Considering the value of SPice, their single biggest product, we know that CHOAM has to employ rough and dangerous men (Muster, in  Fading Suns) to guard product, to seek out criminal enterprises from organized theives (who may, or may not, be organized by a Noble trying to squeeze a bit more personal profit), to Spice Smugglers. CHOAM will have investigators, spies, agents and trouble shooters. They'll have technical specialists to handle products from Ix and Richese, and internal specialists in medicine and other service oriented jobs just to take care of their own.

CHOAM is Everywhere... and they are Everything.  Just about the only thing you won't find in CHOAM is allegiance to an outside group. Sure, there is at least one Reverend Mother in CHOAM... she's the Director holding the Bene Gesserit 'seat', not some petty agent solving a problem with a Heighliner crew insisting they travel to Ix instead of Caladan on that next trip.  Sure, Tom in Marketing might have personal family ties to House Ecaz through his second cousin, but its not like he's having dinner in the Ecaz palace or attending Landsraad votes. In fact, CHOAM generally would try to keep Tom, from Marketing, out of Ecaz entanglements unless his boss really thought the 'personal touch' would unstick some thorny negotiation... but then most thorny negotations would involve two or more parties, and that sort of personal favoritism would make things worse.

So, adventures in CHOAM:


Well, first this depends on the group and the GM. Obviously an all, or majority CHOAM group would work well as a band of troubleshooting agents, or the personal staff of an up and coming junior executive. In a more mixed party CHOAM agents can be 'hired' by the party to do specific technical tasks (like fly starships around), or may be part of the retinue of the local noble, or they could be more freelance Agents keeping an eye out for trouble... or opportunity.  Most of CHOAM is workaday stiffs, but Adventurers are not the workaday stiff crowd.  

Another possibility is that the CHOAM characters aren't officially doing their jobs. CHOAM characters can take vacations and sabbaticals... may even be on administrative leave for one reason or another. Depending on what teh party is doing, maybe the CHOAM character is diligently doing his job whenever he's not shooting up the local marketplace defending his good personal friend Sir Goodly Ecaz, the third cousin of the brother of the current Duke Ecaz... and CHOAM will happily overlook that simply because of the potential value of this personal friendship later down the line.  Even without that, how many times have we accepted, in movies and television, the happy coincidence of a character who happens to be travelling to the same place as his friends, only for a different reason?  With teh plotting and back room deals of DUNE, this 'happy coincidence' can be as happy and coincidental as you want... or don't want.

A final possibility is that a character was merely trained by CHOAM, usually on behalf of some patron. This sort of thing happens, and CHOAM will happily take money to train someone, or sell the services of someone in CHOAM to anyone rich enough to make it worth their while.  Given the plotting, its possible to find CHOAM personnel working with, or even running, Spice Smugging operations!  Loyalty to the almighty Profit first and foremost, and at every level, which might be refreshingly different in a Dune game.



EDIT:::  One thing to keep in mind is that Spice Havesting never entirely goes All House, not even when assholes like Harkonnen want it to. This is where Leto's style of leadership, valuing people over product, serves him in good stead by helping earn the personal loyalty of the CHOAM spice miners on Arrakis by valuing their lives and skills over short term gains.  Leto inherited the CHOAM portions of the mining operations and used them over trying to force his own men into the duties, and he also made efforts to work with the independent operations and the Smugglers. Of course, what he SHOULD have been doing was preparing for the Trap. Mismanagement of Arrakis might have been embarrassing, but it would have got him out of the trap faster. His professionalism got him killed.





*The one exception is Spice Production, or rather Gathering and Processing, but I'll deal with that specifically.

** Oh yeah, I am TOTALLY trashing the geocidal Omnious machine-mind syncronized worlds shit and sticking with the 'machines were doing everything and a pampered humanity was dying of apathy' that I got from way back in the 1980 when I was reading the books the first time, and hunting down the extended Allan Smithee versions of Lynch's film.  Fuck you if you think OMNIOUS is somehow better than that.

On the extended name Over/Ober... I recall seeing a more germanized Ober in most expansions of teh name, but the Wiki uses Over... I put both in so I wouldn't have to waste hours arguing about it.

This is a Commentary Post, so if you don't care about anything other that Dune, the Game you can skip it.

It must look to a lot of you, and I know it sometimes feels to me, like I'm just making shit up.   That is not at all my intent. What I am doing, or trying to do, is look at a given set of facts... all of the facts (except the really, really stupid parts of KJA's contributions) and filling in the spaces in between. Normally I do this with my own settings as part of world building, so I'm pretty good at it... its a little weird doing it with someone else's work.

For a lot of Dune we have only a few throw away comments to work with, and if your interpretations of those commments differs from mine... well, you are wrong and I am right, so there! Nyah, nyah!!!

No, but seriously: I've spent enough time around fans of various popular works to know just how entrenched certain ideas can become, even when if its actually contradictory to the facts!  I know, for example, that many many fans think the equatorial belt of the Death Star is where the Trench Run takes place, while the evidence shows that the Trench Run is longitudinal, and the Equator is where teh docks are, and consider the number of fans that are violently certain that Rey is Luke Skywalker's kid... despite Daisy Ridley stating flatly that she is not... well, we'll all know for sure in the coming year.

I don't know, can't know, what YOU personally imagine CHOAM to be like. What I know is that Frank Herbert... and for that matter Brian and Kevin, gave us about five or six lines total, in twenty fucking books.

That.... is not a lot to work with.   The Wiki gives maybe a page, and half of that is talking about Shaddam IV and FaceDancers replacing the Administrators... not exactly the sort of details upon which a major piece of the setting can be built.  

When writing any of this, except for rules specific entries, is twofold
One: Not to contradict anything in the Canon
Two: To make/keep it internally coherent

So far I haven't had to deconflict those two rules, but I HAVE had to do a monstrous amount of work in building the internal coherency where none existed.  I've got a stained glass window with half a dozen pieces, and I've got to make the rest so that the final picture matches what people expect to see.  Its actually kinda fun, and so far you all seem to like it. Maybe I lean to heavily on David Lynch's movie... but that's what really got me interested in Dune in the first place, I didn't read the actual book until 1992, by which point I had seen both cuts of the film dozens of times.  And honestly? Lynch was doing a lot of what I'm doing, only visually instead of structurally.  Sure, he could as Frank questions, as I can't... but Frank didn't exactly fill his books with visual imagary, except for the desert vistas, so Lynch had to make up the visual language himself... and yeah, he took a lot of liberties, as you can see when you compare it with the somewhat more faithful adaption from Sci-fi. They rejected the film from the start, and their visual language is so very different its hard to remember they are both based in the same book.  Stupid questions like Bene Gesserit hair, or how the weirding way works get wildly different treatments, and who was right?

Visually I favor Lynch, but that leads me to risk accidentally contradicting the books in small ways.  And if I have to be honest, not everything Frank wrote, particularly in the later books, was all that good. I could dedicate an entire post to how bizarre the eleventh hour addition of the Jews of Gammu were to Chapterhouse: Dune,  or the constant reliance on Duncan Idaho as a plot device, or the weirdly out of place philosophical musings of Leto II (and the mysterious disappearance of Ghanima) were in God Emperor. The themes and messages of Dune got muddled along the way.   But as I noted in my last commentary post, I'm not here to judge what fits and what doesn't. I'll try to keep my opinions out of it, but I can't pretend they don't exist, or that I won't make mistakes because of them.  I'm no Kwisatz Haderach, after all.

Anyway, that's it for this commentary. Hopefully you guys can see where I'm coming from and understand what I'm trying to do, especially if I've done something that offends your take on the lore.

Somewhere along the line I'm going to talk about the role of Human Perfection, and how that interacts with Fading Suns prejudices against cybernetics, genetic engineering and so forth.  This is one place where Fading Suns and Dune are at complete odds, and I think we need to talk about it. Also, I like words.

Atomics:

I've been trying to avoid talking too much about them, and as a result I think I've been talking TOO much about them, so to correct that I've got to give them even more words in a post of their very own. Sigh.

Mind you, this is actually a very big deal in the setting.  In the original five books, atomics are set off in four of them, and they are central to the continued power of the Noble Houses... or are they?

On the one hand, the military might is entirely in the hands of the Nobles. Sure, Bene Gesserit can kick ass, but they are more like ninja nuns than soldiers, adn sure CHOAM has plenty of armed men, but they don't have a standing, organized army.  And Atomics are pretty much Military Tech in its ultimate expression.

Back in teh days of Jihad Atomics were used pretty freely. YOu could wipe out space fleets, crack fortresses, even destroy worlds... so about a hundred years after the Battle of Corrino, the Great Convention was signed, which more or less fixed the form of the Empire and strictly limited the use and proliferation of Atomics.   There was never a formal statement that Atomics=Nobility, because pretty much only the people with armies (The Nobles) had them, and people without them didn't have armies either. Any Nobles without sufficient military might were destroyed or absorbed along the way, and while the great Causus Belli (Sp? Damn, and I studied latin too...) of the Jihad was probably finished before the Battle of Corrino, it was the signing of the Great Convention that formally ended the Jihad (in that a Jihad is like a Crusade... its not so much a war as a long series of related wars. Easier to pick a start than an end...)

Now, its pretty easy to believe that every Noble House has a cave somewhere with 10,000 year old nukes lying around, and only the Head of the House... and maybe his Heir, know where they are, but that doesn't stand up to any scrutiny at all.  Any house THAT paranoid lost their Atomics long ago. Single points of failure, lack of maintance and more... like some rival House finding that one, unguarded cave.

No, Atomic Arsenals are big complex things. A single bomb, not even a planet cracker, will not get teh attention of the Noble Houses. Oh, they'll happily take it away from you, but they aren't shivvering in their beds at the thought of a single bomb.  Nobles have vast arsenals... growing, dynamic arsenals in fact.  CHOAM probably makes Atomics... yet CHOAM is not a Noble House.

In a sense, if you are openly acknowledged to have Atomics, then you are a Noble and have Atomics... even if you don't have any. And if you aren't formally acknoweldged to have Atomics, you aren't a noble and you Don't Have Atomics.... even if you do.

This is relevant, as the Bene Tlielaxu clearly have Atomics, yet no one acknowledges that they do, and they are clearly not Nobles. (It is a Tlielaxu Stone Burner fired off in Children Of Dune, blinding Paul.)

So, when I say that the Bene Gesserit don't have Atomics... I'm saying we don't actually know. They don't claim to have them, they don't pretend to have them... they never use them.  But they COULD have them. Of course, it would be suicide to use them (disregarding the Honored Matres war against the Bene Gesserit, when the Nobles were shells of who they used to be), since... like Ninjas, teh Bene Gesserit's primary defense is in Not Being Attacked.  Once you assault the Ninja Fortress with an army, the Ninja clan is doomed... even if they 'win'.

Each House will guard their Atomic arsenal in different ways, and very few people will be trusted with every element, but no one person holds any given secret. The Warmaster (often a Mentat. Thufir holds this hat, I believe, along with Master of Assassins) will know the bulk of it, the titled nobles will all know pieces. There will be guards and technicians, nameless nobodies will have keys to the arsenal simply to do their nameless nobody jobs!

Many arsenals will be scattered so that no single cache lost ruins the house.  Undoubtedly many Noble Houses trust at least part of their arsenal to CHOAM, letting the Corporation handle the hard work of storing and maintaining the powerful weapons for them. But only a fool puts all his weapons in the hands of another.  For all we know, somewhere a Duke uses a Stoneburner as his very throne, reminding everyone who visits him in Audience of the power he possesses.  More important than mere physical possession is the means to make more. Perhaps this is why the Bene Tlielaxu and the Bene Gesserit aren't Noble Houses? Maybe the Tlielaxu have Atomics, and try to steal more, but can't make them? Or maybe they can and chose to play a different game. Certainly they didn't sign the Great Convention, though they are still bound by it in many ways.  

Its entirely possible, likely even, that there are Houses, Great or Minor, that have long ago lost their Atomics. Maybe they lost their arsenals to enemy action (or never had very many to begin with), maybe they kept their arsenals, but lost the ability to make more... and don't dare pressure CHOAM for replacements, lest the secret slip out.  Maybe its not nearly as secret as they let on, and trading that secret is a major political tool in the Landsraad?  A Noble with a secret could be a member of just such a House.

Ultimately this lies beyond Rules. An Atomic is a Plot Device, with Plot Powers. If a player has a reasonable chance at owning a nuke (either as Head of House, or because teh GM foolishly put one on the table...) then he can use it as the GM allows.  Remember: Stone Burners can crack planets if configured correctly, and Paul melts a fucking mountain range.  Dune Atomics aren't limited to fucking up mid sized cities.  

The repercussions for misuse are for the GM to use, chuckling evilly and rubbing his hands.   Remember the most important (and only known) provision of teh Great Convention: Thou shalt not use Atomics against Human Targets.

If the Bene Gesserit are business masquerading as a spirital order, the Spacing Guild is a Spiritual Order masquerading as a Business.

It is a common misconception that the Spacing Guild holds a monopoly on Faster than Light spaceships.

Far from it: They have a monopoly on PILOTS.  They ONLY have this monopoly because of the Butlerian Jihad... far more than even they owe it to Spice based Prescience.

Let me explain.

There are actually two forms of Faster than Light travel in Dune.  The first developed was 'conventional' faster than light, or 'outrunning photons' as it is described in the Wiki. This was the norm for a very long time, and was probably the dominant form used for most of the Zensunni Migration, and may still be in use in marginal way (the Bene Tlielaxu may use it, for example, with the Masters and Axotol tanks suffling around the galaxy, disappearing for years at a time between stars while their plots play out on the planets below them).  Don't let the name fool you, this is SLOW.  The Average distance between stars is a little over three light years, so at, say, 5 times lightspeed it would still take 8 months on average, and we don't even know if they ever reached that sort of speed. We just know it was slow.

Folding Space, which is the one we all think about when we think Dune, came much later, not much before the Jihad kicked off.  The problem was, it is highly risky. With human pilots the failure rate was 90%. Only Thinking Machines could manage Fold Ships safely. The Spacing Guild holds that Navigators are even better, but statistically that doesn't really add up (we are talking a difference between 99% and 100%... or well within the margin of error. There is NEVER a Navigator Fold Ship error? Not once? Not even when The Kwisatz Haderach kills a navigator with his mind?).

Enter the Butlerian Jihad, and the idea that Man should not rely on machines.  Houston, we have a problem. Enter the Navigators, and suddenly the last hold out to Jihad, those necessary Fold navigator computers, can be eliminated. And the Spacing Guild suddenly has a monopoly.

The thing is, no one set out to become a Navigator. No one tried spice and thought 'Hey, if I get really, stupidly insane with my abuse of this stuff I'll be able to See Stars with my MIND!'.  The Fremen LIVE on Spice Planet and never developed Navigators! They never got close, and they breath Spice with every breath, eat and drink it with every meal, they sleep in beds made of Spice (and no, I"m not exaggerating). And yet, they never turned into Fish Men of the Stars!

Think about that.

Since I don't want to directly contradict even really really BAD canon, I won't go into the Jihad era origins of Navigators, which means I'll have to tread carefully.

More or less the situation is this: Every day trillions of people take Spice, not just because of the long term benefits, but because they enjoy it. Some of those people like it a lot more than others. Some people just can't get enough.  Among the Fremen, where 'taking a dose' is pretty much unheard of due to the constant exposure, these sorts never got off the ground, but in the broader galaxy, where this super awesome new drug was just coming to market... one that was nearly impossible* to overdose on?  Oh yeah, you better beleive some people began experimenting wildly with just how much they could take.

And what, exactly, did they find? Well they started having Visions. Precognitive visions at that.  The more they took, the more heavy their regular consumption, the stronger and more reliable the visions were.  At some point, while still finding the value of Spice as a commodity, someone figured out that some dude tripping balls on Spice could navigate a space fold without a computer, and this while the Butlerian Jihad was going on, or winding down.  All of a sudden there was a REASON to suck down as much spice as you could get your hands on. Then the mutations started... but that was ok, because they were accompanied by even better visions.

Navigators aren't trying to learn to Fold Ships, they Fold Ships to pursue their religious drug ecstacy.   Its the Timothy Leary School of LSD writ on the Epic scale of Dune... and I don't doubt that some of that is deliberate.

Note that the Navigators are the only major faction that is not only NOT following the Cult of the Kwisatz Haderach, but are actively trying to prevent it!  They may even see becoming a Navigator as becoming a personal KH themselves, and why share that with people who don't see Spice use the way that they do, as a means of communing with the godhead?

And sure as shit if they aren't right.  Keep in mind that they have very very good prescience, they know for a fact that the KH will cut off their Spice Supplies, both in the long and short terms. Why would they allow that? How COULD they allow it, even if they could see the Golden Path?  A Navigator without Spice isn't racing to find a supply before it kills him... he's just dead. He can't cut back, he can't tighten his belt... he's just dead.

And their more human followers? The ones not yet Fishmen of the Stars? They aren't that far behind. They are, every one of them, already massive addicts, in teh Blue-in-blue state.

We are talking about a group that could very well have members who would willingly be eaten by Sandworms if they thought that it would bring them closer to the Spice.

And why would the Navigators allow even their lowly servants to consume such massive doses of Spice daily if it weren't a religon? They can't deny anyone Spice because its their Faith. Otherwise, why not embargo Spice Shipments, and keep it all for themselves?

So, lets take it from there. That's the secret truth behind the Spacing Guild, but its not terribly useful by itself.

Lets talk Heighliners: It is not at all necessary for a Fold Ship to be the size of a small moon. The problem is that there just aren't enough Navigators to go around... and no one really wants to grow the number of Navigators (on account of them hoovering up enough spice to feed a legion) too high... except the Guild itself... so the solution is to ship massive amounts of things in one go, rather than using more smaller ships.  CHOAM builds the Heighliners for the Spacing Guild, and handles most of the messy business of loading and planning, the Guild reaps a profit that they mostly spend on MOAR SPICE.   The 'crew' area of a Heighliner is pretty much off limits to non-guild personnel, secret squirrel stuff, and most people... even NObles like Duke Leto and Paul... have no idea what a Navigator looks like.  Even the Emperor is shocked at the personal visit of a Navigator to his court.

Lets talk Guild Banking:  this is almost an accident.  There is no Faster than Light communication, just Heighliner Courier services, and it takes days to prep for a jump due to the size of the ships.  There is one exception, and that is the Navigators themselves.  In other words, the Guild controls both forms of communication between planets.  Only the Guild can pay out an account on one world (Arrakis, say), and debit the actual vault on, oh, Caladan with any reliability.  No one NEEDS to bank with the Guild, but if you do any travelling at all, the Guild is the only way to get your money... or official Spice Stockpiles**... without carrying it with you.  The Guild probably only relucantly got involved with Banking until the began to see the Profit in it (MOAR SPICE!!!), and may have originally got started taking possession of Collateral for various services, which eventually lead to actual banking.  Combine that with their close association with CHOAM, and you begin to see how all the pieces of Banking, and expertise in business could grow.  The Guild Bank undoubtedly does loans to the Nobles and even to local (planetary scale) businesses and has collected quite a few assets over the years. The one place that they have no real power at all is Arrakis... and really, would YOU trust a bunch of junkies with Drug Central?

So that's the overview, lets talk some details, shall we?

Structure:
At the very top are the Navigators themselves, rated by how many stages of enlightenment (Mutation) they've gone through, up to Three***. Navigators have extraordinarily long lives, but are not Immortal, and often the causes of death are quite mysterious.  While an exact number of Navigators is unknown, we can suppose they number in the very low hundreds, counting all three stages. A first Stage Navigator is probably not driving Heighliners around, but is serving as an assistant to second and third stage Navigators to learn the ropes.  The Third Stage Navigators largely commmune with one another telepathically, and make decisions about the Spacing Guild, as a whole, by democratic consensus.  Once a decision has been made the dissenters go along with it.   Second Stage Navigators may or may not be able to Commune, but are probably the bulk of the Ship Drivers, while First Stage Navigators communicate the will of the higher orders down to the rest of the Guild.  Most discussions are not about politics or business, but are about their prescient visions and what to do about them, discussions that will often have a religious, or at least spiritual, nature.  The Navigators are more Gurus than priests, guides on the spiritual journey than authorities.  Chances are when the question of banking came up the answer was likely 'sure, whatever'.

Underneath the Navigators lies two separate branches of still human followers, the Spiritual branch and the Administrative branch, which is itself divided between ship duties and banking duties.  Every member of the Guild will have a foot in both branches, and often gains in one area will result in slippage in another. The more 'spiritual' members wind up with a lot of temporal authority by directly communing with the navigators, but this often corresponds to not really knowing HOW the Guild actually runs, while those who find flying a starship or managing a bank interesting often neglect their spiritual side, though they still get high on Spice as much as possible.

**** The Spacing Guild is open to any man who wishes to join. The Guild itself doesn't have much of an opinion regarding women, its just that while they can undergo mutation, they don't develop a Navigator's particular form of Prescience or telepathy, making it sort of a waste of Spice. There are women as lay members, families and the like, as the Guild is quite insular and prefers to recruit 'in house' so to speak, but they don't serve any particular role in the duties of the Guild. There is an animosity between Navigators and Bene Gesserit, but its not gender so much as religious. The Bene Gesserit are on a different path, and are pursuing a very dangerous goal, that makes them 'bad'.  Most members grow up in the Guild, but Nobles, even Titled Nobles have joined...giving up their titles and duties to pursue God through Spice.  

New members are carefully watched and kept on a minimal Spice diet while they learn the duties of the Guild. The Guild is very protective about their Spice, and if you aren't buying their spirituality, you just like Spice, then you probably won't make it in the Guild. Depending on who you were before you joined, they may just space you, otherwise its probably a drudge job in a dank basement. Of course, some start out just liking the Spice and convert to true believers later, so there is plenty of slack.  There is competition to join, and while the Guild would love to take everyone, they simply can't afford it, so they can be pretty picky, taking on only people that have the right combination of attitude and aptitude.

Full membership comes with formal recognition and a quiet, but intense ceremony where the Initiate is given a massive dose of very pure Spice. Whenever possible this is overseen by a full Navigator, failing that a senior member who will also take a massive dose of Spice (which by this point won't be seen as Massive by the senior member!!!). During this ritual the Initiate (or Initiates... as preferred) will experience his first precognitive visions, and will literally touch minds with those undergoing the ritual with him, not unlike a Spice Orgy, only with less sexytime.  This is why the ritual is overseen by Navigators when possible, to guide the Initiates through their first holy ecstasy.  These sorts of group rituals are very common for the rest of the Guild member's career, but there isn't a formal schedule of them. Normally when a ship will Fold Space, every Guilder on board who can be spared joins in a ritual, trying to see if they can witness the navigator's work.  ONly rarely do they get a mere glimpse, though as they get closer (Psi raises higher), those will come more often.

Not surprisingly the members of the Guild tend to be very close knit, and tight lipped. Mutations are quite common, including the loss of normal speech (yes, Lynch stealing), and Guilders are among the few people in the galaxy that tend to look more unhealthy than slaves.  

[Rule time: Spacing Guild Administrative Rank/Membership is handled just as for the CHOAM and other organizations. Spiritual Rank is measured solely by Psi rating (not powers, though that helps).]

As a general rule, the Spacing Guild tends to assign the least spiritual, least mutated members to duties involving other people, namely Banking and other planetside duties (diplomacy).  The more spiritual/mutated members prefer to stay aboard ships and often fight for ship-side duties to be closer to the Navigators, who prefer to stay out of Gravity Wells.  The most desired duties for the faithful (if least fulfilling for the more ambitious/worldly) is, of course, serving as assistants and adjuncts to a Navigator, the higher stage/older Navigators the better.   Cybernetics to offset the debilitating effects of mutation are surprisingly common, though during the change to First Stage Navigator, most will be shed by the process.  Given the lack of aesthetic concern, not only are cybernetics common, no effort at al is made to conceal their nature.  Crude but functional mechanical limbs, external lung-boxes with hoses feeding air punched through flesh and more are found among the faithful.

[ no rule. Players are encouraged to take curses based on appearance, or cybernetics to cover mutation, the higher their Psi, the more common, but that's up to the player]

Spacing Guild in Play:
Much like the Bene Gesserit and CHOAM, the Spacing Guild needs people out doing stuff, wether its trying to manipulate a Noble House by supplying advice, or cutting deals with Smugglers for MOAR SPICE, the Guild is busy.  With less concern for business than CHOAM, and guided by often cryptic precognitive visions, the Guild may be even more active than CHOAM, if less omnipresent.  Spacing Guild members fly ships, do maintenance on ships, run banks, cut deals with Smugglers, and... though often outsourced to 'lay members'... guard Spice stores and ships.  They make personal deals with nobles as well as grander deals with Houses.  With less emphasis on business, it is quite possible for a trusted, ranking member of the Guild to leave official duties behind and pursue personal goals, even pursuing his spiritual growth through exploring where his Spice Visions take him.

Characters:
If you want to be a Dude and have Psychic powers (but not risk triggering a holy war as a Kwisatz Haderach!), playing a member of the Spacing Guild is right up your alley.  I've given all sorts of detail already on them, and I've already shown ya how its done with the Bene Gesserit, so I'm not going to lay out a proper psychic path here.  The SG have more 'external' focus to their powers. They can't tell if you are lying, can't use 'The Voice', but they can sure as shit slap a mental beating on a Bene Gesserit when called up to do it. They do a  lot of mind-to-mind and spiritual bonding stuff, and thats all Core in Fading Suns.

One thing they don't do is 'Other Memory'. They have a better, clearer picture of the future than the Bene Gesserit, and don't spend a lot of time looking at the past or worrying about things like Genetics or even physical perfection. No Soma powers for the SG.  However, the Spacing Guild, even the Navigators (who blow our Psi 10 right out of the water) do have blind spots. The Bene Gesserit have a sort of vague view of the whole of the future, while the Spacing Guild gets very clear pictures... but only of their own immediate future. They don't see options, so once they change their path they have to 'look again' to see if they did it right.  One metaphysical fact in Dune is that Precognition doesn't see other precognitives, the mere presence of a powerful psychic shields all around him from other psychics, including Paul Atredies, the Kwisatz Haderach.  In theory the point of breeding Siona and Duncan Idaho was to create a race of low level precognitives that were, by their nature, invisible to prescient manipulation and control, the 'Golden Path' was as much a trap as it was a solution, and as far as Dune is concerned, it worked.

This is one reason the Navigators spend so much time communing mentally, as their shared vision is not just more powerful and wider ranging, but also gets less static from 'stray' Navigator precognition. This personal and immediate 'blindspot' however, leads the Navigators to screw up badly in the matter of Paul Atredies, the second one cost the life of Navigator Edric, which was probably a surprise...


If you want a player to 'own' a ship, the Spacing Guild clearly does maintain a fleet of smaller, non-fold ships, and will be very experienced Spacers, so that is an option. While the ship would actually belong to the Guild, the player character would have fairly free use of it, and it does solve the problems of how to pay for Heighliner travel.  Out of the busom of teh Guild, however, a Guilder will have to make do with survival level rations of Spice, according to their spiritual rank, which may make them cranky.  Any Guild psychic will have the Blue-in-Blue eyes from frequent 'overdosing', only an Initiate will have naturally colored eyes. Obviously artificial eyes are a solution.





* Yes, the Spice Agony ritual is an Overdose, but it requires deliberate and elaborate preparations to actually do it. I doubt anyone cuts their spice with battery acid just to see if they can provoke an OD.

** Yes, most stock piles are secrets, and most are gained by illegal means and can't stand a proper audit. But smaller stocks, and legal stocks are possible or it wouldn't be possible to buy planets with it, would it?  So if you're sitting on a few thousand doses that you can claim are completely legit, why NOT store them with the Guild bank rather than stuff them under a mattress somewhere?  It makes it a LOT easier on you if you don't need to travel for a week or two to get your emergency stash when you find out your rival has put poison in your regular doses.  Or, for that matter, buying a planet. Just transfer the account, that way no one accuses you of 'cutting' your Spice. The Guild guarantees it when they take the deposit.

*** THis is a Lynch creation, but Frank Herbert used it himself in the later books, so it is pretty much canon.

**** keeping in mind my older post on gender roles and the thematic use of polarity, this is entirely optional if it doesn't meet your standards of Dune! If you say "Norma Cenva" to me, I will stab you in the face.

One interesting Note regarding the Cult of the Kwisatz Haderach is that the Bene Gesserit, despite their oraclular powers, have gotten deeply cynical about 'superstition', including religion.  So, despite they themselves have many prophetic visions in their history about the Kwisatz Haderach, and the Krazilec(armaggedon), they actually don't believe it, so they blindly pursue creating the KH with 'science!', thinking its a good idea. The Navigators may not have any clearer prophecies or visions in this regard, but the DO believe... and that is what makes them scared.

Bene Tlielaxu:

This should be a short one, just to keep everyone up to speed.

What we know about the Bene Tleilaxu is that they are Buddislamics, who seem to have syncretized the schismatic break between zensunni and zenshite (don't blame me for Zen being linked to everyone), way way way back before the Butlerian Jihad.   They have no worlds, maintain no obvious central power base, don't really participate in the galactic politics of the day, be in Jihad or the posturings of the Great Houses. They are immoral and unlikeable but get by selling goods and services no one else can provide... or maybe 'will' provide. They are slavers (and I have to do a post on Slavery...), and masters of Genetics.

If the Spacing Guild has no role for women, the Bene Tlielaxu abhor them.  

The best known, to US, the readers, of BT genetics is the shape changing Face Dancers, who are treated as slaves, but have such an important role to play as teh Face of the BT, are often very powerful individually, autonomous Slaves, but we can presume that the Facedancers are but one of many, many creations of the BT.

I've postulated that the BT's spend their lives in space, as Nomads of a sort, which makes sense if they are unreformed Buddislamics (Zensunni migration and all that).  Their cultural isolation and seperation more or less demands that the body of the BT organization be physically isolated from the greater Empire, or else there would be cultural contamination. That makes further sense when we see that the Masters see all outsiders as unclean.  However, I was wrong, they apparently do have a planet, Tlielax, orbiting Thalim.  

The Masters, of course, are the humans running the show, specifically the 9 Mashiekhs. Once the Gholas are awakened the sitting Mashiekhs, who are a combination spiritual and political leader, use the practice of awakening Gholas to remain as immortal rulers.  The rest of the Ruling class are Masters, and we have no good idea how many there are, or should be... but again, once Ghola Awakening is practiced, some lesser caste slaves (Face Dancers in particular) are elevated to Master after several lifetimes of service, despite being subhuman.

For the most part Masters refuse to interact with anyone Unclean (all outsiders) at least as of Dune, and we can surmise that all of Tlielax is as closed to non-BT as Saudi Arabia is closed to non-muslims.... mostly, with some areas (Bandalong (city) being most notable) being entirely 'clean'.  The BT prefer to come to you to do business rather than the other way 'round.  That's not to say Masters can't be found out and about in the galaxy, but they are rare and overseeing very big complex missions.  The Dwarf, Bijaz oversees the Paul Atredies/Duncan Ghola affair by means of the facedancer Scytal.

As noted, from what we can tell ALL BT women are Aoxotl Tanks, which would be a good reason to keep outsiders from visiting.  Masters don't do manual labor, they grow slaves for that. What we don't really know is about the teeming masses, but we can guess that if something needs a personal touch but not a Master, a less 'pure' ordinary BT does the job, and there are plenty of examples scattered about, including diplomats and liaisons and what have you.  Given their attitudes towards the outside galaxy, we can suppose one reason for trying to create a Spice substituite is resentment at having to sell their wares to outsiders in order to afford Spice.

Tlielaxu is, from what we can tell, a very peaceful and probably attractive, bucolic planet to live on.  No women and a persistant pressure to pray constantly, but peaceful and pleasant.

The Tlielaxu people are, by galactic standards, short and ugly and most of their products are unappealing even when otherwise useful.  Part of this is that the Tlielaxu have no part in the Orange Catholic faith and its constant demand to improve humanity. The BTs aren't trying to make humanity, not even themselves, better.  They couldn't care less, so they are missing ten thousand and more years of eager eugenic improvements, tweaking and even study. Sure, they'll train twisted mentats, just to prove they can, and sell them to the unscrupulous... but they see no reason to do it to THEMSELVES. That would be unclean!

Mind you, this isn't just a minor disregard for the Orange Catholic teachings, but a deliberate rejection and snubbing on principle. The OCB says not to make thinking machines? The BT make thinking machines in secret just because.  No, they really do make computers and robots, and they'll happily sell them to Outsiders who are willing to commit the worst mortal sins in the galaxy.  That is why nobody likes the Bene Tlielaxu. They are assholes, elitists and more: They rub your noses in it, even as you pay them for stuff.

They aren't completely out of the mainstream, they do seem interested in creating their own KH, and they always avoid drawing just a bit too much attention to themselves, so no one tries to conquer or destroy them... which honestly doesn't make sense (see: Nomadic works here, planet? Not so much.) They use spice like everyone else, though unlike everyone else they seem to resent the need. They manage to remain just slightly more useful than they are obnoxious, and so they keep on going.

I wouldn't be surprised if they have a number of smaller Foldships with Pre-Jihad style computer interfaces installed, allowing them to move around in secret, spreading Facedancers and Stoneburners (well, that one time, anyway), without anyone being the wiser. Probably one of their single greatest secrets, in fact.  

What are the long term plans of the Bene Tlielaxu? The usual: Total conversion of the galaxy to their brand of Buddislam, with absolute rule of the Mashiekhs.  Clearly they lack the military force to do this, and they hate the unclean outsiders too much to convert people the usual way, so they spread degeneracy and disorder, hoping to win the Krazilec, by God's will (and they are explicitely monotheists, so that's appropriate to say here).

Its not a brilliant plan, but don't tell them that. Ironically, they are almost accidentally heroic.  The stagnant Empire is strangling humanity to death slowly, but will never end as long as the Monopoly on Spice remains.  The constant efforts to shatter the Empire may be done selfishly (to create it under their rule), but is vital to breaking the Spice Monopoly and saving humanity.

A recurring theme in Dune, linked explicitly to the Butlerian Jihad and the Orange Catholic Bible, is the idea that Man needs to improve, to be improved. No one seems to be certain (until Leto II) how exactly this should be done, and there are a lot of paths being explored.  

This puts Dune at odds in the first very real way with Fading Suns, in which the Purity of Man is assumed, that the current state/shape of Man is divine, and any changes are suspect and heretical. In this sense the settings, but not the rules, are at exact odds with one another... and curious the fact that Second Edition (which I'm using) did away with the Human/Alien split actually works in our favor.   Amusingly, Fading Suns seems to include rules for things like Cybernetics and genetic engineering to allow this concept of Heresy to carry weight, while for Dune those same rules can be, should be, used to reinforce the idea that people are trying to find a path of Human Perfection.  This is explicitly the impetus... more even than the BJ... behind the formation of the Mentat School and the development of Prana Bindu... even as it was also part of the cause of the Jihad that made Mentats (at least) an absolute necessity.

A part of this is that people love to test themselves and their limits. Feyd-Ruatha fights drug crazed gladiators in the arena for the fun of it. Sure: He cheats, but that's not the point. He does it, and is admired for it. Paul is tested, his Self Control is tested to prove his Humanity, and that is NORMAL.  Think about it: a Duke's HEIR is subjected to a test that could KILL him without a second thought, and without asking permission as if it were expected.  Maybe the Gom Jabbar is a bluff, but I sorta doubt it.

The thing is: In Dune, almost any path to human improvement is permissable, even laudible. Everyone does Spice because it makes you 'better', and other drugs are freely used. Cybernetics, provide you confine yourself to the human form/scale, is acceptable, despite a lot of cultural baggage getting in the way. Becoming a Machine is wrong, becoming a better human is good... cybernetics drift a bit too close to Machine for people to be too comfortable with.  Genetic engineering and tweaking is peachy keen, however... though the people of Dune would probably object to chimeric splicing, which limits what they can do. They have to stick with what is already within human potential rather than trying to add 'otherness' to it, though chimerical splicing of slaves for the fun of it? That's cool, bro.



Psychic advancement is very popular, but unlike simply better breeding is also personally demanding. Its one thing to have great parents, maybe pop in for a quick genetic tweak, get a few wires threaded through your nervous system and pop some good drugs... its another thing entirely to spend years in meditation, suffer agonizing and mind bending rituals and god knows what else just to START learning to expand your mind, so it only appeals to a few of the most dedicated adherents, and even there people disagree.  Psychic powers are rare and often pretty tame, but people who have mastered them, no matter the cost, are respected even admired.  Even Fish Men of the Stars.

So what is the Kwisatz Haderach, in this particular Scheme?  Its the way forward, the person (usually a man, at least this time around) who opens the door to the next step. Its proof that you are on the right path, the scion of the Perfected Human (of this time), who sweeps away the old orders and tells us our new goals, seperates the wheat from the Chaff.  

With just a little License we can see the LAST Kwisatz Haderach brought about the Butlerian Jihad and destroyed the machines that were holding Men Back.  Paul... or perhaps Leto II, set us on the Golden Path, sweeping away our dependence on Spice, on old fashioned ideas about Machines that were no longer Relavent... and made all of the human race Psychic through the bloodline of Siona and Duncan, enabling the scattering. We can keep going: Murbella, and/or Duncan again may have been a KH, reuniting the Scattering of humanity, bringing the intensely Physical development of the Honored Matre society together with the Old Empire Psychics, and if we allow for KJA to have a say, Duncan is explicitly the True Kwisatz Haderach, uniting the Logic of teh Machine with the emotion of the Human on the only explicitly stated Day of Krazilec in the entire expanded series.

Each time Humanity's Path was altered, usually in extremely violent ways (ironically the ascencion of Leto II was probably the LEAST violent named....).

 Dune was written to refute the Great Man of History theory, demonstrating that most Great Men are actually quite bad for people. You could almost say Paul Maud'dib is Hitler, and not have a bit of snark when you do.  But the Series of Dune takes on a much different Theme, perhaps by accident.  I have no doubt that Frank Herbert intended for the Butlerian Jihad to be a Very Bad Idea, or at least an idea that went way to far. We aren't supposed to be inspired by it, its a warning, if a small one.  We aren't supposed to root for Paul Maud'dib but be appalled by the destruction he wreaks in his own society... which, of course, is a writing failure, and is why the tone of the following books (written a decade later!) are so different.  We need to have our noses rubbed into the bitterly cynical and manipulative methods Lady Jessica uses, we need to see Paul driven to his own destruction by his great deeds, and we need the bloviating philosophy of a giant worm-man to explain to us how very, very bad it is to let one 'great man' decide our fate.

None of that really needs to matter at the game table.  There are no Great Men in 9191, merely small men with great power. Men like Shaddam IV, who is the closest character to an actual moron we see, or a Count Fenring, who for all his many gifts is far more interested in Serving than Doing.

But what does matter is that the characters, the Players, be allowed to explore their paths to human perfection. The rules exist, they are balanced enough (it's a nineties game, the autistic obsession with balance was another half decade away...), don't be afraid to let them use them. Trust me, you won't be breaking Canon if you do.  Let players develop their own psychic path or school, let them explore power through faith and ritual (the Theurgy rites that I haven't been using). Let them become clanking machine-men, or start out as inhuman genetic freaks.  Believe it or not: That's DUNE!

Or do I need to remind you that the Honored Matres literally fuck their way into owning armies?   Dune ain't exactly dignified.

I added an edit to teh Spice Revisit Post, regarding Gurney Halleck's non-use of spice, and generally bad-assery.  It may be of interest to those of you who have been reading.

Hmm... well, I'm almost done with my self appointed checklist, but for some reason I don't feel like I'm all that done.  The end is NOT Nigh, which... I dunno how i feel about that? Disappointed? Depressed? Bored? Meh?


Whatever.  I guess Spice Smugglers are up, but I've kinda got an Urge to talk about House Novebruns. Who? House Novebruns. You know, the guys who bought Half of Planet Novebruns from House Mutelli for 320 liters of Spice?  You remember them, don't you?

No? Well, now you know exactly as much as anyone does, and yet, I want to talk about them. Luckily I can sort of tie that together with Spice Smugglers... somewhere along the way.   Actually, I guess its sort of two short(ish? :rolleyes: ) posts rolled into one.  

So, House Novebruns bought half of Planet Novebruns from House Mutelli.  You know what I see there? I see a House that is named for their home fief, that's what I see, and that tells me Novebruns is not some old Noble House from back in the day.  Mind you, I think this happend 'back in teh day', but let me lay it out like its accepted fact, since I've well established that it is not... it'll be easier to write (and read) if I do, m'kay?

Based on how Spice works... and the way the pieces of the Empire were assembled in the wake of the Jihad, we can guess that the price of Spice initially started fairly low... maybe it was sold at a very high purity compared to today, with a similar price, maybe it was selling just well enough to justify the expense of shipping it.  Eventually, as its popularity spread AND people learned the problems with withdrawl the price undoubtedly spikes. One, because Demand was so very, very high. What price is your life?  Also, the Supply would have been low, as wide spread gathering operations would not have been in place, so deals with friendly Fremen Tribes would have been the usual source.  Also, every supplier was a unique entity, almost like the Smugglers are today, guys who load up a ship with a few hundred, or thousand liters of Spice of unknown quality and make stops all around the Galaxy selling it before returning to get another load, so very little infrastructure.

The rise of mining operations and operators, and the business of refining the Spice, and then an exceptable standard for diluting the Spice, were decades away, and CHOAM control over Spice Flows even further.   Spice Gathering would be a very lucrative business, maybe even moreso than shipping and selling, but it came with the risk of Sandworms and hostile Fremen attacks.

CHOAM didn't just show up in orbit one day and declare all of Dune their personal bitch, that wouldn't have done much but trigger another war, and in the worst place in the Galaxy to fight one (as Paul showed). No, they showed up and set up their own mining operations and slowly but surely bought out, or squeezed out all the independents. They probably started by squeezing the independent shippers... at the one place they knew they'd find them: Arrakis. The end of Machine Navigators was very useful to this end, as CHOAM could work with the Spacing Guild to shut down small shippers, and if you can only Sell to CHOAM, they can put you out of business by simply refusing to buy.

All of that is simply a historical back drop.  It probably took centuries for CHOAM to really truly get a stranglehold on the Spice Flow, and even now there are still some independent operators. There are a huge mess of laws that keep independents in their place, but those laws took centuries, maybe millennia to draft and implement.

Enter Some Random Guy. He's an independent, maybe his father was an Independent, and his father's father. He's not 'rich beyond the dreams of avarice', but what he does have is a very substantial stockpile of Spice, as pure as it gets, that he's gathered perfectly legally. And he sees the writing on the wall. Or maybe he just gets lucky and wants to retire before he gets shut out.  So he takes his big huge pile of Spice and gets the hell off Arrakis.

So what to do? Maybe his family was from Novebruns, maybe he just liked the look of the place, or Maybe, just Maybe, he realized it was one of the few planets outright owned by a noble house that didn't actually live there, and thus didn't care much about it.  So he makes them an offer. The value of Spice is about as high as it can get, the Nobles are screaming for more, and CHOAM is still decades away from working out the kinks in their distribution chain. So Mutelli bites, sells half of Novebruns to this random guy. They arent' worried about it, they've got a directorship, so this isn't cutting into their profits, right?

And so our Guy, who probably has a lot more spice than that (after all, he's an addict himself!), sets up shop. And then he starts doing business, maybe he starts building up profitable ventures where Mutelli let the land go to waste, simply because they had no good ideas on how to exploit it, and he's selling stuff to CHOAM, because there is a market for it (thus Profit!), and suddenly Mutelli isn't so happy with their deal, because they are getting crap profits compared to the guy on the ground.  Push comes to shove and Mutelli gets hot under the collar and decides to take the industries by force (because: Nobles), only... with his profits and Spice stash, Mr Novebruns can hired enough mercenaries to keep them at bay, and the only solution is to destroy the very industries that are making the planet profitable in the first place. Now, PRIDE would demand Mutelli push ahead anyway, but the other Nobles like to keep their profits no matter how slim their slice of the pie, so that's nixed. So, instead of waiting him out, Mutelli goes to the Emperor to, basically, give them their land back, seeing how they are the director and all.

Now the Landsraad HAS to get involved. Too many Noble Houses actually own lands, as a hedge against the Emperor removing their Siridar Fiefs, if nothing else. If the Emperor can undo a contract and simply seize lands legally sold... well, that would put the whole galaxy up for grabs, and that would be Bad, so the Landsraad, with their hands tied by Mutelli's petition, Votes.  The exact way it plays out is unimportant, what IS important is that Our Random Guy winds up with the Directorship of the whole Planet, a Formal Title (possibly taken legally by marriage from a Mutelli daughter), and Shares in CHOAM, and possibly the biggest legal stockpile of Spice in the Galaxy at that time, which may have been seriously shrunk by heavy bribes.  

Boom. New Minor House. That was thousands of years ago, and sure: There is a long standing Kanly between Mutelli and Novebruns as a result, but its been pretty cold for a while.  Novebruns probably got a few Atomics from CHOAM along the way, once they had the right to them, and probably alternated between keeping their heads down and playing Hardball Politics for a few generations, winding up with a few more shares of CHOAM along the way. They may have even taken a turn or two, in the early days, as Director of Arrakis, given the history.  That is the story of the only House to use the symbol for Spice in their heraldry.   These days its just a good story, a part of the ancient family lore, but once upon a time the Novebruns fought and scrapped like their very existance depended on it for acceptance among the Nobles. Once a great way to provoke a Novebruns was to point out they were jumped up commoners, now it just provokes amused chuckles.  Too many ancient bloodlines have married into the family, through the Bene Gesserit if nothing else, for that to have much sting.  Everyone's got a bit of common in them if you go back far enough.

House Novebruns:
Status: Minor House, 12 Votes in the Landsraad
Symbol: The Spice Melange in Gold on a 'cinnamon' background.
Army: Shock Troopers, heavy use of Mercenaries
Uniform: stylized version of Arrakeen Mining wear, in Grey and Cinnamon
Homeworld: Novebruns. House Novebruns has a curious tendency to trade the directorship of this world to other Houses for political favor. This has become something of a cautionary proverb among the Landsraad, Beware the Novebruns bearing Gifts.   Due to the uncertainty of their status in the early days of the House, and their frequent moves and wars, House Novebruns maintains the family fortress on an otherwise unoccupied moon in the system, one with no exploitable value.
Ruling Title: Count. There are two Counts in House Novebruns, the Head of House is always the older of the two, though may be 'unseated' by the family in favor of the other. Novebruns commonly splits their vote in the Landsraad over minor intrahouse disputes, and members are well known for being easy to bribe for votes.
Family: In 9191, House Novebruns has fully 17 members of the 'prime' family, using the Family Name of Tabor (apparently taken from their time on Arrakis, and unrelated to the House Tabor), with an expansive network of related nobles, many running family owned businesses on Novebruns itself. Related Family Names include Novebrunner, Zlade, and Gofikker.
Head of House: Count Elam Tabor (formerly Gofikker), aged 126, a genial and easy going man who seems to rule his House with a gentle touch. Known among his rivals as a shockingly canny and even brutal negotiator.  Count Elam is unmarried, but has three children by two different Bene Gesserit concubines.  Rumor has it that if he doesn't find a politically advantageous marriage soon he plans to request a third concubine from the Bene Gesserit. So far they have refused.


I borrowed most of that format from the Wiki entry for Atredies, obviously with new entries. I should probably try a workup using a FS format, but I don't see the value in it.


Now, Spice Smuggling/Smugglers, and the ships they Love.

Spice Smuggling is a fact of life in Dune. Pretty much everyone wants more spice, except CHOAM... and that includes the people who own CHOAM.  There has never been a time in the history of SPice that small independent ships have not cut deals with Fremen, loaded spice into their holds, and headed out to the stars to make their fortunes. The only thing that has changed in more than ten thousand years, is the legality... or if you prefer the process.

Once upon a time, a Spice Merchant travelled to half a dozen planets, selling raw, unrefined Spice acquired from friendly Fremen, for modest amounts.  Later he'd deal with independent operators who could gather and even refine the stuff on planet, and his profits grew and his risks fell. Sure, it cost more to buy it... Fremen would work for Water, for god's sake... but refined Spice was worth so much more.  Eventually the merchants got smart about cutting their spice with various substances, usually inert, but sometimes with cheap but useful catalysts. This was always done at the market end, stretching a cargo hold as far as possible.

Then CHOAM came, and with them came the end of independent operators. Supposedly.  

Well, it didn't take long for the Merchants to become Smugglers. At first their only obstacle was the Spacing Guild (and for Smugglers who maintained the now priceless Fold Ships and Think Machine Navigators, even that wasn't a problem!), but the Guild could be bought off easily enough for a cut of the cargo.  This was painful, of course: the bribes were brutal, up to half the tonnage, but could be offset a bit by overloading the ship... and for the daring, cutting some of the spice before they left planet.  To ease the pain however, was the simple fact that the market was drier than ever, and the profits were not only higher per liter, but much faster and easier to get! Now a Smuggler could unload his entire cargo in one stop! In fact, most Smugglers already had their buyer lined up before they ever landed on Arrakis to load up!

CHOAM didn't like this, of course, and as their power and monopoly grew, they started hunting Smugglers.  A few were killed, their cargo seized and ships destroyed. So the Smugglers fought back the best way they could... by destroying CHOAM mining operations and seizing the Spice for 'free'.  Slowly a detente formed. CHOAM would still seize illegal cargos, but they wouldn't kill the Smugglers, and the Smugglers, for their part, would only take the occasional cargo from a Mining Crew, leaving the men and equipment intact to keep working.  The other option was a total shutdown of Spice Production, and that wasn't going to happen.

Mind you, its not like the Smugglers are hurting CHOAM's production or sales, far from it. The Smugglers form relationships with the Deep Desert Seitches, often have their own mining and refining operations, and generally cause a net increase in the production of Spice by getting it where CHOAM can't or won't.   Well, when a more aggressive, or vengeful, Smuggler starts hitting CHOAM mining operations it hurts, but those guys tend to come to bad ends.

The process is simple: make contact with someone on the surface who has Spice, which is probably the single hardest barrier to entry in the smuggling field, drop down as far from Arrakeen and the CHOAM port as you can manage, load up  before CHOAM notices you (and sensors over most of Arrakis are spotty despite CHOAM's best efforts. Smugglers and the Guild have something to do with that...), and get out with a full cargo load. Most Smuggler Ships don't spend more than a day on the surface, usually its measured in hours.  This window changes wildly depending on politics. Angry Fremen in revolt (such as during House Harkonnen's administration) makes for much longer windows, while Harkonnen's brutal anti-smuggling policies (which resemble superficially the original and still official CHOAM policies) mean that getting caught is much more dangerous, making Smugglers cautious, and thus less likely to stay... but more likely to keep personnel on the surface overseeing gathering operations in the Deep Desert, camping out of small, abandoned Seitches (or ones their contacts among the Fremen let them use.)  Smugglers do take other risks, bringing weapons to the Fremen and other aid to this rebelious population, which is a crime that can get them shot far more reliably than taking Spice offworld can, and many Nobles would be happy to 'catch' a Smuggler they haven't cut a deal with and seize his Spice Cargo for themselves.

Modern Smugglers don't waste any time or energy cutting their cargo. Their new favorite customers all know the score. Most of this spice goes to reserve stockpiles, the purer the better, and thanks to Millennia of CHOAM management, the process for cutting Spice to a useable amount is pretty standard. Every once in a while someone gets bold with the Spacing Guild (who still takes far too large a cut, though maybe not quite half...), but you don't pull that trick twice unless you like living on Dune with the Fremen.  

Becoming a Smuggler is pretty simple, if you are bold. All you need is a starship. Literally. A single man with a flying box capable of hitting orbit can land on Dune, shovel spice into his hold as long as his nerves hold out (or his muscles), fly up and cut a deal with the Heighliner that is always in orbit.  He'll find a buyer even for his crap sand-spice, and he'll make a profit.  As with any business, the more effort you put into it, the more planning, the better off you are, both financially and health wise.  Our idiot with a shovel is very likely to wind up wormfood, or dying of dehydration... the Fremen might not bother shooting him, simply because it wouldn't be worth the bullet... but it's possible. Undoubtedly in ten thousand years more than a small handful of hopeful idiots have simply stepped on a Spice Blow and died with a stupid look on their faces, their ships slowly sinking into the sands and disappearing.

To increase your profits, bring a crew. The faster you shovel, the likely worms get you, and most ships have weighted shares, so the captain still comes out ahead.  Find an Arrakis veteran and you'll waste less time looking for Spice, and lose less men to desert problems.  Find someone with Spice experience, maybe a former miner, and you'll be even better off. The Real point of seperation between pro smugglers and amateurs is having 'ground game', some guy planetside cutting deals with locals... be they Fremen or Independents... or even CHOAM miners willing to cut their quotas for something on the side.  The cheaper your supplier the better. Fremen often will work for almost trivial amounts of water, and local miners want luxury goods that are hard to get on Arrakis, espeically in teh desert. To a spice miner, a bottle of decent booze and an ugly but friendly girl is worth days of work. They've already got money.  

The very best Smugglers have their own mining operations, contacts with teh deep desert Fremen Seitchs, and several ships at their command. There are famous Smugglers who haven't set foot in a starship for decades.... though if you get too hands off, one of your subordinates will undoubtedly cut you out of the business.  Of course, by that point a forced retirement isn't necessarily unwelcome.  Smugglers may never be the equal of Nobles, but you'd be surprised at the number of Smugglers and ex-smugglers who have dined at the Emperor's table, swapping tales, or even pleasant evenings, with the mightiest people in the Galaxy.  The best thing is: Most Nobles prefer their Smuggler guests to be a bit rough around the edges, with just a hint of danger, so you don't even have to be polite! Entertaining? Only if you want to be invited back. But polite?  Hell no! In fact, its BETTER if you find some excuse to threaten someone's life before the night is through.

Mileage may vary depending on whose table and how the threat is delivered, of course.

But no matter what, you need a ship.

There are millions of ships in the galaxy. Most of them are dirt cheap, CHOAM mass produced cargo boxes, capable of making orbit and docking in a Heighliner and not much else. They are a box with a cockpit and a shitty engine. For curious reasons the vast majority look a bit like stepped diamonds, the important thing is that you can stack them hull to hull in a Heighliner like cordwood.  Even the Emperor uses one of these boxes to get around. Sure, his is Gold Plated, and most of the Cargo area is sumptuous living quarters, a spare travelling throne room. The engines are upgraded and its got some guns and a shield generator... and it is gold plated, but the hull is the exact same as every damn other ship.  These things are easy to fly, most Nobles prefer to fly themselves, or have a trusted retainer do it, though 'docking' is usually controlled by the CHOAM reps on the Heighliner via remote.

Its pretty easy to get a job flying one of the millions of cargo boxes CHOAM uses... and frankly for an old enough ship the cargo is almost always worth more than the ship... so wait until its been unloaded before you steal it!  Trust me, CHOAM isn't going to waste time tracking down an old beat up Cargo Box... but they sure as hell will for someone stealing cargo!  

Of course, you'd rather do it when you're already at Arrakis, but luckily there is always cargo going to Arrakis. Food, water, men... sometimes even just empty cargo boxes going to pick up loads of Spice. Otherwise we have to talk about Getting To Arrakis, without the money for a Heighliner trip.

Sure, every year dozens, maybe hundreds of idiots try it. Most are caught, shovel in hand within hours. The bulk of the rest die in the attempt... and half the guys leaving the surface with their shitty load of Sand-Spice are caught by CHOAM, usually smirking CHOAM agents. But that one guy... well, chances are he's got a taste for the good life now, and not surprisingly the Spacing Guild will be more than happy to give him some sound advice, even connect him with other Smugglers.  That one sand run may have put coin in his pocket, but more importantly it showed he could do it, that he wasn't all talk... that he was either lucky, smart or both.    His next run will be much better, and by the year's end he'll be swaggering and boasting like he was born to the life.

Not that every smuggler starts like that. Even if you start with a disposable cargo box, almost every smuggler will upgrade the engines right away. Nobles sometimes outfit new, or at least destitute, Smugglers with decent ships.    By decent, we mean 'A box with real engines'.

Lets talk a bit about that: All starships, regardless of design, use a cheap, crude but powerful repulsor field to lift off of a planet.  The more power, the faster you lift.  Most 'cargo boxes' only have enough power to get into orbit, flying directly to the Heighliner and coasting on Inertia, their flight calculated by a CHOAM Mentat based on this load.  In places were there is less infrastructure, or where the Heighliner's orbit is, for whatever reason, too far out from the surface for this to work, more powerful lift engines can be fitted, or the power to the existing engine boosted by various means.  If THAT doesn't work, or you need military support (or its a House ship), then manuever engines are also fitted. These can be pretty crappy too, but even having an ancient Ion Drive (using 15k year old technology) is better than floating dead in space once you run out of boost. At least with a drive, no matter how pitiful (and most do not rely on old fashioned reaction thrust), you can at least go back down to try again.

Provided you reach the Heighliner you're golden... if one of two things is true: A: You arrived on an official, planned route, on time, or b:no one happens to be docking when you arrive. Since 'boxes' are drifting into the hold, arriving at a bad time, without manuever, is bad. No collision (and not too much crowding of the arrival window of another ship), and you get grabbed by, basically, a tractor beam and shoved into a berth.  Since you won't have an assigned berth the ship's CHOAM rep, and the Spacing Guild crew WILL come check you out. There are a LOT of reasons for an unassigned ship, including Nobles travelling incognito/emergencies.  On Arrakis it is, almost universally, Smuggling. Here's the thing: The Heighliner's CHOAM Rep may be loyal to CHOAM, which hates Smugglers, but he's got to live with the Spacing Guild. His bosses know the score too... most of THEM were in his shoes for years. Basically, once the ship is inside the Heighliner's hull, the Guild takes precedence. And the Guild takes their cut.

So, if you hop in a random Box and try to lift off Arrakis without knowing what you are in for, chances are you are going to wind up floating dead in space, no where near the heighliner. Making the heighliner means you're probably a pretty damn good pilot*, or at least understood what you were in for. Not Crashing on your way in matters too, but that's almost secondary. The Crash probably won't kill you, but it might wreck your ship.

So a lot of established Smuggling operations hand out in Arrakeen near the port, looking for fresh faced young pilots who look like they just touched a sandtrout by accident, and gently try to nudge them along with some helpful advice.... or better yet, recruit them. More ships means more profits, and its actually better to take teh kid and leave the ship, and usually the 'kid' will be grateful he didn't have to shovel sand into his box by hand for several hours.  Plenty get to Arrakis and their nerve fails them, others get good advice but do dumb shit anyway, and life goes on.   For anyone who makes it, they either retire with enviable levels of wealth, at a young age, or they die violently.  Its about even, and one of the biggest dangers is rival smugglers, followed right after by hostile Fremen, then the desert itself, and lastly the forces of what can be laughably called 'law and order', CHOAM, the Nobles who buy the stuff or their rivals, or local organized crime looking for a big score they can't get on their own.... in that order.


Starships:

Now that we've covered the basics, lets talk starships. THere are three ways for a smuggler to get a starship, Steal One, find a patron, or inherit one.  The first and last are the most common, and a lot of the basics have been discussed.

In Dune there are two main classes of ships, which we will call Starships and Heighliners. Heighliners pretty much only have a Fold Space drive, and maybe a minimal emergency manuever drive to correct a bad orbit. They don't really go anywhere, taking days to load hundreds of starships in their bellies, then an instant Fold, followed by days of unloading hundreds of starships. The exact number is unimportant... and difficult to predict, as not every stop has the sort of traffic to fill up a hold and despite their best efforts, not every starship is the same size or shape.

Starships are much smaller, generally about the size of a large house, which is actually pretty modest for Dune. They are designed to go from the surface to orbit, at a minimum, and back.  Despite this, most don't have any landing equipment of note, they are designed to mate with landing pylons, allowing most of the 'floor' of the starship to be used as a cargo elevator, loading and unloading very rapidly. Crew and passengers can go down the pylon by a smaller exerior elevator or simply walk down a ramp to a raised platform. The pylons have guidance systems to ease ships to the correct platform and ensure a smooth docking. Turn around for a full box of cargo can be well under an hour, though prepping the Pylon for another ship may take much longer, depending on the world. That, however, is not true of every starship. Troopships can use the same system, but it is not terribly efficient for them to do so for many reasons, not least of which is that men cannot be stacked like boxes, not if you want them to fight.

CHOAM designed Flying Boxes can land directly on the surface and unload via the ramp quite well, and many Houses train their troops for just such a deployment, including Atredies. This is still slow, so such unloading is usually done out of range from any hostile fire.  CHOAM ships are built on industrial worlds all over the galaxy, and many houses that produce them use the same design basic design for their own House Ships. Houses without industry simply buy them through CHOAM (to prevent sabotage by another House).

Harkonnen is an example of a House that doesn't use CHOAM ships for their fleet, though they undoubtedly make Boxes (there is no formal name for this design, other than CHOAM Model (fill in the blank with Dune speak)).  Geidi-Prime makes ships for House Harkonnen, both for Cargo/fleet duties and for War, and will happily sell them to anyone who wants to buy one. These ships are rarely used by smugglers, despite being ideal for the job, both because of price and because of Harkonnen's reputation among Smugglers for being right bastards to deal with.  In 9191, however, this may be different.  Harkonnen ships have slightly better lift engines, very reasonable manuever drives, they are sturdy enough for a fight and armed, and they can land on cargo pylons or on the surface... in fact, they can 'airdrop' troops during a flyby, making them ideal troop ships, though very few forces can take advantage of that (the Sadukar can, Harkonnen boasts that his troops can, but they have a very high casualty rate when they try. Still, it is effective at getting troops inside enemy guns quickly! Its even better when a saboteur lets you drop troops behind the guns!)

If Harkonnen ships have a design flaw its that they don't stack very well in Heighliners, which means it costs more to fly them, theoretically. Actually that's what CHOAM would like, but the Guild doesn't really care... certainly not for a skilled Smuggler.  They are slightly too big for their cargo capacity, and were laid out 'oddly', meaning they take up almost twice as much space as they should. Their Cargo, compared to the Box is slightly smaller.

At any given time there may be twenty or thirty designs being made in the Empire, but many will conform to CHOAM standards for sizes and/or stackability. Many designs are much smaller, designed to fit within a CHOAM standard berth without filling it entirely, others... as the Harkonnen do, simply ignore CHOAM. Many such designs will almost never travel by Heighliner anyway, being used for various system duties, defense...or simply on standby for an invasion that may never launch.

All ships, however, are built to last. For CHOAM, its almost an accident. The Box they favor is so simply designed, and so common, that it is easy to keep running. For others, its opportunity costs. Warships that need to remain ready for decades or centuries are better than ships that are not there because they broke down, or spending to rebuild them over and over without using them.  The hulls can last millennia, and the fact that almost no automation exists, even in the design phase, means that tolerances are loose, designs are adaptable, and everything is as sturdy as a ten pound lug nut.  Everything has to be done by hand, and the people doing it are expensive to employ in every sense of the word... so its best to keep crews to a minimum, so Sturdy, Simple and Reliable are watchwords for Ship designers.  

Warships, and many Smugglers, will equip Shield generators, with sufficient cutouts to prevent Holtzmann explosions (Grrrr!!!), as do heavy laser turret weapons, though they remain unpopular for ships due to the possibility of failure of the cutouts. Harkonnen ships generally DO equip lasers, simply because the House doesn't care about a few easily replacable losses.

Ships are made using Fading Suns rules. Almost all starships are size 4, which is a painful limit. Boxes can get by with just a pilot, in fact most ships can do with just one pilot if all they are doing is going to a heighliner and back. Smugglers will generally keep an engineer of some sort on hand.   Boxes are almost entirely Cargo space by default, so double the available cargo. Special ships (noble ships) will have the standard cargo.   For ship to ship combat, Indirect fire weapons are preferred ( that'sa me,), while direct fire weapons are used for ground support.  Most of the direct fire weapons may not fit your idea of Dune, in which case stick to the Lasers and the Slug guns (Lasers, if hitting a shielded target, explode on a Critical failure at the GMs whim. Damage is either equal to a hit or it just blows the ship entirely the fuck up, depending again on the GM's preference, though this should remain constant across the campaign.).

There ARE a few larger 'starships' floating around, mostly old dedicated warships... or newer copies of old designs... maintained by a tiny handful of Houses (Corrino having the most), left over from Jihad era. These monsters can still travel by Heighliner (and officially they all need to), but take up so much space that even the Guild notices and charges for the privilege, making them almost purely defensive weapons.  When they do exist you damn betcha they have access to space-to-space Atomics, among their other weapons.  This is one reason why no one messes with Tlielax, despite everyone hating the bastards.  


While normally we stick with the official line, there is plenty of wiggle room to suggest that Jihad Era mechanical navigators, and smaller Fold Engines, may remain in the margins of space. Smugglers with access to that sort of technology are legends, almost mythic... seeing as they operate entirely outside of the usual Spacing Guild affiliated Smugglers. Houses with any remanants of this tech treat it like they do their Atomics, with great secrecy and care.

Much less impressive, but still very useful for the patient Smuggler is an old fashioned Photon Drive.  The profit saved in not handing over half the cargo to the Spacing Guild may make a journey of months to the nearest star system (which is?) worth it. Once there they buy a standard jump contract (or transfer their cargo to a waiting Box, which then carries it 'officially' to the waiting purchaser), while they 'jump' their ship back.  The question of the hour would be...how many months is too many compared to simply making two trips?   Of course, the added level of secrecy might make the Spice that much more valuable to the right buyer... or perhaps there is something else worth Smuggling that even the Guild wouldn't appreciate. No one wants to travel in a Heighliner with a ship loaded with Atomics, you know...  and there are few better places to hide things than the vast depths of space between stars.

Looking over the Starships made me realize I really should ponder the use of Mentats in any role where Think Machines are normally called for, which aren't many in Fading Suns, but certainly ARE in Space Ships, even in Fading Suns.  I'll sleep on it and get back to ya.




* in this case being a 'good pilot' means several things. If you realized the risk, you'll plan your liftoff accordingly. Since most first timers won't have anywhere near a full cargo load, they've got plenty of power, but not much mass... so calculating a non-standard lift is pretty simple, and if you didn't crash, it means you probably timed it well too.  That's really just being smart, rather than good. If you DIDN'T do any of that, then probably at some point in your lift you started to realize what you were in for. Most Box-Jockeys really only know how to land with any skill, so if you find yourself on the way up with no Heighliner in sight and no Mentat calculated plan to get there... what do you do? Good pilots will figure it out faster and will goose the hell out of their lift engines and do pilot-y stuff like changing their approach vector to maximize their thrust time... and find a slot in the load order that doesn't cause a crash. Bad pilots react late, panic, and wind up boosting weakly for the stars, if at all. The worst either lift blindly and god help them, or change their minds at the last minute, cutting thrust too late to come back down, and just late enough that they run out of inertia right around the time they break atmo.

Bah, I realized I may have been misleading with the use of the term Berth in the above post.

Most starships berthed in a Heighliner's vast and cavernous cargo bay are simply floating in space. Not alone... they'll be gently 'shoved' right up next to another ship, or rather shipS above, beside and eventually below them by repulsor fields inside the hull of the Heighliner, making an entire giant lego wall inside the ship. Some space will be left between any two walls, CHOAM would prefer none at all, but that hasn't worked out in the past (despite the cost savings), so usually enough space is left to allow a small runabout to dock with the ship (in back, usually, the front 'airlock' being a ramp.) in case of emergencies, say have the thickness of a 'wall' of ships. Using the repulsor beams to move the walls back and forth means this can be significantly narrowed to pack ships, though this does mean slower response times to emergencies in any given 'wall'. The first and last "Walls" are double thick, as there is always a buffer between the 'Wall' of ships and the inner Hull of the Heighliner.

Ships with VIPs (and Smugglers), or who will need to transfer cargo or passengers between jumps, but not land, are Berthed in actual docks, with clamps and airlocks, on the inner hull. This is probably much less than 1% of all available Berths, so its not used just to squeeze a few more ships in under normal circumstances.

These Hard Berths allows passengers to enter the 'common' area, or one of several common areas of the Heighliner, though this feature is rarely used. It allows CHOAM inspectors, or Spacing Guild representatives, to easily meet the passengers in a controlled fashion. Also it's "Special", so while many (titled) Nobles would rather not leave leave the safety of their own ship and risk assassins or kidnappers (seriously: Thats how you steal CHOAM shares from another House. Kidnap a Titled Noble with no heir and 'force' him to marry into your House, or otherwise sign over the shares. Risky but not unheard of), they would be upset if they didn't have the option. Because Privilege.

Of course, Smugglers may be docked in a specific area, either to meet with specific patrons, or to hobknob with other smuggler crews... and of course, to pay the toll to the Spacing Guild.

So, when I say "Berth" recall that there are two different sorts of Berths.  On the rare occasions when a Heighliner needs to manuever (rather than Fold), any floating Berths are kept 'secure' by the same docking Repressors... being so tightly fitted (when possible... note the existance of non-CHOAM ship hulls) means that fewer beams can manage more ships... push the walls together and hold them away from the hull.  This is... unpleasant... for the people in those walls, making hard berths even more popular.


An option for Ship Design using Fading Suns, is to up the size usable as Landers, say to Six. This gives a few more options in ship design, and allows for suitably Dune-esque granduer. Hell, you could go bigger. Heighliners are arbitrarily large as it is.

I've been thinking of going over the major problems with the Bene Gesserit "Plan" for the Kwisatz Haderach, and then covering the weakness of Mentats, as demonstrated in the books/movies... but that won't really help me push this beast forward, now will it?

I'll probably do a better, FS style 'class' for Mentats and Twisted Mentats, coming up soon, and then its what? Gearhead post, rituals and laying out the state of the Galaxy in the nine thousand one ninety one?  I think that will be it, unless I get a crazy hair to clean it up and make it presentable.

Any comments on IX?

They are the "current" source of thinking machines, and I believe that they have some sort of alliance with the Bene Tleilax. They've kept to themselves, and are pretty distant from the Empire, so they escaped the jihad. However, I think that the Guild NAvigators haven't crushed them yet is because of IX's isolationism. While they could be a threat to the FTL monopoly, they wisely continue hiding.

My general thought is that IX is just the siridar fief and great House combo. They are mentioned right up in the intro to the Dune setting, where the Bene Tlielaxu are all but absent (except for Piter) from the first book.

Their research into Think Machines is secret, though God-Emperor Leto forsees them accidentally wiping out all life with sentient Hunter-Seekers (averted, of course, by the Golden Path).

They clearly have their own genetic engineers, but we never see comments regarding the revulsion toward Ixian products, as we do with the Bene Tlielaxu, but I believe the Prequels had Ix conquered for twenty years by the BT.

Openly, everyone prefers Ixian Solido (hologram) projectors, and Ix makes Heighliners, putting them pretty firmly into 'officially part of the Empire' territory.  That said, they clearly aren't 'conventional', ignoring the commandments of Jihad in secret, and the world is ruled by a Confederation, which we can presume is at odds with the Noble House (which... KJA... is House Vernius). The Confederation would have no political power OFF of Ix, in the Landsraad or in CHOAM, but what are you going to do? Conquer the planet, smashing all the factories and labs and killing all the smart guys?  

I'm inclined to ditch the KJA invasion of Ix, simply because its a bald retread of the political plot of Dune. The Emperor secretly allows someone to conquer planet X for personal reasons, and uses his Sadukar to do it?  But for 9191 (our notional 'Playable' timeframe) that's really not necessary.  

But since I got a special request, I'll give them a closer, and 'setting' look after I've had some coffee...

The world of Ix* is unusual, though not unique, in the Empire of Dune in that the world itself is far more interesting than the Ruling House. In all of Dune, only Arrakis holds to the same standard.

History:
In the ancient past, long before the Butlerian Jihad, the men of old used powerful engines to warp and change the cold ninth planet** of a distant star, digging their machines deep into the rock, seeding the atmosphere with strange substances to filter the light, to hold the atmosphere and warm the world.   When they were done, they settled, burying their industries deep in the crust and core of their world, leaving the surface pleasant and pastoral.  In time they, and the mighty works that had been performed to transform this otherwise worthless rock, were all but forgotten by the galaxy at large.

When the fire of Jihad swept the Galaxy, it found little purchase on the World of Ix. The settlers of the surface dutifully destroyed their labor saving machines, their robots and think machines, but they never mentioned the industries and labs beneath the surface, the mighty machines that didn't make their lives easier... it made them possible.  At first the Ixians thought that the war would pass them over, but in time they began to realize that the passions of the Jihad would not be quenched until every vestige of machine dominance over man was expunged.

As the wars began to die down, and Spice began to become the new passion of the Age, the Ixians noticed that their isolation from the rest of the Galaxy was coming to an end. Powerful Noble Houses were looking for worlds to conquer, vying for their own slices of power in the new order.  The Ixians cut a deal with the shipping concerns, with their new Fold Drives to manufacture ships, and this in turn led to making Heighliners for the Spacing Guild. When the newly crowned Padishah Emperor,  Hassrak I***, offered House Vernius the Siridar Fief, the House leapt at the opportunity, seeing the possibilities in the profits.

In the beginning, however, there was a lot of friction between the Nobles of House Vernius and their new subjects. The Ixians had lived quite independently for centuries, had cut deals with the Spacing Guild and CHOAM for technological products, and they weren't about to let some strangers tell them how to run things... then there was the matter of the very forbidden machines hidden in the crust of their world, machines necessary to keep Ix habitable.  At first House Vernius threatened the locals militarily, only to be reminded that without their skills, the Heighliners would not be built.

A peace was formed, with the House quietly accepting the independence of their subjects. There were plenty of profits, and creature comforts which few other Nobles could claim, thanks to Ix's technological infrastructure, and the place of prestige with the Spacing Guild and CHOAM.  It wasn't long before the youths of the House were studying in Ixian schools, rather than from Bene Gesserit and Mentat tutors. Oh, the Vernius took Bene Gesserit wives... from time to time, and employed Mentats as any House would... indeed, for a time House Vernius had more Mentat Trained members than any other except Richese, their growing rivals in the tech industry.  The Vernius began to see themselves as Ixian, and eventually demanded, and received, a voice in the Ixian Confederacy.   They frequently neglected their other holdings, and lost them to other Houses, but Vernius maintained its status as a Great House, simply because no one else could keep the goods coming from Ix.

It has long been held that no one can conquer Ix. The Spacing Guild and CHOAM both protect the world, and its Heighliners, and its accepted fact that much, if not all, of its value as a Fief would be lost. House Vernius has been removed several times from its Siridar fief, once taking control over spice production on Arrakis, but it is always returned to them quickly, as production of Heighliners and other goods drops procipitously, and Vernius is quickly restored to their rightful place.  Only once has this not played out, when Richese, long rivals (though never to the point of Kanly), somehow convinced the Landsraad that they were the proper choice to replace Vernius as masters of Ix.  In this one instance the House simply refused to remove themselves from Ix, creating a crisis in the Landsraad until Richese's claim was rescinded.

Geography:
Ix is a small, pastoral world.  There are few conurbations on the surface, one surrounding the primary port and a second one on the opposite side of the planet.  It has low rolling hills instead of mountains, and shallow seas.  However, the orbit is cluttered with stations, satellites and dockyards, where much of the heaviest industry is managed, forcing incoming Heighliners to park much farther from the world than usual, and Ix sees almost as much traffic as Arrakis or Kaitain, though few people.  The Spacing Guild maintains a very large presence in Ix, holding an entire station made from a captured asteroidal moon as their own personal domain, though they allow CHOAM to maintain a large presence. Most of the Empire's business with Ix is conducted in Orbit, with much smaller presences in the port city of Albedo.

There are many spies in Albedo, fewer in the capital city of Vernius City, home to House Vernius.  Richese especially would love to know many of Ix's trade secrets, for the Heighliners of both worlds, despite using the same technologies, are quite different, and Albedo can be an interesting place to visit.  Non-locals are discouraged from leaving, though it is not forbidden, and many of the nearby communities are quite pleasant places to stay for a few days.  The farther from Albedo you get, however, the less pleasant the locals.  Curiously, despite their reputation for technology, outside the two main cities there is no signs of the technology of Ix, no Ornithopers flitting about, no major vehicles. There are farms and ranches, animals and pleasant, if not friendly, people living quiet lives.

It is not well known, though not entirely secret, that there are tunnels leading deep into the planet.  What is a secret is just how extensive those tunnels are. It is fair to say that Ix is a hollow shell of a world, carved all the way down to the core with layers upon layers of tunnels and massive caverns, factories, labs and great machines that maintain the world.   The Ixians have never lost the knowledge of machines, though they regret that they were not experts on Thinking Machines before the Jihad, for that knowledge has been largely lost to them.  Many of the components of Heighliners are made in vast subterranian labs, loaded directly onto cargo lifters at the starport, the pylons leading down into the crust, to be taken and installed in orbit.  A great number of spies have died in those tunnels, for the machines of Ix are difficult to fool, even for the Richese.

Vernius City is much nicer, cleaner than Albedo, but unlike the port, the entire city is dug into the crust, at one with the tunnels and caverns. It is here that the might fortress-palace of House Vernius rises to touch the heavens, taller perhaps than that of House Corrino on Kaitian, but nowhere near as elegant or impressive.  House Vernius maintains its own private fleet of starships, and they use the palace to dock, rather than the port in Albedo.  It is here that you may find the universities of Ix, not as famed as the Mentat schools elsewhere, but capable of finding those with the potential and training them. Mentats**** trained on Ix rarely serve elsewhere, and often do not use Sapho, simple due to the fact that Ix produces other Nootropic drugs locally in their labs that are cheaper and easier to acquire... and less addictive. Ix trained mentats who serve elsewhere in the Galaxy usually use Sapho instead, and develop the distinctive stained lips.

Industries:
Ix is famed for their Solido Projectors, and they produce Heighliners.  
In fact, Ix is well known for producing almost every form of high technology used in the galaxy, though their reliance on importing Shigawire means that they don't do much with datareels and other Shigawire technologies, relying on standardized interfaces.  Ixian Shields are among the best in the galaxy,though less well known than their Solido, as are their lasguns.   Ixians also have extensive capabilities in genetic engineering, though this is less well known and not something they offer on the open market. Those with extensive contacts with Ix have purchased their services in a variety of ways, including making minor improvements in their own Genome, and curing otherwise fatal diseases.  The Ixians are heavy spice users, and have long sought a way to produce it themselves, to no avail.

Ixian technology is robust and reliable, but not as small or elegant as Richese.  Ixian Heighliners are notable for being faster and smoother to load and unload, and the Navigators are rumored to favor them for the smoothness of the 'Fold Engines', though what that might mean is a mystery. Ix builds to last, and their equipment is favored for military applications as well as Industrial.  During Vernius's turns with the Arrakis directorship, Ixian engineers spent years studying the environment and redesigning the standard Carryalls and mining equipment. Many of the Ixian Carryalls remain in service to this day, and wise Houses with control of Arrakis often contract with Ix directly for replacements.  

Politics:
Ix is governed by a loose confederacy, the largest and most powerful faction is that of House Vernius itself.  The city of Albedo is a comparatively small faction, with various labs and industrial concerns having a say in the local government equal to their impact, thus the second most important faction is the one that controls the great terraforming engines buried deep in the planet, near the core, and behind them is the Heighliner industry.  There are a handful of ancient laws that cover this Confederacy, chief among them protecting the surface from exploitation... in fact the building of Albedo was very hotly contested for this very reason.    House Vernius is the primary go-between for Ix and the rest of the Galaxy, and while they do reap the vast profits of Ix's industry, they are also responsible for buying the raw materials that Ix needs for its very survival, including the food necessary to maintain the shockingly large subterranian population!

There is quite a lot of freedom of movement between the surface communities and the underground industries of Ix, though constantly shuffling between the two is not good for one's career.  The surface farms do produce a surplus of food, if the surface population is all that is being counted, and in the underground eating 'local' is a privilege afforded only to the very elite or successful. Success is measured in a variety of ways, but almost all are intellectual in nature. Improvements in designs, efficiency or productivity for the industrial concerns, research and development for the exploratory labs, or finding a new and improved way of maintaining the great machines...  Simply working for a long time without screwing up is worthy of note for some areas. Its not quite a meritocracy, but it gets close.  Those with Mentat training are favored in the underground world in all sectors.

Ix and Richese have a long standing rivalry based on competing in the marketplace, so trying to reverse engineer the other's designs is a major coup. Ix has a neutral policy towards the Bene Tlielax, as both factions reject the tenets of the Jihad, but they are by no means friendly.  The Ixians find the Tlielax choice to be deliberately grating and obnoxious, and to deliberately design their genetic creations to be as offensive as they are useful, to be as abhorrent as anyone.  The Ixians do not trust the Bene Gesserit 'mysticism', though this is only a concern for Vernius itself, but they have whole heartedly embraced the ideal of improving man. Many Ixians proudly sport cybernetic or genetic alterations, viewing themselves as testing new frontiers. They are far less interested in chemical enhancement, the Ixians were among the first to discover the downsides of Spice withdrawl (ie death), and have come to resent their addictions, though they value the longer life and greater health it brings.

Ix has close ties to the Spacing Guild, and somewhat weaker ties to CHOAM, while having only a handful of allies in the Landsraad (for Vernius) and a cool relationship with Kaitain.  The empire is a great customer, but the House Corrino is often grasping and suspicious, and every few generations it seems the Emperor makes another ploy to wrest control of yet another piece of the Space monopoly.  Unknown to the public at large, including the Noble Houses... though their spymasters may have an inkling... Ix is not above creating genetically perfect honeytraps to sway politics in their favor*****, which puts them in heavy contention with the Bene Gesserit!

The Ixians have a long standing policy of deliberately pushing the envelope of what people will accept, making and selling new and experimental technologies that are right at teh very edge of what is tolerable in the wake of the Jihad. Usually, when done right, the technology is a useful and desirable one and over a few thousand years the limits of the original Butlerian Jihad have been stretched in small ways, but every so often the Ixians, who are culturally far removed from the attitudes of the rest of the Galaxy, make a mistake and offer something far more harmful... either to the people they are trying to pursuade, or to their own cause... something that is perfectly helpful but is to far over the line, and inevitably there is a backlash. Twice the Ixians have tried to offer up a weak copy of the old Think Navigators, both times to find their world quickly and ruthlessly interdicted by the Spacing Guild until all copies and research notes have been turned over to the Guild for destruction... along with the researchers.  This inevitably causes a problem, as there are no research notes to be handed over... the Ixians were producing deliberately poor copies of the superior older machines they can easily build... and so they suffer under the interdiction until they can produce the necessary sacrifices.  

House Vernius: ******
Status: House Major (Great House) 27 votes in the Landsraad
Symbol: Helix/DNA
Army: Regular Great House.  12 Legions. 2 Legions of Cybernetic Shock Troops geared for Underground Defense
Uniform:Silver and White. Long Coat resembles traditional labcoat
Colors: Silver, White, Copper and Purple
Homeworld/Holdings:  Directorship of Ix, owned lands and minor directorships scattered on several other planets
Ruling Title: Earl
Family Members: Head of House: Earl Honorius Vernius, 43 years of age. Severe burn scars on face neck and arms, moves stiffly (cybernetic spine), from an accident in his youth, details unknow. A gruff and contemplative man, rarely attends the Landsraad personally, preferring to send his cousin, Baronet Julian Vernius in his stead. Julian is viewed as something of a dilettant, a drinker and gambler, and has been known to make promises on behalf of the House he cannot deliver, though some suspect this is deliberate, as Ix often seems to gain more than they lose in these 'broken' deals.   Julian is a large man and is a very good shield-fighter, with several duelling scars, many earned over fights in the Landsraad itself.  Baron Yrplies Bonat, of a cadet branch often attends with Julian. Baron Bonat was once kidnapped and hard pressed to ransom away his CHOAM shares by House Moritani, and has a personal Kanly against them.  He is the only Titled member of Vernius who currently has an heir, by his Bene Gesserit wife, who is rumored to be from Moritani, though the Bene Gesserit have not confirmed the connection. Lady Isabelle does have the look, however.  She frequently attends the Landsraad herself and has been known to conduct 'distaff side' negotiations on behalf of Vernius, and is rumored to be responsible for the Chaumurky death of Lady Graia Moritani five years ago.   She is a known witch.  Duke Elgin Bonat, despite formally outrnaking Earl Honorious, holds the title of Duke of Ix, and is never seen offworld. He represents the House in the Confederacy of Ix.  Rumored to have fathered several bastards in Albedo, one of whom is now in the Spacing Guild.  There are several lesser titles in Vernius, along with a double dozen or more untitled nobles who claim one of the three or four family names attached to the House. Technically the Vernius family is no more, Honorious Vernius is the fourth member of his line to bear the name after the primary Vernius family died out several centuries ago. The current Vernius Family used to be the Gelgin's, until they took control of the House and changed their name, and this is still something of a sore point in the House, as some of those still using the name Gelgin thought the House name should be changed.  Those Gelgins are primarily based on Grumman, where the Vernius hold a small parcel, a particularly poor holding of the House.




Again: Most of the details and format comes from the wiki. I made up the entire family portion, leaving a number of unknown titles and names affiliated with the House for playability. None of THAT entry is Canon, as the details on the state of Empire in 9191 is entirely unknown, which is partly why I picked it, to give people playing with it as much freedom as they want.  No one alive in the Dune era, with the possible exception of some Navigators you will probably never meet, are alive... their great grandfathers haven't quite been born yet!














* For the record, given that Ix means 9th, representing the 'ninth planet in its orbit', I've always taken Ix to be a coded reference to Pluto. However, some asshole... Herbert himself maybe, potentially ruined that by giving the star system a name, and KJA for certain claimed that it was named Rodale IX prior to the Jihad, so I'll just leave this here...

**Even if you reject the Pluto hypothosis, the ninth planet of any star system is going to be, or is at least very highly likely to be well outside the Habital Zone.  That's just how Orbital Math works.

*** I've been unable to find who the first Corrino Emperor was. Hassrak III is listed as the fifth Padishah Emperor, making it at least... 50%... likely that Hassrak I was the first. That's how I roll.

**** All this time I've been writing, absolutely certain that I'd read, just recently on the wiki, that there were only two Mentat Schools, and when I try to find the 'other' one?  Fuck me if half the damn galaxy doesn't train mentats!  The BG, the SG... and of course, other mentats can all train them, which I sort of gathered, but still.  So, sure: Ix can train their own.

***** Hwi Noree is a canon example of this.

****** KJA(only) Canon states that Vernius is only a few centuries old as a Great House, but that a:contradicts the stagnation of Dune's Empire (a major theme), and b:would force me to create an entire Great House out of whole cloth to replace them.  So, in this rare case I'm not just ignoring KJA canon where I can, I'm flat contradicting it.   Better that than I make up my own shit.  Seriously: Least bad choices.