Star Wars Heresy (Factions)
Sith’aari houses, the Temple of Fear, and lesser sects in Star Wars: Heresy
The twelve houses
Tarkin – One of the premiere military houses of the empire. According to legendry, the founder Tarkin was the Chosen One’s most trusted and loyal comrade, who promised to kill him if he was found to be weak. For spurring the Chosen One to his destiny, the First Emperor made this Weak general the only sovereign of a house who was not Strong. Of course, the first Tarkin was given 3 Strong brides who he had no trouble making obedient to him, and the house is ruled Queen Aladora Tarkin, herself an accomplished general who is as good at quelling revolts and instilling fear into the Weak as she is at achieving victories over the Vong. She is one of the 4 Tigers, the 4 Sith’aari warlords who are seen as the most likely possible future Emperor.
The house is subdued, efficient, loyal and terrifying. They have a peerless intelligence service, and are always on time with their tax revenues to the Throne. They are regarded by most other Sith’aaari as being ‘cold-blooded’, both a salute to their ruthlessness and an insult to their perceived lack of passion. If the house has a weakness, it is that they’re preference for planning and precision has made them miss various opportunities over the years. Most other Sith’aari houses mock them as being old fashioned.
House Tarkin is currently troubled by persistent rebellions in their systems. It seems that the whipped populace has been terrified and psychologically manipulated so much over the millennia that they are inured to further manipulation. Debate rages within the house to expend energy in dealing with this or to focus on more expansionistic concerns.
Phrase – “It is the system which must be feared and obeyed. Fear of the system will maintain the Empire and keep the local systems in line. The Empire is the system. Anything else can be replaced.”
An’Doa – Scheming merchants are what they are called. The controllers of the Guilds that comprise the ancient Kuat shipyards, the An’doa produce the finest marines and fleets, and their House Knights know many Fury meditations to survive in space. Their fleets are the second largest in space, only surpassed by the Star Destroyers of the Imperial Legions, who’s maneuvers they often support. They parlay this strength into serving as caravansaries who escort Guild fleets across wild space or to the holdings of other houses. An’Doa navies will also transport the troops of other houses during House wars. An’Doa competes with the Serenno in providing trade financing for the Great Guilds and deals heavily with all manners of investment and business. While making An’Doa enviously wealthy, it has also made An’Doa somewhat pariah. An’Doa replies that if the other houses don’t see the Weak and money as weapons, then it’s not their fault that their enemies are stupid. While the House has only the usual level of Fury lore that a house needs, their Fearsight Navigators are renowned.
Phrase – “Money, as the medium of labor, is power given form. Never forget that, since all power comes from suffering.”
Serenno – Serenno is a house of sophistication and taste, its members and subjects creating the most evocactive dramas, artpeices and other media for consumption of the media elite. Named for their founder who was the bodyguard and assistant of Palpatine the ever-living, who was struck down by the Chosen One himself, the Serenno would have been destroyed long ago were it not their mastery of dueling. As a sacred trust, the Serenno keep the lore of creating the sacred Hate Blade that only the Emperor may use. The Serenno are the finest dueling masters in the galaxy, and when one absolutely needs to win a duel, a House Lord usually hires a Serenno dueling master or has his champion train with one for however long it takes. Like the Serenno themselves, the Serenno training method is cruel, demeaning, sophisticated and artistic. The Serenno dueling masters make no promises to their student’s safety during training, and more often than not Serenno students wind up dead from “training accidents”, but those who persevere and overcome are the deadliest swordfighters in space. If in the last training duel a student overcomes and kills a Serenno master, House Serenno will offer the student a place as one of their own, adopting them into the house. Some renegades challenge a dueling master as a means of finding a new house. Most, however, regard this as suicide.
Phrase - “In hatred and in fear – economy, precision, control. Without these things, there is only loss and death.”
Organa – The Organa are feared for their absolutely fearlessness and hate. During the unification wars at the birth of the Empire, the Lord of the Organa who stood at the First Emperor’s side was so loyal to his master’s ideals that he destroyed the world he was born on with a terrifying space station weapon that is now lost to the mists of time, in response to insurrection. The Emperor was so pleased with this act of cruelty and loyalty that he established his Throne in the ruins of this star system, which echoes in the Fury with the terrifying silence of the dead.
House Organa is renowned as the house with the best diplomats, poisoners, assassins and spies. While never a house with large armies, most other houses make it a point to make sure that crossing House Organa is profitable in the short and long term, since the Organas never, ever forget a slight, even if they act as allies for hundreds of years. They are well regarded for their Sorcerors as well, who are especially adroit with curses.
Phrase – “Let them hate, so long as they fear.”
Antilles – Another largely military house, the Antilles embrace a ‘nature, red in tooth and claw’ attitude to the Fury and spur their Weak and Strong warriors alike to emulate the ferocity and danger of natural forces in combat. They make for excellent scouts, are fine navel commanders, and are trained to survive where no one else can. The Antilles lead the war effort against the Vong on the outer rim territories and relish the opportunity to vent their hate and rage on a people who adore pain as much as they do. A common Antilles taunt of the Vong is, “we are destined to kill your gods.” The Antilles also make discreet and secret use of some Vong biotech.
Antilles warriors approach the Fury in a manner similar to how many primitive peoples approach religion. Their practices are rife with animal and spiritist symbolism. Their blade forms emulate ferocious animals like the Vaapad and Vornskyr. Antilles warriors are ferocious on the battlefield, and stand in contrast to refined duelists like the Serenno. Behind their backs, the Antilles are called barbarians.
The Antilles do not care for social niceties, and their House is one of the best for those of the lower social castes to advance in. Further, Unhoused who are found to be Strong are readily adopted and treated with respect, provided that they are savage warriors or hate filled, savage mystics.
Phrase – “There is only blood, sex and death. Everything else is but a detail.”
Brastrim – The machinesmiths, the Brastrim perform arcane researches into forbidden technologies and machines. The Brastrim has been given special dispensation by the First Emperor to make use of advanced machinery and computers, although the technologies used by the Brastrim are still medieval compared to those used at the height of the Old Republic. The Brastrim are the only house allowed to deploy Droid armies and troops, and the Brastrim are often forced by the Emperor to work alongside of their hated rivals, the Antilles.
The Brastrim are no sterile set of technologists, however. They are also the foremost crafters of blades and masters of the Fury emplaced into physical form. Their talismans and suits of armor are sought after by all of the Empire. The Brastrim, for their part, have not had any interest in the throne – they seek to be left alone so as to conduct their arcane researches. They have often strayed dangerously close towards the secrets of the Magisterium of the Emperor. In such cases, the Emperor has either destroyed those who make researches into large scale means of using the Fury or have seized them for him or herself.
The Brastrim pay well for relics or lore concerning an ancient race known as the Rakata, and kill anyone else who investigates these ancient beings. The Brastrim have been set afire in the last few years with word of sightings of a mythical ‘star forge’. With no Emperor enthroned, the Brastrim may be more bold in their searches for such a thing.
Phrase – “Calculation reduces fear to it’s most precise essence.”
Caleena – A long partner of Serenno in Empire politics, Caleena has the smallest armies, and often relies on military support from Serenno or Tarkin. However, Caleena is one of the most celebrated of Sith’aari houses – their abilities with treachery and dissembling are art. Arising originally from the Tapani sector, Caleena and Organa hate each other but regularly do business, as the Caleena are fond of Organa poisons. While Organa has the better assassins, Caleena has the better spies, and have the best intelligence amongst the Guilds and the Temple.
But what makes Caleena really stand out is how much they are loved. The Caleena are masters of propaganda, and the Weak regularly thrill to Careena intrigues, plots and romances (all made up, of course) created in the media. The Caleena represent the ideal Sith’aari to the public – ferocious, treacherous, loyal to those worthy, merciless to everyone else, beautiful and above all passionate.
Phrase - “Hate and fear are life. They make the drama of the world.”
Orantei – This house has always stood close to the Emperor, carrying out researches into history and lore that he or she did not trust the Temple of Fear to. Reclusive scholars who keep much hidden lore, they are master Fury sorcerers on the battlefield, and allies of the Orantei regularly send their scions to their the sorcerous fanes of the Orantei. Steeped deeply in what they call The Terror, the Orantei would make the ancient Sith proud for their attitudes, if not for how far they have come (the ancient Sith empire of the Tython Exile, upon which Emperor Skywalker based his Empire, still surpasses the current Sith’aari empire in Dark Side lore.)
Of all the houses, the Orantei are the only ones who know of the ancient Sith empire, the Jedi Knights, and the Republic. They have forseen within the Terror the return of the Jedi Knights and the Galactic Republic, and the destruction of their glorious and decaying empire. This has them terrified, and the House is divided upon what action to take, especially with no enthroned Emperor. They trust no one else, especially the Temple of Fear, who has always sought to absorb the small house but has always been stopped due to their Imperial patronage.
Phrase – “Knowledge is terror.”
Religion in the Sith’aari empire – the Temple of Fear, the 500 sects of Hate and Fear, and other heresies
When Emperor Skywalker, the Chosen One, instituted his Sith’aari Empire 10,000 years ago, the primary executor of his political will and the replacement for the Republic Senate was the Temple of Fear. More than just a means to enforce his own cult of personality, Skywalker took the long view, wisely heeding many of the talks he had with Palpatine as his student before he struck him down. Amongst all the institutions of the Sith’aari empire, the Temple of Fear represents the collected thinking of Palpatine, and the Sith masters who came before him, even if it is not consciously aware of it’s origins.
The Temple of Fear replaced the old Senate and Bureacracy, over the course of the centuries of Skywalker’s very long life. The Temple of Fear encompasses all administrative, law enforcement, judicial and treaty functions within the Empire. While the Temple may keep its own law enforcement branches and intelligence services, it may never keep large scale armies and fleets. This means that the Temple requires at least nominal support of either the Imperial Legions or the Great Houses in order to carry out large scale action, such as when Inquistorial Crusades are called. All media promulgated in the Empire must pass review by the Temple of Fear, and law enforcement amongst the Weak is usually dealt with on the interstellar level by the Temple, who acts to enforce contracts between Guilds and individuals amongst the Weak. The Strong, by contrast, are ensured the Emperor’s justice and their trials are handled with a different set of laws enforced by the Magisterium.
The relationship between the Temple and the Houses is complexes. Since the Temple deals with trade laws, mundane law enforcement, infrastructure and social services, certain Houses, especially Lesser ones, engage the Temple to handle these things while the Houses do, in their view, more important things, like fight wars. Since the Temple must rely on the mandatory tithes of the populace as collected by the Great Houses, the Houses and Temple must cooperate. Some Houses, like Tarkin, handle most of their infrastructure on their own but value the expertise of Temple advisors, while less martial houses like Caleena would rather have their parties and shove it all onto Temple administrators in exchange for more tax revenue. Some houses, like Brastrim, avoid dealing with the Temple except as absolutely required. This is rather often, as the Great Guilds may appeal to Temple judges when entering into contract disputes with the Great Houses, to no end of annoyance by the Houses. Most judges, administrators and the like are Weak. The Strong amongst the Temple attend to greater duties.
The Temple of Fear serves as something of a refuge for Strong who do not wish to enter a soldier’s life with a Great House. The Temple of Fear provides long range sight into the Fury and combat Fury sorcery to assist the Legions and the Houses on the battlefield against the traditional foe, the Vong, as well as during large scale uprisings (such as the great Guild Revolt of 7,410 AE.) The Temple of Fear also keeps the official Imperial history, and sees to it that the Empire maintains the traditions and forms of government that Emperor Skywalker established millennia ago.
There are dozens of movements and sects within the Temple. The ranks are loosely those of Deacon, Priest, Bishop, Archbishop and Cardinal, with the official ranks only granted to the Strong – the Weak can only rise to the rank of Bishop (a planetary administrator), but the Weak make up the vast majority of the Temple membership, and the powerful of a Weak Templar can often be discerned by the office they hold and who their patron is as opposed to their rank. The Temple recruits their Strong from the ranks of orphans that are brought into Temple orphanages, which, remarkably, while stern and cruel, do provide a first rate education, nutrition and health care. Templars, according to ancient custom, are forbidden to wield the alchemical blades of noble Sith’aari house warriors. However, the esoteric lore of the Fury which enables them throw the feared Anger Lightning and their fury-lightning charged staves give Templar priests adequate means to defend themselves. The Temple reserves for it’s priests many esoteric powers that are only rivaled by house with an exclusively esoteric focus, such as Orantei.
The Prelate, who is the chief priest of the Temple of Fear, and his council of Cardinals Major know of the past of the Republic and the true nature of the Force, but they regard rumors of Jedi Knights and such to be fairy tales and garbage intelligence spread by Orantei who seek to be absorbed into the Temple. The Prelate dreams of an Empire where a priest-king rules by merit and viciousness alone, and is too distracted by the current Throne struggle to give the Restorationist movement much serious thought. Some, however, grow alarmed, and send Inquisitor agents to investigate.
The Imperial Legions and the Magisterium
Emperor Skywalker’s last set of acts in establishing his Empire was to establish around himself a bureaucracy that was loyal to the office of Emperor. Making note that often political structures crumbled after the death of their founders and one of the true forms of immortality was to have one’s ideas and philosophy perpetuated, Skywalker saw to it that whoever was to attain his power after his demise would be forced to continue his policies. The Magisterium is the 3rd leg of the triad between the Houses, the Temple and the Throne.
The bedrock of imperial power is that the Emperor may at any time grant or revoke a house’s right to gather tax revenues and to field armies. Skywalker knew that while he would need a Force using elite to defend the galaxy against the encroaching Yuuzhan Vong, he did not want to see the level of fratricidal conflict to become overly destructive. Skywalker felt that a certain level of conflict between Force users was healthy, weeding out the weak and rewarding the strong, yet, without strong leadership, the galaxy would be consumed by strife as was recorded in the innumerable wars between Sith Lords during various eras of Republic and Sith history. He understood and appreciated Darth Bane’s approach, which was appropriate for the time. However, as living things change and grow, ideas grow strong, and then grow old and die. Skywalker felt that being a proper Sith in the tradition of the original rebels of Tython, who longed for a galaxy ruled by users of the Force, meant that passion and dynamism reflected the natural order of life, and that stasis and complacency meant death. He thus created a structure that encourages a certain degree of that dynamism while still enabling control.
The Magisterium maintains and carries out the Emperor’s will. The Emperor is advised in the Landsraad, which is composed of all of the landholders in the Empire. Here, the Imperial houses determine policy and enact the laws which are enforced by the Magisterium and the Temple of Fear. Since the number of votes in the Landsraad are determined soley by a combination of worlds and population controlled, military conquest of foreign territory or those of other houses determines power in the Landsraad. While the Throne is located in the Alderaan system, the Landsraad is located at the ancient galactic capital of Coruscant.
The Imperial Legions are an institution that has existed ever since Emperor Skywalker took his throne. The feared red-armored legions of the Emperor, armed with their red shock lances and with the combat skills of Republic-era Jedi Knights, are all Strong and all have been indoctrinated with loyalty to none but him or her who sits on the Throne. If a new Emperor wins the Throne War, his reward are the fleets and the Legions. Between these, his or her own House and the ancient, overwhelmingly powerful Force knowledge left behind by Skywalker and Palpatine, a new Emperor usually has no trouble controlling the Empire after a perfunctory civil war (although a few new Emperors have been defeated by warlords who weld together a powerful enough coalition. Those who do this have proven worthy to be the new Emperor.
Imperial Legionnaires are recruited from the orphanages of the Temples of Fear. Those who survive the brutal indoctrination become the greatest soldiers, functionaries and Force Users that the galaxy has ever seen. The price for this elite status is to never, ever be considered a true “Strong” by the Sith’aari houses, since the basis of Sith’aari house culture is the extended clan, and to never ever be allowed to exert true authority. No Legionnaire, be they Officer or Adept, may ever own property or hold noble title, being slaves to the Emperor. This of course fills many Legionnaires with a cold hate for the person of the Emperor, even as they love the Empire and the doctrines it esposes. This gives them the “hateful fire”, as Skywalker puts it in his writings, to be might users of the Fury, and enacts an eternal Sith doctrine – a master to wield power, and an apprentice to hunger for it.
The Legions recruit from all sectors of Imperial society. Sith’aari who are recruited from a house into the Legions go onto great careers, but forever lose the right to hold lands or command armies. The Legions have often proved to be the dumping grounds for 3rd or 4th sons and daughters who do not wish to be assassinated in inter-house conflicts over inheritance. Former Sith’aari who enter the Legions and who are not recruited as children are regarded to be failures who were gifted with the greatest of advantages but couldn’t hack it, and are hazed relentlessly. This is usually not a common choice for Sith’aari exiles, who will usually enter the Temple of Fear first.
In terms of size, the Legions are much smaller than the various House armies, but far more elite. Legion Commanders, having been recruited from amongst the Weak and having been subjected to a ruthless system of meritocracy all their lives, look down upon their opposite numbers in the house armies. For their part, Housed Strong regard the Legion as being passionless honor guards who will always be slaves. Alone amongst the various power groups inside the Sith’aari empire, the Legions and Magisterium respect professionalism, integrity and loyaty, with the usual treacheries between Strong are kept to a minimum, as the Legions can not afford to succumb to internal dissent and the usual power struggles. It is the commonly held view that if the Legions and Magisterium were to fall, that the galaxy would succumb to chaos, enslavement by the Vong, or worse.
The Magisterium, on the other hand, is the civilian agency of the Throne. While not empowered to enforce the law as the Temple of Fear is, and without the vast monetary resources of a Great House, the Magisterium has the power to enforce the laws of the Landsraad, oversees all disputes between the Temple and the Houses, and can unilaterally enforce the imperial will, as all edicts of the Emperor are treated as law. The Adepts of the Magisterium are the only ones who have access to the vaults of the Great Houses and the Temple of Fear. This, combined with their own secret lore, directly inherited from Palpatine and the ancient Sith before hand, Imperial Adepts are the most feared Force users in the galaxy. All Magisterium adepts are Strong, and are all uniformly excellent, disciplined Fury users.
Ironically, due to their eschewing of the usual fatricidal conflicts that plague the Houses and the Temple, their loyalty to the Empire and personal dedication, actual use of the Dark Side of the Force is less in the Legions and the Magisterium than elsewhere, with those who fall to Fury Madness ruthlessly exterminated.
As part of their regular duties, the scientists of the Magisterium have confirmed that the galaxy’s life is slowly dying, and have tied it to the egregious use of the Fury by the majority of the galaxy’s Force user elites. As the Magisterium has access to the old lore from before the time of Skywalker, a quite war of assassination and debate rages.
A slim majority of the Magisterium and Legions are coming to the horrid conclusion that in order to save the galaxy they rule, they must destroy the empire they serve, and abandon the Dark Side of the Force. The leaders of the Legions and the Magisterium have accessed the hidden Jedi holocrons. The spirits of the ancient Jedi Masters implore them to abandon their hate and fear, and to serve, fully, once again. The other side of the debate, still adherents of the Dark Side of the Force, propose killing all other Force Users, including themselves, and reinstituting the Rule of Two of Darth Bane, while keeping the forms of the Empire intact.
A small cabal within the Legions proposes the greatest heresy – seeing to it that the last enthroned Emperor is a fully trained Jedi Knight. This cabal seeks out the last descendants of the Skywalker bloodline.
