## Metadata Name: M Holding: [[Lariat]] Office: [[Governor]] ## Background You were born to House Sima, one of the twelve Great Houses of the galaxy. You are admittedly a member of a relatively minor cadet branch, but even that places you head and shoulders above nearly any other power in the galaxy. The moment you were born your House declared the founding of a new Holding and named you Governor. This practice is quite common among the Great Houses, who cannot bear the notion of their children being expected to work on behalf of someone outside the family. Unlike most, however, House Sima gave you a truly remarkable gift to take for your Holding, the warship Lariat. For centuries, you have wandered the galaxy at your whim, traveling, trading, and conquering as the mood took you. So far as you're concerned, there's only one power still beyond you, and that's the Empress Herself. If you're honest, the fact that She is too powerful to contest directly drives you absolutely mad. The death of the Plaguesmith is a chance to do something about that. True, She is still far too powerful for you to have any real hope of killing or even fighting her. True, She could probably wipe out all of House Sima if She took it into Her mind to do so (though the sheer time involved would likely cause Her significant inconvenience). True, even if someone has figured out how to kill the Wend, there's no guarantee She can be killed in the same way - or at all. Luckily, you don't have to fight Her. The Imperial Bureaucracy has convened a Myriadic Council to investigate the Plaguesmith's death and as a Governor, even a Governor of a single warship smaller than many troop transports, you are entitled to a seat and a vote. Your plan, along with the other members of the faction known as the Friends of Zis, is to use this opportunity to launch an expedition into Striatus, the galaxy nearest to Lakh. The Empress, you're certain, will not allow such an expedition to leave without Her at its head, which will end with the Empress millions of light years away. As far as you're concerned, an Empress so far away She cannot communicate with the galaxy is just as good as an Empress dead. ## Mechanics ### **Asset: [[Dragon's Hoard]]** You are a member of one of the Great Houses. Thousands of worlds across the galaxy owe fealty to your house, with trillions of people living and dying at your whim. Even the least powerful members of such institutions can expect to live thousands of years, and to exercise such privilege as can hardly be described by those who've never experienced it. You have access to two pieces of Relic-class equipment. You may use this equipment yourself or give it away (or sell it, trade it, etc.). - Your personal starship [[Lariat]] is one of the most advanced psyche weapons in the galaxy. Modeled after theories about the Leviathan's Corpse, your vessel uses arcane technology to manipulate your enemies, inflict hallucinations, and sow mental disruption in their ranks. While your ship is nowhere like as powerful as the most feared monster in the galaxy, the fact that it sports weapons similar even in spirit to those on the Leviathan's Corpse makes it infamous and widely feared. When the Lariat is involved in a [[Combat|Combat]], you may select one [[Negotiation]]-related Asset to apply to that scenario as though it were a Combat Asset. That Asset must be possessed by one of the characters on your side in the scenario. - [[The Keeper of Bonds]] is a million-year-old AI god which has been in your family's service for millennia. You possess a small spherical trinket similar to a marble, but heavier than most troop transports, which serves as the AI's home. That trinket is kept aboard your ship, but listens to your activity via the Lariat's comms array. Whenever another character makes a promise to you, the Keeper of Bonds registers that agreement with the Imperial Bureaucracy as a formal pledge, functionally placing that person in your debt. If you enter a [[Negotiation]] against a character who has made such a promise, you may choose to negate the use of one Asset by that character. This is only applied once per Negotiation. ### **Lien: [[Yoked to Tradition|Yoked to Tradition]]** Great Houses don't bother with nonsense fantasies like "personal lives" or "individual identities." You exist to be a member of your House, and to serve that House's ambitions. While the high seat commands a great deal of power, not even they are above the dictates of the family at large. Your entire life is a balancing act, devoted to keeping as much of the family happy as possible without making anyone angry enough to be rid of you. Any time you have the opportunity to do something for the good of the house, regardless of the personal cost, you must do that thing. The only exception is when attempting a coup against another member of your own house, in which case you may inflict as much harm as necessary to secure your desired position. If you are publicly proven to have worked against your house's best interests, you will be summarily executed. ## Themes These themes are offered to help inform roleplay, but do not carry a mechanical effect. - The Corrosive Effect of Inherited Power - Privilege and Social Change - The Future of Propaganda