#ixaniad

Only a short warp jump from Ceravar, Obdoza is a cool, pleasant pleasure world with remarkably liberal attitudes. An appointed diktat rules in theory, but in practise, power is divested almost entirely into an elected Planetary Council. With a series of hunting lodges, ski slopes and unusual wildlife across its expansive ice caps, tourism booms but occupies a dangerously-large space within its overall economy. Even the slightest hint of war entering the Sector is enough to drive its privileged patrons into panic and lead to years or possibly decades of ruin.

The nature of gender and sexuality in the 41st Millennium is shaped by three factors. First, there is the traditions and culture of the Imperium. Second, the fear of Chaos and corruption. Third (but not least), pragmatic adaptation to the pressures and requirements of constant warfare.

Imperial Culture

The culture of the Imperium is diverse; its regions and worlds vary wildly in what is acceptable or unacceptable. However, there are core facets of sexism ingrained within its very fabric. Most notable is the Space Marines, whom all know are all male and have only ever been such. Whether this is by design or accident is a question few would dare even ask. Their creation in the image of the Emperor does suggest it was intentional; their masculine identity and form would encourage obedience, fear and awe. While women do serve, the majority of Imperial Guard are male, either by regimental policy or request. In most cases, whatever the local norm is, all are encouraged to abide by it (unless it slides towards Heresy, of course). Individuals or communities favouring ‘deviant’ forms of sexuality may also be subject to greater scrutiny and discrimination by the Ordo Hereticus at large, despite any local policies to the contrary.

Fear

Fear is the currency by which the Imperium operates. Fear of the outside, fear of punishment and fear of damnation. The nature of Slaanesh as the Lord of Excess naturally causes the Inquisition and the Imperial Creed to vehemently rail against hedonism and greedy lust. While once again variation exists from world to world, fear of feeding Slaanesh fuels conservative doctrines of sexual conduct. Some worlds may even forbid it, relying instead on government-controlled breeding programs and cloning rather than corporeal acts of reproduction. For most however, it is simply about avoiding outright extremes. Homosexuality and intersexual orientation are of lesser importance in the eyes of the Ixanaid Ecclesiarchy as say, a Rogue Trader surrounding themselves with a harem of harlots. The identity and orientation that matters most to them is loyalty to the Emperor.

Pragmatism

D6: Jerobia

The story of Jerobia is one best told from the perspective of its natives.

Long ago, Jerobia was a very small world of mountains and archipelagos. Across its islands were many peoples, each possessing barely the power to bang two rocks together. This began to change as the metal birds descended. These noisy birds brought men in white with the power to shoot fire from their hands. They gave the tribes many things; some valuable to them, some not so. With them came metal men with tentacles that stared at them with hundreds of red and green eyes and poked them with odd instruments. Some people disappeared but they returned with tales of the strange metal men and their many questions. Eventually, the visitor left, with nary a trace.

The second coming of the birds saw many changes. The white men offered many things; food, of many colours, new tools and strange teachings of a man in the sky. They taught the wise men about this Star God, Empor-Ra and many things in the new arts of science and mathematics. In return, the white and metal men sought warriors and strange items the wise men found in the caves. They did not say why they coveted the items, only that they were of great interest and value. The trinkets were part of a great spell they said, one the metal men hoped to solve.

By the time the next metal birds arrived, the gifts of the men in white had been used for many things. There were tools made of melted rocks, weapons that fires small darts that pierced the flesh and many more. But this time, they did not come to give gifts to the tribes of Jerobia. And among the birds there was a terrifying black bird. That night, all the wise men were taken into the black bird, while almost all the rest were also removed the next day. Men, women and children alike were pulled and dragged, at times by force. Those that resisted were chained and bound. Some tried to cast spells on the white men but no sooner had the incantation begun than a rain of shrieks and terrifying lights hit them, tearing apart with an unseen power. Those that survived were never seen again.

As they left, strange things began to happen in the caves. From where the artefacts has been, there was now only water. The torrents continued, the waters rose and rose.

The Imperium is a huge realm of many sectors, each with their own history, heritage and traditions, but there are some commonalities between them all. The Imperial Gothic architectural style is one of these, though not so much by mandate as by ease of construction. The spires and milk decorations of Imperial Gothic may seem unsuited to mas production, but the use of Standard Template Construct (STC) buildings has transformed the process. Due to almost all the STCs used for Imperial settlements being in the Imperial Gothic style, it has been applied across the Galaxy and even enshrined to a certain extent as a sign of religious fervour and devotion. The style also varies; whilst most Imperial Gothic buildings approach on utilitarian form, Imperial Gothic churches and cathedrals are resplendent and glorious sights to behold.

Within the Ixaniad Sector, Imperial Gothic is most common, but not the only architectural style to be found. The others can be roughly forced into four categories; Old Mandragoran/Aegisan, Xenoform, Modern Imperial and Archaeoform.

Old Mandragoran is a style confined mostly to the Mandragora Subsector and oldest worlds in the neighbouring Ptolemaic Reach. This form pre-dates Imperial resettlement, with a contrasting style that features far more sweeping arches and domes than spires. Some STCs documenting these styles have been found but are rarely produced in place of their Gothic equivalents outside the region. Their spread roughly overlaps with the path taken by Terentius’ armies during the Great Crusade.

Xenoform is not so much a style as a collection of styles deemed to be either of alien origin or ‘deviant’ from common forms of human architecture. This catch-all label is often derisive more than anything and an easy way to lambast those fools that would dare innovate on existing designs. Most of the Xenoform buildings in the Sector are of Eldar origins; many of the worlds here were once Maiden Worlds or otherwise aligned with them in the past and were of such sound construction that human conquerors preferred to adapt their form and build along complementing lines that engage in full reconstruction. Nowadays such practises would be almost blatantly heretical, but this style persists on many worlds closer to the heart of the Sector.

Modern Imperial is a derivative of Imperial Gothic produced via modifications in the STCs that were generated by chance. These forms dispense with many of the decorations and vaulted ceilings for a more utilitarian form, saving copious amounts of resources at the cost of beauty. Their deviance from the norm has been shunned by the Ecclesiarchy even as the Mechanicus lauds the closer approximation to mechanical perfection. Rarely would a building serving the Imperial Creed dare approach this form, with most cities of the Modern form reverting to the older templates for such constructs. Almost all hives are a blend of forms, with Modern Imperial used most commonly at their base or midsection, depending on age.

D5: Ceqar

A recent addition to the Sector, Ceqar was purchased only recently by an incredibly wealthy Rogue Trader as both a safe base of operations and a vanity project. Within only a few years, tens of millions arrived; most willingly, some… perhaps less so. The planet’s hoards are rich with plunder accumulated over ten generations. Before arrival, it was a pristine, tropical hunting reserve. Now, STC buildings blossom like flowers from each settlement, but the beautiful biosphere has already begun to see small signs of damage, as it struggles to accommodate hundreds of thousands of migrants per year.

The biggest draw to Ceqar is its separation from local politics and ordinary governance structure. While the Trader House maintains absolute de jure control and certainly exploits the populace, day-to-day operations were long ago shifted to a select number of his more intellectual associates. As ‘Directors’ of the planet, they were given strict instructions to limit franchise to those ‘worthy’ of the honour, ruling in his name as their vessels prowl the Galaxy. The politics and culture of Ceqar have been shaped by this directive.

Founding in Mystery

While the Calyx Expanse was but a line on the map, Ixaniad was already an Imperial sector. Founded long ago, it was one of many regions won during the Great Crusade but ‘lost’ in the immediate aftermath of the Horus Heresy. It was here that men and women fought valiantly to eke out an existence back in the days when Mind Eaters and other fell xenos still prowled the stars. Ichabarr often claims lineage from the early colonies of humanity, but its distance from Holy Terra makes this assertion fanciful – though admittedly, it is also impossible to disprove.

Only one record remains from this early period; the Aegisine War, whereby a human separatist faction known as the Hecuban Conformity was forced to surrender, eventually becoming an integral part of the Mandragora Subsector. The region was one of those conquered by Vatale Gerron Terentius and suffered heavily from the war that followed his failed rebellion against the Imperium.

Had today’s scholars knowledge of its existence, perhaps some would also speak of the ancient Hellion Sector – a realm now thought engulfed by the Warp Storms on the trailing edge of the sector. Those that do know tales of the distant past have shown no intention of disclosing it and it is likely that the relevant sector authorities would prefer such secrets remain lost to time and space.

Rediscovery

The precise date of Ixaniad Sector’s return to the Imperial fold is not known, nor is its precise alignment within that conflict. However, it is likely that given its location, the sector kept more or less kept to itself. While remembrancer records mostly claim staunch loyalty (as they would), there were many places that chose to branch off on their own after the Emperor’s near-death. The Great Crusade may have conquered many worlds beyond the sector, but with its collapse came a great tide of xenos invasions to reclaim much of what was lost.

By the time the first attempts were made to retake the area now known as the Calixis Sector in the 36th Milennium, Ixaniad already possessed its collection of nobles and sycophants and had remained vigilant against rimward incursions for millennia. It was from here that much of Calixis was taken through the Angevin Crusade, though at a significant cost. Much of the lore of these times is shrouded in mystery but some details are remembered by those knowledgeable in the region’s lore. There were fourteen great and noble families that held power after the wars against heretics and daemons following the Horus Heresy.

Through force of arms or perhaps some more sinister means, they expelled the Xenos and Chaos cults that took advantage of the end of the Great Crusade and built up great fortresses along the sector’s northern border. From this point until the Age of Apostacy, the sector was self-governed (for all intents and purposes) by a council of the Houses, each ruling in turn, with a single representative for the worlds that managed to retain their independence during its sporadic and brutal inter-house wars.

Conquest and Consolidation

Eventually, the period of conquest and plunder of the current Calixis Sector began. During this time, money was often brought back into the Sector, feeding the wealth of the landed gentry, even as its populace dwindled from mass migration and increasing tithes. It was in this period that the Meratis Settlement was established – the region that would later become the epicentre of the Meratech Clans. The Angevin Crusade brought with it a second wave of plunder and war, though this time, most of the funds expended in producing weapons for the Imperium in this sector.

High Admiral Vaakkon’s contribution to the Crusade from Ixaniad was crucial to its success but no sooner had the war been won when Orks and Chaos descended upon the region. What was previously thought a one-time expense became a regular payment to the Calixis worlds on top of existing Imperial Tithes to keep the Imperium’s newly-won borders secure As the Imperial grasp on the region strengthened, this became reduced, but the people of Calixis have ever since then considered themselves deserving of support from a sector they claim to protect.

Remaining quiet during Drusus’ Crusades, Ixaniad continued to find itself embroiled in internal strife as others shouldered the weight of its former external concerns. The influx of migrants into Calixis from further afield resulted in trade increasing on worlds lying on the major warp routes out of the sector, but also diluted the power and control Ixaniad once had on regional trade, as more and more people began routing their vessels through Scarus Sector instead. With imbalances in power and drained resources came squabbling and bitter disputes, with revenge plots sometimes spanning centuries as each House sought prominence above all others. Those vulnerable to these shadow wars that could soon fled, boosting the population of the Meratis Settlement and the newly-won Calixis Sector.

Decay & Dissent

Most recently, the Ixaniad Sector has gained something of a fell reputation. Firstly, there was the emergence of heretical factions both within the Inquisition and the Mechanicus, which later spread to neighbouring regions and helped instigate the brutal Meritech Wars, an incident that wiped out the previously promising Merates Cluster.

Second, a succession crisis within the Crassan Subsector led to the simmering tensions between noble houses to boil over for the first time in centuries, resulting in a bloody civil war that soon expanded into the Ptolemaic Reach. Known as the Slighting Wars, they were eventually ended by a combination of Inquisitorial purge and agreements reached between the houses to end it.

Like most Imperial sectors, the Ixaniad Sector is predominantly occupied by humans and their offshoots; abhumans and mutants of various kinds. Most live within the Ichabarr and Crassan subsectors, though the latter is still feeling the effects of past purges.

Ratlings & Ogryn

Ratlings are not often seen within the Sector, probably in part due to the historical paranoia and anxiety that permeates the region. Most would likely leave for far more placid realms at the earliest opportunity. By contrast, there are a handful of worlds dominated by Ogryn, which are occasionally harvested by the Mechanicus and used for experimental purposes or for the development of powerful cyborg labourers.

‘Scalies’ & ‘Pelagers’

Of the other human variants in the Galaxy, not much is known to inhabit this sector, save two. While outwardly similar to sanctioned abhumans, there are two unique strains similar to Scalies and the Pelager to be found. Ixaniad scalies are not the hulking brutes of Necromunda – they are compact, spry and have been found in several different light hues, lurking within Hive worlds of the Ptolemic Reach though likely originating on one of the more verdant jungle worlds of the region. Ixaniad Pelager have gills but lack many of the other fishlike traits typical of the strain, instead possessing a smoother, Cetacean profile. Their presence is very rare, but dominant across some of the oceanic worlds within the Sector.

It is possible that other variations may exist within the region. However, cultural and religious limitations on such deviations from the ‘pure human form’ may result in them being hunted and expelled or worse.

Major Xenos

The Xenos threats to Ixaniad are numerous, but not at all equal. It is possible that some lesser species may yet be found within some pocket of Madragore or around the Great Cloud, but the most prominent presence is that of Eldar, Orks, Dark Eldar and Necrons – in that order. Eldar corsairs are known to operate in the vicinity, especially when the path of Craftworld Kaelor brings it close to its borders. Orks were unsuccessfully purged after their last WAAARGH in the Mandragora Subsector and surrounds and small infestations of orkoid biomass have been found previously. Dark Eldar are comparatively rare, save some overly-ambitious folk that may turn up here or there, unannounced. As for the Necrons? Nobody knows where they come from, but somewhere between the Segmentum Pacificus and the sector is rumoured to be a planet wholly ruled by mechanical creatures with horrifying weaponry.

Minor Xenos