Kudus Theocracy

The Mundus Humanitas, the Hanrilke state religion, opposed the Darikahn claim from the outset of the Great Civil War. During the conflict, it worked hard through the Gonzagin and Comoran factions to bring the Darikahn down. The Darikahn Emperor Alvanar I outlawed the religion. In this way, though he managed to grab the throne, he lost much of his claim to the Hanrilke legacy. He ruled over only a fraction of the Federated Empire, and he outlawed the very religion integral to Hanrilke culture. Though it established its court on the old

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imperial homeworld and claimed to be the rightful heir, the Darikahn Empire is not the Hanrilke one, and the Kudus seek to ensure it never will be.

The Kudus Theocracy was established in 462 during the Great Civil War. The allied Comoran lords proposed establishing the exiled Mundus theocracy on Mosum, the most important of their worlds. They supported the creation of a theocratic state under the spiritual and temporal rule of the Mundus Humanitas’ Primarch. The Comoran nobility and the church negotiated the Theocracy’s boundaries in 465, formally creating the Theocracy. The Comorans view this concession a gift to the church and feel a sense of propriety toward the Theocracy they helped create.

The Kudus Theocracy seeks to restore the Mother Church as the proper authority in the Darikahn and to crush the Cyrean upstarts in the Comoran Worlds. In the interest of securing its position and furthering its agenda, the Church supported two recent crusades against the Darikahn, both staged from the Dunedin Worlds. This has the dual effect of binding the Dunedin Worlds closer to the Church and giving the Church a measure of deniability.

devout

Char 1 pt

Kudusites almost universally identify themselves as devout and worshipful members of the Mundus Humanitas. They see the Prophet Ahmilahk as their savior and can often be heard invoking his name for aid and succor.

Atheist

Char 1 pt

There are those few who live in the oppressive regime of the Theocracy who resent its autocratic rulership. They have no faith in the Primarch nor in the Prophet, and care nothing for the religious state.

Urfan

The Urfan Worlds lie at the extreme northern edge of human space. They are very poor, lying along both Silver and White Courses, regions of dim, failing stars. Like the Casigurans, they distrust outsiders. Moreover, they are very conservative. They share the other northern peoples’ religious fervor, but they claim their faith is the orthodox strain. The Urfan differ with the Mundus Humanitas on points of ecclesiastical structure and worship. The Urfan believe that they have the pure

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The Iron

Empires

distillation of the teachings of

the Prophet and do not like to associate with those who have “lost the way.”

The Urfan Worlds are harassed on their frontiers by formidable pirates—former hammer lords who have resorted to banditry and pillage to support their fleets. The Urfan are fierce fighters, but their poverty keeps them from mounting more than disjointed military operations. The Urfan Worlds are led by a Grand Lord called the U’zar, whose lineage can be traced back to Ahmilahk. The U’zar is also the metropolitan and head of the Mundus faith in the north. He does not have the authority to force the petty nobles to do his bidding like the Dunedin Emperor, and he lacks the support that the lords in the Kudus Theocracy give their metropolitan.

inscrutable

Char 1 pt

Urfan are often noted for their odd manners and inscrutable demeanor. Whether it is their foreign bearing or natural inclination, Urfan are hard to read.

redoubtable

Char 1 pt

Many a commander has thanked Ahmilahk for the sturdy nature of his Urfan troops. The frontier life and relative poverty of their systems has turned the Urfan into a resourceful and pragmatic people, ready to stand up to any challenge.

remote

Char 1 pt

If they have one flaw, they are emotionally remote. Perhaps withholding their affection helps them deal with the hardships of life on the galactic frontier.

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Nobility

The Iron Empires subscribe to a system of hereditary rule, in which the right to govern is passed by blood, from father to son, mother to daughter. In the distant past, this right was granted to the nobles’ forebears by the divine Emperor. Therefore, this right to rule is divinely inherited as well. But these are dark times for the venerable noble class. Their once great works are crumbling around them, their power undermined by rebels, heretics, challengers and the very worm itself. It is all the nobility can do to hold on to what it has, to protect itself from further depredation by its enemies who wish to devour the class whole and use its power for their own ends.

L

ifepath

t

ime

R

esouRces

c

iRcLes

s

tat

Born to Rule 8 yrs 2 1 —

Skills: 5 pts: General

Traits: 1 pt: Mark of Privilege, Your Lordship, Your Eminence, Your Grace, Your Majesty

Cœptir 5 yrs 1 0 +1 P

Skills: 4 pts: Close Combat, Etiquette, Stentor-wise Traits: 1 pt

Requirements: Mark of Privilege. If chosen, this must be the second lifepath.

Bastard 4 yrs 0 1 +1 M/P

Skills: 3 pts: Family Secret-wise, Extortion Traits: 2 pts: Bastard, Contender

Requirements: If chosen, this must be the second lifepath and may only be taken once.

Companion 8 yrs 1 1 +1 M

Skills: 7 pts: Etiquette, Astronomy, Musical Instrument, Doctrine, Persuasion Traits: 2 pts

Requirements: If chosen, this must be the second or third lifepath and may only be taken once

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The Iron

Empires

Armiger 5 yrs 1 0 +1 P

Skills: 4 pts: Assault Weapons, Armiger-wise, Intimidation Traits: 1 pt: Anvil Trained, Tough

Requirements: Cœptir, Sergeant or Court Cœptir

Lord-Pilot Anvil 5 yrs 1 1 +1 P

Skills: 4 pts: Squad Support Weapons, Tactics, Iron-wise Traits: 2 pts: Corvus and Crucis, Iron Trained

Requirements: Armiger, Court Armiger or Magnate

Lord-Pilot Hammer 5 yrs 2 0 +1 M/P

Skills: 7 pts: Pilot, Helm, Navigation, Tactics, Vehicular Weapons, Zero G Traits: 2 pts: Corvus and Crucis

Requirements: Armiger, Court Armiger or Magnate

Lady 7 yrs 2 2 +1 M

Skills: 8 pts: Soothing Platitudes, Child Rearing, Estate Management, Seduction, Inconspicuous, Court-wise, Husband-wise

Traits: 1 pt

Requirements: Companion

Court Lord 8 yrs 2 1 +1 M

Skills: 8 pts: Persuasion, Falsehood, Etiquette, Conspicuous, Court-wise, Lord-wise, Scheme-wise

Traits: 2 pts: Wigged, Effeminate, Scheming

Requirements: Chamberlain, Treasurer, Constable, Coroner, Lord-Pilot Hammer or Lord-Pilot Anvil

Hammer Lord 9 yrs 3 1 +1 M

Skills: 6 pts: Strategy, Command, Physics, Artillery, Hammer-wise Traits: 2 pts: Hammer Lord, REMF

Requirements: Lord-Pilot Hammer

Anvil Lord 7 yrs 3 1 +1 M/P

Skills: 6 pts: Command, Strategy, Oratory, Artillery, Anvil-wise Traits: 2 pts: Anvil Lord

Requirements: Lord-Pilot Anvil

Void Lord 10 yrs 0 2 +1 M/P

Skills: 5 pts: Void-wise, Vaylen-wise, Bureaucracy, Lost Secrets-wise. 1 pt: General.

Traits: 2 pts: Bitter, Frustrated, Righteous Requirements: Hammer Lord or Anvil Lord

Forged Lord 12 yrs 3 2 +1 M/P

Skills: 7 pts: Administration, Logistics, Noble-wise, Hammer-wise, Anvil- wise, Planet-wise. 2 pts General.

Traits: 1 pt: Forged

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In document Burning Empires - Core Rules.pdf (Page 141-146)