Paleon
| Map | Basic Data | Planetary Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Name: | Paleon | 
|
| Segmentum: | Segmentum Pacificus | ||
| Sector: | Macharian Sector | ||
| Subsector: | Gallosque Nebula | ||
| System: | Paleon System | ||
| Population: | |||
| Affiliation: | Imperium | ||
| Class: | Agri-World / Jungle World | ||
| Tithe Grade: | |||
Paleon is a Jungle Agri-World located in the Paleon System of the Gallosque Nebula subsector.[1]
Overview
Ancient, overgrown, and tumultuous, peripheral Paleon is the most politically perilous world in the Macharian Sector. Once, the Highborn families of Paleon ruled vast swathes of void territory stretching through the then unnamed sub-sectors of Cytheris and the Gallosque Nebula. Initial skirmishes with the Macharian Crusade convinced the Paleon Highborn that outright war would crush them entirely, and so they agreed to what they imagined was a temporary truce. To this day, there are heretical lineages that believe not only that their world is the most important in the galaxy, but that their Great Houses will one day rule unopposed by the Imperium once more, after they’ve dealt with their other Highborn rivals.[1]
Resources
Paleon’s wealth lies in the unique products of its lethal ecosystem. Most prized among these is the hulvasa berry, a vital ingredient in rejuvenat serums capable of dramatically extending human lifespan. The cervarch root can heal flesh almost instantaneously, though its use is agonising and often fatal. The Great Houses profit enormously from these exports, though harvesting them is perilous work, the plants resist cultivation offworld, and the jungles are infested with predatory megafauna such as the gigantosaur myra, a swift-breeding species whose teeth are highly valued.[1]
Rumours persist that the soil’s potency derives from centuries of bloodshed among the lowborn harvesters who feed Paleon’s economy.[1]
The Great Houses
Five Great Houses dominate Paleon’s political life: Alencar, Perore, Ochoa, Torralav, and Van Kaes. They are mercurial and decadent, engaging in ritualised vendettas known as Grievances, often requiring outside arbitration. The Order of the Hallowed Glass, an Order Famulous of the Adeptus Sororitas, was permanently assigned to the world to mediate these rivalries and prevent open warfare.[1]
Each House maintains its own traditions and temperaments:
- Alencar — scholarly and refined.[1]
- Ochoa — honourable and austere.[1]
- Perore — vain and self-indulgent, the current planetary governor Barius Perore epitomising their excess.[1]
- Torralav — forthright and outspoken.[1]
- Van Kaes — pragmatic and calculating.[1]
Governorship rotates among the Houses every twenty years, though the Adeptus Administratum notes that few transitions occur without intrigue.[1]
Regiments
The planet’s regiments, famed for their ferocity and endurance, are known as the Long Teeth, named after the myra that stalk Paleon’s jungles.[1]
Scions of the Great Houses who wish to join the Imperial Guard may do so, but those who do are seen as incurring a debt to their house that their relatives must repay. This practice is not looked upon favourably by the Astra Militarum, who deplore any interference with the process of recruitment. Despite many attempts to ban this so called ‘soldiers debt’, it continues to be an issue in certain quarters.[1]
See also
Sources
- 1: Imperium Maledictum, pgs. 300-303
