Darth Hauntruss
Wraith of the Sith
OOC INTRODUCTION
The Royal Star Kingdom of Starmark is all at once a planet, a minor faction, and a RP sandbox. All the names, and places you see below are like headers in a blank document. You add the substance! You write the stories of the Eight Great Houses, you create the political/courtly intrigue, you create the NPCs that flesh out the world, you create the companies that create faction unique technology, you control the course of the planet’s history and its history in the stars beyond.
Starkmark is a minor faction unlike any other – it is a setting and sandbox in of itself designed for RPers who are interested to RP Imperial Monarchies, Royal Courtly Intrigue, Rival Great Houses, Ambitious and Treacherous Knights, Great Generals and Admirals, Star Kingdoms, Planetary Warfare, Diplomacy Among the Stars, Chartered Royal Merchant Fleets sent on missions of commerce, and anything else you have in mind. All without relying on Galactic Empire and First Order motifs – YOU create the unique culture, and imagery of this Star Monarchy. Anything goes – from a Noble trying to climb the aristocratic ladder to a Civilian Alien trying to get by in a xenophobic monarchy. In addition, traditional faction ideas and goals will also be explored! (Like I said anything goes.)
Starmark is a minor faction that puts STORY above all else. It’s a sandbox to explore your ideas! All that I ask is it keeps to the themes presented above and below, is open to modification and collaboration, and above all is fun for everyone. So, without further ado here is – The Royal Star Kingdom of Starmark.
IC FACTION LORE AND STORY
In the Unknown Regions, to the galactic north of Csilla and the seat of the Old Iron Empire, is a Star Kingdom now rising from centuries of isolation and passive observation. This Star Kingdom is the Royal Star Kingdom of Starmark, situated on the temperate blue-green world of Starmark. Settled millennia ago by early Core World colonists, Starmark was given its name as it was the beacon on the tar maps of the lost colonist fleets. There, with the last eight ships of their fleet they landed and as a symbolic gesture dismantled their colony ships to build their colonies. The continents they colonized then bared the names of the colony ships that brought them there: Archnovia, Starfell, Valliance, Exillion, Hyporia, Celestion, Solvala, and Eidolon.
Later on, Eight Great Noble Houses would rise to global domination. These Houses derived their family names from the continents themselves and forged an iron rule over their subjects. Only under their elected monarch – The Arch Sovereign, are they united as one Star Kingdom. But, there are those who sit below their gilded world. Serfs, bonded to their Minor or Great House by a Debt of Labour. Aliens who had come to settle with the first colonists, now treated as second class citizens or rejects of society living in slums and urban sprawls. The politically scorned and vengeful who sit in the structures of the aristocracy waiting for their revenge.
Now Starmark rises with its new Arch Sovereign, Tiberius Starfell X, and the Eight Great Houses united, for now, are hungry for the stars above. The Royal Fleets will be rebuilt, the War Chapters of the Royal Army will be mustered again to form the Arch Sovereign’s Great Host, and the stars will once more be within their grasp. For the Arch Sovereign! For Starmark!
PLANET MAP IN SPOILER
Starmark is a world ruled by great men and women from great houses of power. Their wars, rivalries, victories, defeats, and fates have changed the fates of millions, many a time. Now you can add and create their fates a new. You create the family trees, you create their retainer minor houses, you control the respective fates of each of the Eight Great Houses. Craft stories of courtly intrigue, familial conflict, inter-house alliances/rivalries, and change the fates of millions once more. Each house has a primer to read below, but, nothing more. The rest is up to you!- CHOOSE YOUR HOUSE -
House Archnovia – The Masters of Coin
Archnovia is a land of frozen capped mountains, rocky shores, low fjords and plain valleys huddled between long mountain chains. Its mountains supply the world (and its exports) with Titanium and Chromium reserves as well as other minerals of industry. All this has lent to the vast wealth accumulated by the masters of coin, commerce, and industry – House Archnovia. For generations, the House has produced some of Starmark’s most celebrated and ruthless merchants and industry lords and ladies. It is their vast wealth that bank rolls the Royal Fleet, the Royal Armory, and Royal Engineers. No war, no conquest, no glory gained without the financing of House Archnovia. The House has also been known to produce some famous Admirals and Captains of the Royal Navy in its time. As well as Royal Engineers that have used the wealth of the House to produce great warships of the past.
House Starfell – Lords of War
Starfell is a temperate continent filled with agricultural hinterlands, flat plains, forests, lakes, long rivers, and mountains. It is one of the most populace of the continents and the political center of Starmark as the Arch Soveriegn’s Palace is in Starfell. The land itself mirrors the house that rules it – House Starfell. For generations, the House has produced some the greatest Soldiers, Generals, Force Masters, and Nobles Starmark has ever seen. Their prestige as a house of power and martial strength is unmatched with their House War Chapters making up the bulk of the remaining Arch Sovereign’s Great Host. Archnovia may finance the wars, but, it is the hands of House Starfell that reach out and grab victory. The current Arch Sovereign is of House Starfell, Tiberius Starfell X. A popular man among all the houses and the figurehead that lead the rebellion to free Starmark from the Iron Empire.
House Valliance – Pleasure and Power
Valliance is part sandy beach, soft coastal grasslands, and arid steppe, and low valleys. It is a contradiction of soft and beautiful terrain; and harsh vast wastes of arid steppes. Just like the house that presides over this split land – the split House of Valliance. The House of Valliance is split into two main branches, one that rules over the lush and luxurious coastal palaces and sea-side metropolises to the west and the other the large poor urban sprawls of the oasis cities of the arid steppe of the east. To the west is House Mar’Valliance and to the east Kar’Valliance. Mar’Valliance have produced some of Starmark’s most cunning and merciless Nobles and Politicians. They are a family that puts politics, relations, and the power of knowledge above all else, as well as the decadent pleasures of palatial life. Kar’Valliance have lived a brutal and harsh existence, but, one they revel in. They have produced some of the fiercest House War Chapters known to Starmark. Although smaller in number compared to the vast War Chapters of Starfell, the double in ferocity and courage.
House Exillion – Greatest of Defenders
Exillion becomes an arid and cold tundra the more south you go. Thus, one might say that House Exillion is just as barren. But, you would be wrong. Towering above the harsh environments of the extreme south are the great fortress cities of House Exillion built by the greatest defenders of the planet. Members of House Exillion are masters of defense, engineering, city and infrastructure building. It is their companies that build the space ports, the space stations that mine Tabanna and Sig Gas from the nearby gas giants and construct the space docks. Not as politically powerful as House Archnovia and Starfell but, their word on matters of planetary defense and royal expansion are always heeded.
House Hyporia – Heirs to the Stars
Hyporia is a continent of similar terrain and climate as Archnovia but, much milder. House Hyporia may rule over bountiful but, unremarkable lands but, it is in the stars that they excel. For House Hyporia is a House who itself has conquered the stars. Their line derives from a group of space pirates, renegades, and old sea dogs who travelled on the ancient colony ship the Archnovia – their pedigree in space is unmatched. For generations Hyporia has produced famed Admirals, Vice-Admirals, and even one or two First Space Lords. It is they who have forged the Royal Fleets into the star reaching force it once was. And soon once more, their time among the stars has come.
House Solvala - Rouges and Scoundrels
Solvala is a land covered in jungles, long meandering wide rivers, which get thicker and wilder the more east you go. House Solvala is well known for its prowess in more, seedy and grim work. Their House members are masters of illicit trade, information warfare, software disruption, and dealing with the vast criminal network of the galaxy. Their fleet of merchant ships and privateers are primed to stalk and terrorise the trading lanes of space once more!
House Celestion – Maestros of Whispers and Schemes
Celestion is one grand dune sea of red and orange desert. There are oases and river fed green lands near its coasts and towards the greener lands of Solvala. Like the winds that whisper sweet nothings into the ears of its merchant caravans. The House of Celestion is filled with ruthless and cunning maestros of whispers, deceit, and the shadows. Their web of spiders run deep within Starmark, but their greater aim is across the galaxy. No one is immune to the secrets they may hold – and if they hold them – so does House Celestion. Their War Chapters are supremely well trained in the art of Black Ops, Espionage, and Surprise Strikes. Rarely do they openly take the field of battle preferring to enter through shadow and chaos.
House Eidolon – The Forgotten House
Eidolon is one large arid and rocky steppe that spans the entirety of the island continent. Its coasts however support green grasslands, agricultural lands, and sandy beaches. It is the only house that willingly accepts aliens into its family. As a result, due to the xenophobia of the aristocracy it is often overlooked. But, its power is that many of its members are the back-bone of the Royal Army, and Royal Navy. It is their conscripts that fill the crews of the warships, man the other War Chapters, and work in the factories of the other Houses. They are beloved by their own people and are known as the House of the people. There is no greater power than a motivated populace.
