Luktus

Domum Luktus are considered untouchable for
millennia. They have mastered death and decay in the form of necromancy and
bioengineering. While this is a strong Domum in its own right, they never
exercised their power. They caught the eye of Domum Desiderii and Mysterium
from time to time, but they are generally left alone. They never formally
allied themselves with Domum Lusem, or any other Domi for that matter. Most of
the Domi avoid their space and ships keeping a live and let live mentality.
After the Collapse, not much is still known about them.

# Banner Colors and Motto

Like all Domi, and especially the Fana Ekselsorum, they have
banner colors and motto.

## End of Things

Domum Luktus is inherently nihilistic. This is reflected in
their motto “The End of Things” being a statement of finality. To the Domum and
their affiliated Domi, things end and Luktus would rather have things end on
their terms rather than at the whim of an uncaring universe.

## Banner Colors

Luktus colors are only seen on their emblems. They do not
normally take the time to bother with painting anything in general, outside of
protective coats to protect bare materials from weather.

# History in Brief

A vast majority of their history is unknown after the forming
of the Septumberate. However, before when they were but a minor collection of
like-minded houses, their history was rather unimpressive. Their aloofness was never
planned nor required, their knowledge is readily available if they feel that it
wouldn’t harm anyone for them to know or otherwise they would find out on their
own with minor research.

## Pre-Septumberant

Before the Septumberate they were a collection of loosely
affiliated Domi trying to understand the universe and the Fel’s place within
it. The slow seepage of nihilistic ideology eventually came to a head during
the rise of the Septumberant when they came to the conclusion that there is no
meaning. This realization and basic breakdown of their ethical dilemmas allowed
them to research necromancy and other life sustaining technologies creating a
more synthetic route for immortality rather than the genetic alteration that
the Desiderii ended up introducing.

## Septumberant

Domum Luktus never truly became a member of the Septumberant
by declaration like the other Domi; more that they just never yielded and most
other Domi quickly realized that they are better left alone. Their Dirge Knights
have been found to be formidable and their ability to raise vast legions of
undead to defend their necropoli made them a sort of legend over time and
invoked terror and many sleepless nights for commanders tasked with taking a
Luktus stronghold.

Whenever the other six members of the Septumberate would
demand a sitting for negotiations, they always extended an invitation to
Luktus, if not out of fear, out of respect.

## Imperial

When the other members of the Septumberant started to align
themselves with Lusem, Luktus never made a formal declaration of allegiance.
Their lack of interference in the day to day operations of the Empire and
general compliance to requests that were not too inconvenient was all Lusem
really needed as affirmation that Domum Luktus was loyal in their own way to
the Imperial Domum.

In secret, Luktus aided Lusem on many endeavors and specifically
helped co-engineer the Mothers and the basic technology that would create a
sub-domain within the Psi Field creating Hive-Mind. Without Luktus’ assistance,
Lusem wouldn’t have been able to overpower Furorem’s massive army and rise to
be the Imperial Domum.

## Collapse

Domum Luktus was largely unaffected by the Collapse as a
whole. This was mostly because the collapse was orchestrated in the end by Luktus
with the Fel Emperor. They were predicting the end of the Empire through slow
decay and rot from within; a side effect they felt, from the immortality they
gained. They helped the Emperor to create a set of events that would force the
Empire to metamorphose and reshape itself, but like parable of the sculpting
statue, in order to do it, there will have to be suffering.

As Domum Furorem managed to take control of the Empire with
aid of the Emperor’s estranged son, Luktus never pledged allegiance one way or
the other, but as tradition, Furorem assumed the role since Luktus never obviously
interfered.

# Political Position and Structure

Luktus have some basic similarities to any other Domi, but
they do have some key differences.

## Dirge King, Court Dirge, and Lord Dirge Knight

Like all of the Fana Ekselsorum, Domum Luktus is just a
larger Domum with many other smaller Domi aligned to their banner. As such they
have a patriarch that runs the house and two aids; what those are called and
their end function is what makes it different.

Dirge King is the de facto leader of Luktus, but that
role is more of a figure head position. The entire Domum is operating under a
really complex and nebulous plan and is actually ran by a council of all the Lich
Kings of the other Domi under Luktus causing the whims of the Domi to shift
from time to time. The job of the Dirge King is to maintain order and to act as
the face of the Domum when necessary.

Court Dirge serves as the Dirge King’s proxy, similar
in function as the High Proxy in other Domi. Their task is to fulfill the will
of the council and to further to end goals of the Domum.

Lord Dirge Knight functions at the highest commander of
the Dirge Knights. While she commands the undead at the Necropolis itself, she
also has the authority to command other Dirge Knights and create the Combined
Dirge Horde if needed.

## Liches

Luktus doesn’t have nobles in the classical sense. Most
every member is out to fulfill their part of the great plan that was laid
before them. The Liches serve are the epitome of that plan. After centuries of
study and enhancements, they gain tremendous necromantic abilities and each
serve their part.

## Slaves

Luktus doesn’t keep a Slave class; however, the Slaves have
been instructed to give any of their dead to Luktus. Luktus uses undead labor
for most things, hordes of them controlled by Liches to do everything from the
most basic labor to complex manufacturing. Sometimes the undead are stitched
together and enhanced to be used later as combat units when the Dirge Knight calls
upon them.

## Standing Military

The Luktus never held a large military, seeing it as unnecessary.
They do have a military position referred to as Dirge Knight; a title designed
to be disconcerting. They never saw a need to maintain a standing army of any measurable
threat, they do however, create mass, shallow graves around important
facilities and colonies, commonly referred to as a Necropolis due to very real
possibility that the number of corpses could outnumber the living. A Dirge Knight
is assigned to protect an area and is normally a powerful necromancer that has
been cyberneticaly enhanced to be able to raise thousands of undead at a time.
Their military expertise and utilization of both the undead of the Necropolis
and any fallen enemies make them feared military commanders.

# Overall Philosophy

The Philosophy that drives Luktus is that of basic
existential nihilism. They view that the universe is worse than uncaring about
its denizens, it’s indifferent. Because of this, Luktus chose to impose their
will over all facets of living within the universe, and that creates a massive
preoccupation with death.

To the Luktus, death is just a thing that happens. Most of
Fel culture shows an aversion to death and dying; which ultimately brought them
to the immortality they all share as a species; but Luktus decided to embrace
it, almost literally.