Hiera

Hiera is part of the Ellis system in Hex #0605.

The planet Hiera

Hiera is the homeworld of House Crux, located in the Ellis system alongside Gats, the former homeworld of House Cygnus. The name Hiera was originally drawn from the Ancient Greek ἱερός, meaning holy, or sacred, though this knowledge was lost in the aftermath of the Scream. It is a frigid planet, sweeping tundras and deep forests broken up by vast mountain ranges and cold oceans, all frozen over for most parts of the year. Hiera produced its own life, including a race of sentient, semi-intelligent aliens, the Gaald, and a few unique animals that are indigenous to the planet.

One notable feature of Hiera is its unusually plentiful supply of elemental gold. One may find loose nuggets along the sides of roads, in rivers, and even mixed in landscaping stone. The use of gold and gilding in architecture has become a common tradition, and is economically accessible even to serfs. Because of the small but omnipresent levels of gold salts in the soil, natives of Hiera are known to exhibit varying levels of chrysiasis, a harmless condition that results in the bluish-greying of tissues, including skin, gums and the sclera of the eyes. The common folk most often present the extreme manifestations of the condition, while the native bourgeoisie and Nobility may exhibit only a hint of grey in their complexions.

Due to the unusual soil on Hiera, the types of plants growable on Hiera are different to those encountered on most inhabited and agri-worlds. As a result, Hiera is famous for its strangely coloured varieties of beer, most notably Möllendorfer Tripel Schwarz, an ale similar to a Belgian Tripel, but entirely jet-black due to the native plants used instead of hops. It is brewed on the Möllendorf estate in apparatuses made entirely of gold. Beer aficionados insist that this is not a gimmick, as the unreactive nature of elemental gold gives the beer a "crisp purity."

## The City of Ven

When the Colony Ship *Crux* first touched down on Hiera over a millennium ago, it landed in a verdant river valley just above the Hieran equator. It was named the Ven River Valley after a heroic figure long-since forgotten, and it would soon become the site of Hiera's largest city. With a population of over a billion, the Ven River Valley has long since left its pastoral roots behind. Today, a wasteland of steel, black glass, and concrete stretches for thousands of square miles around the poisoned River Ven.

*For more information on the City of Ven, see here.*

## The Hammerberg Mountains

### The Hall of Ancient Princes

The great fortress known as the Hall of Ancient Princes is nestled deep within the Hammerberg Mountains. Here, the Prince's Council meets.

### The Church of the Mother of Mercy

At the base of the Hammerberg Mountains lies the Church of the Mother of Mercy, a titanic cathedral also known as *The-City-That-Is-A-Church.* In the distant past it was some sort of alien holy site, but today it stands for the glory of Crux's patron saint, the Mother of Mercy. The Church is a winding maze of corridors, alcoves, statues, stained glass, and confessional booths boasting a population of almost five million. It is here that House Crux liaises with the ten branches of the High Church and holds all of its religious ceremonies and festivals.

### The Halls of Precedence

On Hiera, beneath the Church of the Mother of Mercy, there is a memorial to the dead and the rule of law. Built together by Crux, Fornax and Lyra in a more unified and peaceful time, the Halls of Precedence, located underneath the Church of the Mother of Mercy, are a place for reflection, debate, and learning. The noblility of the house are preserved there by Neshmet trained serf-technicians in translucent coffins. A cunning Fornax-built system exists to bring these coffins to the center of the Halls for special events and debates, of which more will be said later.

When a member of House Crux expires, Neshmets from House Lyra remove the organs and preserve the body. A large wake is then held in remembrance of the dead nobles contributions to the House and to the law of the empire. Their investigations, cases, and judgements are brought forth. Whether successful or not, all is laid bare at this time. Cases and investigations are re-enacted by actors from House Lyra and the merit of their cases and decisions is debated by members of House Crux. After sermons of the Ten Virtues from the High Church, the celebration culminate in the Specification. Every dead member of House Crux, unless they were a truly horrendous example, has their most important case or investigation named after them, replacing its former numeric designation.

Once these ceremonies are completed, the preserved body is brought to the Halls of Precedence and placed along with small tokens of their life in a glass coffin. Small chapbooks, produced by House Lyra, are offered, describing the contributions to the laws and justice of the Empire. Many members of House Crux who seek to emulate a particular ancestor or relative will carry these books with them and read from them prior to momentous trials in their lives.

The Halls of Precedence are more than solemn catacombs however. They are a courtroom. The grand amphitheater holds events, organized by House Lyra and Crux together, where a dead ancestors life can be debated for its merits. House Crux knows that nothing is beyond re-examination. No case is ever so closed it cannot be reopened. The grand amphitheater has very rarely been used for special trials as well, when long closed cases are brought forth once more, with the relevant dead members of House Crux lying in attendance over the duties and judgements they still bear.

## Darvasa, the Wyrm’s Maw

A major mining and industrial engine, the city of Darvasa is deep in Hiera’s north, nestled on the edge of a frigid ocean. The city is split between the packed apartment towers of its working serf and freepeople population and the secluded mansions of the wealthy ruling nobles. From Darvasa, the niche Hiera cultural movement, WVRM, emerged.

*For more information on Darvasa, see here.*

## Thronderhauer

A historic city, renowned as a vacation destination for its thick, beautiful forests and historic, marble buildings. Thronderhauer proports itself to be one of the first landing sites of those who came to Hiera aboard the colony ships. A local dog show, the Thronderhauer Volkenhunde Show, also draws competitors and onlookers from across the Empire each year.

*For more information on Thronderhauer, see here.*

## Moons and Satellites

### Khal, the Convict's Moon

This grey moon is the smallest of Hiera's three moons and serves as a holding cell and prison facility for those convicted by the Imperial Justice, before they are sent to Gleipnir. The moon is a honeycomb of passages and cells, and the barren, airless surface is just as much a deterrent to escape as the guards themselves. Prisoners here are in constant flux, with some moving down to permanent holdings on Hiera, while others are sent off to prisons across the sector. The moon is also home to the Stahlmond Academy of Criminal Justice, which serves as the training ground for Scharfrichters, the executors of the Imperial Punishment.There are whispers that it is also a staging area or possible headquarters for the secretive Cathars, but those reports can be confidently dismissed as mere conspiracy theory.

### Throphe, the Noble's Moon

Seventy percent of Throphe's surface is dull, grey, and lifeless like its sister, Khal. Thirty percent of it, however, is under atmospheric pressure bubbles. Under these great domed areas, parts of the planet have been terraformed into a recreation of the primeval German wilderness- dark forests, deep lakes, snow-capped mountains. This is where Crux nobility go to get away- their chateaus dot the countryside and the forests and lakes are seeded with all manner of Terran life to hunt.

### Vailami, the Soldier's Moon

Also known as *the Blood Moon* due to its unique red coloration, Vailami is the second-largest of Hiera's moons and the second-most habitable. As such, it is the headquarters and main staging area for the House Guard.

### Orbital Ruin - Semeykin IV

* **Occupation:** Trigger-happy scavengers

* **Situation:** Trying to stop it awakening

## Planet Tags

### Colonized Population

A neighboring world has successfully colonized this less-advanced or less-organized planet, and the natives aren't happy about it. A puppet government may exist, but all real decisions are made by the local viceroy.

#### Enemies:

* Suspicious security personnel
* Offworlder-hating natives
* Local crime boss preying on rich offworlders

#### Friends:

* Native resistance leader
* Colonial official seeking help
* Native caught between the two sides

#### Complications:

* Natives won't talk to offworlders
* Colonial represssion
* Misunderstood local customs

#### Things:

* Relic of the resistance movement
* List of collaborators
* Precious substance extracted by colonial labor

#### Places:

* Deep wilderness resistance camp
* City district off-limits to natives
* Colonial labor site

### Hatred

For whatever reason, this world's populace has a burning hatred for the inhabitants of a neighboring system. Perhaps this world was colonized by exiles, or there was a recent interstellar war, or ideas of racial or religious superiority have fanned the hatred. Regardless of the cause, the locals view their neighbor and any sympathizers with loathing.

#### Enemies:

* Native conviced that the offworlders are agents of Them
* Cynical politician in need of scapegoats

#### Friends:

* Intelligence agent needing catspaws
* Holodoc producers needing "an inside look"
* Unlucky offworlder from the hated system

#### Complications:

* The characters are wearing or using items from the hated world
* The characters are known to have done business there
* The characters "look like" the hated others

#### Things:

* Proof of Their evildoings
* Reward for turning in enemy agents
* Relic stolen by Them years ago

#### Places:

* War crimes museum
* Atrocity site
* Captured and decommissioned spacehsip kept as a trophy

### Police State

The world is a totalitarian police state. Any sign of disloyalty to the planet's rulers is punished severely, and suspicion riddles society. Some worlds might operate by Soviet-style informers and indoctrination, while more technically sophisticated worlds might rely on omnipresent cameras or braked AI “guardian angels”. Outworlders are apt to be treated as a necessary evil at best, and “disappeared” if they become troublesome.

#### Enemies:

* Secret police chief
* Scapegoating official
* Treacherous native informer

#### Friends:

* Rebel leader
* Offworld agitator
* Imprisoned victim
* Crime boss

#### Complications:

* The natives largely believe in the righteousness of the state
* The police state is automated and its "rulers" can't shut it off'
* The leaders forment a pogrom against "offworlder spies"

#### Things:

* List of police informers
* Weath taken from "enemies of the state"
* Dear Leaders's private stash

#### Places:

* Military parade
* Gulag
* Gray concrete housing block
* Surveillance center

 * Factions
* Fall of Prince Hektor

 * **Hiera**
* Hieran Fauna
* Hieran Flora
* Tanager Network
* Golden Flake
* The Golden Generation
* The Gaald
* Volkenhunde

 * Ven City
* Darvasa

 * Organization
* History
* Education
* Crucian Succession
* C.O.A.T.
* Inheritance
* Serfs

 * Anwalt
* Richter
* Scharfrichter
* Inquisitor

 * S.T.R.A.F.E.
* NULL Division
* The Summer Court
* Papierkrieg Büro
* The Hieratic Jabal
* Jade Panda
* Borussia Mensur
* Hard Karl's

 * Imperial Law
* Vassalage

 * Synthetic Sedition Order
* Seuchenjäger Program
* Headhunters

 * Mother of Mercy
* The Firekeeper
* NullMother
* Booker Greaves

 * Gleipnir
* Jel Vaa
* Gangs
* Fenrir Council
* Say Hello
* The Wolf's Jaws

 * Crux FacTurn Fluff
* The Prudence
* Alexandron Tor
* SCF Anemas
* Advanced Peacekeeping
* Gambat
* Zumu Legoti