House Eridanus in a Nutshell

*See also: House Eridanus*

## House Eridanus in Acheron Rho

House Eridanus is represented across Acheron Rho as economists, bankers, taxmen, and industrialists. The House operates the largest financial institution in the Empire, the Eridanus Imperial Bank, and it collects taxes for the Imperial Treasury on every planet.

The sector-wide presence of House Eridanus is mostly felt through their control over the manufacturing sector of Acheron Rho. The House owns industrial facilities on every planet, and most goods and materials are stamped with the logos of the House Eridanus Actii. Their megastores sell everything a person or company might need; from simple food items to megatonnes of industrial chemicals.

### Rule and Government

The House exerts control over its subjects and peers through the application of economic pressure. For serfs, this means that House Eridanus will make those serfs completely economically dependent on their noble liege. Eridanii serfs are even more restricted in their freedom than other serfs in Acheron Rho. Interaction with other nobles and rich freemen is done primarily through legally binding contracts. Eridanii will always hold themselves and others to a signed contract.

### Economic power

House Eridanus exerts control over the Imperial economy primarily through the bureaucracy of the Actii Mercantil, the industrial and mercantile guilds of the House. Through institutions such as the Eridanus Imperial Bank and the H.E.X. stock market, House Eridanus can control the flow of currency throughout Acheron Rho. The House uses its control over finances and goods as leverage in Imperial politics.

### Controlling information

Eridanii nobles control their serfs by controlling their access to resources and information. The Ordo Fiducalem is the internal security and intelligence branch of the House. The Ordo gathers information on Eridanii citizens, and roots out dissent and rebellion among the serfs. Its starkly uniformed Enforcers are feared by the working class and respected by the nobility.

## Eridanii Noble Culture

*See also: House Eridanus Culture*
Eridanii nobles are deeply focused on their work. They view themselves as vital parts of the bureaucratic and economic machinery of the Empire and regard their jobs as their divinely appointed noble calling. This “Noblesse Oblige” is often a large part of their personal identity. House Eridanus sees the Empire as a well-oiled machine, in which every noble and serf is a cog. Some cogs are more important, but every single one must turn with the others to make the machine run. To an Eridanii noble, efficiency is the most important, even if it comes at the cost of empathy and human decency. The worth of a person is determined by their ability to contribute to the system. Their personal wants and needs are irrelevant.

### Lifestyle

Culturally reinforced workaholism causes many Eridanii to be emotionally repressed for the sake of efficiency. The Eridanus lifestyle is one of preparedness and control. A true Eridanii does not like to be surprised. Every risk must be assessed, and every penny accounted for.

Many Eridanii have a deep, nostalgic love for their ancestral home. The jungles of Tiber and especially graceful Sky Whales hold a special place in their hearts. It is one of the few things an Erdinaii will get openly emotional about.

### Vice

The accumulated stress of the Eridanii lifestyle is released through vices, with the most common vice being gambling. Gambling is used as an escape from the restrictiveness of Eridanii culture, where the gambler surrenders their control over the situation, and puts their fate in the hands of the dice. The real game is decided by how good one is at stacking the deck in their favour.

Gambling is often used as a social event in House Eridanus. It is not unusual for an Eridanii get-together to take place in one of the many high-end casinos on Eridanii worlds.

### The Social Divide

Eridanus society is strictly hierarchical. Everyone has their place on the ladder, and people who act above their station are ruthlessly put down, either economically if they are a serf, or socially if they are a noble. There are four larger social groups a person can belong to:

* **Nobility:** Nobles stand at the top of the hierarchy, and hold the most important political positions. Most Eridanii nobles work in the Imperial bureaucracy, or the Actii Mercantil. They have to rely heavily on their non-noble employees, servants, and freeperson CEOs to run the industrial manufacturing sector they now control. The nobility tend to act as stakeholders and overseers, rather than executives.
* **Discounts:** Previously rich freepersons, most of whom were the upper echelon of A.C.R.E. They hold higher management positions in the Eridanus economy, and are often far richer than most nobles, though lacking in social capital due to their lack of noble status. By marrying into a Noble family, Discounts gain the social and political capital required to operate within the noble spheres.
* **Freeperson:** The well paid and legally protected middle management of the Eridanii Nobility. People with skills to run the day to day of the massive Eridanus economy. Freepersons get access to freedoms and amenities far greater than the average serf, and gain the rights to lease property, and travel freely.
* **Serfs:** Working-class serfs make up the backbone of the Eridanus economy. Treated as wage slaves, they are generally regarded as cogs in the Eridanus machine, their place divinely appointed by the Almighty. The working classes are kept in line by their lieges through the control of information and resources. Eridanii serfs have to work long days to be able to afford a living wage.

## Planets

The House of Eridanus currently controls three planets in the Imperial Core. These massive planets, if you are counting by population, are not solely managed by the House. Other noble houses have significant residences and properties on the planets, but Eridanus has economic, historical, and legal power to govern the many billions that live and work on the planets.

### Demnoph

Demnoph is the manufacturing, industrial, and upper managerial heartland of the massive Eridanii economy. A smog-choked, gilded palace of a totalitarian state ruled by noble corporations. Demnoph is the origin of many baseline consumer-grade products in Acheron Rho. The centralized Eridanus bureaucracy is housed on the highest floors of The Ziggurat, a massive megastructure that is the main trade hub on Demnoph.

### [[[iber]]

Tiber is the cultural center of House Eridanus and the home of the H.E.X. stock market. The highest political and financial bodies of the House are situated on Tiber. A frequent destination of Eridanii nobles and the upper echelon who prefer neither the agricultural backwater of Yakiyah or the hazy skylines of Demnoph. Most of the dominant culture and non-corporate traditions of Eridanus find their origin here, on the black jungles of Tiber entrenched in obscure and bizarrely restrictive laws and practices.

### Yakiyah

Yakiyah is the newest addition to the holdings of House Eridanus. It stands upon the precedence of the previous ownership of A.C.R.E. and is now controlled by an Erinanii Rector. The planet is unspoiled farmland, serving as a breadbasket to the entire sector. Struggling worlds that are incapable of growing food themselves rely on Yakiyan L.O.A.V.E. rations to keep their people fed.

### Acheron Rho

Throughout the rest of the sector, the influence of House Eridanus is mostly seen in manufacturing districts, the financial sectors, and Imperial bureaucracy. The common people of Acheron Rho know the House by the many consumer products it sells, as each bears a seal of the Actii and the House. On most planets in the sector, House Eridanus operates large companies, and employs many serfs in its industrial or logistical facilities.