Snope's World - Hive Saturna and the Saturnal Court: Currently, only a dozen of the hundreds of industrial hive cities that once covered Snope's World retain any vestiges of power, the planet's aristocracy having largely abandoned the others as their crumbling infrastructure became too hazardous for their ornate soaring spires. The oldest and most influential is Hive Saturna, whose venerable foundations are said to be situated upon the exact spot where Drazitine first set foot planetside those many standard centuries ago.This towering hive city is home to not only the planetary governor and the ruling Saturnal Conclave of nobles, but also to the illustrious Platinal Palace, which Lord Drazitine himself commissioned to honour the divine figure who guided him. It is believed that each of the millions of glittering angles set upon the spire represents a soul lost during the treacherous voyage, though Imperial scholars have long debated the significance of the bizarre gestures of supplication displayed among the immense, angelic host.The Saturnal Court still dwells within this masterpiece of Imperial architecture, and it is from the ranks of these corrupt remnants of the world's gentry that the Saturnal Conclave draws its delegates. During the height of its power, the Saturnal Conclave encompassed the wealthiest inhabitants of the Askellon Sector, a status that led to struggles for dominance as the planet's great wealth began to wane. Such conflicts often ended violently, and each noble family is rumoured to have had a sizeable cadre of bodyguards, combat and snifter servitors, assassins, spies, and others skilled in the deadly arts at its disposal.However, following the notorious Dinner of the Poisoned Blades, when fully one in five of the members of the world's noble households were messily murdered during a three-day banquet, the then-planetary governor, Viceroy Nadrathor, decided to take drastic measures. He decreed that even the consideration of such dishonourable and underhanded tactics was unworthy of a true servant of the Emperor, and would henceforth result in the severest of punishments for any so accused. It is rumoured that the resulting opposition within the Saturnal Conclave was formidable, though Imperial records are vague as to which of the delegates survived the subsequent debates and which merely resigned in protest.The effects of the viceroy's actions were two-fold. First, the level of deception in Saturnal politics escalated, as the countless plots became an even more twisted morass of deceptions, false rumours, and covert assassinations. Second, it prompted an immediate deluge of charges brought before the High Juriducial Courts, as the noble houses sought reparations from their rivals for every real and imagined offense ever inflicted on them and their ancestors.The ensuing litigation resulted in an impasse that has persisted to this day; by the time a case finally comes before a magistrate, laws have changed, evidence is lost or fabricated, or one of the principal parties has died of old age, thereby opening up countless avenues of objections which force the case back to square one.This rampant atmosphere of collusion and deceit has bred all manner of secret societies that continue to thrive, even as Snope's World slips further down the economic ladder of the Askellon Sector. It is widely believed that nearly every member of the Saturnal Court is a member of a secret order of some sort.Many are merely social affairs, their members seeking a clandestine way to advance their respective agendas or indulge their private vices away from the constant scrutiny of courtly life. Others are more insidious, their existence serving only to entrap fellow nobles or gain exploitable knowledge. There are even some whose sole purpose is to supplant or exterminate any rivals, acts that constitute treason if detected.Yet scattered amongst this impenetrable web of deceit are other, more diabolical cabals dedicated to any number of forbidden pursuits and heretical practices. A great many of these began as simple pleasure cults or harmless acts of rebellion against the Imperium that inevitably serve as fertile breeding grounds for darkness and corruption.Others have instead become tools for devious recidivists, dangerous radicals, and other Heretics who use their newfound wealth and influence to advance their hideous designs. Such cults represent the single greatest threat to Imperial rule on Snope's World, and despite countless investigations and repressive actions, the true perpetrators often manage to melt into the shadows, only to reappear elsewhere and continue their activities anew.