In this quest, you will take on the role of a knight (that is, the pilot of a suit of armour, a semi-humanoid machine of war) in the service of one of the minor noble houses of the Jovian State. It’s fairly rare for a minor house to have any knights in their service, as this privilege is typically reserved for the major houses, so your position is exceptional.

This is an era of exceptions, however. The past thirty years have been marked by a string of peasant revolts in all of the major orbital habitats, the tragic death of Princeps Albrecht VI, the formation of a Regency Authority by the Diet until a new Princeps can be crowned, and a rapid weakening of central authority as major and minor houses alike seek to control as much of the Jovian State’s population and resources as they can.

Six months ago, a small fleet of pirate vessels fleeing the orbit of Mars arrived in orbit of Europa, and have since taken to reactivating and restoring a number of the old stations around that moon. They’ve yet to take any hostile action towards the Jovian State, but they bear the iconography of an unknown noble house and are heavily armed.

This is a period of great opportunity and great risk.

Given the chaotic nature of this era, conflicts are either foregone conclusions or dangerously random. Any action that merits a roll (which would be combat between knights, risky investments, time sensitive repairs, the sorts of things which must be done quickly or dangerously) is adjudicated by a single roll of a six-sided die, with a bonus or penalty to represent exceptionally good or bad circumstances. A high roll benefits the house, and a low roll is to the house’s detriment.

Remember that the best sort of war is one where your forces are so overwhelming that a roll is unnecessary.

Before we settle your personal details, we ought to consider the role and nature of your house.

The first and greatest divide between the noble houses of the Jovian State, before questions of power and influence, is between the Jovian and Galilean houses; that is, whether the house is based in orbit around one of the four largest moons or the gas giant itself. Select one of the following.

[] Jovian House of Nestorius (Nestorius is the largest of the stations orbiting Jupiter, a hub for manufacturing, and the seat of the Jovian Diet. It has the largest number of minor houses in the Jovian State, all jockeying for proximity to the power traditionally concentrated in Nestorius.)

[] Jovian House of Constantine (Constantine has historically been the seat of the Jovian State’s General Staff, and though that institution is largely defunct in the present day, the station is still associated with the military.)

[] Jovian House of Valentinus (Valentinus is by far the smallest of the stations orbiting Jupiter, and the one in poorest repair. Despite this, it is sometimes regarded as the cultural heart of the Jovian State, boasting a disproportionately vast number of film studies, art galleries, and universities.)

[] Jovian House of Leo (Leo was formerly the port between the nascent Jovian State and the larger Sol system, but with the decline of space travel from Earth, it declined in importance as well. Despite this, the system maintains a strong naval tradition, and the houses residing here have the closest ties to the Galilean houses, and the best access to space travel.)

[] Galilean House of Io (Io’s houses are the Galilean mirror to the houses of Constantine; where Constantine was the heart of the Jovian State’s military officers, Io was and remains the heart of its logistics. The moon’s surface is dotted with mines and refineries, and the stations and houses around it are intimately involved in the production of weaponry and armour.)

[] Galilean House of Ganymede (The houses of Ganymede are a varied bunch. The moon has more stations around it than any other, and is as often the birthplace of houses that later migrate to Nestorius as it is the place that houses which fall from grace in the capital retreat to. Ganymede’s many stations also make it the agricultural hub of the Jovian State, a role that used to be held by the stations of Europa before their decline and abandonment.)

[] Galilean House of Callisto (Callisto’s houses have the dubious honour of being prolific practitioners of eugenics, a practice which was more common across the Jovian State in centuries past but has fallen out of favour somewhat. For most Callistean nobles, this practice is largely aesthetic, as attempting to breed for enhanced intelligence or athleticism has massively diminishing returns after the first few generations, but this understanding is not universal, and some houses are suspected of attempting to breed posthuman soldiers.)

[]

Galilean

Martian House of Europa (Europa was formerly the agricultural center of the Jovian State, before the rapid decline of its stations led to it being abandoned and agricultural production moving to Ganymede. In the last few months, however, the lights of Europa’s stations have begun to shine again as a fleet of Martian exiles have made them a new home. If your house is of Europa, you exist outside the political order of the Jovian State. Your motivations are as much a mystery to them as their ways are to you. You also don’t represent a minor house within a larger polity so much as a subdivision within the single house that controls the martian fleet. Details will remain vague unless this option is selected.)

Your house is permitted to maintain its own armour, which is abnormal for a minor house within the Jovian State. It establishes the house as a significant player in Jovian politics, but is itself an honour only extended to those houses which are already relevant to the Jovian State at large. Select one of the following.

[] Military Distinction (Your house was empowered due to a long association with the Jovian State’s military, and your armour tends to be similar to those fielded by the declining government. Whether or not you will retain your ties to the military remains to be seen.)

[] Arms Manufacturer (Your house, probably hailing from Nestorius or Io, is intimately involved in the production of armour, and has been extended the right to field a small force of knights as a matter of course, ostensibly for testing purposes.)

[] Honoured Relations (Your house is distantly related to a major house, or perhaps was itself a major house in the distant past, and has leveraged the right to field knights as a result of that status.)

[] Shadow Force (Your house does not have permission to train or field knights. Your house has secured a few sets of armour despite this, and secretly trained their knights on simulators. This is unlawful, but with the Jovian State as it is, who is actually going to enforce the law?)

[] Martian Interloper (This is the option to pick if you’re voting for the Martian House of Europa option. You don’t have permission from the Jovian State to field knights because you aren’t part of the Jovian State, and you field knights anyway.)

As for the name of your house, this is primarily a matter for the write-in votes. Joke options will be vetoed, but otherwise this area is flexible. Maybe consider a name from mythology, or some language of Old Earth? If you’re going martian, this is the name of your sept within the house instead.

[] Write-in.