Setting
Setting
The Domineum
Centuries ago in a distant part of the universe, the Voidborn found a planet with a nascent human civilization and planted itself in the minds of its greatest leaders, thinkers and scientists who later formed the royal House of Novarchon. Through the parasites connected to their subconscious, they were inspired and gained knowledge which helped them start a greatly escalated period of intensive scientific and technological advancements, all guided by the insidious will of the Voidborn.
The civilization thrived and expanded into the stars, forming the interplanetary empire called the Domineum. For centuries, the Novarchs have ruled with an iron fist over the feudalistic galactic empire of humankind. During this time, they brought stunning technological innovation and scientific advancements to their domain.
While the Domineum prospered and advanced, the Voidborn waited and whispered into the minds of the Novarchs. When the empire had grown to a size suitable to the Voidborn’s hunger, it tore a hole in the fabric of reality, opening rifts to the Domineum’s dimension. This defining event is simply referred to as the Voidfall.
With the Voidborn coming, its corruption intensified and manifested in an organic infestation spread across those whose minds were infected. It didn’t only alter and take control over their body, but also spread and manipulated whatever energy source it could find: machines, buildings, spaceships. The core of the empire became fatally contaminated and the corrupted forces of House Novarchon, now controlled by the Voidborn, turned against the rest of humankind and the Domineum.
The Great Houses of Domineum
The old Domineum used to be a feudal, aristocratic system with the Supreme Novarch at the head of power. The Supreme Novarch was always a member of the royal House of Novarchon, who were the descendants of the founders of the Domineum, the Novarchs.
In time the Domineum started to expand, and new Houses arose to explore distant parts of the galaxy and take control over them on behalf of the Supreme Novarch. After the newly formed Great Houses managed to adapt their way of life to the extraordinary circumstances of these remote worlds, they gained the right to govern their own domains. They developed their own culture, their own economy, even their own military forces, all while obeying the fundamental laws of the Domineum, set by the Supreme Novarch.
While House Novarchon remained at the core of the empire as the inner circle of political and religious power, the Great Houses became the pioneers of the outer worlds. For this reason, the Great Houses became quite different in many aspects from each other. Every citizen of the Domineum is human, but due to the Great Houses’ different directions of development, many people in the outer sectors live with mutations, augmentations, implants or other effects of evolution.
When the Voidborn arrived at the Domineum, House Novarchon, along with their many followers from the inner worlds, accepted the false promise echoing in their minds and embraced the manifesting corruption. The Novarchs, once glorious leaders of a once glorious empire became the Harbingers of the Voidborn and laid waste on their own creations while leading their corrupted forces into a war with the Great Houses.