House Fornax is one of the Houses Major alongside House Crux and formerly Cygnus and Vela. The House is based on Maja, a fiery world that was always almost uninhabitable but made worse by the mining and forges House Fornax built there.
DM Corner / Quick Info tab[]
Characteristics of House Fornax[]
- House Fornax is known for inventing the modern spike drive & building the ships that use it
- viewed as very high-class, always at least verging on arrogance or haughtiness in their behavior
- Fornax takes responsibility not only for the construction of Imperial ships and mechs, but also the training of the mechanics and engineers that service them
- House Fornax boasts they train the best pilots as well (although not navigators)
- ruled by an oligarchy of representatives from all the branches of the House known as the Senate.
General Philosophy[]
- Major noble houses are majors for a reason and not only more important but better nobility
- Political squabbles of other houses are meaningless unless they threaten Fornax wealth and comfort
- Serfs are tools to be used, ideally correctly
- What you do and what you create define character, not words said
- Industry and thus money is power
Aesthetics & Inspiration[]
Traits: Industrious; Haughty; Stand-offish
Historical Touchstones: Most Serene Republic of Venice; U.S. Gilded Age (1870s - 1900s)
Historical Characters: Mae C. Jemison, Leonardo da Vinci, Wright Brothers
Fictional Characters: Tony Stark (Iron Man), Kaywinnet Lee Frye (Firefly)
Fashion: Futuristic business wear; appealing and sleek work clothes (e.g. spaces suits, power armor); classy, timeless, for less formal occasions also colorful and wide dresses, lots of orange and red
Musical Influences: Baroque Classical, Disco, Synth-pop, Industrial, heavy bass electronic
NPCs[]
[Show NPCs yet to come]
Homeworld[]
The planet that Fornax calls home is Maja in system 0505, Imperial Prime. All of the Points of Interest, Tags and Planetary details can be found there.
Language[]
There are many official languages within House Fornax. The majority are languages passed down in part or in full throughout its noble families via oral traditions. On Maja, the local spoken language is a pidgin mix of old norse languages and Latin called Scando-Latin. Vocabulary, grammar, and slang lean heavily on old Terran languages like Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. For official documentations of any kind Fornax Latin and the sector's Common are used.
Naming Convention & Titles[]
We have chosen loosely Latin/Roman sounding titles, officially known as S P A C E L A T I N.
The name format for the House is as follows:
[Title] Fornax [Family Name] [Given Name]
Dominus Fornax Koebel Adam
Current titles in use[]
| Title | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Orafex Primus/Maximus | Speaker of the Senate (communicates with Adam) |
| Orafex Secundus | Backup Speaker of the Senate |
The rest of the titles are not unique, feel free to choose any of these, or make up your own.
| Title | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ignus/Igna/Ignex | Lord/Lady (masculine, feminine, nonbinary) |
| Dominus/Domina/Dominex/Domines | Head of Family/Household (masculine, feminine, nonbinary, plural neutral) |
| Prorex/Proregina | Viceroy (masculine/nonbinary, feminine) |
| Scintillus/Scintilla/Scintillex | Early childhood care and education (masculine, feminine, nonbinary) |
| Title | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Denarus/Denara/Denarex | Master of Coin/Accounting (masculine, feminine, nonbinary) |
| Augur Historia | Archive and record keeping |
| Augur Iuris | Lawyer |
| Augur Publica | Public relations |
| Fornifex | Manager of the Fornicators Psiball team |
| Title | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Machinafex | Master Engineer (lit. Machine builder); Engineer that hasn't chosen a speciality (yet) |
| Armifex | Mech builder |
| Navifex | Ship builder |
| Ferrifex | Battleship builder |
| Cordifex | Spike drive specialist (literally, “heart-maker”) |
| Simulfex | Systems Integration (Interfacing Other Factions' Equipment/Systems On Fornax Designs) |
| Aedificator | Ships Interior Designer |
| Ponerefex | Ship and shipyard maintenance |
| Princeps | Test Pilot (lit. First); The first to pilot the ships/mechs |
| Emendator | The repair teams and salvaging crews |
| Artaefex | Robotics engineer |
| Urbifex | Civil engineer and city designer |
| Motifex | Ground- and atmosphere-based vehicle design |
| Teranus/Terana/Teranex | Raw materials production such as mining or processing (masculine, feminine, nonbinary) |
| Title | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Domines-Dux | Admiral/Military Leader of some kind |
| Decanus | Security for Senate and Nobles |
| Navarch | Captain of one or more ships |
| Praefectus | Chief of Security of Dock(s) |
Database of Current Senators[]
If you are done with the name making, please register yourself in the House Fornax Senate Database.
Notable House Members[]
| Function | Senator |
|---|---|
| Orafex-Primus (Faction rep to Adam) | Domina Fornax Naupegus Ludova |
| Orafex-Secundus | Machinafex Fornax O'Shea Lasair |
Known history[]
After humanity landed on Imperial Prime to gain a foothold in this new and strange part of the universe, settlers spread out to colonize other planets too.
The first in line was Maja, since the planet is in the same star system as Imperial Prime and housed intelligent life that the early settlers were interested in. Due to the Scream there is little knowledge still about these early times but first contact with this alien life was made by the ancestors of what is now House Fornax.
Soon after, however, tragedy ensued as the humans had to eliminate the revealed alien threat on Maja and tear the alien life out root and stem. It is unclear if the humans on Maja started the 'War for Human Prosperity' that would quickly engulf the whole sector or if the hostilities on Maja were merely a side effect of that war.
On all accounts the human settlers were victorious and obtained large amounts of alien technoloy and relics.
The repurposing of this alien tech enabled incredible feats, such as the giant shipyard in the planet's orbit and is an essential reason why humans were able to thrive on Maja. But the changed and refitted technologies weren't ever working as well in the hands of humans as they were with their original creators, resulting in the already vulnerable crust of the planet weakened even further - which House Fornax's ancestors willingly allowed to happen to harness the power of the moving and shifting earth to generate vast amounts of energy.
Much later Aeternus' Chain was built around the shipyard, spanning equatorial around the planet. The areas around some of the so called Chain Links, the connections of the planet's surface to Aeternus' Chain, proved to be ideal for larger human settlements and so cities emerged around them, leading to smaller settlements further away from the Chain Links to be abandoned and forgotten.
The areas around these Chain Links are some of the most stable on the whole planet, and so House Fornax decided to dig deep and to build cities under the surface, as that was predicted to be easier to protect than with domes on the surface. But the alien relics and technologies that were used to create the shipyard, and are infused into Aeternus' Chain and the Chain Links, were originally connected to deeper layers of the planet and the repurposing of them damaged the planet's mantle more than first thought, so the dug in city ideas were abandoned and instead turned into foundations for earthquake resistant domed cities on the surface.
Even today there are still some unused mine shafts and tunnels below the big Majan cities that most people know nothing about.
(this is very work in progress)
Ships[]
House Fornax, being the House responsible for building the Imperial Fleets, has continually created new ship designs.
The Fornax Senate[]
The House Fornax Senate is the unicameral legislature of House Fornax. It meets in the Koissi Orchestrum, on the Mimisbrunnr Promenade, a central location on Aeternus' Chain, Maja. It’s full name is the Ancient and Venerable Assembly of the Elders of House Fornax, Lords Regent of Maja and the Associated and Numerous Territories of its Nobility Therein, in the Combined Interests of House Fornax and the Imperial Crown, Governed and Dictated by the Most Knowledgeable Senate.
The Senate is responsible for the passing of all laws on Maja and other House Fornax controlled territories, as well as approving budgets, and all other matters of state.
The Senate is an oligarchy of up to 600 representatives taken from the noble families of the house. Membership to the Senate is by appointment and there is no term limit; appointments last until death, retirement or removal.
Membership[]
Organisation[]
The senate is currently capped at 600 members, with that number evenly divided between the “Dynastic Seats” and “Virtue Seats”. Dynastic seats are hereditary and are granted to the most prominent 300 noble households in House Fornax, as defined in the Senate Reorganisation Act. Virtue seats may be granted to nobles of any family, and are used to provide greater diversity in the senate, by awarding them to owners of significant businesses, prominent scientists, etc. In practice, these virtue seats lead to many of the most prominent families having multiple senators.
Qualifications[]
There are various requirements that are required to be met to sit in the Senate. Only adult nobles may be senators. A candidate must be of House Fornax, however, you do not have to be born into the house (e.g. you may be Fornax by marriage). Candidates must further be “in good standing” as nobles, which is generally understood as a requirement to hold land on Aeternus’ Chain or Maja proper, and to not be the subject of a bankruptcy procedure, nor any other serious criminal conviction.
Appointments[]
New senators are selected only on the retirement, death, impeachment, or otherwise removal of existing senators.
In the case of a dynastic seat, a retiring senator is allowed to nominate their successor. Similarly, they may nominate one in their will in case of death. In these cases, the vote on approving the new senator is held by the entire senate, and is usually seen as a formality. In the event the vote does fail, the head of the family may put forth alternative candidates until the senate is satisfied.
For virtue seats, the appointment process is controlled by the Senate Integrity Committee. Senators may put forth candidates they feel are worthy from any profession or noble family. The Committee chooses from amongst these, weighing up the gaps in the Senate’s expertise, and the candidates temperament, to decide which will be taken to the next stage: the Kamino Conclave.
At the start of each Senate term, the committee convenes a Kamino Conclave. During the Conclave, they committee holds interviews of the candidates in front of the senate, in which they may be called to answer any question about themselves, their business, or their family as it pertains to their ability to be a senator. The candidates are then sequestered while the senate deliberates and votes.
Upon acceptance into the Senate, a new senator is required to take an oath and their pin is forged.
Removal from the Senate[]
Under normal circumstances, a Senator is expected to serve until death or retirement, however, sometimes it is necessary to remove a sitting Senator from their seat.
If a Dynastic Senator is incapacitated and unable to perform their duties, their family might petition for a regent to take their place until they are able to perform them again. This is treated in the same way as succession, except that the Regent must leave when the Senator returns.
Expulsion from the senate is automatic for serious criminal offenses, such as treason, as well as others defined under the Senate Reorganisation Act [year|some year]. Similarly, you cannot remain a senator if you lose your nobility, are excommunicated, or leave House Fornax. There will be no option for an appeal.
Other suspensions and expulsions are subject to a hearing by the Senate Integrity Committee, and may occur as a result of losing “good standing” as a noble, e.g., through a minor criminal offense or bankruptcy, sever breaches of Senate rules, or a vote of the Senate for “Formal Censure”.
Officers[]
Member Officials[]
The Orafex of the Senate presides over debates in the senate. They determine which members are allowed to speak, which debates are timetabled, and announces the results of votes. The Orafex is also responsible for ensuring proper conduct in debates, enforcing senate procedure and good behaviour through their officers. The Orafex does not normally take part in debates or vote, although they cast tie-breaking votes. The current Orafex is Domina-Dux Fornax Naupegus Ludova. When the Orafex is unavailable, their position is deputised to one of several Orafex Secundi. These senators are also expected to remain neutral, although are allowed to maintain committee chairships.
The Praesidius is not a separately appointed position, but rather the chair of the Adjudications Committee. In this role, they function as Chief Justice and head auditor of the budget, and wield tremendous authority in the Senate. They come second in the official list of precedence, behind the Orafex, but ahead of the Orafex Secundi.
Non Member Officials[]
The official records of the senate and the senate library are overseen by a large number of Augurs Historia and Publica. Chief amongst these is the Augur Stabilis, who also serves as the Senate parliamentarian, ensuring that senate procedure is followed, and adjudicating rule disputes. They are attended to by the Enviscar, who is responsible for keeping Senate record complete, and is charged with overseeing the transcription of laws onto steel plates.
Senate security is handled by a team of Decani, overseen by the Censor. The Censor is responsible for the day to day order of the Senate, and has authority to remove and detain unruly senators. A Censor must have completed military service to be eligible.
The Ignex Vestal is the master of traditions and ceremonies. They are responsible for lighting the senate crucible each day, as well as many other ceremonial duties such as the swearing in of new senators. They are easily recognised by their ceremonial thawb.
The Primat of the senate is always the High Priest of the Cathedral of [name|some name], which is near to the Koissi Orchestrum on the Mímisbrunnr Promenade. The Primat oversees the spiritual needs of the senators, and starts off the senate each day with a prayer.
All senior senate officials are recommended for a vote to the Senate by the Integrity Committee, although in practice the Orafex has much sway on who is appointed, as it is to them that the Augur Stabilis, Censor, and Vestarch are answerable.
Senatorial Insignia[]
Seal of the Orafex[]
The Seal of the Orafex is the personal seal of the Orafex of the House Fornax Senate. It is used on official senate correspondence to indicate the document has been given assent by the senate.
The design of the seal goes back to the Orafex Fornax Calces Eudoxia, who adopted their families personal heraldry as that of the office. It consists of a half cog in the background, rotated to fill the lower left half, with a gold circle in the foreground. The half cog symbolises the industrial might of House Fornax, while the gold circle symbolises wealth and unity.
Senate pins[]
To indicate their status, senators are given a special circular pin bearing the half-cog insignia of the senate. These pins function in tandem with their signet rings as identification, particularly during the recording of votes, and allow them access to restricted areas in the Senate building.
The Senate pins are forged in the Senate itself when a new senator is appointed, and are likewise destroyed in the same forge when a senator is removed. As such, there are only as many pins as active senators.
Although the pin design is minimalist, a certain amount of customisation is encouraged, although any such modifications should be confined to the non-cog half of the pin.
Departments & Committees[]
The Majan senate uses committees for many purposes, particularly for the drafting and review of legislation and hearing testimony from non-Senators. Like appointment to the Senate itself, all committee appointments are suggested through the Senate Integrity Committee, but voted on by the entire Senate. It is common for the Senate Integrity Committee to defer suggestions to the committee in question, but they are not obliged to do so.
Committees vary in size and composition according to their purpose. Most of the permanent committees have extensive staffing, and are distinguished by the use of terms like “Department” or “Bureau” in their names. Some important committees have upwards of 20 members, but special purpose committees, or low-prestige concerns like the Bureau of Serf Affairs, may as little as five members. Committees always have an odd number of members to allow the chair of the committee to break ties.
Senators are not limited to sitting on one committee, with senior Senators, such as those on the Integrity Committee, usually having multiple responsibilities.
A listing of Senate committees can be found here.
Factions[]
While the Senate Constitution does not recognise any party structure, in practice, most senators are aligned with ideological groups as a way to exert greater influence outside the committee rooms.
Majority Party[]
Maja Prima forms the largest political grouping in the senate, and has been since shortly after the Scream. Maja Prima takes a “Maja First” approach to politics, steering Fornax away from the political centre stage. Their policies favour industrialists, and pursue an aggressive education agenda to provide Maja with a skilled labour force. Many members of Maja Prima come from virtue seats, and view ensuring their economic might as a better guarantor of power than their blood. They have been suspicious of ACRE’s industrial dominance, and believe that Fornax should have their responsibilities instead.Tags: isolationist, materialist, egalitarian Notable members: “The Fabricator”, Titus, Aleria, Orbis
Main Opposition[]
The Imperialists form the second largest grouping, although they were dominant prior to the Blood Eagle. The Imperialists strongly disagree with the current structure of the empire, believing that Houses have too much authority over their own affairs. Imperialist would describe their ideology as follows: The Empire is House Fornax is the Empire, the Emperox is the only true authority, and that the nobility are merely their regents and lieutenants. In practice, however, they will happily pass laws that serve their own interests, and have pushed for strengthening the navy after the War on the Artificials.
The majority of Imperialists have Dynastic seats, and trace their lineage back through hundreds of years. They often use a gold throne on a purple background as a symbol.
Tags: interventionist, militaristic, authoritarian
Notable members: “The Politician”, Maximus, Janus (the person)
Minor Parties[]
Although Maja Prima and the Imperialists form the main voting blocs, many senators are unaligned, or belong to one of the smaller factions. Usually minor parties consist of senators in Dynastic seats, as it can be hard for them to exert influence on the nomination process.
Helligists[]
The Helligists are a small group of staunchly religious senators. Often seen as little more than a mouthpiece for the High Church, the Helligists periodically abstain from votes which they view as too materialistic. For a number of decades, the Helligists have pushed legislation to restrict the growth of the Church of Humanity, Repentant on Maja, although this rarely makes it out of committee stages.
Tags: spiritualist, isolationist, authoritarian, pacifist
Notable members:
Romdvergar[]
Romdvergar is a techno-progressivist faction, usually viewed as a splinter group of Maja Prima. Unlike Maja Prima, Romdvergar generally looks beyond Maja to see how best House Fornax can wield influence and better the empire. Romdvergar has ties to various Triangulum research groups, and is pursuing a long-term goal of make out-of-sector travel as easy as in-sector travel. Tags: egalitarian, materialist, expansionist Notable members: Janus (the character, if he ever got a senate seat), Maz, Reatta/Porscha Montecchi
Firebrands[]
The Firebrands are an offshoot of the Imperialists that advocate for aggressive military intervention around the sector. Small, but influential, the Firebrands have a number of supporters in the Admiralty, and the backing of the current Orafex.
The first incarnation of the Firebrands came into being prior to Fornax entering the War on the Artificials. The Imperialist faction was advocating staying out of the conflict believing that it was not Fornax’s place to challenge the Emperox, however, some radicals pushed for intervention arguing that the throne is more important than the emperox. These members were often stereotyped as crazy by Imperialists, a reputation which has remained to this day. The term “Firebrand” was originally used as a slur, but has now been adopted as a badge of honour by its members.
Tags: Fanatical, Militarist, Authoritarian
Notable members: “The Admiral”, Ludova, Zuri
Notable House Members
Culture[]
Education & Upbringing[]
As with all children within the sector, noble children of Fornax are raised by either Scintillex, trained employees, or their parents should they have the free time. This continues until the age of two. Between the ages of two and five years, the young noble children of Fornax begin their studies. Those who are able to afford it may start learning for their children earlier, be it in a group settings or with private tutors. At age five, all peoples of House Fornax are required to begin formal schooling be they noble or not.
Nobles
Starting at age two, young Fornax nobles begin learning the basic foundations of their future educations through private tutors. This can be either in small groups within a home or in larger groups with the Aeternus’ Chain Education Section. Basic reading, writing, and arithmetic as well as social skills are learned by every noble child at this time. Some parents, such as diplomats, may also begin teaching their child of multiple languages and customs. Family languages are often passed along at this time through oral traditions.
From ages five to eight, children continue to learn mathematics as well as expanding into more fundamental, fact-based sciences that they will continue to grow as a member of Fornax. They also learn the histories of the Empire and the place of House Fornax within the sector, as well as its accomplishments.
From age eight, children begin to learn the basics engineering and beyond. At this point, many begin to choose where their specializations will be. Between ages eight and ten, students are encouraged to begin self-study and to do small apprenticeships with experts to gain a feel for the options available to them. Between ages ten and fourteen, students are expected to decide on a field of study and to secure for themselves an apprenticeship in that field.
Age fourteen is considered the age of adulthood and most nobles will choose to go on a Fracturing elsewhere in the sector to gain wider life experiences and to pursue hobbies and interests outside of their chosen specializations. After this, they are fully considered an adult and have the full responsibilities of their position. Learning, however, never truly ends and anyone of any age may learn something new to their craft.
Serfs & Freemen[]
Non-noble children on Maja and otherwise in the employ of House Fornax are educated in a similar fashion, though they rarely get the early advantages afforded to nobles and often must attend publicly run schools. Scintillex-trained serfs or parents care for children up to school age. From ages five to twelve, compulsory formal schooling is required for all serfs and citizens. This covers reading, writing, mathematics, sciences, history, and basic engineering consider necessary for most functions and jobs available. This is the only schooling that is compulsory and required. Children can leave schooling early if it is required to aid their families or they are physically unable to attend.
The very best of non-noble students can be moved to a special patronage program and attend schools on [Aeternus’ Chain Education Section] that can potentially lead to a seat of nobility if the student proves their worth. Students can be invited to this three-year program anywhere between ages ten and fifteen and, if they are picked up for a sponsorship by a noble, they complete a two-year apprenticeship at the program’s completion. Those who complete the full program and are adopted by their noble sponsors must then attend an additional two years of learning on how to properly conduct themselves as a noble to ensure that they are not an embarrassment to their new family. This can occur at the same time as their internship or after at the sponsoring and adopting family’s behest.
Marriage & Weddings[]
Weddings in Fornax are at their core fairly straightforward. To propose, a couple exchanges something they’ve forged (the exact wording is “forged from the toils of your craft”) or a family tool with deep and personal meaning. Some nobles have taken to simply buying jewellery or specialized tools to exchange, as the money earned by their work paves the way for the purchase, but many traditionalists insist that the item be handmade and practical. These exchanged gifts represent a bond and commitment felt by both parties, as the time use to make them is precious.
During their engagement, those promised to each other must bring something to a new project. What they bring can be money, materials, tools, or skill. Over the course of the engagement, a new creation will be brought into the world through their joint efforts. This represents commitment to a common goal done collaboratively, something to always strive towards.
After signing the appropriate contracts and forms with Eridanii and High Church officiants, the traditional ceremony can occur. The basic wedding ceremony is to reveal the completed project before friends and family. Those who wish to will often make a spectacle of this ceremony, with large and elaborate parties on other planets with invitations engraved on the finest Fornax steel. The event may even be broadcast by PRISM. No matter what is made of this ceremony, the joint project is attributed to all in the relationship.
Leaving the House[]
There are several conditions under which one may leave the House and all have weight. At its core, the idea is always the same: you must leave something of yourself behind when you go in the form of one of your creations, which is then re-attributed. What that creation is and what it means to the individual varies depending on why they are leaving the House.
Leaving to marry into another House for political, financial, or other gains results in no change and the person will be welcomed back as needed. Since this is considered a sacrifice on your behalf for the good of the House, nothing is asked of in return.
Leaving to marry for love means a person must leave behind a very minor work, which is then attributed to Dominex Fornax Amor Regnans (Love Ascendant). This minor work may be something as simple as a class project from during studies or a pastime project that has little value. Despite this, marriages for love outside of the House are often justified as beneficial to a family to avoid giving anything away.
Leaving for a corporation may mean that the work left behind has to be more significant. For instance, one of the first projects you finish and were proud of, which may have little value, will be attributed to Dominex Fornax Somnium Potentiam (Dream of Power) when you leave.
Leaving for any other reason, such as exile or joining a rogue element of the sector, means the House must exact from you the highest toll: your life’s greatest work to date is attributed to Dominex Fornax Legatum Relictum (Legacy Abandoned). More may be asked for and taken depending on the situation.
Aging, Death, & Funerals[]
Within House Fornax and on Maja, one of the most important things its members can do is to create works that will outlive them. In some cases, the outward expression of this age and experience is paramount. More often than not, Fornax will allow themselves to age before making the choice to use Trilliant’s Life Extension Therapy products. Rather than allowing themselves to deteriorate and let all they’ve learned and yet can make go with them, members of House Fornax will make the sacrifice to use what’s available to prolong their lives and give to the next generation to ensure their success. There are rumors that some of Fornax use these products all their lives but that’s often countered with touting healthy living and a strong genetic line. Eventually however, all must return to the Forge in some way or another, be it before it is considered their time or once they have given all they can offer.
On LET: Everyone does it eventually on the low but when they look properly distinguished, under the guise of remaining long enough to pass on their knowledge usually. Publically, using LET is rarely admitted.
Noble Funerals[]
"Igne Conflatum. We are born in fire, forged in it, and one day we will return to it."
These words have helped guide the nobles and commoners of Maja for centuries. Practical and pragmatic, they memorialize their dead with the things they have made and can continue to make. The paths one follows in death, as in life, depend upon their station.
When a worker of the House dies their body is prepared by Neshmet Morticians with removal of the organs and preservation. Their family gathers, often with the local priest for a simple wake. Understated and quiet, they discuss the things the deceased built in life. After this simple wake the body is taken by morticians of Lyra and artisans of Fornax working in concert to build tools. These tools are made to an exceptionally high standard and are often passed down generation to generation by the practical Fornax workers. It is rare to meet a worker who does not carry at least some small memorial tool in this fashion.
For the nobles of the House, the process is more ostentatious and ceremonial. A great volcano stands on Maja, a high peak studded with geothermal plants and forges. One slope, sacred to the Fornax and tended to by the Lyrans, stands naked of industry. Instead a long switchback road leads up the side of the volcano. The road is lined with metal statues, models of the greatest designs of the dead of house Fornax, attended to by House Lyra. The funeral procession winds up the long road called the Vivit Ignis, the Path of the Living Fire. The procession consists of a hovering hearse, many guests, and models of the deceased’s design. One of the models will be placed along the path during a small ceremony and rest for water and reflection.
At the end of the path there is an old forge, powered by the volcano. Fabros’ Forge, named after one of the engineers to rediscover the Spike Drive and to lay the foundation of House Fornax’ habitational ring around the planet, Fabros Aeternus. Here, as a sermon is given by the church and stories of the deceased’s life are offered up as symbolic flux, the remaining models are placed in the forge to be returned to molten metal, symbols of the eternal cycle of the house. A chosen close friend, often a trusted worker or family member, is given the task of casting small symbolic trinkets for the guests during the speeches. At the culmination of the process the deceased is revealed and allowed to fall into the caldera of the volcano that powers the forge, returning whence they all came.
In this way all Fornax know that when they handle the steel of Maja, they handle their own past and will, the only thing that rivals it for strength.
Non-noble Funerals[]
Non-noble funerals on Maja are similar in sentiment to those of nobles. Serfs and freemen are cremated in forges jointly consecrated by a Neshmet of House Lyra and a Priest or higher office of the High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox, ensuring that the soul will be guided into the After with the blessings of the Messiah. These forges are considered to be connected to Fabros' Forge due to their consecration. As with noble funerals, tools or mementos may be passed on but there is no commemoration of their works in life.
Synthetics of any kind from around the sector are disposed of in Fornax Processing & Reclamation Facilities, with any parts that can be retrieved and potentially repurposed salvaged for other uses. If a funeral forge is ever proven to have been used to cremate a synth, it must be re-consecrated by a Neshmet and a Priest of the High Church or converted for use as a processing and reclamation forge until such a time as they are consecrated again.
Religious Practices[]
- All major transport to the Chain from the surface includes a space specifically for quiet reflection on the Ten Virtues at a time where it doesn’t intrude on work productivity.
- All lunch breaks include mandatory 1.5 minutes in which employees are expected to say any pre-meal prayers
- Sundays have 3 hours of time where no work explicitly occurs that is blocked out for church attendance and confessionals; non-noble confessional lines can get incredibly long and many are only able to confess every few weeks
- Nobles (and those who live on the Chain) tend to have prayer rooms or spaces where they can do daily prayers and meditations
- Morning and evening reflections/prayers include a time for remembering ancestors and forerunners in their fields and their accomplishments
- Ancestor/predecessor worship is a core component to religious practices on Maja
- Even for non-nobles, knowing what those who came before you in your family did is incredibly important (becoming an important worker for a noble or doing something within the community to improve it) and becomes a point of pride, however distant the relation.
- Small cubby shrines that are perpetually lit (or often light themselves as someone approaches) and prayed at in the mornings for guidance throughout the day
- Larger shrines that are assembled and disassembled in the evenings in equal parts meditation and traditional ritual
- Most use very low light LEDs, but hardliners will use candles made of engine grease that burn dark and immensely smoky (these things are a hazard, don’t do the thing)
Cuisine[]
Due to the complete lack of natural flora and fauna on Maja, all meats and meat substitutes are vat grown from animal- or plant-like proteins at facilities within each city and at several locations on the Chain. Vegetables, grains, and other plants, including plants for the vats, are grown in hydroponics areas within each city and at several locations on the Chain. Aside from the butchering and cutting of meats, nothing on Maja comes pre-prepared from a grocer. Foods are retrieved or delivered in their freshest forms: grains must be ground, vegetables and fruits must be cleaned and prepared, and meats must be cleaned and seasoned in order for one to cook at home.
For this reason, street food vendors and restaurants are incredibly popular on Maja. Those who cannot afford to must cook themselves and tend to slow cook while away from home and store for later. Nobles and those financially secure enough, on the other hand, tend to employ private chefs unless they enjoy cooking and food preparation as a hobby. These chefs tend to take from the trends of the street food on the surface. For instance, a street food favorite on Maja are fried synthetic Ashture and vegetable samosas with Grerd dipping sauce that translates into a complete deconstructed plated dish served with either mashed vegetables or a pasta in restaurants. Another favorite dish are the assorted pokes and bowls of synth-meats with rice available at Anchor Stations that become beautifully plated delicacies displaying expert knife skills and handling of off-world fish and meats on the Chain.
Flavors on Maja always tend to have a smoky aftertaste as much of the cooking is done on grills, over open flames, and in some cases with lava. The seasonings used tend to be more robust than not, with a heavy leaning towards borrowed spices from other planets throughout the sector. Meats are often marinated for long periods of time, suspended in liquid or en-coated in ground spices.
There are several cooking methods popular on Maja: smoking, grilling, dehydrating, frying, and slow cooking in earthen and ceramic crockery. Things like soups, stews, jerkies, grilled breads, and other meals that can be prepared ahead of time and either cooked relatively quickly or cooked over long periods in larger batches are favored in homes. Serving foods raw has also grown in popularity over time.
Specialties []
Dishes like poke bowls, ceviche, gazpacho, salads, and summer rolls made from fresh ingredients have become especially prominent in restaurants and some street vendors. Also popular are deep-fried plantains, grilled maize, nitrogen-frozen cream-based desserts, specially roasted and treated cold brew coffees, coffees prepared in lava, and small baked cakes with molten chocolate fillings.
Drinks and alcoholic beverages[]
Maja is one of the famous planets for spicy foods - and that goes also for Majan drinks!
Alcoholic beverages often include chili peppers or seeds, tabasco sauce or other spicy ingredients. Some of Maja's and House Fornax's most beloved and well-known drinks include:
- CarboRum (by Ventagold) - Carbonated rum, very pricy
- Komodo Mezcal (by Dricka Drinks) - Mezcal; distilled, sharp, with a slight cinnamon flair
- Fornak (by Dricka Drinks) - Anise based alcohol, licorice-like taste with a sharp afterburn
- Majan Orange (by Dricka Drinks) - Orange colored rum, often used for spicy cocktails and longdrinks, a cheaper and fruitier alternative to CarboRum
Non-alcoholic beverages known outside of Maja and Fornax influence spheres include:
- Neisti Mineral Water - Mineral water; the ice used in Neisti originated from asteroid fields that mostly are kept secret, it gets melted and enriched with volcanic minerals on Maja
Fashion[]
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Music[]
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Art[]
[coming soon]
Entertainment[]
[coming soon]
Crime & Punishment[]
House Fornax deals with crime and punishment within the House in a unique way: rather than forcing prison sentences onto nobles, the House slowly erodes a person’s legacy. Depending on the severity of the crime, one or more creations of the offender are re-attributed to Dominex Fornax Expiationibus Peccatum (Atonement of Sin). This attribution can include anything and everything a noble’s name appears on. In the case of joint projects, only the offending noble is expunged and all other credits remain intact. Any later use of those patents and schematics are paid directly to House Fornax rather than a particular person, family, or estate. In this way, the works of a person still benefit the wider house but their connection to it is expunged. This punishment can be on top of what may be decided upon by a Crux Richter or Richterin.
In the case of serfs, they may be forcibly relocated and assigned different work, as serfs cannot own rights to an invention. In the case of wealthier serfs (or what is called freemen), ideas and assets may be seized and made available to nobles of the House. If they aren’t acquired by a noble, they become an asset of the House after two years.
In truly heinous edge cases, an offender may be denied proper cremation on Maja on top of their other punishments. In this case, once they have passed they may be jettisoned into black hole NG03-7 in sector 0503 or dealt with through some other means. But they will never be allowed a proper Fornax burial. With the removal of the bodies from the symbolic cycle of the Forge and the purge of their works, they are forgotten and their legacy denied.
Generally, crimes are not pursued post-mortem or if any transgressions have occured when a person is no longer considered to be a part of the House. These are not considered the responsibility of the House as a whole and thus not the House’s duty to punish.
To observe and control the population on Maja better a social score system is in place. Its caretakers, the Frumentarii, consist of nobles almost entirely although some few trusted serfs work under them as Frumentarii assistants.
As much data is gathered (and bought from all parties offering) to properly evaluate the social score of each citizen on Maja. Once the first phases of education are done, each child is given a score which it can build up through hard work, efficiency, Fornax approved creativity and willingness to live by the rules. Scores sink when work and attitude are sloppy, when unfounded criticism of society or House Fornax are spread, etc.
The higher the score, the better are the chances to net a decent job, to live in nicer apartments, to have more access to luxury and exotic goods.
Extremely low scores will result in the citizen being sent to a re-education center, of which most return as reformed human beings (or not at all).
Since the scores are visible to everyone, the general population in its competitiveness tries to stay away as much as possible from citizens with low scores to not taint their own.
In efforts to prevent discontentious masses organizing and rising up together against the system, the noble rulers of Maja tend to keep the lowest scores separated from each other, but the lower levels of the cities on the surface are usually where they end up living. Some of the low scored humans see that as incentive to get out of those levels, to get up higher in social score, rank and quite literally live higher up in the city.
Miscellaneous[]
- (foreseeable) eruptions of volcanoes are often used as occasion for small celebrations of birth of a child, a newly acquired educational degree, a marriage or a promotion
- Streetlights glow in low orange as that saves energy, it reminds the common people of lowly smouldering furnaces and in turn that House Fornax’s spirit is ever present on Maja, even in the lowest districts where flames don’t burn as brightly as up on the Aeternus’ Chain (where the light is bright and warm and in every shape and form, as nobles wish it to be)
- While a lot of cleaning work down on Maja is still done by human serfs, the outside of the domes is maintained by robot workforces; teenagers sometimes try to hook small grav vehicles to those and fly up the domes that way as dares, even though it is forbidden and severely punished
- Due to abundance of free-flowing lava and volcanic rock, kids often play with self-engineered guns that shoot small rocks filled with a little lava in a Majan version of ‘Lava Tag’, small burn scars (especially on legs and arms) are common for the children of the poorer and lower levels (who generally play outside of the domes more than children living in the higher levels of cities)
- Since factories and industrial areas are mostly outside of the cities, additional security measures are needed to let not too many workers die while out on their shifts, so the facilities and transport paths are secured by plasma and mag turrets that are shooting down any debris being slung at them by volcanic eruptions and the raging earth
Proverbs, Sayings & Greetings[]
- "Igne Conflatum"
- The standard but polite greeting within Fornax
- "Board your windows"/"Fix your windows"
- Slang for “listen up”, as important announcements on Maja are often delivered on pieces of steel; most homes on Maja and the Chain have steel shutters for this reason
- "Maybe when I bathe in moonshine"
- A turn of phrase meaning “that would never happen”, due to the near impossibility of ever seeing Maja's moon Via, let alone being bathed in its light
- "Cinders"
- A pejorative term for vagrants; someone quick to burn out but who could prove problematic under wrong circumstances
- "Shall I send a more grand invitation?"
- Most often used as a barely veiled threat which may or may not involve ships and explosives.
The common folk on Maja often lovingly refer to Maja as ‘The Hearth’ (or ‘Eldstad’ in their scando-language).
Some of the sayings including the hearth are:
- "(We are) the coals that keep the Hearth aflame."
- Meaning: Our work keeps the sector together/alive/working/functioning. Without Maja/Fornax this sector is cold and dead.
- Or: Without the “we’re” at the start it is often used in the sense of a more resigned “whatever” or “that’s the way it goes”
- "The Hearth welcomes all, as long as they stoke the fire." which later became: "The Hearth is warm as long as you stoke the fire."
- Meaning: Keep working hard and you'll find Maja to be your home. In modern time is used more along the lines of: Work hard and it will be fine.
- "Stay far from the (cold) void, sit at our Hearth."
- Meaning: Stay on Maja, it is safe and good.
Other sayings including fire, furnaces and other typical Fornax symbols:
- "A strong flame only flickers in doubt."
- Meaning: Trust those who know better to live your life accordingly.
- "The furnace shapes, (yet) the smith creates."
- Meaning: It always comes back to human ability and fault.
- Or: It's up to us humans to make the most out of what is given to us.
- Or: Tools still have to be mastered by their users or makers.
The unlucky number and other superstitious beliefs[]
On Maja, the number 11 is thought to be an unlucky number.
Stories are told that the 11th ship Fornax built after the Scream failed due to a reactor leak and that was taken as a bad omen hence.
When entering drive space as an alert the 'ship's bells' chime 10 times. According to a popular folk tale if there are 11 chimes the ships never appear again and ghosts took over the bridge.
Even though historians tried to refute it, all over Maja and the Chain the rumor persists that during the Dark ages every 1 in 11 nobles died due mysterious circumstances as a punishment of God.
In recent times the number 11 was also associated with House Cygnus, the cursed house that wanted to overthrow humanity and install the soulless Synthetics as dominant lifeform.
The Church preaches the Ten Blessings - eleven is one too far.
Other superstitious beliefs:
- When a ship is preparing for and flying into Drive Space, whistling is strictly forbidden as it attracts the ghosts of vengeful pilots who try to sabotage the spaceship in hopes to overtake it
Seasons / The Industrial Calendar[]
A year on Maja is counted in industrial quarters.
Each quarter is 90 days long and culminates in large scale stocktaking and accounting efforts, except for the second quarter which ends in celebrations of the Cleansing Festival.
While the geography, burning temperatures and missing native biosphere of the planet do not allow for the usual, easily observable signs of seasonal change, the Majans do have telltale signs that announce each coming quarter and season:
Towards the end of Treme the planet is usually shaking enough that the volcanic landscapes closer to the cities dip the land in the orange and reds of many lava streams.
This signals also the artificial eruption of the Custos Volcano which initiates the Cleansing Festival.
Mundi is often used to build needed infrastructure, big home projects of House Fornax are started in this season, usually shortly after the Cleansing Festival ends to ensure that workers and tools are in their absolute best shape. Repairs and additional works on Aeternus' Chain are almost always planned to start at the first of Mundi.
In Frige the temperature around the planet drops significantly and constantly enough for the Majan people to realize and wear warmer clothes, even if visitors of any other world would barely be able to feel a difference -if any at all. Temperature drops occur due to the north and south pole volcanic rings spewing out enormous amounts of ash towards the end of Mundi, these massive clouds travel and spread into the atmosphere over time, blocking out bits of sunlight. At the end of Frige these rings at the poles and most of the bigger volcanoes all over the planet erupt in gigantic fireworks and pyroclastic streams, signalling the beginning of a new year.
What is not widely known is that House Fornax managed to rig the landscape around the poles enough to be able to delay or speed up the massive eruptions with incredibly precise technology, so in the year 3200 the technicians celebrate that for 350 years straight the massive eruptions happened right at the last day of the year.
The famous spaceships of House Fornax are typically started to be worked on at the first day of Navi, but over the years that shifted more into a traditional formality and a lot of custom ordered ships have will been prepared and built long in advance, only to be handed over to their buyers in the first days of Navi.
In general Navi and Treme are the busiest months for custom orders of Mechs, spaceships and other vehicles like Gravcars or heavy industrial equipment like gigantic mining excavators, but naturally the production of all industrial goods is year-round.
Festivities[]
The Cleansing Festival[]
The Cleansing Festival is an important time in Fornax culture which marks the end of the industrial calendar, and people are excused from their regular duties for a few days. The beginning of the festival is the final day of the industrial year, when tools are placed down, and people are expected to dedicate their time solely to the cleaning and maintenance of their workplaces, cities, and homes. Most people receive several days off to enjoy the festival.
In the centre of each city, the Committee on Propriety and Cultural Affairs organises great festivals with the streets illuminated like lava flows, stalls selling foods and toys, and there are always great firework displays. Awards for meritorious service may be awarded at these festivals.
The cleansing festival is seen as a time of reflection and re-evaluation. It is often when people decide to move homes, resolve to marry their partners, or decide to have children.
Others[]
- There are halloween-esque traditions towards the end of Mundi: the Majans are carving pumpkins to look like the planet as seen from the ring and mock theater plays are held in the streets where children recreate the extermination of aliens on Maja with laser tag, ending in massive explosion of candy
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