Sepulchre of S=I=N: The Planets

 

Welcome to the Sepulchre of S=I=N

A new 40k project I'm writing and undertaking (with the Baraqu group) with a focus on Inq28 action and storytelling.

To get you eased into the setting, here are the locations of the Sepulchre of S=I=N and a short story detailing the opening events. In addition, check out some WIP photos from the group of their warbands in the gallery at the end of the article.

Name: Iners-da

Classification: Imperial Mining World

Type:  Ice Giant

Large moons: 2

Total Moons: 19

1 Planetary Ring: Narrow, near invisible, and made primarily of dust and rock.

Size: 7x Terra

Radius: 27,711 miles/ 44,597 KM

Gravity: 264 x Terran Standard

Temperature Range: Low: -198C High: -58C

Water Prevalence: N/A

Surface Life: Impossible. No solid surface. Ultra-high pressure. Extreme temperatures.

Length of Day: 5 hours

Length of Year: 70 Terran Standard Years

Seasonal Variations: Temperatures vary only slightly based on the position of the planet over the year.

Notation: Myreata-Xlathi Corporation Domain, established by Imperial Rogue Traders to mine and supply expeditionary operations. Given sub-dominion to local governance who declared planet for Imperium-loyal Myreata-Xlathi. Seventeen artificial moons and promethium extraction stations plus extensive storage facilities.

Name: Astetent

Classification: Imperial Paradise World

Type: Moon

Size: 0.46x Terra

Radius: 1,821 miles/ 2,931 KM

Gravity: 0.98x Terran Standard

Temperature Range: Low: -3C High: 86C

Water Prevalence: 71% (24% surface water/ 47% subterranean)

Surface Life: Habitable for Terran-based life

Length of Day: 23 Hours

Length of Year: 5 Terran Standard Years

Seasonal Variations: Extreme: Temperatures vary intensely across the year, with a large difference between the hottest and coldest seasons

Notation: Myreata-Xlathi Corporation Domain, established by Imperial Rogue Traders to govern Iners-Da. Given sub-dominion to local governance who declared planet for Imperium-loyal Myreata-Xlathi. Surface covered with extensive ornate palace-gardens and Imperial landing zones. Orbiting the moon are several Corporation “Pleasure Domes”.

Name: Viourant

Classification: Imperial Agri-World

Type: Moon

Size: 2.05x Terra

Radius: 8,115 miles / 13,061 KM

Gravity: 1.21 Terran Gravity

Temperature Range: Low: -69C High: 47C

Water Prevalence: 17% (6% surface water/ 11% Subterranean)

Surface Life: Habitable for Terran-based life

Length of Day: 19 hours

Length of Year: 4 Terran Standard Years

Seasonal Variations: Multiple distinct seasons with notable temperature differences during the year.

Notation: Myreata-Xlathi Corporation Domain, established by Imperial Rogue Traders for grain harvest. Given sub-dominion to local governance who declared planet for Imperium-loyal Myreata-Xlathi. Rocky, mountainous surface layered with fertile soil for farming. Imperial Tythe ceased due to planetary civil war.

+++Astetant, M.42+++

 

It wasn’t difficult to get into an Astetant Pleasure Dome. Wearing the right clothes—tailored, neat, and tight-fitting. Flashing the right papers—Sector B/7 Seals, Writ of Myreata-Xlathi allegiance, usually doctored. Showing you’re not afraid to spend—carrying an expensive wine, wearing an Archeotech wristwatch, lining your hair with diamonds. There was a certain combination of these markers which allowed you to board unnoticed and unquestioned, Corpo Guards passing you by as though you were a phantom of ancient Terran myth. For an Inquisitor, acquiring this combination was as quick as writing the right letter to the right man in the right place and waiting for a small wooden box containing everything you would need to be shipped to you. And, as Elyria Imogen found, if that didn’t work, threatening to burn said man as a witch usually motivated these bureaucratic functions into hastening.

              Elyria kept a low profile for several days. She and her handmaidens walked the circumference of the dome quietly and contemplatively, forming a mental map of the facility as they did. Her persistent requests to Myreata-Xlathi for blueprints of the dome had been repeatedly denied, so she’d taken to making her own. She made note of every unmoved blade of grass which cut through the garden paths, of the four second delay every unicorn-headed fountain made before spraying mist across the sky, of every mislaid brick in the pleasure parlours, chipped inch of paint in the theatres and smudge across the skylights. After each day of sneering at debauchery and cursing the blinding lights, she retreated to her quarters—a prismic structure suspended from invisible wiring in the upper-east quarter—in which she left her handmaidens to consolidate their findings. Elyria, however, would change into something less subtle and disappear to the bars and clubs under the neon glow of night.

              She took the elevator up to the height of a dance tower, tore a glass of ulfus wine from the plate of a waiting servitor and moved to find her reflection in the endless glass windows overhead. Beyond the window, Astetant hung low, verdant in the light of the sun. Obscuring the other half the window was Iners-da, the ice giant. No matter how many worlds Elyria travelled to, seeing a planet up-close—not from the surface, not as a spec in the sky—but objectively, close and turning—gave her a slight headache. She rubbed her temples in a feeble attempt to shake off the uncanny haze. The pounding music overhead was unlikely to help.

              No matter, she decided. Tonight, on behalf of the God-Emperor, she was to play a role. She shrugged back her shoulders, allowed her lips to form a smile beneath her veil, and tip-toed gently over to the closest lonely-looking suitor, mindful of the Myreata-Xlathi guardsmen stationed around the room.

              ‘I can never get bored of this view,’ she told him. ‘Where I’m from, there’s mud and shit and more mud.’ She allowed herself to laugh a little, covering her mouth with her glove as she did.

              ‘Oh?’ the suitor asked, combing back his hair with swollen fingers. ‘I’m sure you’re glad Viourant isn’t in view this time of year, then.’

              ‘There’s a reason I never travel outside of winter, darling.’ Elyria looked again to the window. The wine in her glass looked almost white in the reflection. ‘Are you to be drinking tonight?’

              The man flushed red. ‘No, I’ve uh… been advised not to, I suppose.’

              ‘By a partner?’

              As if she thought he couldn’t turn any more red. ‘No.’ He gestured near-imperceptibly to one of the stationed guardsmen.

              ‘Ah,’ Elyria remarked, drawing their attention back to the window. ‘They do sour the view, don’t they? Isn’t there a way we could distract them? Lure them to another floor?’

              He chuckled slightly. ‘You speak like you’ve never been here before.’

              ‘Not to this specific dome, no.’

              ‘They’re all like this. Crawling with Corpos.’

              ‘Not on Viourant, though?’ Elyria pressed. ‘Wouldn’t want to get their hands too dirty in their war, hm?’

              The suitor stiffened. ‘Myreata-Xlathi is deploying its fair share of PDF regiments. Their specialised divisions aren’t needed.’

              ‘You’d think with all these expensive divisions and pleasure palaces they could at least pay their Imperial Tythe.’ She snorted. ‘Forgive me, forgive me. Clearly, I’ve drunk too much.’

              ‘That’s your first one. I saw you enter.’

              Elyria frowned, took a step away. ‘Have I upset you?’

              ‘I know what you are,’ the suitor said. ‘Rogue Trader? No? Interrogator? Inquisitor? You’re all the same. Sent by the God Emperor to ask more questions than you should.’ He paused. 'I'd advise you hang low. There were others like you,’ he said through grit teeth. A bead of sweat reached the arch of his nose, dripped to the floor, meeting puddles of alcohol and other discarded stimms to form a rainbow like a promethium spill.

              ‘Oh? And where can I find them?'

              The suitor shrunk away, took a step towards the door. ‘They all disappeared.’ He shrugged. ‘Goodnight, my lady.’

             +++

Gallery:

@k0rdhal:

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Taz: