Luktus

Domum Luktus are considered untouchable for millennia. They have mastered death and decay in the form of necromancy and bioengineering. While this is a strong Domum in its own right, they never exercised their power. They caught the eye of Domum Desiderii and Mysterium from time to time, but they are generally left alone. They never formally allied themselves with Domum Lusem, or any other Domi for that matter. Most of the Domi avoid their space and ships keeping a live and let live mentality. After the Collapse, not much is still known about them.

= Banner Colors and Motto = Like all Domi, and especially the Fana Ekselsorum, they have banner colors and motto.

End of Things
Domum Luktus is inherently nihilistic. This is reflected in their motto “The End of Things” being a statement of finality. To the Domum and their affiliated Domi, things end and Luktus would rather have things end on their terms rather than at the whim of an uncaring universe.

Banner Colors
Luktus colors are only seen on their emblems. They do not normally take the time to bother with painting anything in general, outside of protective coats to protect bare materials from weather.

= History in Brief = A vast majority of their history is unknown after the forming of the Septumberate. However, before when they were but a minor collection of like-minded houses, their history was rather unimpressive. Their aloofness was never planned nor required, their knowledge is readily available if they feel that it wouldn’t harm anyone for them to know or otherwise they would find out on their own with minor research.

Pre-Septumberant
Before the Septumberate they were a collection of loosely affiliated Domi trying to understand the universe and the Fel’s place within it. The slow seepage of nihilistic ideology eventually came to a head during the rise of the Septumberant when they came to the conclusion that there is no meaning. This realization and basic breakdown of their ethical dilemmas allowed them to research necromancy and other life sustaining technologies creating a more synthetic route for immortality rather than the genetic alteration that the Desiderii ended up introducing.

Septumberant
Domum Luktus never truly became a member of the Septumberant by declaration like the other Domi; more that they just never yielded and most other Domi quickly realized that they are better left alone. Their Dirge Knights have been found to be formidable and their ability to raise vast legions of undead to defend their necropoli made them a sort of legend over time and invoked terror and many sleepless nights for commanders tasked with taking a Luktus stronghold.

Whenever the other six members of the Septumberate would demand a sitting for negotiations, they always extended an invitation to Luktus, if not out of fear, out of respect.

Imperial
When the other members of the Septumberant started to align themselves with Lusem, Luktus never made a formal declaration of allegiance. Their lack of interference in the day to day operations of the Empire and general compliance to requests that were not too inconvenient was all Lusem really needed as affirmation that Domum Luktus was loyal in their own way to the Imperial Domum.

In secret, Luktus aided Lusem on many endeavors and specifically helped co-engineer the Mothers and the basic technology that would create a sub-domain within the Psi Field creating Hive-Mind. Without Luktus’ assistance, Lusem wouldn’t have been able to overpower Furorem’s massive army and rise to be the Imperial Domum.

Collapse
Domum Luktus was largely unaffected by the Collapse as a whole. This was mostly because the collapse was orchestrated in the end by Luktus with the Fel Emperor. They were predicting the end of the Empire through slow decay and rot from within; a side effect they felt, from the immortality they gained. They helped the Emperor to create a set of events that would force the Empire to metamorphose and reshape itself, but like parable of the sculpting statue, in order to do it, there will have to be suffering.

As Domum Furorem managed to take control of the Empire with aid of the Emperor’s estranged son, Luktus never pledged allegiance one way or the other, but as tradition, Furorem assumed the role since Luktus never obviously interfered.

= Political Position and Structure = Luktus have some basic similarities to any other Domi, but they do have some key differences.

Dirge King, Court Dirge, and Lord Dirge Knight
Like all of the Fana Ekselsorum, Domum Luktus is just a larger Domum with many other smaller Domi aligned to their banner. As such they have a patriarch that runs the house and two aids; what those are called and their end function is what makes it different.

Dirge King is the de facto leader of Luktus, but that role is more of a figure head position. The entire Domum is operating under a really complex and nebulous plan and is actually ran by a council of all the Lich Kings of the other Domi under Luktus causing the whims of the Domi to shift from time to time. The job of the Dirge King is to maintain order and to act as the face of the Domum when necessary.

Court Dirge serves as the Dirge King’s proxy, similar in function as the High Proxy in other Domi. Their task is to fulfill the will of the council and to further to end goals of the Domum.

Lord Dirge Knight functions at the highest commander of the Dirge Knights. While she commands the undead at the Necropolis itself, she also has the authority to command other Dirge Knights and create the Combined Dirge Horde if needed.

Liches
Luktus doesn’t have nobles in the classical sense. Most every member is out to fulfill their part of the great plan that was laid before them. The Liches serve are the epitome of that plan. After centuries of study and enhancements, they gain tremendous necromantic abilities and each serve their part.

Slaves
Luktus doesn’t keep a Slave class; however, the Slaves have been instructed to give any of their dead to Luktus. Luktus uses undead labor for most things, hordes of them controlled by Liches to do everything from the most basic labor to complex manufacturing. Sometimes the undead are stitched together and enhanced to be used later as combat units when the Dirge Knight calls upon them.

Standing Military
The Luktus never held a large military, seeing it as unnecessary. They do have a military position referred to as Dirge Knight; a title designed to be disconcerting. They never saw a need to maintain a standing army of any measurable threat, they do however, create mass, shallow graves around important facilities and colonies, commonly referred to as a Necropolis due to very real possibility that the number of corpses could outnumber the living. A Dirge Knight is assigned to protect an area and is normally a powerful necromancer that has been cyberneticaly enhanced to be able to raise thousands of undead at a time. Their military expertise and utilization of both the undead of the Necropolis and any fallen enemies make them feared military commanders.

= Overall Philosophy = The Philosophy that drives Luktus is that of basic existential nihilism. They view that the universe is worse than uncaring about its denizens, it’s indifferent. Because of this, Luktus chose to impose their will over all facets of living within the universe, and that creates a massive preoccupation with death.

To the Luktus, death is just a thing that happens. Most of Fel culture shows an aversion to death and dying; which ultimately brought them to the immortality they all share as a species; but Luktus decided to embrace it, almost literally.