Twelve Great Houses, The
July 12, 2007
A fundamental institution of Aideena, the Twelve Great Houses share governmental responsibility with Faith and the Guild Brotherhood.
Each House is named for one of the Aes’ir Daughters who supposedly mothered Humanity. These ancestral matriarchies are comprised of a collection of Clans, which are in turn a collection of Families.
A Matron governs each familial household. A Matriarch governs a collective of households. A Dame Matriarch heads a House.
Property and wealth are passed to daughters. Wealthy or poor, regardless of geography, which House and which family/clan within a House one belongs to is everything. It predetermines loyalty and obligation, and is the only source of division on Aideena , other than gender.
The Houses are the alpha, the beta, the eta, the iota, the kappa, the psi, the rho, the tau, the theta, the xi, the zeta, and the omega.
Templar
July 12, 2007
(Order of the Knights Templar )
The largest priestly order of Faith, and one of the oldest, the Templar are charged with enforcing civil law and maintaining order under the provisions of religious doctrine.
They are the supreme military force on Aideena. In ancient times, the Order was a knighthood that maintained strict codes of chivalry and ethics. Many of its traditions have survived, however, the Order does not enjoy the autonomy it once had within Faith.
Taeson
July 12, 2007
The term is commonly used for any make and model of unsanctioned or illegally manufactured kinetic energy hand weapon. Such black market weapons are distinguished by their singular lethality. They are also notorious for being unreliable.
It is not uncommon for a taeson to self-destruct upon firing or fail after a few uses. To acquire a taeson that functions reliability is thus highly prized as a collectible and heirloom. They are branded and personified by their owner, whose ownership assumes signature status.
Privates
June 12, 2007
Private security militias chartered by a House, or family or clan within a House, these mercenary guildsmen are remnants of the time when The Houses maintained standing armies.
Following the Clan Wars, the jurisdiction of privates was limited to the personal properties of their Matriarchs. They are forbid from operating in publicly designated places, which are delineated by Faith as neutral territory for rival clans, Families, and/or Houses. They operate as a kind of neighborhood watch and are expected to act in coordination with Templar authorities. Privates’ ability to bear arms is highly restricted. Ultimately, Houses are answerable to Faith and Templar for the activities of these security forces.
Unlike Enforcers, Privates have legal standing. However, enforcers and privates are commonly perceived as interchangeable. It can be said that one group is paid by a Matriarch “on-the-books” and the other is not.
Pai
June 12, 2007
The common-use term refers to biometric technology that allows interconnectivity among recumbent wetware networks that transmit data using Aideena’s standard protocol architecture.
Pai devices are usually worn, incorporated into common dress, and interfaces with implanted nano-avatars that encrypt personal identification information to authenticate secured information transactions. Pai originally entered the vernacular as an acronym for personal access interface.
