The playground world of a rogue trader dynasty, Gnosis is owned, personally and in its entirety, by the Edo dynasty. It is said that one may stand anywhere on its surface and see something beautiful. The sky is clear blue, the terrain is varied and family legend says (if this blasphemy is to be believed) that it resembles a pristine Terra of ages long past.
It is hardly surprising that people would wish to flock to Gnosis. Lady Michiko no Edo is quite happy to oblige visitors, if they bring their money with them, and the world is a popular resort amongst the highest echelons of the Imperial interstellar nobility, its high ranking military, and the great merchants. It is said that, when Gnosis and Belsegor are compared, it is by no means certain which contains the highest number of prestigious Imperials.
These visitors are not, of course, the only source of wealth for Gnosis. Gnosis has been consistently rich for ten thousand years, and was bought in its entirety by the first of the Edo lineage, Lord Kawagama no Edo and has been persistently enriched by the incoming wealth of the Edo fleets. Today Lady Michiko’s daughter, Lady Kiso, exercises the family’s ancient right to adventure beyond the rim of the Imperium whilst her mother, recently returned, settles into a quieter and more retired life for her final century or so.
Gnosis, then, is a centre for trade - not the bulk trade of the sort which goes through Syzygy or Faraday, but a trade in high quality consumables and incredibly rare or even unique items. Many of the latter originate outside the Imperium, and in the more exclusive emporia of Gnosis those who ask the right questions of the right people may even find artefacts of xenos origins. Lady Michiko, of course, makes a point of coming down on anyone who is stupid enough to get caught trafficking illegal goods but it is hardly surprising, given her dynasty’s history, that she is secretly somewhat relaxed about such practices.
Gnosis has a relatively small native population. The House of Edo has a number of cadet branches, many originating from the pairing of an Edo with an important officer of their merchant fleet. The captains, seneschals and pursers of the fleet are all tied to the House of Edo by blood and by obligation, and these ties hold on Gnosis as well as in the void. Each cadet branch, be they the House of Voss, Ikhmenev, Ng or Tatamklulu or one of dozens of smaller ones, holds a portion of the planet in its care and has immediate jurisdiction over those families who reside within its sphere of influence. The word of the House of Edo is absolute, but Edo is happy, much of the time, to delegate.
The Villa of Blossoms
Approached down an avenue of sweet-blossomed trees said to be descended from seed stock from Terra itself, the villa is the seat of the Edo dynasty. It is here that Lady Michiko spends much of her time in leisure, horseback riding or practicing swordplay. Her seneschal, Hesperus Ng, takes care of many of her day to day affairs, and those seeking her out would do well to seek her before noon, as she does her best to have her administrative duties concluded by then. But it would be foolish to imagine her a vain autocrat or an enervated sybarite; Lady Michiko has played many games over the centuries - war, politics, grand finance - and she has won them all.
The Gnosis Zouaves
The eccentrically dressed Zouaves are Gnosis’ answer to planetary levies. With a small population and a high amount of capital, the planet cannot raise Imperial Guard regiments in an orthodox fashion if its contribution is to remain at parity with its ability to contribute. The Zouaves are partly drawn from the planetary population, it is true, but much of their strength is taken from passing adventurers aboard the many vessels which make a stop in the system. The Imperium may, at times, disapprove of the soft and unwarlike native population, but the well equipped veterans Gnosis provides in their stead more than assuage their concerns. Brightly coloured and expensively equipped, the Zouaves have a long and noble military history. Their recruiting citadel on Gnosis, on the landing fields of Glavius, marks the site of their return to Gnosis in the final push of the Reconquista.
Silverfish Covered Market
Situated by the equatorial inland sea of Halcyon, Silverfish Covered Market runs for several kilometres along the coast. Some of the stalls are given over to the fishmongers for whom the market was founded, but most of the space is now taken by merchants of more exotic goods. Although strange emporia can be found in every major settlement on Gnosis, Silverfish Covered Market is the most famous. Stalls are set out permanently, many traders operating through the night. The apparently simple stalls are often augmented with a variety of field and auspex technologies to improve security for valuable items, and especially opulent merchants may own two-storey showrooms set back from the shore at the rear of the market.
The Ikhmenev Retreat
The Ikhmenev Retreat provides an experience which is literally more than money can buy. The House of Ikhmenev do not charge their guests for the privilege of staying in their retreat - gifts are exchanged and favours are promised implicitly. Whilst at the retreat, important guests (and only the important ever become guests) may relax and enjoy whatever pursuits appeal to them, whether the solitude of the mountains, the conviviality of a fine table, beautiful companions or exquisite musicians.
The House of Maui
The entire surface of Gnosis belongs to the House of Edo and other houses merely act as regents of their feudal domains. There is one house, however, which is not a cadet branch of the Edo line, and which, for all its long history of cooperation with the rogue trader dynasty, will not brook any interference in its own affairs.
Above Gnosis, and well above the orbital facilities of Gnosis, the House of Maui hangs immobile. It has been moored at the planet’s first Lagrange point, suspended between the lit face of Gnosis and its sun. Away from other traffic, the navigators of the House of Maui live in splendid isolation, taking their share of Edo wealth and setting forth on trading as necessary, or as the fancy takes them. Chief among them is Lord Aremata Rora, the Long Wave, the second most powerful individual in the system.
