Juno is the pre-eminent world in the Askellon Sector and seat of the Adeptus Terra’s sector-wide bodies of government. While each world has a planetary governor to rule it in the Emperor’s name, there are matters that require the exercise of power at the sub-sector and in particular the sector level, and in Askellon these are vested in the person of the Sector Praefect. For as long as the records recount, this office has been allotted according to a complex tradition of inheritance within the Askellian nobility, but its fulfilment has always been subject to ratification by the Senatorum Imperialis, for it confers on the Sector Praefect a senior rank within the Adeptus Terra—one imbued with great responsibility. The Sector Praefect’s role is to oversee affairs between its worlds, as well as represent the sector in its dealings with external bodies, whether these are neighbouring sectors, Segmentum authorities, or even the High Lords of Terra themselves. The Praefect has no direct power to interfere with the planetary rulers, but in practise exercises enormous influence. Should he deem it necessary, trade routes could be redirected or closed, plunging systems into misery and condemning millions to death.
The incumbent is Praefectrix Charlotta Anastasia XX, whom the planetary governors of Askellon fear and adore in equal measure. She rules from the Pellucid Tower, one of the most ancient structures on the surface of Juno, where numerous representatives of the Adeptus Terra’s many divisions are gathered along with countless thousands of officials, scribes, and functionaries to support her rule. Her control is not limited to the wider sector, as she rules Juno itself through a sycophantic coterie led by a hand-picked high minister.
While she has been in power for several decades, the Praefectrix appears to be slowly withdrawing from public life, her appearances at her own court growing ever more infrequent so that they are now almost entirely limited to the grandest of state functions. Many fear she has become increasingly paranoid and secretive to such an extent that it is rare for any but her most senior counsellors to interact with her in any official capacity.
The Praefectrix now resides in a sprawling complex of armoured chambers and crypts deep within the foundations of the Pellucid Tower, chambers that are likely to have been constructed impossibly long ago in the forgotten Dark Age of Technology. From this subterranean sanctuary, the Praefectrix issues declarations and receives reports from her most trusted advisors and underlings, many of them bearing scant resemblance to any sort of reality beyond its armoured doors. What fantasies she now clings to remain a mystery to all but the inner circle, for she has been known to order the raising of entire legions against imaginary foes or order a system long since lost to host a grand visitation. Juno itself has lost her attention.
Her advisors feed her a steady stream of lies and half-truths, and jealously guard access to their mistress. Despite this, the Praefectrix does occasionally hold court in closed session with mysterious emissaries her counsellors have failed to bar. Who these emissaries are and what powers they might represent remains a secret known to only a select few.