Terminus is often the first developed system a vessel travelling to Askellon encounters, and is a prosperous centre of trade. The system is host to half a dozen settled worlds, ranging from Terminus Prime, a densely-settled planet home to numerous mercantile concerns, to Terminus Exo, a paradisiacal world given over to the leisure of the most privileged scions of those same trading houses. These worlds are protected by a sizeable system defence fleet, as well as superbly trained and equipped planetary armies, all paid for by the combined profits of the great houses.
The numerous factions of Terminus, from Rogue Trader dynasties to Navis Nobilite Clans, have all gained their staggering wealth by investing in a range of trade and exploitation endeavours, both within the sector and without. For countless centuries they have dominated the internal markets, in particular those relating to the supply of produce from the sector’s Agri-Worlds to its Hive Worlds. When the Warp conditions have allowed it, these great houses have invested heavily in trans-sector shipping, holding significant interests in many Chartist Captains’ fleets plying these lonely routes. At other times, the great houses have backed Rogue Traders seeking to penetrate the largely uncharted voids beyond the sector’s trailing borders, though these endeavours have become increasingly risky in recent decades.
Terminus Prime is a world of gleaming oceans and low, rolling grasslands, many of the latter turned over to the production of an amasec varietal popular amongst the sector’s aristocracy. Its population is spread out between several hundred cities and countless smaller settlements, each the exclusive preserve of one of the great houses. In times long past, it is said that the cities made war upon one another, but did so in a highly ritualised manner according to a massive canon of law. In recent centuries, however, the cities’ rulers fight according to no law but their own, for the golden age of prosperity is long gone, never to return. While outwardly all is well, behind the faded curtains is hidden treachery.
Millennia of riches has led to stagnation, and where in the past Terminus daringly backed many ventures of high risk, which often resulted in higher rewards, it now refrains from any but assured prospects. Meanwhile, the aggressive Greater Askellon Trade Combine of Port Aquila has become more powerful and dominates many trade routes and markets. Many Terminus trading houses are now empty shells, their treasure chambers draining away in foppish pursuits.
With so much of the planet’s wealth seeped away, a great many of its cities have slid into stately dilapidation. Delicate bridges have collapsed into once pristine canals, and the copper domes of the great palaces are now tarnished and weathered. The houses have begun turning on each other, none risking outright war but eagerly sponsoring poisonings, assassinations, and other less violent means to control what little they can. Many of the gilded cities are ruled over not by the head of a great house, but by whatever lesser relation is left alive after the latest attack.
Despite the decline of the great houses, the Ursa Navigator Clan maintains a significant presence, as do several Rogue Traders, including the ancient Anzaforr Dynasty. However, the ebbing of the power of the mercantile interests has allowed others—including the Surena Dynasty, the hated enemies of Anzaforr—the opportunity to prosper. In the wake of their last, devastating war that wracked the sector many years ago, both dynasties have entered a truce of penance, as each repays Juno for its sins. Still, the peace is uneasy, and their balance of power shifts daily as Aristide Anzaforr garners favour with the Ecclesiarchy and Banu Surena’s daring exploits strengthen her ties with Port Lockhart. From the sidelines, the Ursa Clan watches carefully, exploiting the opportunities that both dynasties create while skirting open hostility with either