Basilica of Valerius Risen

The centre of the Imperial Creed on Juno, and indeed in the sector, is the Basilica of Valerius Risen, a colossal structure so tall its highest spires pierce the lower atmosphere and only remain intact because they are held aloft by archaeotech anti-gravitic generators. The Basilica’s main nave is spacious enough to accommodate tens of thousands of worshippers at any one time, and its inner walls are lined with tiered gallery-chapels set aside for the use of the ruling classes. The spires are host to the most senior of the Ecclesiarchy’s officers and at its very summit, so high up that its chambers are sealed against the near vacuum beyond, is the Sector Synod. From here, Askellon’s Arch Cardinal Harus rules over the synods, each of which corresponds to one of the region’s sub-sectors and several other, lesser holdings. He is a devout follower of the cult of the sector’s pre-eminent saint, Valerius, a legendary figure about which very little is actually known, but who appears to have been instrumental in converting the people of the sector to the worship of the Emperor early in its history.

Harus believes that the Emperor is on the verge of abandoning Askellon, so tainted are the souls of its people, and he believes that only by following the teachings of Saint Valerius can disaster be averted. Every day, services are held in which Harus and his subordinates preach the oncoming doom to the masses, many of which have been rounded up and herded into the basilica’s grand nave by an army of stave-wielding Ardentii Zealots. The wails of lamentation cast up by the gathered faithful in response to the sermons are broadcast across the city from mighty vox-hailers mounted upon the basilica’s spires. Further afield, countless vox-channels relay the sermons and the cries of those that hear them to the entire planet, sometimes deliberately overloading the vox-casters so the broadcasts bleed into every channel and none can avoid them