Borne by Conquest

Borne by Conquest

A comparatively young house, the Mataros of Emesh are one of several nouveau riche families that rose to prominence during the years of Imperial conquest in Norma and in the Veil of Marinus in particular. Only plutocrats some few generations ago, the Mataros made their money buying and selling slaves, particularly bulk-order homunculi for agricultural and industrial labor in new colonies. Exceedingly wealthy, Armand Mataro—only a patrician—outfitted three private legions and used them to conquer Emesh without Imperial mandate. Such private wars typified the Norman conquests, and those who were successful were granted palatine status. The Mataros are not yet aligned with any of the great ancient constellations of the houses palatine, being of relatively low blood and low status.

Emesh is an unimportant demesne on the very edge of human-civilized space, constantly under the shadow of the Cielcin threat. Relatively poor, the residents have been trying to capitalize on the planet’s Umandh coloni, though the natives are so biologically alien that their usefulness as slaves is questionable at best. Still, the planet gets by on the export of seafood and petroleum extracted from the seabed. House Mataro’s sigil is a golden sphinx dormant on a green field, sometimes trimmed in white.