Boetia

Image 

 

INSTABILITY 

+1 

 

BATTLE ZONE 1

Following an unfortunate incident where an aggressive hunting party crossed paths with a particularly large group of Bacchantes, the situation has gotten completely out of control.  The frenzied Maenads have already overrun three villages in the foothills of Mount Citheron, and in reaction, threatened populations have set fire to large portions of the forest.  It has been necessary to dispatch riot police and other emergency services from Thebes to try to contain the situation, whilst minimising the use of lethal force. 

Labdacide Dynasty (Riot Police)

Force Rating : 4

War Exhaustion : 1

 

Dionysus (Maenads and Rioters)

Force Rating : 2

War Exhaustion : 1

 

 

INVASION STATUS

Invading Force

None

War Progress

None

 

WORLD TRAITS

Rampant Crime

When fighting opponents from the Criminal Elements encounter list, add 1 enemy

Overgrown

To any battlefield, add 1D6+2 individual plant features, or 1D3 areas of vegetation roughly 4" across

 

NOTES

Note 1

Note 2

 

FACTIONS

1. Name	Faction Type	Influence / Power / Loyalty
Labdacide Dynasty	Charismatic Leader	I : 4 / P : 3 / L : 1

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

-----------------------------

2. Name	Type	Influence / Power / Loyalty
Creon	Secretive Organisation	I : 2 / P : 4 / L : 0

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

-------------------------------

3. Name	Type	Influence / Power / Loyalty
Dionysus	Religious Movement	I : 4 / P : 2 / L : 0

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

--------------------------------

4. Name	Type	Influence / Power / Loyalty
-	-	I : / P : / L :

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

----------------------------------

 

 

PATRONS

1. Name	Type / Affiliate	Benefit
The Dragon Syndicate	Corporation / None	None

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

-----------------------------

2. Name	Type / Affiliate	Benefit
-	- / -	-

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

-------------------------------

3. Name	Type / Affiliate	Benefit
-	- / -	-

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

--------------------------------

4. Name	Type / Affiliate	Benefit
-	- / -	-

Current Missions	Pay	Hazard	Condition	Deployment	Enemy Type
-	-	-	-	-	-

----------------------------------

LOCAL RIVALS

1 -

---------------------------------

QUEST

 

THE WORLD 

The Labdacide Dynasty 

Boetia is home to a single Dynasty, the Labdacides.  The founding father of the family is Cadmos, son of Agenor and Telephassa, who were magnates from the Phoinix System.  Saddled with a host of addiction related problems and some major issues with her parental upbringing, Cadmos' sister, Europè, had fled the family home, making the 35 light year jump to the Olympos System aboard a Taurus class luxury liner that she had connived her way onto.  Cadmos and his brothers and sisters were sent after her, and incidentally never saw each other or home again.

Cadmos followed his sister's trail to Thebes, the Boetian capital, which led to the door of a criminal organisation firmly established in the business of human traficking.  The surprisingly resourceful young adventurer slew its head honcho, and promptly took over the triad.  He enlisted its sinister lieutenants, known as the Spartoi, the "Sown", no doubt because the Dragon Syndicate always ensured that any who opposed it reaped what they had sown.

Despite his actions, Cadmos found no further trace of Europè.  The trail had gone cold, although his sister would actually pop up, years later, on the planet Krete.  In any case, Cadmos built on his success.  He slowly recentred the Dragon Syndicate, although it retained many of its criminal activities.  This was a heady time, with every society still assimilating the earth-shaking development of mnemosynê technology.  Cadmos' power grew until he was elected President of the Boetian Coalition, which back then was the ruling body on Thebes.  He married an influential Theban aristocrat, Harmony.  Their mariage was an extraordinary and sumptuous affair that was the highlight of the social calendar across the entire solar system, and their subsequent career was glorious enough that they were able to retire to the Elysian Fields.  It was some consolation, perhaps, for the misfortunes that would strike all of their children. 

Cadmos and Harmony had numerous children, all of whom would become celebrities for one reason or another - Agavé, Semelé, Ino, Polydoros and Autonoé.  Cadmos had himself implanted into Polydoros, who had wed Nikteis, daughter of one of the Sown lieutenants named Chthonos, and from there migrated into Labdacos.  By this time, the ravages of mnemosynê were beginning to be felt.  The powerful persona of Cadmos allowed Labdacos to offer his services to numerous families quailing before the potential loss of their immortality.  It is estimated that they absorbed roughly ten thousand of them, which not only made Labdacos wealthy beyond belief, and ensured him election to the Confederation presidency, but turned the job into a family sinecure.  That is somewhat of a shortcut in describing what was a sometimes nasty process of overturning democracy, similar to what was happening on other worlds at the time.

The Labdacide dynasty was born, and the dark streak constantly woven into it by its inherited criminal activities is an important factor in its evolution.  Labdacos himself died in fairly short shrift - from mental exhaustion, said many.  His son Laios was still too young to receive the mnemosynê, and a son of Chthonos, Lykos, was appointed regent.  There followed a series of troubles that mirrored vicious infighting within the syndicate itself, with Lykos and his brother Nycteus on one side, and Nycteus' mistreated wife Antiope and their sons Amphion and Zetos on the other.  Only this constant rivalry avoided the Syndicate getting its hands on the Labdacide mnemosynê.

In the meantime, Laios had taken refuge in another city of Beotia, under the protection of its mayor, Pelops.  A disturbed individual, he forced himself on the man's son, Chrysippus, who subsequently took his own life.   It is said that the curse on the Labdacides comes from Pelops' rage, but the truth is that the dark streak in their personality was always there, compounded by their complex relationship with the Dragon Syndicate.

In any event, Laios was forced to return to Thebes, which brought the rivalry within the Syndicate to a head, ending up with him as the last man standing.  The mnemosynê passed into him.  He married Jocasta, but suffering from rather debilitating paranoia which had him believe that any child they conceived would be the death of him, refused to share her bed.  Through various wiles, Jocasta became pregnant nonetheless, and a baby was born.  When it became clear that Laios was mad enough to kill his own son, the child was sent away without even having been named.  He was adopted by an noble couple of the city of Corinth, on Argolid, and was named Oedipus.

It was at this time that the Arrival occurred. Its consequences for Thebes were of course wide-ranging.  As far as the present story goes, it effectively severed all communication between Jocasta and Corinth.  Oedipus grew up into a fine young man, charismatic, intelligent, and courageous, and with no knowledge of who his true parents were.

Just because you are paranoid does not mean everyone isn't out to get you...Oedipus did indeed end up murdering his father.  According to the defendant, at his later trial, it was a chance encounter, a case of mistaken identity and self-defence, although some pointed to Oedipus' pride and quick temper as more likely culprits.  Oedipus arrived in Thebes shortly after Laios' funeral; the dead basileus was not missed.  Jocasta had revealed that her and Laios had a son, and her brother, Creon, assumed regency over Boetia until a messenger could find the young man in Corinth, and bring him back.

These were post-Arrival days, and what would before have been a relatively short hop, was fraught with danger.  Two envoys were killed before they could set foot on Argolid, and the third went a long time without giving any news.  In truth, Creon was almost determined to let the affair slide.  The Labdacides seemed cursed, and wasn't this young Oedipus quite the hero ?  He had put down the Sphinx Uprising that had cost Creon his father and his son, won over most of the Theban Council, and conquered Jocasta's heart.  They had four children together : two sons Eteocle and Polynice, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismène.

Creon had begun to dream up some interesting scenarios involving his person, until he realised his sister and her husband had betrayed him.  Creon was off world when Oedipus was hailed basileus.  He arrived back just in time to see the young man assimilate the Labdacide mnemosynê.  

What a shocker that was !  As soon as the mnemosynê was implanted, Oedipus discovered that he had killed his own father, and had children with his own mother.  The Labdacide dynasty seemed doomed to devour itself.  Jocasta committed suicide shortly afterwards, destroying her personality beyond all hope of transfer, in a act that could not be more symbolic.  Oedipus' abdicated, and wandered blindly through the solar system.  He eventually reached Attica and did the unthinkable, walking right into a sanctuary belonging to the Erinnyes, the bounty-hunting Furies.  For some reason, the local chapter took pity on him, and asked the basileus Theseus to extend his protection to the refugee.  Oedipus died shortly afterwards in the isolated town of Colonna, and was laid to rest by Theseus himself in a tomb whose location is a state secret.  Theseus' gesture - and his unexpected returning of the Labdacide mnemosynê to Boetia, as he had every opportunity to destroy it - has ensured a strong alliance between Attica and Beotia, now that the latter is under the control of Antigone, as will be explained shortly.  

The mnemosynê line passed down to Eteocle, Oedipus' eldest son from his incestuous relationship.  With the boy aged only thirteen, Creon wielded considerable influence over him, and saw another chance at the crown; it was his suggestion that the complex mnemosynê of the Labdacides was too great a burden for such a young man, and that Eteocle could only reign if he alternated in office with his brother Polynice.  In this he was supported by the Theban Assembly, for the hope of the people was that their burden would be lessened if they were governed by a madman only half of the time.

Hopes were quickly dashed when Eteocle, still a teenager, refused to surrender power at the end of his term.  Polynice was driven into exile.  Backed by several Beotian urban centres that had suffered enough under the Labdacides, he enlisted the help of Adraste, basileus of Argolid.  No less than seven flagships were sent against Boetia.  The war of the Seven against Thebes was a brutal affair; of the assailants, only Adraste's vessel survived, whilst that of Polynice boarded Eteocle's, and the legend goes that the two brothers actually fought in hand to hand combat, slaying each other.

The Labdacide's decline looked set to continue, dragging Thebes down with it.  Creon once again took up the mantle of statehood, offering full honours to Eteocle whilst refusing them to Polynice, effectively pitting their supporters against each other and sowing the seeds of a devastating civil war, from which he intended to rise as the only alternative to the Labdacides.

This outcome was averted by Antigone.  Daughter of Oedipus, she alone of her brethren had accompanied their disgraced father, Oedipus, in the wanderings of his final journey.  Her character had greatly impressed Theseus of Attica, and his support was vital in securing her return to Thebes, where she forced Creon into submission and accepted the mnemosynê.  The hardships of her life, and her fearful and destructive inheritance, were tempered in Antigone by her compassion, her depth of soul, her unwavering loyalty to her own and her refusal of hatred and vengeance.

Antigone is the current basileus of the Labdacide dynasty of Boetia.  Despite her young age (32), she is also by far the dominant personality of her mnemosynê line, a fact which has done much to stabilise the fortunes of the planet.  After only six years of reign, she still faces numerous challenges, needing to repair the devastation caused by the war with Argos, with whom conflict still simmers.  The vengeance of the Argive Epigones (the "successors", that is, the children of those killed in the previous battle) is held in check only by the alliance with Attica, and her strong personal bond with Theseus.   The violence and malfeasance associated with the criminal shadow of the Labdacide line is a constant pressure, more so that it is greatly at odds with her own personality. She must also struggle, as her ancestors before her, with some of the more unpleasant personas in the mnemosynê, although at least his own experience so heavily fragmented the mind of Laios that he is pretty much incapable of assertion.  Her father, Oedipus, often comes forth, but as time goes by, his proverbial wisdom is more present that his bitter regrets.  The wily Cadmos, when he comes to the fore, is unfazed by the changes wrought on the world since his death, and quite capable of guiding Boetia to a promising destiny. 

 

The Dragon Syndicate 

The criminal power of the Syndicate was a deciding factor in Cadmos' rise to power.  Although he took certain steps to separate his role as the Dragon from his political office, the Dragon Syndicate has a symbiotic relationship with the Labdacides which none can ignore.

The four lieutenants that Cadmos inherited, the "Sown", were utterly loyal to him, but their grip on the earlier Labdacides was a strong one.  Cadmos' eldest daughter, Agavé, became the new Dragon, and married the Sown Echion; their son Pentheus was only a few steps away from power when he met his untimely end.  

Another lieutenant, Chthonos, was the source of a bloody episode in which the Syndicate once again came very close to snatching power and mnemosynê from the rightful heir, Laios. 

Creon and Jocasta, who have played such an important role in the destinies of the Labdacides, are among the descendants of Agavé and Echion, and Creon, who spent his younger years working within the Syndicate, still has very strong ties to it, strings he is pulling in his rivalry with Antigone.   Indeed, although the Syndicate is losing some of its influence in Thebes with the advent of Antigone, she cannot simply cut it off.

The proximity and rather unique relationship that the Syndicate has with the Labdacides is also a source of permanent internal tension, between those who seek power for themselves, those who believe power must stem from supporting the legitimate basileus, and those who desire complete independance.  This constant infighting leads to periodic bloodbaths as definitive solutions are sought for internal rivalries.    

 

Dionysus and the Bacchantes 

After Cadmos' retirement, control of the Sown had passed to his eldest daughter, Agavé, who married Echion, one of the circle of four syndicate lieutenants.  The two of them pushed their own son, Pentheus, to the forefront of the political scene, despite the fact that his uncle, Polydoros, was the mnemosynê carrier.   

Agavé's sister, Semelé was in her sixties when she claimed to have been visited by an entity.  Her insistence that this being, that she named Zeus, was the father of Dionysus, her baby, irritated Agavé, who was paranoid and believed her sister was attempting some sort of power play.  After ensuring that her sister was rejected by polite society, she had her killed by Echion, who burnt her alive in a house fire.

Dionysus was adopted by another of her sisters, Ino, who like her brothers and sisters would know an uncomfortable fate. 

By this time, Dionysus was a teenage boy, a tortured genius with a strong impression that he was a death sentence for anybody who cared for him.  He left Thebes on the first starship that would let him work passage, and wandered the solar system whilst his psychic powers bloomed.  It is this manifestation that has convinced most people that Zeus - or in any case, some precursor of the Divine - scouted Olympos and no doubt all the other human colonised star systems a few decades before the Arrival.

Dionysus is a mentalist of immense ability and of a strong moral code and an open mind.  Those who follow his precepts - hospitality, equality, the virtues of a second chance - are welcome by his side.  

His wanderings eventually brought him back to Boetia, where he caused considerable disorder in the capital with his notions.  They were, after all, drastically opposed to Agavé and Echions' conception of power.  For some reason, only Thebes' matrons were affected by madness, following Dionysus out into the deep forests of the planet.   "They were not", explains one expert, "his adepts, as the Bacchantes or Menades are.  Instead, for those who resist the prophet and the power of his message, dionysism evolves into a contagious mental illness". 

It seems that Dionysus singled out Agavé for a unique punishment.  He convinced Pentheus to leave the capital and come into the forest to meet his mother, in order to bring her back to reason.  Instead of that, Agavé, in the blind rage of a Menade, hacked her own son to death and paraded his head around on the end of a branch.

 

Dionysus comes and goes in Thebes as he pleases, and the very uncertainty that surrounds his appearances, and the fear of disobeying his precepts, makes the city a more opening and welcoming place than most planets have become since the Arrival. 

His joyous sect is nonetheless highly popular, celebrated in the dense forests that surround all the cities of Boetia, and especially those that cover the mountain ranges of Citheron and the Helicon.  The woman of all ages who follow him in his wanderings are called Bacchantes.  Without being priestesses, they play an important role in the festivals organised in honour of the principles of Dionysus.  Lightly dressed or even nude, they dance frenetically and ingest various substances in order to achieve a higher state of conscience.  In this state they can be extremely dangerous if anything occurs to trouble them, transforming then into Maenads, capable of flights of fury that possess superhuman strength and rage.

Dionysus' sect is also popular among elder widowed men.  Joyous and voluptuous, doing nothing to hide age's distortions, the Silenes seek to remain in a state of perpetual inebriation.  There are also younger men, the Satyrs, but considered to be disturbance, they must follow the processions and proceedings from a distance.  They thus protect the other members of the sect, but are also a constant danger to any innocents they happen to come across.

It is worth mentioning that despite his 92 years, Dionysus has the appearance and the vigour of a man in his thirties. 

 

Creon 

Creon, along with his now deceased sister Jocasta, is tied to the Dragon Syndicate, for they are the grandchildren of Agavé and one of the Sown, Echion.  In his younger years, he was involved in one of the periodic phases of bloodletting within the organisation, and it was during this time that he crossed paths with Herakles.  The most famous of all corsairs was seduced by Creon's daughter, Megara.  

He lost his father Menoecee in the first massacres of the Sphinx Uprising that had been spurred on by the madness of his brother-in-law, the basileus Laios.  His son Hemon, who had volunteered for the army, was then killed during the ensuing guerilla warfare.

When Laios was murdered abroad, Creon served as regent, until such time that the son that Jocasta had given up for adoption could be tracked down.  He encouraged Oedipus for several years, without realising who he was.  As time passed, and the heir was nowhere to be found, Creon seriously considered taking on the mnemosynê himself.  He had gone to consult the Delphic Oracle on that subject, when he was betrayed by his sister Jocasta and her husband, Oedipus.

After the full tragedy of Oedipus' life was revealed, Creon counseled his sons Eteocle and Polynice, intending to turn them on each other so that he came out victorious.  The ensuing war cost the life of his surviving son, another Menoecee. Furthermore, Creon's plans were foiled by Antigone, who proved to be a strong, popular and legitimate basileus.

Creon managed to sneak out of Thebes before anybody convinced Antigone to get rid of him permanently, and he is now a dangerous rival.  He has gathered considerable support within the Dragon Syndicate, that Antigone is gradually distancing herself from.  He has ties to Herakles, through his daughter Megara.  Whilst his 81 years have begun to weigh on his shoulders, thwarted ambition and hatred are powerful motivators.

 

Tiresias 

The story goes that Tiresias having been both man and woman, he was chosen by Zeus to arbitrate a dispute between Hera and himself.  His decision did not please Hera, who struck him blind; Zeus was however so pleased, that he offered Tiresias a life seven times longer than that of ordinary mortals, and the ability to predict the future.

Whatever the true source of his psychic powers, Tiresias possesses them in strength, and exerts an unusual amount of control over the primary power of any psyker, that deep understanding of causality that is a strong predictor.

As his legend suggests, he does actually age with supernatural slowness.

He is an untiring but independant counsellor for Boetia, and both the basileus and the Theban Council often ask for his advice, and generally follow it.  Naturally, any lobbyist worth his salt has a crack at getting Tiresias onboard.

 

Geography

Boetia is famed for its extensive forests, which take up more than three quarters of the land mass.  Those that cover the flanks of the Citheron and Helicon mountain ranges are considered sacred.  Whilst the endless trees attract the followers of Dionysus, the mountains awe-inspiring natural waterfalls, foremost among them the Aganippé and the Hippocrene, attract the Muses themselves.

It is said that the vast forests are also favoured by the Divine Artemis.  A story is told of another of Cadmos' misfortunate children, Autonoé, who had a son named Acteon.  Imbued both with a love of the forest depths, and his own self, he had the misfortune to cross the tracks with Artemis shortly after the Arrival.  He is said to have actually seen her in her natural form, and to have paid for it with his life, devoured by his own hunting mastiffs.