Damaris

Rogue Trader: Drake Dynasty
GM
Adam
Dynastic Power
Character Level: 31,250 XP / Rank 8
Profit Factor: 43𝖕
Command Crew
Lord-Captain Drake Navigator Primus Mordecai Arch-Millitant Winter Astropath Solarus High Factorum August
House Drake Fleet
Aurea Albion Hound of Albion • Abhorrent Fortuitous Purpose • Penance of Iocanthos
Drake Trade Empire
Damaris • Scintilla • Kulth Svard • Dross • Aurum Sepheris Secundus • Tennenberg Killian's Rest
Drake Expeditions
Open Missions
Grand Endevours
Personnel
Magistrates • Retainers Militants Svard 1st • Stormtroopers House Drake Expeditionary Army
Assets
Materiel Aerospace Craft • Ground Vehicles
Armoury Wargear • Relics and Artifacts
Other Estate Secrets and Contacts • Awards and Honors
The Galaxy
Locations Calixis Sector Koronus Expanse • Periphery Subsector Personalities Peers of the Imperium Rival Rogue Traders
Utilities
Rogue Trader Timeline House Rules Guide and Lore

"I hereby claim this world and all of its riches for the God-Emperor of Mankind, and with His blessed guidance shall we till the soil and raise up our cities in His holy name."' -Excerpt from the Damaris founding charter

A rarity among the howling desolation of the void, Damaris is a world based on great aspirations and driving ambition. A medium-sized planet of rolling hills, low mountain ranges, and small but incredibly deep seas, Damaris is blessed with numerous valuable resources. Although a colder world with oversized icecaps, the equator is highly temperate and vast stretches of the equatorial regions are given over to agriculture and the production of foodstuffs. The seas are full of edible creatures that are highly in demand throughout the Expanse as well as the Calixis sector, and many valuable ores and precious gems are ensconced in the world's ancient, wind-worn mountains. The planet boasts a remarkably modern infrastructure for such a relative backwater, with power and running water more common than not and a generally efficient transit system of roads, ornithopter ports, and maglevs connecting the capital city with the numerous outlying communities, manses, agricombines, and commercial and industrial complexes.

Agri-combines concerned with growing food and cultivating livestock dominate commerce and industry on Damaris. However, while many Damarans till the land, the planet also boasts a strong mining industry that produces millions of tons of raw and refined ores for export to other systems. There is also a small but respected ship-building industry centered at the Bulwark, Damaris' orbital defense station. While Damaran shipwrights lack the skills and technology to produce warp capable ships, their small craft and inter-system ships are sturdy and well-made, adhering to ancient and respected designs. There is also trade between Damaris and nearby worlds, facilitated by Rogue Traders. Damaris exports ores, foodstuffs, livestock, and ship components in exchange for luxuries, vehicles, and durable goods from throughout The Cauldron, and levies heavy tariffs on any imported agricultural products.

Damarans are a hardy people, still blessed with the fortitude and strength of will so typical of colonists. They are generally friendly and hard working people devoted to their world and the word of the God-Emperor. Thanks to generally pure genetic stock and a minimum of both natural and warp radiation at large in the system, the Damarans are remarkably free from mutation or warp corruption, and psykers or other abhumans are quite rare among their number. The majority of the population is involved in agriculture or a number of skilled trades such as astrography or ship building. They count among their number few artists, remembrancers or scholars, but those who do posses these talents are widely regarded with respect and admiration.

The Damarans are also typically a devout people, who follow an orthodox interpretation of the Imperial Creed that meets with the Ecclesiarchy's approval. The Ecclesiarchy has sent priests and confessors amongst the people for centuries, and now is rewarded with a planetary population who is generally pious and faithful to the God-Emperor of Mankind.

The government of Damaris is an entrenched plutocracy, led by a number of powerful and wealthy families tied with the influential agri-combines and industrial concerns. As is typical in Imperial society, there is no social mobility within Damaris' society, and it is heavily stratified along class lines. The head of government is a hereditary position currently held by the diminishing Kapak family, whose ancestors have led the planet with greater or lesser skill for centuries now. While never officially an Imperial colony, Damaris is run as if it were. The government pays regular tithes to the Administratum, provides an appropriate number of men for the Imperial Guard every annum, and even maintains an important shrine to St. Drusus in the capital city. In exchange, they receive the protection of the Imperium by way of an Imperial Navy garrison and the planet enjoys all the privileges that an actual official colony would.

The Capital

(For Tactical Breakdown, see Damaris Locations) The capital and only sizable city (referred to as Damaris City or simply The City by its inhabitants) spreads out over hundreds of miles of scenic countryside sandwiched between one of the planet's many ancient mountain ranges and the largest of its deep, narrow seas. A bustling city home to nearly a third of Damaris' three million souls, the capital city pulses day and night with the energy and industriousness of its inhabitants. While it boasts the typical array of services and amenities found on most advanced Imperial worlds, there are a few points of particular interest worth mentioning.

The Gubernatorial Palace

A towering, majestic edifice of delicate gilded arches and imposing red marble towers, the gubernatorial palace is the seat of Damaris' government. Decorated in a style charitably described as "aggressively Imperial,", the palace simply drips with aquilas, skulls, stained glass displaying the glory of the God-Emperor and His saints, and all manner of accoutrement designed to impress upon the visitor that they are, in fact, in the presence of Imperial power. While some may say that the original designers were trying too hard in an effort to prove their legitimacy, most see it as a home worthy of an Imperially-sanctioned government.

It is here among the glowering statues and constant reminders of servitude to the God-Emperor that the day-to-day business of running a bustling Imperial colony takes place. Members of the plutocracy gather here among flunkies, sycophants, and those looking for favours or hand-outs from the decadent government leaders. There are numerous ballrooms, meeting areas and offices, all centred around a massive amphitheatre that acts as a sort of parliamentary chamber where lengthy debates of important issues drag on for countless hours. The palace is also the home of the wheedling Governor Kapak, the spineless dilettante who is the head of government and the voice of the Administratum of Damaris, at least in theory. The governor lives here in decadent luxury, rarely concerning himself with the business of governing. Instead he's content to delegate his responsibilities to his ministers and see to his numerous illicit pursuits.

The Shrine of St. Drusus

Separated from the gubernatorial palace by a broad stretch of parkland, the Shrine stands as a counterpoint to the opulence and luxury of the palace. As befits the shrine of a martial saint and a leader of men, it seems more fortress than cathedral. With its thick stone walls and armoured bastions covered in bas-reliefs telling the story of the life and death of the eponymous saint, it has a foreboding, militant air about it. The shrine is overseen by the bookish and sickly Bishop Arint, a well-respected theologian and a historian of some note in the Calixis sector. It was his skill and knowledge of both subjects that brought him here to care for the extremely important holy relic of St. Drusus housed here in the Shrine. While no one is completely sure what the artefact actually is, rumour has it that it is, in fact, the severed hand of the saint Himself brought to Damaris centuries ago by an unknown priest.

Sphinx's Landing Starport

Located on the northern edge of the city, the massive Sphinx's Landing is Damaris' primary spaceport and a major hub of planetary and inter-system travel. Thousands of Damarans pass through its doors on an average day, flitting here and there on personal or business journeys. The Starport houses planetary imposts as well, and all import and export traffic passes through, along with a large number of foreign void men, Free Captains and Rogue Traders. This is the beating heart of Damaris' interplanetary and intraplanetary transportation system, and without its berthing facilities and powerful directional auspex scanners, the majority of trade and traffic on and off the system would grind to a halt.

Damaris Highland Levy Fields

On the far side of the city from the Starport is the Highland Levy Fields, the training fields for Damaris's planetary . defense forces. A sprawling complex of barracks, hangars, training and garages, this is where the Levy lives and trains. Ringed by a high wall ringed with defensive positions, The Field is a nearly impregnable high-security zone housing a constantly rotating force of heavily armed troopers. It is the nerve centre of the planet's armed forces, and only the Bulwark and the central command bunker come close to it in strategic importance.

Damaris Defense Forces

(For a compleate list of defenders, see Damaris Defenders) Damaris boasts a small but well trained and equipped home defense force. There are two branches, the interplanetary ships of the Damaris Defense Flotilla, and the planetary defense forces of the Damaris Highland Levy (or simply the Levy, as it is known on the planet), and each is responsible both for their specific operating theaters and providing aid to the other as needed.

Damaris Highland Levy

Commanded by General Remi Dante, the Levy is responsible for the protection of the planet itself. With tens of thousands of men under arms and equipped with Imperial Guard surplus, the Levy is a respectably modern fighting force comprised of both conscripts and professional volunteers. Headquartered just within Damaris City at the Levy Fields, the Levy strongly resembles the Imperial Guard after which it is structured. Possessing good communications infrastructure and a very competent logistics chain, the Levy can establish a forward operating base anywhere on the planet within two local days. This allows them to stay close to the capital city and still retain the ability to respond quickly to any emergency.

Geared mainly toward open warfare, the Levy is, at its heart, an infantry force. The backbone of the ground forces are the 1st and 2nd Highland Levy Regiments. A rough and ready group of straight-leg and mechanized infantry, the regiment has an officer corp made of volunteers, mainly from the noble houses of Damaris with enlisted conscripts and non-commissioned officers the poorer sections of the capital city and the surrounding towns. The average conscript soldier is equipped with a lasgun and flak armor, along with the typical kit of gear and supplies needed by a soldier in the field. The Levy has a strong tradition of squad sergeants directing many of the Levy's day-to-day operations. Officers equip themselves, typically with the finest quality firearms and heirloom suits of carapace armor adorned with both their family colors and those of their respective units. While they are well trained and kept at a high state of readiness, the Levy is still very green. Throughout the centuries of their existence, they have fought precious few battles, have never faced an off-world threat serious enough to require a mass mobilisation of troops, and the current Levy is unbloodied and untested.

Adding heavy armor support to the bloody infantry of the Levy are the Sphinx Heavy Guard's armored forces. Bringing some dignity to the otherwise ugly brawl of infantry combat, the Heavy Guard operates the numerous Leman Russ tanks, fighting vehicles, and artillery pieces (organized into a separate unit, the Highland Wardens). Equipped largely like their brothers in the infantry, the Armored forces prefer autopistols to the bulky lasguns and heavy stubbers of the basic infantry. The men and women of the Heavy Guard tend to be flashy and arrogant and see themselves as elite warriors, certainly better than simple soldiers. A friendly-and occasionally unfriendly-rivalry exists between the two forces which leads to constant attempts to outdo one another as well as the occasional brawl or duel.

The rest of the Levy is made up of various auxiliary support groups and transport elements. Damaris' Levy is also supported by a small air force consisting of two flights of Hawk superiority fighters, and two squadrons of Marauder bombers. The Levy also maintains a small force of under-gunned Valkyrie transports, primarily for mobilization and logistics use.

Damaris Defense Flotilla

Based at the Bulwark, the Damaris Defence Flotilla is lead by a gruff, aged voidman by the name of Orran Reynolds. Captain Reynolds, an accomplished fighter pilot and veteran of several space battles, does the best he can with what little is at his disposal. Not a wealthy planet by the measure of the established Imperium, Damaris was never able to afford heavy, warp-capable warships. Instead, the Flotilla is made up of numerous fast, heavily armed inter-system patrol craft and a pair of defense monitors. These ships, along with the fighter squadrons based at the Bulwark, are responsible for patrolling the system and keeping it safe for commerce and travel. A difficult task indeed when one considers the sheer vastness of the system and the constant threat of pirates and marauding xenos.

Thanks to its status as a quasi-Imperial colony, Damaris has been afforded the honor of hosting an Imperial Navy garrison. This garrison, essentially a small suite of offices and a recruiting and impressment station near the main shipyard within the hollow moon, is home to the command of one Lord-Captain Sylvia Locke. Lord-Captain Locke, a marginalized career officer from Battlefleet Koronus, has at her command the might of her light cruiser Aegis.

There is a palpable friction between Commander Reynolds and Lord-Captain Locke. For the former, this is born for his distrust of the Imperial Navy and his belief that the Lord-Captain isn't particularly invested in the defense of his planet, or no. As for the Lord-Captain, she has a deep disdain for the training and readiness of any force not part of the Imperial Navy, as well as the dismissive attitude of a Lord-Captain dealing with "common voidmen."

The Bulwark

Nestled in the bosom of a hollowed-out moon in orbit above Damaris, the Bulwark is the centre of Damaris' Orbital Defense Forces. Mined for generations by the Damaran colonists, the ore deposits were eventually depleted and the planetary government was left with a seemingly useless hollow shell in an unstable orbit around their world. Unsure what to do with it, Damaris initially used it to store mining ships and the remains of the ancient colony ship used to settle the planet. As the years passed and Damaris' ship-building industry expanded, the moon slowly became a fully operational space station. The moon was moved to a higher orbit with massive plasma drives and the interior spaces were expanded and sectioned into hangars, dry-docks, slips, housing, and hundreds of kilometres of corridors. Defensive emplacements were erected on the surface, and they slowly accumulated a motley but potent mix of augur arrays, auspex systems, and the sort of macrocannon and lance batteries typically found on the larger classes of Imperial warships.

Today, the Bulwark houses the small defense flotilla within its massive docks. Along with the ships and crews there are tens of thousands of soldiers, pilots, customs officials, government and military functionaries housed among its blasted rock and twisting corridors. A hub of trade as well as a military port, there is a bustling commercial centre adjoining the civilian docks where Rogue Traders mix with voidmen, scoundrels, and Chartist Captains in an environment rich with rumor, commerce, and potential violence. While small, the commercial centre offers all the amenities that a void man ashore expects; money lenders, drinking establishments, brothels, fighting pits, and all manner of unseemly entertainment.