Personnel · Imperial Archive

Captain dossier · leader · The Ship The Previous Lord Captain No name survives, and no face. The Ship lost both along with most of its memory. What it kept: he sat on the bridge after the crew had gone to their bunks and talked with it about… Sol Empire

Captain dossier · lord · Quiet Stitch Brood-of-Nine Mesh Nine eyes turn in different directions above Mesh’s frilled collar, and nine opinions are rarely far behind. The brood shares one body, but sharing a body has never obliged them… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Chrysalis Broodkeeper Thal Thal’s scarred blue-gray face is crowded with teeth, and their body bears the traces of wounds survived. They consider each scar an account of a lesson: where an attacker struck… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Sunken Cradle Broodkeeper Vesh Vesh’s round face is ringed with striped spines, and their heavy eyes seem to look past whoever stands before them. They are often remembering the cradle-world where their brood… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Iridescent Bough Chitin-Artist Oloth Light moves across Oloth’s layered crest in blue, violet, and green. They developed the colors through years of patient cultivation, adjusting the texture of each plate until the… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · captain · Carapace Chitin-Lord Pax Pax presents a smooth, dark shell and a pair of green compound eyes to visitors. He is proud of the chitin he has grown, both on his own body and across Carapace, where layered… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Mistake Returning Growth-Engineer Pesh Pesh has a round, tooth-lined mouth and an engineer’s habit of inspecting every unexpected result before calling it a failure. During one project, tissue intended to breathe… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Dethroned Petal Hive-Aristocrat Okra A pale face peers out beneath Okra’s purple frills, while scarred tissue marks the side where their sister struck during a duel for standing. The court witnessed the end, accepted… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · leader · Hivemother Matron Zix Small bodies cling to Zix’s fur and gather around the many black eyes of their matron. They are not ornaments. Each carries a fragment of her attention, and each returns with news… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Sloughed Carapace Molt-Prince Mol-Marrow Mol-Marrow emerged from the appointed molt with a crown of blunt spines and a face the hive’s aestheticists could not classify. They examined every ridge, compared every… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Refused Cathedral Molt-Princess Thren Thren’s amber shell has begun to show its age. The great green eyes beneath it remain watchful, though the hive expected Thren to surrender that particular self during the final… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Hatchery Surplus Pale Decantation The hatchery marked Pale Decantation with tally strokes instead of a name. Their pale, folded body was one among many, counted for a purpose that shifted before anyone could… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · captain · Throne Organism Queen Apex Apex’s broad, scarred head gives her a view in several directions, an arrangement she considers appropriate for a queen whose ambitions extend well beyond her present territory… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · captain · Spore Crown Senior Broodmother Ysta Ysta’s wrinkled face creases into a broad smile when she sees life take hold where an enemy expected only bare metal. The rounded forms gathered over her head and shoulders are… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Disowned Batch Spawn-Captain Yara Yara’s skin is a patchwork joined by neat seams, each patch grafted from a sister who did not survive. Their birth hive called the whole batch impure. The judgment fell on all of… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Severed Lattice Spawn-of-Six Yssil Yssil was the smallest of seven. The broodmother kept the runt and let the six others be culled, and she never explained the choice. Yssil has supplied an explanation of their… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Communion Bloom Spore-Priest Kresh Kresh’s pale, layered crown shelters a face threaded with growth and bright green eyes. Among the faithful, their appearance is taken as a sign of closeness to the drifting life… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Patient Inhalation Spore-Tactician Xith Xith taught successive generations how to consider a spore-cloud: where it might drift, what it might encounter, and how long its effects could outlast the moment of release… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Loud Hatchery Swarm-Coordinator Omra Omra’s bright stalked eyes can follow several broods at once, a talent that brought them a coveted appointment. Eight broods were assigned to their care. The other four arrived as… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · captain · Tidecaller The Hydromancer The Hydromancer’s milky blue crown hangs above a face partly hidden by pale trailing tissue. His brood was shaped for the violent weather of gas giants, where pressure, current… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Pollen of the Last Court The Orchid Widow The Widow carries a pale flower beside their pointed green face, a small token from a court that no longer exists. Its hive was consumed by a rival, and the survivors were so… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · captain · Infestation The Pollinator The Pollinator’s paired, featherlike crowns spread above a cluster of small dark eyes. Their many senses make them attentive to movement through a crowded field, and they have… Bio Collective

Captain dossier · lord · Burn Rate Auditor-Major Petrescu Petrescu and her partner uncovered a fraud hidden inside a Combine supply contract. They traced missing material through shell firms until the people profiting from it realized… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · captain · Forgeheart Chief Engineer Morek Morek wears his goggles above a stern brow and keeps a mechanic’s habits even while commanding Forgeheart. He wants to know where material came from, what strain it has already… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Material Witness Chief Steward Volkov Volkov keeps a key on a chain around his neck. It opens a cabinet aboard Material Witness, though the cabinet contains copies rather than the only evidence. He learned long ago… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · leader · The Iron Hammer Commander Voss The scar above Voss’s eye came from a bridge window that should have held. She kept the shattered frame on her desk until the manufacturer admitted its inspection records were… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Net Position Comptroller Reyes Reyes has a small notebook filled with numbers that never appear in public reports: the true cost of a convoy, a crew’s accumulated leave, the price of replacing a machine a… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · captain · Railspike Corporal Vane Vane smiles easily, especially when someone assumes her rank means she has little authority aboard Railspike. The ship’s crew knows that the corporal earned command through a… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Tonnage Sovereign Director Okonkwo Okonkwo’s face bears a pale scar, and the burns on his arms tell a longer story. He spent eighteen years running the Combine’s largest foundry, close enough to the work to know… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Counterparty Factor Krenz Krenz has a pleasant smile and the habit of letting other people finish a sentence before he tells them what it will cost. He brokered the agreement that set the Combine’s last… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Anvil Array Foreman Daskal Daskal knows every shift whistle in her sector and the names of the people who answer them. Her superiors have offered offices with broader windows and grander titles, but each… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Third Shift Foreman Solberg Solberg’s mustache is as carefully maintained as the old union patch on his sleeve. When the Combine raised him from the foundry floor to command, he insisted that his crew come… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Overtime Foreman Underhill Underhill’s timecard says his shift should have ended years ago. The records were corrupted during a labor dispute, and each attempt to correct them has produced another request… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Cold Pour Foundry-Boss Halvorsen Halvorsen’s white beard makes him look like a man who has had ample time to accept the approved way of doing things. The Combine’s metallurgists discovered otherwise when he… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Going Concern Liquidator Bhattacharya Bhattacharya arrives with a list of obligations and a pair of spectacles perched low enough to let her watch the people across the table. For years she settled the affairs of… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Supply Line Logistics-Warlord Kazimi Kazimi wears a chain across his uniform, a gift from the captains whose cargoes reached their destinations because he stayed where others would not. The corridor he commands is… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · captain · Shadow Protocol Major Aveles Aveles keeps her hair drawn back and an earpiece close, habits formed during years of work the Combine preferred not to acknowledge. She learned to enter a situation with a cover… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Throughput Plant-Manager Adisa Adisa brought the habits of a plant floor to the bridge of Throughput. Every task has an owner, every delay has a cause, and every completed job is recorded before the next… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Tolerances Quality-Inspector Tanaka Tanaka’s inspection lens is held in place by a narrow band across his silver hair. He wears it because he still prefers to see a flaw for himself, even when a full report has… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · captain · Ledger The Auditor The Auditor wears thin spectacles and speaks softly enough that people tend to lean closer. He began his career examining campaigns whose reported victories concealed ruinous… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Premium Paid Underwriter Mehta A pencil rests behind Mehta’s ear even on the bridge. He prefers to work out a figure by hand, partly because the habit forces him to examine his assumptions and partly because… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord · Quarterly Returns Vice-Chair Marjanovic Marjanovic entered her first boardroom with evidence that the company’s directors had been paying themselves to conceal a failing yard. She persuaded the shareholders to remove… Industrial Combine

Captain dossier · lord Adalil The Adalil leads the raids. They pick the target, find the lane in, and decide when to run. A raid is fast and greedy: hit the convoy, take what can be carried, and be three… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Akolouthos The Akolouthos commands the Company's guard contracts. A wealthy client buys a guard of Blades, and the Akolouthos makes sure that client survives, wherever they go and whoever is… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Amir-of-Ten An Amir-of-Ten commands ten. Ten hands, sometimes ten ships, never more, and never fewer if the Amir can help it. It is the smallest command in the Company and the closest. An… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Ataman An Ataman is a captain chosen by the crews. They answer to those crews first and to the Company second, and every crew knows it. An Ataman's banner is loud, fast and hard to keep… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Bolukbashi A Bolukbashi leads the volunteers: crews who joined a war late, on a handshake instead of the articles, for a share instead of a wage. They are eager, badly equipped and… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Caporale The Caporale carries orders down the line and complaints back up it. Each one keeps a small crew of hands in order: fed, armed, sober enough, and where they are supposed to be. It… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · leader Captain-General The Captain-General is the Company, for as long as the ledger balances. Every contract the Blades take is signed under that name, and every debt the Blades owe is owed by it. The… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Condottiere The Condottiere holds the contract. It is a business rank: the Condottiere owns the ships outright, negotiates directly with the employer, and hires the Company's other ranks to… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Constable The Company owns no territory, but it keeps a few stations, depots and stores along the lanes, and each one has a Constable. The Constable holds the place, keeps the powder dry… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Contestabile A Contestabile holds a post: a gate, a station ring, a corridor of a captured hull. The orders are simple. Stay there. Do not let anyone through who has not paid, signed or… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Doppelsoldner The Doppelsoldner is paid double, and earns it by going first. Into the breach, onto the boarding ramp, at the head of every charge. The rank is a reward for surviving the last… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Esaul The Esaul is an Ataman's right hand: messenger, quartermaster, deputy and conscience. When the Ataman gives an order, the Esaul is the one who makes it happen, finds the fuel for… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Fahnrich The Fahnrich carries the banner. In a fleet, that means flying the Company's colours where every crew can see them and every enemy can aim at them. A banner that falls means a… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Gallowglass The Gallowglass is heavy infantry in a light Company. They are hired for one purpose: to stand somewhere and not move. A Gallowglass is posted where the line must not break, and… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Hauptmann A Hauptmann leads a banner: a handful of ships, their crews, and the right to fly the Company's colours over them. The Hauptmann recruits, drills and pays, and is held to account… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Havildar The Havildar runs the guns and the people who serve them. They know every weapon on the ship by its habits: which one runs hot, which one pulls left, which one has never once… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · leader Hetman A Hetman is elected. When the Company commits to a war large enough to need every banner at once, the captains gather and choose one of their own to lead it. The Hetman holds the… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Jamadar The Jamadar keeps the banner's books. Every share, every fine and every advance on next month's wage goes through the Jamadar's ledger, and every Blade in the banner checks that… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Kashira The Kashira leads the boarding party. When a prize is worth more intact than in pieces, the Company goes in on foot, and the Kashira goes first through the hole. Boarders are paid… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Lochagos The Lochagos takes recruits nobody else wants and turns them into Blades. Most come from wrecked fleets, failed colonies and the far ends of bad debts. The Lochagos teaches them… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · leader Obrist An Obrist raises a regiment out of nothing but credit and reputation. Borrow the ships, hire the crews, sell the regiment's service to whoever is paying, and pay the loans back… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Profos The Profos keeps discipline. Thieves, deserters and anyone who strikes a paymaster answer to the Profos, and the Profos answers to nobody but the captain. The Company's justice is… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Rottmeister A Rottmeister leads a file: three or four ships that fly together, fight together and split the prize between them. It is the first rank that gives orders to anyone, and the first… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Serdar A Serdar commands the vanguard: the first banner into a sector and the last one out. It is the post the Company gives to captains it trusts and does not mind losing. The pay is… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Sotnik A Sotnik commands a hundred hands, which in practice means feeding a hundred hands, paying them, and stopping them from fighting each other between contracts. The fighting part is… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Steersman The Steersman holds the helm and plots the lane. Most of the Company's victories are decided before anyone fires: by which lane the banner took, how fast it got there, and whether… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Stradiot Stradiots fly the fastest, lightest ships in the Company and do everything that needs doing quickly: scouting ahead, chasing down stragglers, harassing a fleet until it makes a… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · leader Strategos The Strategos plans the war and leaves the fighting to everyone else. Employers hire one when they have more ships than sense: someone to tell them where the enemy will be next… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · captain Weibel The Weibel keeps the muster rolls and drills the crews until they stop making the same mistakes. Every name on a banner's roll went through a Weibel first, and every name struck… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord Xenagos When an employer hires Blades by the dozen and folds them into its own fleet, a Xenagos goes with them. The Xenagos commands the hired ships, speaks for them to the employer's… Galactic Blades

Captain dossier · lord · Small Inheritance Acolyte Lirael Mort The key at Lirael’s throat opens rooms she keeps exactly as her master left them. There is still work inside: unfinished records, a ritual half annotated, and the names of people… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Sealed Verdict Bound-Acolyte Thorne Vey Dark branching marks climb Thorne Vey’s neck from beneath his collar. They appeared when his master died and an old pact passed to the acolyte who had inherited the master’s… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Reliquary Death-Curator Umbra Kessith Kessith never presses her seal to a record she has not checked herself. A misplaced name can send a family to the wrong grave; a careless description can reduce a whole life to a… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Quiet Choir Mourner-Adept Seraphine Dol Seraphine Dol was trained to give grief a voice for families who could not bear to speak at a funeral. She learned the histories of strangers, carried their names through the… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Thin Coat Necromancer-Captain Halden Voss Halden Voss learned his first rites from his mother’s books, turning brittle pages in a room too cold to keep ink from thickening. The formal colleges dismissed the books as… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Long Inheritance Reaver-Lord Cassis Oren Oren learned his trade among the reaver-houses, where a clever young captain could rise by bringing home valuable remnants. He brought back more than they expected: evidence that… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Hour of Lead Ritualist Iskra Vael Iskra Vael has heard the comparison before it reaches the speaker’s lips. A distant connection to the Soulbinder has followed her through every appointment, inviting expectations… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Pale Procession Shroud-bearer Vespera Morant Three masks accompany Vespera Morant: one above her brow, one at her shoulder, and one kept close enough that she can reach it without looking. Each belonged to a teacher who… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · captain · Pale Hymn Sister Vale Sister Vale learned her hymns in a community that sang for the dead when no body could be brought home. The melodies gave mourners something to follow through an absence, and Vale… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Tether-of-Names Soulbinder Mortis Kell Bone tags hang across Mortis Kell’s chest, each marked for a captain who came through his master’s chapel. The old soulbinder promised them proper funerals. When the master died… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · captain · Soulbind Soulbinder Vael Vael’s pale face and long pointed ears are familiar to people who have survived an encounter with Soulbind. Few agree on how the ship came so close. Witnesses describe an empty… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · captain · Ossuary The Bone Architect Metal plates frame the Bone Architect’s face, their rivets holding together pieces that came from different sources. She considers the visible joins part of an honest structure… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Last Ember The Cinder The Cinder’s skin is cracked like a surface that has endured too much heat. A small cage hangs from his chain, containing what little he could recover after his master was burned… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Requiem The Mourner Small bones hang from the Mourner’s dark veil. Some belong to those who taught her the burial rites; others were given by families who asked her to remember someone lost far from… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Slow Procession The Threnody The Threnody’s voice carries farther than his frail appearance suggests. His master buried captains from many houses, and he learned each name so the dead would not depend on a… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Doorway The Threshold The Threshold’s master held an office charged with receiving the dead and deciding which petitions might pass onward. Its key now hangs from her own chain, heavy enough to rest… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · leader · Last Vigil The Umbral Widow The Widow’s face is half concealed by a battered mask, though the unmasked half reveals no more of her intentions. Once, people addressed her by a name belonging to a household… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Slow Lantern The Vigil The Vigil carries a lantern with a violet light that has outlasted several of its metal frames. She has watched a sealed tomb for ninety years, replacing the fittings when they… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Unbroken Watch Vigil-Keeper Orestes Vahn Vahn’s master ordered him to hold a line during a retreat. The retreat ended, the master died, and the officials who inherited the campaign could not agree on who had the standing… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · captain · Nightmare Witch-Captain Nyx Nyx’s grin exposes rows of sharp teeth beneath eyes lit violet. People who meet her often assume the expression means she is fearless. In truth, she has studied fear for so long… Necro Dominion

Captain dossier · lord · Acknowledged Bastard-Lord Sirena Köhler-Rast Sirena Köhler-Rast wears two shields on her coat and knows exactly how much argument each one provokes. Her father, the late Köhler patriarch, acknowledged her publicly. His… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · captain · Deep Mechanism Clockmaster Quen Quen’s face is pale and finely cracked, framed by brass fittings and glass vessels. Strangers sometimes hear the knocking aboard Deep Mechanism, see the clockmaster, and conclude… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · captain · Noblesse Oblige Countess Varren Countess Varren carries a small glass at her collar and a large collection of precedents in her memory. Every fight she enters begins the way her house has begun them for… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Marriage Debt Cousin-Captain Lucan Holm-Brackett Lucan’s coat carries the colors of two houses that never wanted the marriage that joined them. The union produced a son neither side could comfortably reject and a ship neither… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Blade of the Foundry Dame-Engineer Branwen Stoltenberg Branwen Stoltenberg teaches that a duel begins before anyone draws a blade. The terms, the witnesses, and the reason for the challenge all matter, because a contest without agreed… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · leader · Gearbreaker Engineer-Prime Brackett Brackett’s hair is full of pencils, her pockets are full of tools, and the magnifying lenses across her brow are never quite where she last put them. She has taught generations of… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Pressure of Inheritance Engineer-Prime Konstantin Vorderhall Konstantin Vorderhall believes a house should be heard before it is seen. His boilers announce Pressure of Inheritance with a thunder that delights him and tries the patience of… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Refusal Engineer-Regent Octavia Dunwarden Octavia Dunwarden took the regency when the heir was too young to govern. She stabilized the house’s foundries, settled debts, and made herself indispensable to people who had… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · captain · Gambit Grandmaster Otto Otto wears a small chess knight at his throat, a keepsake from the years before his commission. He was a grandmaster then, admired for positions that appeared quiet until an… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Throne Engine Heir-Apparent Petra Drazsek Petra Drazsek was named heir at six, an age when the key at her collar seemed more like a prize than a responsibility. Forty years later, her grandmother still occupies the chair… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Settled In Blood Heir-Disinherited Tomasz Ostrick A scar crosses Tomasz Ostrick’s face, though the wound that governs his life is older than he is. One hundred and forty years ago, his grandfather lost a duel that carried away… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Last Oath House-Warrior Caspar Achtmark Caspar Achtmark keeps the paper bearing his oath in a protective case. The house that received it is gone, its property divided and its surviving members scattered, but the… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Brass Bastion Marshal Bexley Bexley keeps a pair of drumsticks crossed on his chest and an old hearing horn close at hand. The beat he favors once gave factory crews time to take shelter before a dangerous… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Daughter of Drums Marshal Imogene Tannhauser Imogene Tannhauser inherited a distinguished name, but she holds the family chair because a foundry vote confirmed it. She mentions that vote often enough to irritate her rivals… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Drumline Marshal Yseult Zhulev Yseult Zhulev inherited the signal-corps marshalcy from her aunt, along with a set of well-used instructions and a reputation she had not yet earned. Her aunt could coordinate a… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Open Claim Pretender Stellan Kallenbach Stellan Kallenbach knows how to make an entrance. His uniform is immaculate, his mustache is carefully curled, and the papers in his hand are tied with a ribbon chosen to be… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Held In Trust Regent Hrolf Wend Hrolf Wend accepted a regency thirty years ago, expecting to hand the house to its heir when the child came of age. The heir never reached that day. The charter contains elaborate… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · captain · Pressure Steamwright Holm Holm’s enormous grin is familiar to anyone who has stood beside him in a hot engine room. He loves the moment a boiler reaches its working limit, when every pipe and fitting seems… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Foundry-Boy Steamwright-Baron Mikael Ferren Mikael Ferren inherited a barony at twenty-two and discovered that a title could keep him farther from the foundry floor than any locked door. Advisers wanted him at ceremonies… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · lord · Cadet's Privilege Tinker-General Aurel Marek Aurel Marek was the third son at a table where every meal seemed to become an argument about precedence. As a cadet of a foundry house, he had enough standing to be useful and… Steam Confederacy

Captain dossier · captain · Automaton Tinker-General Brekky Brekky’s brass bird perches on her shoulder while she works, occasionally drawing her attention to a loose fitting or an impatient visitor. She built it as a young mechanic, and… Steam Confederacy