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[b][h2]Lord Ebon Valistair[/h2][/b]
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[hider=The Grey Watcher]Ebon Valistair stood at the balcony of estate on Damocles. While he was a lord of two worlds of note, one of which being infinitely more inviting than the muddy rain that the lord currently stood in, he found Damocles to be a simpler place. A place where he didn't need to search the eyes of people to find their true intents. Usually, anyways. Provincial lords were always up to some scheme or another, but typically, they had the sense to give him proper respect and make their intentions plain. The 'ruler' of one of the city blocks on Salamis constantly schemed to the destruction of others, and the Clans that provided gladiators were less reliable than some of the worst among the lords of the Empire itself. He would gladly stand in casual, unarmored garments, pounded by rain that left little dirt streaks as it came down, for a week if necessary.

Of course, it wasn't necessary. In fact, he had many things to be done, and standing in rain didn't see any of them get closer to completion.

A gladiator in heavy, cyan painted and heavily worn armor slowly approached from the side, with spiked boots clanking on the ground. The gladiator stood like any other, with spikes and gadgets and a few curved weapons attached along the waistline and a thick helmet that carried many small dents on the top, a testimony to many headbuttings. The left arm of the gladiator, starting from the shoulder, looked like a solid metal bar with a hinged bend in the middle and a normal gauntlet on the end. Ebon ignored her for the moment. She was trusted above most others, a gladiator he had gone through great trouble to acquire. Being a Champion was a helpful bonus, too. He employed five such gladiators in his bodyguard, but she was foremost. Unfortunately, her position meant that she often tried to mother him. An irony, considering he was nearly a century her senior.

He heard her words before she put her arms on her hips and spoke them. "It's a bad idea to stand out in this rain without any sort of protection on! There was a case of acid nearby just last week..."

The Lord gave a half attentive nod and, after staring at the sky for a few more moments, turned to face her. "So I hear. Don't worry, there's plenty to be done. I wouldn't have stayed out for much longer," he added as he walked back inside. He caught her distinct grunt in response.

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[h3]Appearance[/h3]
Ebon is a striking figure, the sort one may expect to find in the Arena on Salamis than behind a desk leading a system. Toned from years of practice against handpicked gladiators, he has created a strongman image and will appear topless on occasion. On rarer occasion one may even see him training alongside gladiators. This image is what most of the population on both of the Twin Worlds see, and it is an image that rarely betrays his aged interior. He maintains a similar image to those of higher status as well, though he will typically be in more business attire when conducting actual business.
[h3]History[/h3]
Ebon Valistair is presently head of a line with a long history of service to the Empire. At the beginning of his reign, political turmoil on Damocles mashed with the decadence of Salamis, and both worlds appeared ready to fall. Along with a set of trusted advisors, Ebon rebuilt society on both worlds over the course of half a century. He restored the popularity of the Arena, plying deals to see truly skilled individuals on the field, and sponsored the development of several other now commonly used public services that restored Salamis to its prior glory, and in some cases a little further. Damocles was rebuilt, with the lands of many lords redistributed to the foremost of the workers - in essence, flipping society upside down. The lords who were deemed responsible for the unrest served well in the Arena. He remains a popular, even larger than life figure to the majority of the population on the Twin Worlds, although his administration and many influential outsiders see him in a more human light.
[hider=Associated Individuals of Note]
[h3]Salamis[/h3]
Tostig Valistair, the Lord's brother, owner of Arena Castel.
Falstan Valistair, the Lord's son, assigned management of public works and a small arena + crew
Cossiel Odaries, newscaster, minor government official, minor feudal lord
[h3]Damocles[/h3]
Alaris Wevan, secondary security chief of the Twin Worlds (Ebon being the primary)
Ocaria Nemesis, Packer docking station commander
Marya Darryl, bodyguard to Ebon, former Champion
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[h2]Ascaris System[/h2]
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[b]The Twin Worlds[/b]
Salamis and Damocles, two planets with a relatively short distance between them. Though it is great enough that the orbits do not intertwine and lead them on a path to collapse, they are close enough that it is an 18-24 hour trip between them, not including preparation, screening and loading time. Both worlds are famous in the Empire, each for their own unique merits. In particular, they are known as the last stand of peace; the defenses are such that the administration can boast to have never been conquered since the earliest days of the Empire's formation. While politics rule the heart of both worlds, the politics are ones of neutrality - no matter the public hostility between two individuals, one can usually trust in the discretion of staff on Salamis in sound-suppression bar rooms or the security forces of Damocles in shady warehouses. Both worlds are a majority human population with some aliens from other worlds mixed in, though typically, the only aliens of note are those seen in the Arena.
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[h3]Salamis[/h3]
Salamis is a small planet of retirement, of sport, and of every form of fun one requires in the Empire. From Arena Castel's elite gladiators to the illegitimate yet extremely effective individuals of the underground, it is rare for a wealthy individual to leave without some form of satisfaction. It is a planet of choice when one considers living out the rest of their days in a place besides their homeworld. It is a planet of deals, and on occasion, it is a planet where wars are started and ended before they've a chance to move out into the universe at large. The world is terraformed in its entirety; though gardens and places of nature can be seen frequently, they are all carefully engineered. Individuals on Salamis are typically much more aware of the universe than the people of most worlds, though a vast majority of the planet's 2.7 million population have never gone past Damocles. The people are often soft, though one should not underestimate those who keep the society flowing. Nor, indeed, should they underestimate the implications of being arrested for any crime above trivial level - typically, the sentence is Death by Arena. Certainly a spectacle, and perhaps a pleasure for everyone save the poor bastard being executed in one of a thousand commonly known ways to kill someone for ten or more minutes.
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[b]-[/b] A dozen public arenas, the foremost being Arena Castel, each having its own terrain theme and set of rules.
[b]-[/b] A few hundred "towns", which are more or less a series of interconnected cities owned by a provincial lord. The vast majority are upper class; the only people who don't live like minor lords there are those who have freely given (94.6% of the time) their lives to be staff for the various buildings.
[b]-[/b] Three orbital defense cannons, unused for any reason for a hundred years and given mostly cosmetic maintenance.
[b]-[/b] A few dozen sprawling and winding commercial sectors with minor provincial owners over each segment, winding between "towns". Typically influenced by the true provincial lords.
[b]-[/b] Seven massive natural parks, maintained to be entirely outside of human influence. The only access is to wealthy individuals who remotely connect to modules located with the parks to explore. One park is a massive lake with a sprawling coral reef.
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[h3]Damocles[/h3]
While Salamis is the cultural heart of the Twin Worlds and generally the administrative center, Damocles stands as the bones, muscles and most recently brain ever since the administration was moved there. Home of 3 billion mostly poor individuals, the lives of most occupants are very simple. Work and gain pay and a taste of entertainment (though only a poor shade of what one would experience on Salamis). Work harder than the rest, and be considered for a trip to Salamis. Fail to work and be a part of the world's slums, consisting of about 13.6 million people, who scavenge a world of concrete for a shed of heavily cloned and probably tasteless bread. Typically, the promise of something greater is what drives the population. The higher one is in the ranks above common worker - those of title and authority, and those to meet quotas set by the administration -  the more frequently they are able to travel to the much more enjoyable sister world. Damocles is a concrete giant, similar to Salamis in that the entire planet is colonized and terraformed, yet with no further connection. The world is a grey slab, with 100% cloud coverage, frequent thunderstorms, and occasional bouts of rain. It is the source of virtually everything that keeps Salamis running, including equipment, building materials, gladiator suits that aren't sponsored by lords of other worlds, and in some areas, military equipment that mostly goes directly to the Empire.
[hider=Assets]
[b]-[/b] Thousands of mines, production centers, and self-sustaining colonies for the development of something or another, each maintained by a mostly independent lord.

[b]-[/b] A set of six well defended warehouse clusters, containing the surplus of the aforementioned produces.

[b]-[/b] Reserve Packer docking station. While both worlds have a docking station for the Packer in active service, Damocles has an additional, fully maintained Packer in its own facility.

[b]-[/b] Four orbital defense cannons, all tested about 50 years ago and fairly well maintained. Easily as old as the ones found on Salamis, and somewhat outdated tech - though tell that to the battleship that tries to rush them when they are at full strength.

[b]-[/b] Twin Worlds Administrative Center. A massive bunker complex where a majority of the Twin World's administration occurs, outside of the mobile craft that serves as Ebon's office.
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[b]Asteroid Belt[/b]
The Twin Worlds are not alone, and surrounded by millions of space rocks of various shape, sizes and material worth (most of which is already long extracted). Originally a supporting source for raw minerals and metals, it is now home of tens of millions of turrets that constantly orbit the Twin Worlds. The average rock is an anti-air turret, capable of downing a fighter or scraping the edge of a larger ship by itself, and is supported by a bunker to keep the garrison of three permanently self-sustaining. Below the bunker lies a small dropship, capable of moving between asteroids, though not able to go very far otherwise. Also littered across asteroids are still-functioning mines, weapon caches, atmosphere stabilizers, composting units that are now mostly used on Damocles, and somewhere on the far side of Salamis, a still-functioning and slightly active brothel.
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[h2]Military & Fleet[/h2]
The Twin Worlds are not offensive in nature; a majority of the defense is carried by the asteroids, with only a few garrisons on each planet to offer orbital defense in the form of fighter craft. Ground defenses consist of militia on Damocles and a force of fairly well trained professionals on Salamis, both supported by a carefully chosen crew of gladiators.

The Twin Worlds maintain a fleet of small, quick cargo ships, each maintained by two fighters of equal speed. The goods transported on them are typically able to be condensed into a fairly small hull; as the hulls may sometimes be desirable, the ships were designed to adhere to a "get the hell out first, shoot them later" policy. Several dozens of these ships are maintained.

The ship of greatest note, besides the personal transport of the Lord of both worlds, is the Packer. The Packer is a huge cruiser with a massive hull and even larger engines, with virtually no offensive (or, besides armor, defensive) capacity save a dozen fighter bays across each side. It has a maximum carrying capacity of 8000 passengers, plus ~200 staff. It is in service - and has been in service for over a hundred years now - to ferry people between worlds every 40 hours. A second ship is located on Damocles for emergency purposes. They are capable, hardy craft, but they wouldn't be the best choice for open space, particularly since they do not carry FTL equipment.

The Lord's personal ship is a small, speedy craft that is able to sustain about 20 people for an extended period. It has no offensive capacity and is instead defended by state of the art cloaking technologies and has a very potent engine, though one without FTL capacity.

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