Tetuanis
| Map | Basic Data | Planetary Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Name: | Tetuanis | 
|
| Segmentum: | Tempestus | ||
| Sector: | Eternum | ||
| Subsector: | Confedus | ||
| System: | Tetuanic | ||
| Population: | ~100,000,000,000 | ||
| Affiliation: | Imperial | ||
| Class: | Hive World | ||
| Tithe Grade: | Exactis Median | ||
Overview
The crown jewel of the Eternum sector, Tetuanis is both the capital of Eternum proper and the Confedus subsector. Containing over a hundred billion souls, Tetuanis is critical to the continued survival of Mankind in Eternum, with all from the officers and soldiers of the Guard to Tetuanis's nobility to the masses of menials who toil in her manufactorums constantly working to protect Eternum.
History
Eternum was spared invasion during the first Poxwar with the Imperium stopping the invasion before it reached the heart of Eternum, but Tetuanis has been the site of conflict in the past. The Horus Heresy saw terrible fighting on Tetuanis, but the largest conflict happened several millennia later. In the 35th millennium, Tetuanis was embroiled in a costly civil war between the Union of Represented Hives and the Confederacy of Nobles. The Union, led by the seneschal turned governor Abramoff Grant (who, contrary to Tetuanis's traditions, seized power by declaring a permanent state of emergency after the previous governor died under suspicious conditions) aimed to remove the nobility's right to govern their holdings, instead replacing them with an an electoral system who would all report to him. The nobility banded against the Union, bringing their hive guard and PDF loyal to the previous governor to fight against the masses of menials and PDF loyal to the new governor and his allies. The Union were comprised of heavily armed troops in ostentatious purple and green armor, along with hordes of menials promised freedom and given a gun. The Confederacy of Nobles was comprised of the personal guard of the nobles, wearing blue, and their hive guards and loyalist PDF, wearing grey.
While not as well funded, outnumbered, and supported by little industry, the Confederate troops had much more experience from suppressing food riots and hive wars, along with being from the Hives with the most storied martial traditions. The civil war was brutal, and though the Confederates caused a thousand casualties to every one lost, they were slowly being pushed back to the Hive City Terminus. Terminus was a bastion, and the Confederate forces had destroyed most access ways to the city, the only few remaining routes were heavily fortified killzones. The Union, desperate to break the stalemate before Imperial reinforcements arrived (who, through noble connections and the bulk of Tetuanis Guard coming from the noble's hives), unsealed ancient biological weapons and fired them at the hive. The Confederacy of Nobles had always had strong faith in the Emperor, and as the biological warning vox alarms blared, they prayed for salvation. To their amazement, the biological warheads fell short of their target. Whether due to the ancient weapons targeting cogitators failing, or divine intervention none could say. Regardless, the result was the same. Hordes of menials and Union troopers fell, afflicted with the same disease they hoped to kill the Confederates with. The Confederacy seized the advantage and pushed out of the hive, slaughtering the sick traitors, and struck the Union's leadership down in Hive City Hyacinthum. This was a brutal battle that saw Hyacinthum utterly ruined, with whole spires collapsing and hive quakes that are frequent even today. As the Confederacy pushed into Hyacinthum deeper and deeper, the taint of the warp became more and more apparent, with daemons spawning to assist the Union during the final push to topple Grant. There are whispers that the later heresy that spawned out of Hyacinthum came from a pact Abramoff Grant made with a daemon of nurgle, his failed attack due to the whims of the daemon. In honor of the confederate sacrifice, all Tetuanis regiments wear blue and grey, an easy choice for an urban focused regiment). Even millennia later, the civil war is still a strong memory and menials are watched closely, less they revolt again.
Hyancinthum
The ruins of Hyacinthum have been declared a forbidden zone filled with mutants and heretics. There are great riches and lost technology to be found however, and expeditions by both rich nobles, desperate civilians and curious Adeptus Mechanicus are common. While the inquisition tolerates the Mechanicum's expeditions, any civilian expeditions caught are subject to execution if lucky, and worse if not. Even if the expedition is not caught, Hyacinthum is fraught with danger and most expeditions, even Mechanicum expeditions, will meet a grisly fate facing untold horrors. The PDF was reformed, but are kept away from the exclusion zone which is instead guarded by the Tetuanis Vigil. The more veteran Tetuanis regiments occasionally serve a tour to watch the ruins and shoot anything trying to escape. Rarer, the Vigil may have to brave the city to save a well connected noble expedition or Mechanicus expedition. Casualties are significant for any foray into the city. The forbidden zone has always been guarded by significant forces, but with the dawning of the 2nd Poxwar the ruins of Hyacinthum have become especially dangerous and active, with strategists worried this influx of activity is the result of a twisted plan of the arch enemy. The Inquisition is planning a series of expeditions to ascertain what exactly is transpiring in Hyacinthum, though the large, experienced, and discrete forces required are hard to muster due to the invasion of Eternum proper.
Culture
For the most part, Tetuanis has placed the Emperor and their military prowess at the center of their culture. Pict feeds of Tetuanis regiments fighting (with a delay to allow censoring anything that may show the true nature of war) are shown through massive screens across the hives. These are interspersed with reminders to attend worship services and recruitment propaganda, with lho stick ads marketed to children and alcohol ads marketed to anyone thirsty. A commoner missing a service, or not showing interest in whatever propaganda is being shown can be marked for forced resettlement to the underhive, a fast death sentence if they're lucky. Massive betting halls filled with lho clouds and the smell of alcohol exist to bet kills or amount of victories on a regiment on campaign, with the planetary administration making sure no one wins enough to live comfortably while parading a few commoners who were 'lucky' enough to win and move to the Eden spire. Two predominant cultures have emerged on Tetuanis, the Urbana culture and the Arbusto culture. Both speak in the traditional dialect of the Confederacy of Nobles, Sovern. Sovern is not only an accent, but a twist on traditional low gothic, with common usage of idioms and similes, as well as frequent contractions and dropped letters. The Urbana culture (primarily hivers) has a less pronounced Sovern accent, while the Arbusto (primarily plantations and cities and settlements between hives) have a very pronounced accent. For example, instead of saying "Roger that, I'm going tocheck it out. Terrain is less than ideal but advancing slowly" an Arbuston may say "Roga at, I'm fixin da check it out. Lanns full of bumps like a pickle." where an Urbanate may say "Rojjer that, I'm advan'cin to take a look, turr-rain is a pinch hairy."
Arbustons are made up of both the labourers on the many lho plantations, as well of the nobles that oversee them. Generally more rugged and predisposed to force recon work, they can be a strong force if used correctly by Tetuanis leadership. The largest remaining non-approved culture is the YanCe culture, who were loyal to the Union forces during the planetary civil war. Most have been wiped out, though some remain, hiding their accents or claiming to be offworlders while plotting to take back control of the hives. Most current YanCees are in league with chaos cults in some fashion, and occasionally cause civil disturbances that are put down by the PDF.
The Arbustons and Urbanates have a friendly rivalry in all things, and this is nurtured by Tetuanis commanders. Kill competitions are common, as are speed records and tank hunts. Arbustons generally make up fast attack, shock trooper, or force recon troops while Urbanates make up the bulk of standard guard and heavy weapons teams. Generally the two cultures are mixed in units to encourage competition, but occasionally a unit will be fully composed of one culture (most common with tank crews, specialist squads etc...)