Iocanthos Briefing

Iocanthos

Population: 5 billion (estimated)
 
Tithe Grade: Exactus Median
 
Geography: Four main continents and extensive island chains (only the largest continent is populated)
 
Government Type: None/Tribal
 
Planetary Governor: Vervai ("King") Skull
 
Adept Presence: very low. Adepta Sororitas (Commandery at the Abby of the Dawn), Administratum (Port Suffering)
 
Military: massive armies in the service of warlords. Large mercenary presence.
 
Trade: Iocanthos's only meaningful export is Ghostfire pollen. The Ghostfire harvest is essential to the existence of Imperial Guard penal legions in the Segmentum Obscurus.
Iocanthos is a lawless world dominated by warlords and their huge armies which clash across its jungles, forests, and plains. The planet's importance in the Calixis Sector is defined by te fact that it is one of the few places in the imperium where the Ghostfire flower can grow. Ghostfire pollen can be refined into the combat drugs used extensively in the penal legions of the Imperial Guard. Iocanthos's warlords (usually referring to themselves as "vai" or "prince") battle constantly for control of the Ghostflower harvest. The Ghostfire crop cannot be cultivated normally, so once a patch is harvested another must be found. The armies of the warlords are therefor constantly on the move, travelling in enormous hordes across Iocanthos's main continent and clashing violently wherever they meet. Iocanthos's wide plains, dense forests, and forbidding mountain passes are studded with the old battlefields whee burned out vehicles and age-bleached skeletons abound.

Every five years, a taskforce of Administratum officials descends onto Iocanthos to gather the planet's Ghostfire tithe. The warlords exchange their harvess of Ghostfire pollen for with the Administratum in exchange for weapons, vehicles, fuel, clean water, and other essentials. The warlord who hands over the most Ghostfire pollen is considered the planetary governor and claims the lion's share of support from the Imperium and the title "Vervai" (literally "prince of princes"). The title brings with it immense prestige and confirms the warlord;s position as the most dangerous and skilled on Iocanthos. The current planetary governor is Vervai Skull, a terrifying warrior at the head of an enormous and supposedly invincible army of madmen and killers. The warlords of Iocanthos are also required to hand over their psykers ad well as the Ghostfire harvest, but these are taken from then not by the Administratum but by nameless men in gray uniforms who heard the psykers onto their sleek black ships and take their leave.

The Administratum fully accepts the situation on Iocanthos. The Ghostfire pollen is harvested very efficiently because so many warlords' armies battle to find every last blossom. Were the Administratum to take over Iocanthos themselves the planet would first have to be conquered by the Imperial Guard at enormous expense and the Administratum themselves would be hard pressed to match the vigour with which Iocanthos's warlords hunt down every Ghostfire flower. They therefor leave the warlords to do the hard work, safe in the knowledge that none of them can revel against Imperial authority lest their supplies of guns and fuel be cut off.

Abbey of the Dawn

An Adepta Sororitas training facility on Iocanthos. It contains a Commandery of the Order Famulous of the Open Eye under Canoness Goneril, as well as a mission of the Militant Order of the Ebon Challice under Palatine Rhiannon.

Port of Suffering

Port Suffering, the largest permanent settlement on Iocanthos is a sturdy, fortified town that serves as the base for Imperial operations on Iocanthos. The town's largest and most impressive structure is its spaceport, an expanse of rockcrete broken by docking clamps and refuelling ports that can accommodate the landing craft that deliver supplies and pick up Ghostfire shipments. Equally important for the people living in Port Suffering are the huge fresh water tanks that lie beneath the town. Fresh water is very valuable on Iocanthos, and Port Suffering has its own supply and can trade surplus to local warlords (mainly for guaranteed that the warlords will not attack the town.)
Known Warlords: Vevai Skull, Sevai Harkur, Sevai Shantarl, Vai Matsk, Vai Zel, Vai Seth.

* Addendum - "The Voice"
Vai Seth is an upstart warlord, bent on a crusade to instill the nihilistic and wild population of Iocanthos with a passion for the Imperial creed.