LOC - The Dominion of Mycenae

[Sigismund229]

Given the role it will play in book 2, I thought I'd start compiling information on the Dominion of Mycenae here.
Disclaimer: I do expect to re write a lot of this so for the moment these are ideas rather than finished fluff.

The Dominion of Mycenae
While there many legions held fiefdoms within the Imperium, there are few that can match the sheer size of that ruled over by the Crimson Lions, the Dominion of Mycenae. Consisting of over 300 worlds, the Dominion is a collection of worlds straddling the Segmentum Pacificus and Segmentum Obscurus near the warp anomaly known as the Eye of Terror. Ruled over by Hectarion Mycenor, the Dominion stands as a stalwart bastion of the Great Crusade upon the Imperium's northern frontier.

The principal rulers of the Dominion beside Hectarion are the Tiarnii. Each of these individuals is granted worlds within the Dominion over which he rules. In order to become a Tiarnos, a Crimson Lion is not required to have any particular rank or skill. Instead he is appointed only if Hectarion Mycenor deems him worthy and capable. Yet unlike in the fiefs of other legions, the Tiarnii are not administrators. While they are expected to take some hand in the administration of their Tiarniaid, they rule in the manor of the warlords of ancient Terra meaning that they are expected to be rulers rather than administrators. So it is that while the Tiarnii of the Crimson Lions rule, the Stewards see to the detail of the administration of their Tiarnos' territories.

The Stewards are a wide organization akin to other legion's serfs, drawn from recruits whose bodies were unable to accept the gene-seed or from worlds across the Dominion. However, rather than simply performing menial tasks, the Stewards are also see to the details of administration within the Dominion for which the Crimson Lions lack the time and training. So it is that high ranking Crimson Lions may have dozens of personal Stewards, who aid him in ways that vary from menial tasks such as cleaning his arming chamber to tasks such as the administrative details of his Tiarniaid.

At present, there are seven Tiarnii, although this number grows along with the expansion of the Dominion. At the heart of this ever expanding domain are the Dominion's twin capitals: Mycenae and Kanossia. As the home world of the Crimson Lions, Mycenae holds great importance within the Dominion. However, the administrative capital of the Dominion is Kanossia. Once a verdent agri world, it has since been transformed. Now, its surface is almost entirely covered in the gleaming marble and gold city designed by Peeter Egon Momus and Niklaas, primarch of the Fire Keepers, to serve as Hectarion's capital. Within this city there are many wonders, such as the Basilica of Stars, a vast domed structure within which is contained a vast hololith of the Imperium, or the Squares of Heroes, each a circular plaza at the centre of which is a bronze statue of one of the original Myrvalli and then in a circle around him great heroes of the Crimson Lions. Above it is an orbital defense grid to match Mycenae's and a vast orbital port into which ships, be they merchant vessels or legion strike cruisers, come and go constantly.

The Marches
While at its core, the Dominion has been pacified for decades, in some cases centuries, out on its fringes its borders are pushing ever forward, with new worlds being conquered by the Crimson Lions and the Leonic Auxilia in the name of the Emperor or colonised. Instead of being incorporated into one of the Tiarniad, these new worlds are instead made part of one of the Marches. These worlds are not required to pay tribute until a generation has passed since their integration into Mycenae and are often heavily garrissoned in case of xenos attack or a local uprising. This has the added benefit of serving as a reserve, meaning that should any one expedition take heavy losses in their Leonic Auxilia contingent, units may be taken from the March garrissons in order to quickly reinforce them.

Each of these Marches is commanded by a Warlord. Unlike the Tiarnii, the Warlords' tasks are entirely military, revolving around the protection and co-ordination of military forces within his March and lacking any aspect of rulership. As such, the task is often given to veteran Crimson Lions of proven strategic skill and bravery. In keeping with their martial task, a warlord's status is marked out by his carrying a large two handed sword that is passed down from warlord to warlord. The symbolism of this item is twofold. The most obvious is its indication of his status as a military commander, with the sword showing his martial calling. The second, darker, piece of symbolism conveyed by these swords is the warlord's duty to punish any coward with death.

The Leonic Auxilia
The Leonic Auxilia is a force of Imperial Army units raised from the Dominion of Mycenae. As their name would suggest, they are an auxiliary force to the Crimson Lions, garrissoning worlds of the Dominion and fighting in the Expeditionary Fleets of the Crimson Lions as the Imperial Army does in other expeditions. However, unlike the Imperial Army of other expeditions, it is not uncommon for the Leonic Auxilia to be led to war by the Crimson Lions themselves.

There are two layers to the Leonic Auxilia, the Auxilia and the Auxilia reserve. The Auxilia is a regular, standing army drawn off of volounteers from all across the Dominion and then formed into regiments and equipped in much the same manner as the Imperial Army with the exception that every regiment is led by a Crimson Lion Uemos. However, in addition to this there is also the Leonic Auxilia Reserve. Unlike the regular Auxilia, the Reserve is only sparsely equipped with vehicles and artillery as it is not intended to be a permanent military force. Instead, it is a militia into which any inhabitant of one of the Dominion's worlds may be conscripted. While this leads to the Reserve being less well motivated and equipped than the Auxilia, the Reserve is largely only used for garrisson duty in order to free up the regular Auxilia for service at the forefront of the Great Crusade.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Lord Thørn