House Vilas-Lobo

The House of Jackals

House Vilas-Lobo draws its heritage back to the Houses of Europa within the Sol System, it was the Azar Vilas-Lobo along with his brother Draz, who supplied Jacinta Durovera with the support of their vast House Guard and numerous Abhuman Helots that served as the core of the early Crusade forces of the Prosperitas Sector, and a hereditary right to establish a branch of their family within the Sector and numerous land-claims were the price of her agreement with their Houses' Terran branch.

The House grew rich off its claim of several inhospitable and poisonous worlds that would have been otherwise worthless were it not for their mineral wealth. To mine them, the House turned to talented Medicae and Genetors of the Adeptus Mechanicus to adapt the bodies of thousands of abhuman workers to survive in the atmospheres of these worlds. Through this, they became intimately familiar with the arcane arts of genetics. Able to survive on inhospitable worlds is a trademark of the Houses attitudes and perseverance.

In 231.M41 in a little-known incident a genophage, believed to be tailored to the Houses biology ripped through the House, in an assassination attempt against the entire House. The few scions that survived, did so by turning to the same genetic practices they’d performed on abhumans for generations to adapt and survive.

The Genophage brought about significant changes within the mentality of the House, it became the accepted practice that only the fittest survive (leading some to murmur that the survivors were behind the genophage) to this end, House Scions are expected to be able to prove their value to the House, the line of succession is not determined by the Houses leadership but by the strength of the candidates. It is an expectation placed on all scions that they will attempt to kill their superiors when they believe they are too weak to lead the House any more, assassination is the accepted method of advancement, and the house suffers no weakness.

Because of this drive for strength, few of the House are born through natural means, as most are born from artificial wombs, and heavily tailored to ensure they fill a place and a purpose within the House. But it does not stop here, all Nobles attempt to set cultural trends and remain fashionable, as appearance is everything in an Imperium that is obsessed with pageantry and celebration. House Vilas-Lobo takes that to its furthest logical extreme. This House is known for not only setting fashion trends, but also pushing the envelope of what is acceptable within polite society. To House Vilas-Lobo, the body is just another accessory to be changed and modified at a whim, and their Scions discard faces like others discard finery.

The discomfort the House's embrace of geno-manipulation causes the Imperium frequently attracts unwanted attention, but the House has endured several investigations from multiple Imperial institutions into its genetic purity, and, each time, was found to be completely clear of taint. The House thrives on causing a good scandal: after all, being scandalous means being noticed; being noticed means being talked about and being talked about means one’s fame grows and spreads throughout the Sector.

What is perhaps most controversial about the House is the amount of Ruwwad blood it has in the modern age, while many Houses have attempted to keep their bloodlines pure and reaching back to their Terran roots, the Vilas-Lobo mingled with those Ruwwadi who were once their worlds nobilities as part of its systematic assimilation of the few Ruwwad worlds that survived the loss of Subsector Tenebris to warp storms. To this end many Vilas-Lobo while preserving their surnames have strongly Ruwwad sounding first names and the House borrows greatly from Ruwwad culture.

THe rise Dominatus Śikārī and conflicts with House Durovera

The current ‘Dominatus’ of the House Śikārī (Si-ka-ri) Vilas-Lobo, is known for surviving multiple attempts on his life after seizing power from his predecessor in a Blood Duel in 588.M41 – since then he has turned the House into an aggressive force most notably seizing control of House Majid’s trade routes in 593.M41 and initiating a short but brutal trade war cut short by betrayal of Majid from within its own ranks.

In the aftermath of the death of the former Sector Governor and Warmaster, Armelius Durovera, House Vilas-Lobo was quick to aggressively expand its holdings, consuming a number of minor Vassal-Houses loyal to House Majid in the aftermath of the Majid's devastation by one of their own. It rise to being the second most powerful House makes it and its Dominatus a clear rival of Hermione Durovera and House Durovera and since 594.M41 has sparked a series of tit-for-tat Toll Wars with its rival House.

Tensions between the Houses have never been higher and many worry that House Vilas-Lobo will make a play to seize control of the Sector from House Durovera should Hermione Durovera ever show the House of Jackals a sign of weakness.