House Champeign

Unlike the Shikumi, Parlini, and Karnikatai, the Champeign are primarily artists. They are best known for their massive immersive operas that utilize full sensory experiences where each audience member can see through the eyes of their characters and feel what they feel. Also unlike the other houses, the Champeign are never born into their house. They are adopted into it by recruiters.

The cities on Torlan are vast, laid out over massive territories like beautifully drawn works of art. Blue and gold lights glimmer in the twilight that never lifts, with highways of transports in and out of the city going where Matter-Stream Lines don’t reach. There is an eternal presence of Torlan culture. The world is dripping in it. Tall wooden shrines and totems stand vigil over icy thoroughfares. Amphitheatres resound with the songs of ancient violins and singers. People sip tea watching swordsmen duel. Of the millions of residents nearly half are artists. The very best of them are elected to House Champeign.

Members of House Champeign are treated like royalty. They are considered the height of Torlan achievement, their health and status a symbol of the success of society. So long as the artists are doing well, civilization is safe.

As such, Champeign members are often sent far and wide across the galaxy as ambassadors of Torlan’s positive attributes, making up for the fact that the Torlan are seen as the ones who “imprisoned the gods.” It also helps their image as aggressive war fighters and instigators, burying the fact that the Torlan Alliance also props up the Interstellar Police in the form of the Anactora Peacekeepers.

A Champeign is never allowed to show emotion on their face in public, or while performing especially. Even under great agony or joy. They must remain perfectly expressionless all but their bodies. It is assumed that the greatest performers can sit alone under a single light not moving and yet still project a full spectrum of moods. And it seems to be true, if those who witness them are to be believed.

The only time a Champeign is allowed to express true emotion is with their married lovers. This is when the act drops and their humanity returns with a deep sigh and a look of relief. That relationship is complicated by the fact that the Champeign are sometimes also Courtesans, artists who specialize is sexual performance as much as theatre and entertainment. But for their true love, the one allowed to draw a sacred wedding tattoo on their necks which pulses with light as their heartbeat races, they are best known for their personal flaws, scars, and fears – the kind the world never sees.