HOUSE DELAMBRE

Background Summary and Character
The House traces its origin back to the old Terran House Washington. House Delambre at that time was a minor House within House Washington. Its primary responsibility was that of weapons production and research for both the House and other factions on Terra. In most cases it took a somewhat neutral position as to the users and purchasers of its products. Its split from House Washington occurred later as the Terrans expanded into space and military conflicts became more common.

Over the intervening centuries House Delambre has used its military production capabilities to expand into all types of weaponry, most notably the Lasgun, which it displays as part of its House Coat of Arms. With the advent of the Holtzman shield the production of Lasguns dropped drastically but the House had already diversified into so many different products that the effect was lessened. At that time they began investigating the development of security personnel for use throughout the empire. House Delambre trains both its own troops for hire, and other Houses troops for use in their own personal security.

While the Forms of the Great Conventions discourage large scale combat, it still occurs. Also, House troops require weaponry. House Delambre fills the role of an unbiased weapons supplier.

House Delambre developed from a mixed ethnic culture. Due to the multi-racial mix of House Washington, there is no particular cultural background other than "American." Due to its strong business background it has developed a pseudo-culture based on a business attitude. The entire House can be thought of as a giant corporation and that is how it is run. The House head and his family are often referred to as the Directors while major members of the organization are given titles such as Chief of Operations, Chief of War, etc. To fit in with the Landsraad feudal system, these same members might also have titles befitting their position, such as Countess, Earl, and so forth. Also, along these lines, the rule of faufraluches, that one is born into their rank, is less strictly adheared to in Delambre society than virually anywhere else. Motion both up and down of minor families is common place and almost looked on in a positive light. The Delambre Family, however, still stands far above all others as to make its postion unquestioned and unthreatened.

House Delambre has retained some of the more noble qualities of its American heritage which contrast it to many other Houses. One of the most notable is the Delambre revultion of the concept of slavery. There remain in the Delambre legends of Old Terra the stories of the Great Emancipator, Aram Linken. Of course, Delambre in many ways indulges in the same practices as other Houses, it purchases Suks and Mentats for example, but these are rationalized as purchases a person's services, not the person. Similarly, Delambre has retained some of what we would associate with the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution (Delambre does have intact copies of the Constituion in its archives), specifically, all members of Delambre society have certain rights to life, liberty, and property. For example, there are not summary executions of Delambre common citizens for showing disrespect to a member of the Family, but such a case would go through the various legal channels quickly and the offender would most likely face fairly swift and severe punishment. It is also due to their view that all men have rights that gladitorial combat to the death is not found in Delambre society and is considered quite barbaric. That Delambre can still rule by these fairly lax societal forms is an account to their economic success. The citizens of the Delambre worlds are constantly reminded of how much better their lives are than their counterparts of other fiefs, thus, they are fairly content and supportive of their government.


History and Origins
The House Delambre traces its heritage to the House Washington of Old Terra, when it was the seat of the Imperium. Specifically, the House's lineage is traced back to the great House Warmaster MacEisenher who lead the House's military through the interprovicial war that moved the Seat from House Windsor to Washington (14255 B.G.). He also was in the position of Warmaster when House Washington developed (through the genius of the the raw-mentat Einstien) and used the first atomics in a bitter trade dispute with House Nippon (a Yasu ancestor). The family settled into a more passive role of dealing in the production and marketing weapons rather than directly meddling in powers. This approach eventually revealed itself to be the prudent course when House Washington's fortunes waned during the Little Dispora and eventually ended with the Terran Collision. Luckily, the family had moved its home and the bulk of its production facilities to Mars (fourth planet of the Terran sun) for the burgeoning industrial growth, favorable taxes, and unrestricted trade.

As the Empire continued to grow faster, the family sought its fortunes on the frontier where the constantly expanding markets and continuous demand for their military products were much greater than in the older, more stable Core Worlds. As the Empire continued to grow, the family itself, just as the Imperium, grew strained by the limits of faster-than-light (FTL) travel contrasted to communications still confined to radio and other light-speed methods. The family as a unit, broke into a myriad of virtually independent zones operations. For the next four millenia, The Great Dark Ages, the human race was not unified under a single banner, but existed as small pockets of worlds or even individual, isolated planets.

During this time, the House McDouglas, as it was know at the time, was into the heavy manufacture of all types of military hardware in on Julriva IV. Light spacecraft, ground vehicles, and hand weapons of all sorts were sold to local planets and some of the longest sustained trade routes of the era were customers looking for McDouglas goods. House McDouglas followed their time honored tradition of showing no favoritism in conflicts, but being perfectly willing to sell to any paying customer, even sell to both sides of the same conflict. They continued this non-political posture up until the 7200's B.G. as the Wars of Reunification were beginning to rage. The House felt it must move from the purely economic into the political arena, though it did so with the utmost caution. The House married into the House Ambren of Cordoba. In 7178 B.G., Henrianna Ambren was wed to Loitun McDouglas. The Houses' union was more of a merger than an absorption of one by the other, thus the name was changed to its present form, Delambre (Doulambren in the old tongue of Cordoba). However, time would lead to the Old Terran, House Washington character dominating the new House's future.

As the Wars of Reunification drew to a close under the united rule of Ladislaus the Great, the House Delambre found itself in a new, unbelieveably huge market for its wares. It prospered, slowly drawing its neighbors and former trading partners into its own sphere of influence from the House's sheer economic force and exerting as little political finesse as possible. Then came Holtzman's theory of the defensive shield in 3832 B.G. The entire face of warfare and military equipment was changed in a decade. Lasguns, projectile weapons, and even the use of aircraft and vehicles dropped sharply as hand-to-hand combat was brought back to the realm of modern warfare. Unlike many other Houses predominantly in arms, Delambre pulled through intact, but the House faced several generations of austerity. This was quickly followed by the Silicon Plague and the Second Dark Age, which plunged the entire Empire into chaos, and records of this time are scarce (and the amount of computer records since the Age of Invention of Old Terra that were lost in this period is seconded only by the Jihad). Again, Delambre, through adroit business decisions, pulled through.

After the invention of plague resistant computers, Cordoba quickly retooled and stood at the forefront of military supplies during the reconstruction. However, the darkest days for House Delambre and Cordoba were yet to come. The highly industrialized Cordoba and other planets with major manufacturing centers were prime targets for the Great Revolt. House Delambre's excellent informational and intelligence agencies knew the Houses defenses were no match for the Jihad's. Geraldaf Delambre III decided on a daring gamble. He ordered our own forces to join the spirit of the Jihad and destroy the thinking machines of Cordoba. When the Jihad armada arrived, they found most of Cordoba's factories in shambles. Of course, the Delambre's own forces were not as thorough as the Jihad, and there was significant bloodshed and destruction inflicted by Jihad forces, but nothing at all what industrialized planets that attempted to resist had seen (50%-80% casualties among the entire population were not unheard of, whereas Cordoba the numbers were small enough that one would not even speak in percentages). (Note: The planet Gereda's Governor, Kelher Vascon (Delambre by marriage) refused to follow the orders and had the meager military forces make a stands. 35% of the population perished, including Vascon and his entire government. The planet Gereda has not fully rebuilt to this day.)

Finally, the bloodiness of the Jihad fades, only to quickly lead to the the Battle of Corrin and the foundation of the Corrino Empire. In typical Delambre fashion, it avoided the conflict during the rise of the Sardaukar. It officially stood with the Landsraad, as it was a large economic player in it, but committed no forces. It should be noted significant numbers of both sides of the conflict were armed with Delambre manufactured weapons and did sell to both sides during the brief conflict.

Since that time, Delambre has remained content to stand on the sidelines and watch other Houses rises an fall and Emperors come and go. The only possible exception to this when Siridar-Marquis Jutiv Delambre VIII was nearly wed to Lady Bellina Corrino (daughter of Emperor Roonaladh III (8672-8702)) in 8691, but he succumbed to chaumurky shortly after the wedding was arranged. No Delambre have attempted to marry close to the throne since.

House Goals
The goal of House Delambre is to be an economically strong House. The other Houses Major are in constant conflict, whether it be minor or major, and they always require military gear. While the size of the Houses may allow them to produce weapons themselves, Delambre hopes to provide them cheaper and of better quality.

It is not our goal to become a House that applies force to gain its goals. Rather it feeds of the conflicts of others to provide its income. With this income, and the information of weapons usage and sales, Delambre hopes to develop relationships with the more powerful politically oriented Houses.

While in the weapon production business, House Delambre professes the use of weapons for defensive purposes only. This is an outward appearance and is the position of the current House Head only. The House itself has had a history of shifting positions based on its political allies. From a social standpoint, House Delambre is a member of the musical elite. Its practice, study, and admiration of fine music is well-known.

House Delambre will have several strengths. First, and foremost, will be its economic stability and strength. Delambre has the income and the distribution power to sustain costly operations. Our second power will be our information gathering and analysis operations. While not a powerhouse of military strength, Delambre will concentrate its efforts to information. Information is strength, the more you know the stronger you are. With information we will have our finger on the pulse of the empire.