House Moravec
“The sun reveals many things. Most of them are expected—heat, radiation, gravity. But under Mercury’s crust, sometimes we find something...
interesting. Not everything born of light is made to be seen.”
Born in Fire, Forged by Foresight
House Moravec rose to prominence not through bloodlines or conquest, but through an act of brilliance at the brink of catastrophe. In Year 92, a massive Coronal Mass Ejection, preceded by an unusually violent series of sunquakes and flares, threatened to ravage the inner system. Most observers failed to grasp the true danger—but LighTec, a Venusian-based megacorporation led by the visionary CEO Jansen Moravec, acted. Retrofitting their solar yachts with energy-absorbing “nets,” they formed a fleet-wide barrier that captured and dispersed the deadliest flares. The act saved millions and averted a planetary crisis. In the aftermath, investigations uncovered a Bogler plot to destabilize Sol by inserting exotic agitator particles into the sun—an alien attempt at quiet genocide. For their pivotal role in thwarting the attack and preserving civilization, LighTec was transformed into House Moravec, and given dominion over Mercury—a world abandoned since the Cozine Disaster.
Lords of the Light
From their solar-blasted perch on Mercury, House Moravec has developed into a rare blend of technocratic isolationism and energy sovereignty. They established vast solar shades and artificial ionospheres, slowly reshaping the dead planet into something survivable—at least in theory. Their spaceborne solar nets and surface tritium harvesters maintain a near-monopoly on fusion-grade fuel, giving them quiet but immense leverage across the system. Moravec also inherited and now fiercely protects the subsurface ruins left behind by the original Mercurian colonists—ruins which remain sealed and off-limits to all outsiders. Their solar research and predictive flare forecasting are unmatched, and rival gigacorporations have repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, attempted to undercut their energy grid dominance. House Moravec’s patents on solar shielding, energy redirection, and deep-radiation AI architectures form the backbone of modern solar infrastructure. But despite their vast influence, Moravec maintains a muted, almost ghostly presence in interplanetary affairs—trading in silence as often as in tritium.
Ghosts in the Goldlight
House Moravec’s lifestyle and logistics reflect the harsh reality of their domain. Their ships, wrapped in shielded, ablative plating, emit such intense reflected glare that they appear as glowing white blurs in space—mockingly dubbed sunspots by less charitable observers. The House is equally enigmatic in diplomacy, rarely sending representatives to summits except when absolutely necessary. They trade primarily in barter, valuing physical goods over currency, a peculiarity no one has been able to satisfactorily explain. The deeper mystery, however, lies in their obsession with Mercury’s underworld—the sealed vaults and abandoned cities of the long-dead Mercurian colonists. Access is restricted even to most Moravec personnel, and rumor swirls that the House has discovered something beneath the crust that fuels both their technological innovation and their secrecy. Whether these whispers refer to alien artifacts, ancient AI, or something stranger still, one truth remains: House Moravec does not fear the sun. It listens to it.
The Light is Ours
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