House Atreides, The God Emperor.	House ATREIDES.		House Atreides, The God Emperor.
House ATREIDES is the Royal Family of the The Landsraad League (aka the Dune March). At one time, Great Houses was just another the Great Houses of the quasi-feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, a dark betrayal against the House by House CORRINO and House HARKONNEN resulted, strangely, in their rise to the Royal House. It is claimed that that the House decendes from the mythological Greek House of Atreus; In Homer's Iliad, the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus are dubbed "the ATREIDES," or, sons of Atreus. History Pre-Royal History. Kanly by House HARKONNEN. Xavier HARKONNEN was just and honorable soldier during the Butlerian Jihad; He and his forces liberated dozens of worlds and liberated many more. At some point he became close friend and confidant of Vorian Atreides. However, Baron HARKONNEN is dogged later in life by circunstances, and his children abandon his name. Vorian told Abulurd HARKONNEN the truth about the events, and the family reclaims their birthright; This is shortlived, however, when Abulurd refuses a direct order from Vorian to kill a multitude of humans enslaved by the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin (the final significant battle of the Butlerian Jihad and founding the Imperium). Abulurd HARKONNEN claims only to have wanted to save innocent lives; Vorian labels him a coward and a traitor, and is exiled to the frosty planet of Lankiveil, where his descendants learn to believe they had been unjustly vilified by an envious House Atreides family because of their noble deeds. "You failed me at the moment I needed you most- Never again will I look upon your face. This I swear: From this day forth, let all who bear the name ATREIDES spit on the name of HARKONNEN!" Vorian ATREIDES To Abulurd HARKONNEN after the Battle of Corrin. Accordingly, House HARKONNEN assumed a kanly existed with House ATREIDES. However, no specific Letter of Kanly was ever issued, and as such House ATREIDES is justified, if obliquely, in accusing House HARKONNEN of declaring the feud. The members of House HARKONNEN still bitterly remembered that Vorian ATREIDES had Abulurd HARKONNEN banished for cowardice some 10,000 years later. House ATREIDES ruled the water planet Caladan, employing noble spirit, just ways and virtue in its endeavors. Also proficient in war, the family has even developed an ATREIDES battle language, both a system of hand signals and a spoken language. The colors of House ATREIDES are green and black, and their symbol is a red hawk. The Dukes ATREIDES. A Young Paul ATREIDES, The Future Muad'Dib, God-Emperor Of Dune. Name Reign Miklos ATREIDES Unknown Kean ATREIDES Unknown Paulus ATREIDES ??? - 10,156 A.G. Leto ATREIDES I 10,156 - 10,191 A.G. Muad'Dib Paul ATREIDES 10,191 - 10,209 A.G. Regent Alia ATREIDES 10,209 - 10,219 A.G. Muad'Dib Leto ATREIDES II 10,219 - 13,728 A.G. Dune At the start of the Dune Revolution, House ATREIDES was led by Duke Leto ATREIDES I. His concubine was the Lady Jessica, who had been instructed by her order to bear a daughter as part of a Gesserit Bene breeding program, but out of love for Leto, she had given him a son, Paul ATREIDES. This seemingly innocuous choice would drastically change the course of mankind forever. The millennia-long feud between the ATREIDES and the now decadent HARKONNEN (who bought their status while the ATREIDES were related to the Emperor by blood) boiled over, and the ATREIDES are lured to the desert planet Arrakis under the pretense of taking over the spice-mining operation there. The Duke and his family are caught in a plot to destroy them, orchestrated by the Baron Harkonnen and Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV himself, who is threatened by Leto's rising power and influence. Spice is the most valuable commodity in the universe; It makes interstellar travel possible, extends life and can unlock dormant abilities in the Gesserit Bene. Arrakis is its only known source. An attack on the ATREIDES, assisted by a Harkonnen traitor in their midst and the soldier-fanatics Imperial Sardaukar, resulted in Leto's death; However, "the traitor" himself orchestrated Paul and Jessica's escape into the desert (whenre they are presumed dead); Here they find a place with the native Fremen, who believe Paul is their prophesied messiah, the Mahdi. Duke Leto had been trying to establish a treaty of some sort with the Fremen, so they were familiar with the existance of Paul; they had been watching him for some time by now, especially via their own spy, Dr. Liet KYNES, who gave his own life to save Paul and Jessica. (What the now late Duke did not realize is that Dr. KYNES was in fact THE leader of the Fremen; his daughter Chani later became the wife of Paul and mother to both Leto II and Ghanima.) Jessica gives birth to Leto's daughter, Alia, which the Gesserit Bene call the Abomination because Jessica had undergone the ritual spice agony while pregnant, inadvertently awakening Alia to full consciousness in the womb. As a result of Jessica's earlier choice to have a son, Paul himself became the Kwisatz Haderach (the goal of the Gesserit Bene breeding program); However, he was born a generation early and out of the Sisterhood's control. In an act described variously as an act of vengence for his father's murder and his House's destruction or as an act of desprate self-preservation, Paul amassed an army of Fremen, their fierce fighting skills enhanced by training in the Gesserit Bene "Weirding Way." Now called Muad'Dib, Paul leads the Fremen forces to victory over the Emperor's Sardaukar on Arrakis, and by threatening the destruction of all spice production manages to depose Shaddam and ascend the throne in his place. Over a decade later Emperor Paul remained in a political marriage with Shaddam's eldest daughter, Princess Irulan, and has yet to beget another child with his true love Chani. His rule is threatened by a conspiracy spun by the other major powers in the Imperium: The Gesserit Bene, the Spacing Guild, the Tleilax Bene, Irulan herself and even some of the Fremen. All have reasons to resent his stranglehold on the universe and the jihad it has unleashed. Paul lets these plots play out and manages to keep his Empire intact, but not without a price; he is blinded by the explosion of a stone burner, and Chani dies giving birth to his only heirs, the twins Leto II and Ghanima. Paul disappears into the desert, in accordance with Fremen custom for the blind, leaving Alia as Imperial Regent and guardian of his son and daughter. "Muad 'Dib"/God Emperor (God-Emperor) Upon ascension to the throne, Paul ATREIDES declared himself a "god" based on his OWN powers as a man; Using only his own voice, without intonations necessitated by the Witches Voice, he demonstrated his ability to not only kill a man, but to SHATTER his body. (Fortunately, the target was already dead, and therefore didn't much care- this demonstration was for the benefit of the assembled body of CORRINO and HARKONNEN survivors, what few there were by this point, and the Gesserit Bene, to impress upon them just how powerful he really was.) Even the sandworms honored (and feared) him. His claim to godhood was never specifically challenged; The process that he went through in life is well enough documented, training as a Swordsman Of Ginaz from the age of 2, as a Mentat from the age of 4, as a Witch from the age of 18, living as a Fremen from the age of 21, and finally completing the Spice Agony to Awaken. In purely technical terms, anyone "could" do it, but of the millions who have tried, only ONE person not the direct decendant of Duke Leto ATREIDES of Caladaan has done so and survived- Chancellor Javn VAHD of Qo'noS, the first ambassador to the Landsraad, completed the journey. How she did so without discovery (a Clingohn should have drawn attention, yet she remained undiscovered throughout the 10 year process, perhaps in part because she'd spent the first 15 years of her life studying to become a Geh 'Dai, and was a Master in her own right, which was part of the reason she was selected) was a miracle, one that gained the Maud'Dib Leto VIII's admiration. During the negotiations to annex the Landsraad, Ambassador VAHD (the title Chancellor would come later) demonstrated her OWN power by summoning the sandworms, allowing Leto VIII to "reclaim" them, then taking half of them away as if it were nothing- Which it was. They were perfectly matched, and their Voices equaled- VAHD used this to demonstrate that she could take the empire by force if needed, in the belief this would sufficiently impress him. It did. Succession As Muad'Dib prepared to retire, Leto II and Ghanima were uncertain of the future. Nine years old but mature beyond their years due to their also being pre-born, the pair were forced to maneuver around the ever-increasing machinations of their aunt Alia, who was slowly but surely succumbing to Abomination. Alia herself was wary of the Lady Jessica, returned from Caladan with questionable intentions. The ego-memory of Baron HARKONNEN, Jessica's secret father, seduced Alia from within, promising his help in fighting off the multitude of ancestral personalities struggling for control. Soon he himself had possessed her. Alia's subsequent attempt to eliminate her mother (as well as a CORRINO plot to assassinate the twins) sets off a Fremen rebellion that put the religion of Muad'Dib in turmoil. As Leto's eyes were opened to the Golden Path that would save the Lansradd, a mysterious blind man known as The Preacher appeared to undermine Alia and her priests in the eyes of the people; The Preacher was later revealed to Paul ATREIDES, who sacrificed his humanity and for the sake of the survival of His people choose to accept transformation into a sandworm, the fearsome giant beasts of Arrakis which actually control the spice cycle, delving into a pool of sandtrout, which formed a living skin around him; His resulting body was superhuman, becoming nearly invulnerable, capable of tremendous speed and possessing the strength of many men. Paul was killed and Leto's ascension was unavoidable. Ghanima married in a political union to Fad'n CORRINO to consolidate power for her brother as the new God-Emperor; Unable to father children, Leto II intended the union to produce a long bloodline, which he would manipulate in his own breeding program to achieve the goals of his Golden Path. Mythological Origins Acording to the family hisotry, House ATREIDES descended from Agamemnon, a son of Atreus of Greek mythology. The descendants of Atreus are called "Atreides" (plural "Atreidai", Latinized as "Atreidae") in the Greek language. This Royal House included many significant figures in Greek myth. Accordingly, the ATREIDES family line goes back to the Greeks on Old Earth. Vorian ATREIDES was the thirteenth son of the Titan Agamemnon, one of the twenty Titans who conquered the Old Empire, and was a Human Trustee in Omnius' Machine Empire. He began the family house of the ATREIDES and was Muad'Dib's ancestor.