Bts "DUNE WARS" {Development Thread}

atreidis - duke leto
bene gesserit - gaius helen mohiam
bene tleilux - master scytale
corino - shaddam iv
ferning - hasimir ferning
fremen (one faction fo now) - muadib
guild navigator - d'murr pilru
harkonnen - vladimir harkonnen
ordos - roma atani
babarian - smughlers
sietch tabar fremen - stilgar

later on - the rest of the minor houss will be added - the goal - up to 20 houses.

recon units - obvious...
mhula - bombard units - early to modern
rovers - light defending vehicles - mostly early
scorpions - wheeled tanks - mid tech era
Thopters - attack air units and orni bombers - mid eras - to late eras
carryalls - all kinds of transport vehicles
Hovers - supporting tank and defenders - varies in the eras
light infantry - all early infantry units - start era to mid era
heavy infantry - infantry types - mid era to late eras
BURSEG - mech units - will be prime units for late end time
hornets - gunship fighter like gunships

3 uus per house

so far:
all done

plants:
ajidamal
akraso
amtal
desert wheat
dune cactus
fogwood
inkvine
nettle
skein
sapho
slig
spice dye
white algae

animals:
little maker
phibian
sand trout

matirials:
crystal
futar
nitrat
uranium
water
ore
soostone
shigwire
plasteel
plaz
minerals

spice:
spice melange
green spice

imported goods (via buildings):
incencse
nutritians
silk
spices
refine water

building produced (need spice melange in vicinity of city):
refined spice

worm sign - depents on the sound level a unit makes - by meliko

sand storms - ?

Wallach IX
Dar Al-Hikman
prana-bindu
Al Dhanab
Gero
Lampadas
Chapterhouse
Palma
Laoujin
Tahaddi
Sirat
Mantene
Karaman
Khalam
Ibad
Ibn Qirtaiba
Ayat
Crysti
Semut
Servok
Shai
Cach
Han
Conven
Gerrat
Iltug
Dakin
Zace
Opafire
Ornit
Loine
Range
Mu'Zein
Assassin's Peak
Rahif
Ghola
Angel Isle
Dark City
Treb
Vinek
Rowd
Kint
Pihn
Nohih

Kaitain
Salusa Secundus
Gamma Waiping
Imperial Observatory
Pyon
Richese
Eridani A
Sardauk
Chusuk
Delta Pavonis
Harmonthep
Bela Tegeuse
Tiberium
Habla
Elrood
Landsraad
Auroris
Saudik
Orcat
Talons
Zorca
Mammooth
Scrin
Nod
Avatar
Shadow Peak
Tiberium
Corrinos
Orcast
Fire Hook
Dye Landing
Philadelphia Uplink
Saudak
Blue Tib
Green Tib
Kane
Blue Zone
Ponop
Minim

Tupile
Crys
Dictum
Junction
Cheops
Hagal
Niushe
Gamont
Ecaz
Venport
Corrin
Naraj
Alkalurops
Eridani A
Rodale
Distrans
Safe Path
O.S. Station
Lommerce
Spicet
Exchange Port
Sling
Awakened
Na-a
Ri'Ifa

Bandalong
Tleilax
Ix
Xerxes
Sufi
Xuttuh
Rodale
Richese
Butlerian
Tleilaxu
Parmentier
Romo
Sikun
70 Ophiuchi A
Bi-La Kaifa
Missionaria Protectiva
Varota
Butlerian
Scyte
Ithaca
Powind
Axlotl
Lusu
Sligs
Denol
Adn

Sigma Draconis
Executrix
Ammon
Canopus
Grumman
Sikun
Bela Tegeuse
Ophiuchus
Poritrin
Epsilon Alangue
Epsilon Ophiuchi
Alangue
Rossak
Alpha Leporis
Alpha Centauri A
Alpha Centauri B
Proxima
Alpha Piscium
Vivr
Messit
Waff
Scatt
Wi-Ed
Nadal
Aining
Layr
Kobsa
Hako
Mauhk
Hamulago

Ginaz
Kolhar
Parmentier
Theta Eridani
London
Graben
Verite
Siridar
Salusi
Ipyr
krimskell
Gazett
Chamber
Delta
Shiga
Lynch
Mulholland
Inland
Foon Gridex
Aben
Emot
Ruser
Goaz
Port Ul

Requires every city on Arrakis to have your
Requires 3 cities of legendary culture status
Must control founding city of your state's
Must have a temple in every on of your cities.
*Must construct the 7 Holy Shrines" -replaces Spaceship parts and requires late techs.
-Temple of Shai-Hulud -costs 1000-requires Desert Lanes
10
- Temple of Jihad - costs 1000-requires Weirding Modules
10
- Temple of Karama - costs 1000 hammers: requires Baraka
10
- Temple of St. Alia-of-the-Knife - costs 1000 hammers: requires Judge of the Change
10
- Temple of the Water of Life - costs 1000 hammers: requires Kralizec
10 culture:
- Temple of the Great Mother - costs 1000 hammers: requires Folding Space
10 culture:
-Temple of Muad'Dib - costs 2500-requires Kwisatz Haderach
20

Muad'Dib (Philosophical/Spiritual)
Messiah of the Fremen
Favorite Civic: Pacifism



Civilopedia entry:

"...born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV...take the most special care that you locate Muad'Dib in his place: the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place."
-from "Manual of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

Muad'Dib (also known as Usil, Paul Muad'Dib, and Paul Atreides) is the Kwisatz Haderach who took control of Arakis and declared a Jihad to take control of the known universe. Born on the vastly ocean planet, Caladan, Muad'Dib was the son of the late Duke Leto of Atreides and Lady Jessica of House Atreides. Muad'Dib was raised on Castle Caladan with a disciplined education and military training. His father was given lordship and governance of Arrakis by the Padishah Emperor with the promise of power and fortune only to find himself and House Atreides destroyed by a web of conspiracy and betrayal involving a close adviser, House Harkonnen, Bene Gesserits, the Space Guild, and the Imperium. Muad'Dib survived the onslaught, along with his mother, on his father's empire and soon allied himself with the Fremen in the deep desert where he met his wife, Chani daughter of Liet. Muad'Dib trained the Fremen in the weirding way and declared campaigns against the Beast Rabban's governance, resulting in the shutting down all Harkonnen spice production on Arrakis.
Following closely with these events Muad'Dib took the water of life and became the prophesized messiah long held by the Fremen. His sister Alia was a pre-born when Lady Jessica took on the role of Reverand Mother of the fremen. The Imperium came to Arrakis in order to correct Rabban's incompetence and was soonly defeated by Muad'Dib's SandRiders. Muad'Dib with his sister also defeated Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and his nephew Feyd. Muad'Dib had secured Dune's liberation and later campaigned to forge a new empire under the rule of God.

Stilgar (Charismatic/Expansive)
Naib of Sietch Tabr Fremen
Favorite Civic: Caste System


The Fremen Stilgar Ben Fifrawi was born in 10,141 A.G. in Umbu Sietch of Tuan on the planet Arrakis. In 10,175 A.G., Stilgar challenged Forad, the Naib of Sietch Tabr, and defeated him, becoming the new Naib of Sietch Tabr, a title he would hold until his death in 10,228 A.G.
In his youth, Stilgar and two friends, Turok and Ommun, had been cornered by thuggish Harkonnen troopers. Badly injured, Stilgar would have died if Pardot Kynes had not come and helped kill the troops. Because of this water-debt, Stilgar and Pardot Kynes became good comrades. Stilgar, Turok and Ommun promised to help Kynes achieve his dream of turning Arrakis into a paradise. When Pardot Kynes died, Stilgar was a very good friend to his son Liet Kynes, and thereby something of a paternal figure to Liet's daughter Chani (later concubine/wife of Paul "Muad'dib" Atreides).
It was not until 10,153 A.G., after a successful raid against a Harkonnen village, that he acquired the name of Stilgar. Among the members of Umbu Sietch, he was known as Sahkan or "the Desert Hawk."

Gaius Helen Mohiam (Spiritual/Creative)
Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit
Favorite Civic: Organized Religion


Mohiam accompanies Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV to Arrakis in her role as Imperial Truthsayer; there she is faced with Paul's four-year-old sister, the pre-born Alia, whom she calls an abomination. Mohiam is further alarmed as she witnesses the ritual battle-to-the-death between Paul and Feyd-Rautha. Paul calls Feyd "cousin," revealing that Paul is aware of the secret that the Baron Harkonnen is his grandfather. But Mohiam is most concerned with the potential outcome of the duel, which could prove to be "a major catastrophe for the Bene Gesserit breeding scheme." She realizes that "Two end products of this long and costly program faced each other in a fight to the death that might easily claim both of them. If both died here that would leave only Feyd-Rautha's bastard daughter, still a baby, an unknown, an unmeasured factor, and Alia, the abomination.
Paul is victorious; seeing the inevitability of the situation he has orchestrated, Mohiam compels Shaddam to give in to Paul's demands, allowing Paul to depose him and become Emperor in his place. The Reverend Mother joins the conspiracy to topple the rule of Paul Atreides after he ascends the Golden Lion Throne and unleashes his Jihad upon the Empire. She, along with the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale, the Spacing Guild Navigator Edric and Paul's embittered consort (and Shaddam's daughter) Princess Irulan Corrino, plot to insinuate the Tleilaxu ghola Hayt into the court to weaken Paul's confidence in his prescience and thereby ruin him.
Forbidden to ever return to Arrakis, Mohiam is taken into Paul's custody when it becomes known that she is on a heighliner in orbit above the planet. Aware of the Bene Gesserit desire to acquire his genetic material for their breeding program, Paul seeks to negotiate with Mohiam. In exchange for the guaranteed safety of his concubine Chani, and the Sisterhood's acceptance of his decision to father no heirs with the Princess Irulan, Paul offers something of the utmost value: his sperm. This is a complicated proposition for Mohiam, however, because artificial insemination is forbidden in the wake of the Butlerian Jihad.
When the conspiracy ultimately fails and Scytale is killed, Edric is executed in 10,207 A.G. by Fremen Naib Stilgar, on orders from Alia. Stilgar also puts Mohiam to death, despite orders from Paul to spare her life.

Alia-of-the-Knife (Spiritual/Aggressive)
Reverend Mother and Abomination of the Bene Gesserit
Favorite Civic: Theocracy


Thuse spoke St. Alia-of-the-Knife: "The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, has become a well-spring of cunning and resourcefullness."
-from "Muad'Dib, Family Commentraries" by the Princess Irulan

A declared saint and pre-born with all the knowledge and skills of a reverend mother, Alia murdered Baron Vladimir Harkonnen at a very young age in her brother Muad'Dib's liberation of Dune from the Imperium and House Harkonnen. Labeled by the Bene Gessiret as the "Abomination", Alia was the most powerful of them all. Her experience as a Pre-born was prophesized by the Ancients, a pre-born status only experienced by her nephew and niece. Alia became addicted to spice to help enhance her visions and she grew weaker and paranoid as she aged. Alia made attempts to thwart the Ancient Fremen's insurrection as she served Regent of Arrakis in her brother's absence.

Leto Atreides (Philosophical/Financial)
Duke of House Atreides
Favorite Civic: Representation


Leto I was born in the year 10,140 A.G. ("after Guild") on the planet Caladan, to Paulus Atreides and Lady Helena Richese-Atreides. Paulus was the reigning Duke of House Atreides, their noble House having ruled Caladan for 26 generations. House Atreides is distantly related to the Imperial House Corrino (through Leto's maternal grandmother) and had feuded with House Harkonnen since the time of Vorian Atreides, founder of the Atreides family line.
In the year 10,191 A.G., Leto's two greatest enemies conspired against him. Baron Harkonnen appeared to surrender Arrakis to House Atreides, which required Leto to transfer to the inhospitable desert planet. Aware that some plot was afoot, Duke Leto accepted his new fiefdom so that he might form an alliance with the Fremen and end the plots against himself and his House. Leto's efforts to forge a formidable army by unleashing what he termed Arrakis' "Desert Power" culminated after his death with the work of Jessica and Paul.
His term as planetary governor of Arrakis would prove short, as he was betrayed by Dr. Wellington Yueh, his family physician, and surrendered alive to the Baron. Yueh wrought revenge on the Baron for the death of Yueh's wife and provided Leto with a false tooth filled with poison gas. This would kill those nearby when Leto bit down on the tooth and exhaled, and Leto was to do so in the Baron's presence. Unfortunately for both Yueh's plan and Leto, he only managed to kill the twisted Mentat, Piter De Vries.
Leto died at age 51 and was survived by Paul and Jessica, who was pregnant with Leto's daughter, Alia, at the time of his death. Paul would later name his first son, Leto, and then his second son, Leto II, in honor of his father.

Vladimir Harkonnen (Aggressive/Charismatic)
Baron of the Harkonnens
Favorite Civic: Slavery


The long and hated enemy and rival of House Atreides, the Baron possessed a "basso voice" and is so "grossly and immensely fat" that he requires anti-gravity devices known as suspensors to support his weight. It is implied by Margot Fenring that the Baron has allowed himself to become obese.
As ruthless and cruel as he is intelligent and cunning, the Baron's greatest skill is his talent for the subtle and clever manipulation of others through their weaknesses or his understanding of human nature. His sexual preference for young men is implied in Dune and Children of Dune. It is noted, however, that he "once permitted himself to be seduced" in the liaison which produced his secret daughter.
The Baron has taken Yueh's wife Wanna prisoner, threatening her torture and death unless Yueh complies with his demands. Harkonnen also distracts Leto's Mentat Thufir Hawat from discovering Yueh by guiding Hawat toward another suspect: Leto's Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Jessica. The Atreides are soon attacked by Harkonnen forces (secretly supplemented by the seemingly unstoppable Imperial Sardaukar) as Yueh disables the protective shields around the Atreides palace on Arrakis. As instructed, Yueh takes Leto prisoner; however, suspecting that the Baron has already killed Wanna, Yueh provides the captive Leto with a fake tooth filled with poisonous gas as a means to kill the Baron (though Leto would die as well). De Vries kills Yueh but he also dies with Leto in the assassination attempt; however Harkonnen survives.
Leto and Jessica's son Paul Atreides flees into the desert with Jessica, and both are presumed dead. Paul's prescience helps him determine the identity of Jessica's father, the "maternal grandfather who cannot be named" — the Baron himself. Over the next two years, Harkonnen learns that both of his nephews Glossu Rabban and Feyd-Rautha are conspiring against him to obtain his throne; he lets them continue to do so, reasoning that they have to somehow learn to organize a conspiracy. As punishment for a failed assassination attempt against him, Harkonnen forces Feyd to single-handedly slaughter all the female slaves who serve as Feyd's lovers. He explains that Feyd has to learn the price of failure.
The Baron's plan to assure Feyd's power is to install him as ruler of Arrakis after a period of tyrannical misrule by Rabban, making Feyd appear to be the savior of the people. However, a crisis on Arrakis begins when the mysterious Muad'Dib emerges as a leader of the native Fremen tribes against the rule of the Harkonnens. Eventually, a series of Fremen victories against Beast Rabban threaten to disrupt the trade of the spice. The Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV decides to intervene himself and arrives on Arrakis along with five legions of Sardaukar forces. Shaddam and the Baron are shocked to learn that Muad'Dib is, of course, a very-much-alive Paul Atreides. The Imperial forces fall prey to a surprise attack by the Fremen. Part of the Fremen/Atreides strategy is to wait until a sandstorm shorts out the force field shields of the Harkonnen/Imperial transport ships, disable them with projectile weapons, and then attack with a vast assault force, using giant sandworms under cover of the severe weather to break the enemy lines. The Sardaukar and Harkonnen forces are trapped on the planet, astonished at the sandworm mounts and vast numbers of their attackers. Their past ruthlessness gives them little hope of quarter from the enraged Fremen.
Rabban dies in the initial part of the battle; the Harkonnen army is massacred to the last man and almost all the Imperial Sardaukar are killed. Baron Harkonnen himself is poisoned with a gom jabbar by Paul's young sister Alia Atreides, his own granddaughter, and dies at the age of 83. Paul then kills Feyd in ritual combat. House Harkonnen's virtual extermination removes it as a galactic power, but Paul's ascension to the Imperial throne in Shaddam's place guarantees that Vladimir's descendants will long reign as the Imperial House Atreides.

Rabban (Aggressive/Protective)
Governor of Harkonnen rule over Arrakis
Favorite Civic: Police State


Glossu Rabban, aka Beast Rabban, was the older nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. He inherited the Harkonnen cruelty and sadism but without the intelligence. He was known to the Fremen of Dune by a nickname that translated as "Demon Ruler" or "King Cobra". He is best known for his tyrannical and vastly ineffective governance of Arrakis during the insurgency by the Fremen led by Paul Muad'dib. He earned the nickname "Beast" when he killed his father, Abulurd Harkonnen II.
The Baron planned to let Glossu rule the planet for a time in the most brutal way possible, so that when the favored nephew, Feyd-Rautha, took over, the new ruler would be welcomed as a hero. Notably, Glossu had told his Uncle on their return to Arrakis (when they had seized it from the Atreides) that he felt the Harkonnens had woefully underestimated both the numbers and threat of the Fremen population, to no avail. He is slain by Paul Muad'Dib's wild Fremen and the very populace of Arrakeen which he had brutalized only recently, when Paul made his move to retake Arrakis and gain the Corrino throne. In the 1984 film version, The Beast is beheaded by the Sardaukar when the Emperor decides to eliminate the population of the planet.

Shaddam IV (Imperialistic/Organized)
Emperor of House Corrino and the Imperium
Favorite Civic: Vassalage


In year 10,156, Shaddam succeeded his father as the 81st Emperor of the House Corrino; it was speculated that he and Fenring had somehow orchestrated Elrood's death. This was confirmed in Dune: House Atreides when Elrood was poisoned by slow acting chaumurky administered to him by Fenring (at Shaddam's bidding). It was also revealed that not only had Shaddam been complicit in the murder of his elder brother, the Crown Prince Fafnir, but had secretly administered contraceptives to his own mother, Habla, so she couldn't conceive another son to rival him.
According to Paul Atreides, Shaddam managed to secure his throne by providing the Spacing Guild with melange from planet Arrakis and arranging his own marriage to a Bene Gesserit. His marriage to Lady Anirul Sadow-Tonkin Corrino (who died in year 10,176 A.G.) resulted in the birth of five daughters: Irulan, Chalice, Wensicia, Josifa and Rugi.
Shaddam's lack of legitimate sons (orchestrated by the Bene Gesserit) ensured that he was the last Emperor of House Corrino. His heir would be a son-in-law belonging to another noble House. This realisation did not prevent Shaddam from efforts to maintain imperial power. Years 10,156 through 10,172 would see the ranks of nobility double in number. The growing competition among the nobles effectively prevented them from joining against the Emperor.
The foundation of Shaddam's power at the time were considered to be the Sardaukar, his imperial army of soldier-fanatics.
Shaddam reportedly felt threatened from reports about his cousin Duke Leto Atreides, whose small army trained under Thufir Hawat, Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho was stated to be well-trained enough to rival the Imperial Sardaukar. Consequently, the Emperor conspired with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, leader of House Harkonnen and longtime rival of Leto.
Leto was pressured to surrender his native planet Caladan to Count Fenring (siridar in absentia) and to receive in exchange Arrakis, the only known source of the all-important spice. Leto chose to obey, but he and most of his army were soon slain as a result of a combined invasion by Sardaukar and Harkonnen forces. The Emperor considered the threat posed by the House Atreides to have ended. However, the Lady Jessica (the illegitimate daughter of Baron Harkonnen and concubine to Duke Leto) and her son Paul Atreides survived. They were given sanctuary by the Fremen and as a result of their skills would soon rise to their leadership.
By year 10,193 Paul had managed to lead the Fremen in capturing most territories of Arrakis. As a result, the Fremen were able to threaten the spice trade. The Emperor and part of his army soon arrived to address this challenge. Shaddam would prove to be overconfident in the superiority of his forces over their enemy. Despite the advice of Baron Harkonnen, Shaddam only took minimal precautions for the possibility of an attack against them in the stated belief that the Fremen would not even dare to approach. The attack found them unprepared. The Fremen managed to slay most of the present Sardaukar. The Emperor and his escort had to surrender. He was brought to Paul, who proceeded in stating his terms. As Chani was Paul's official concubine, he demanded to receive Princess Irulan as wife and to be named heir to the throne. Shaddam had to agree.

Hasimier Fenring (Charismatic/Creative)
Count Fenring of House Fenring
Favorite Civic: Universal Sufferage


Count Hasimier Fenring was raised in the imperial court and befriended the prince who later became the Emperor Shaddam IV, with a little help from the count and some poison.

Count Fenring is a failed part of the Bene Geserit breeding scheme to produce a super being, hoverer he was born a eunuch, unable to breed. Hasmir was however supremely skilled in many areas, but chose to become chief assasin to house corrino. He married a bene geserit sister, which guaranteed his loyalty to the sisterhood even over that of his life long friend the Emperor.

The Fenrings, in keeping with court secrecy have their own secret language (probably a variation of a bene geserit code), that sounds much like humming to those not in the know, this make them seem bumbling and harmless.

The Fenrings kept a grand house on Arrakis in the city of Arrakeen, during the Harkonnen rule there. Fenring's house was later used as the home for the royal family of House Attriedes, under duke Leto's rule. After Leto's son, Paul seized control of Arrakis and the empire Frening was ordered by Shaddam to kill Paul. Although apparently capable Fenring refused, not wishing to kill the bene geserits long sought after super being.

Roma Atani
Mentat of House Ordos(Financial/Organized)
Favorite Civic: Mercantilism


House Ordos is a mercantile House. the goal of House Ordos is the generation of revenue to sustain the pluto-technocratic elite of their society. The Ordos are portrayed as driven by a calculated and single-minded approach: destroying anything that stands between them and the spice melange. According to the original game House Ordos originated from the amalgamation of several wealthy families into one large cartel who hire expensive but disloyal mercenaries to fight for their cause. Emperor: Battle for Dune further explains:

“House Ordos, of the iceworld Draconis IV. The Ordos are known for their use of
forbidden technologies. Their leader is the Executrix, four beings that share a
single mind. They communicate through a creature known only as "The Speaker."
The Ordos are mercenary, they care for nothing, save power and wealth. In the
language of the Ordos, there are no words for the concepts of trust or honor;
there are more than 300 for the concept of profit."
— Narrator, Emperor: Battle for Dune

D'murr Pilru (Financial/Expansive)
Navigator of The Space Guild
Favorite Civic: Guilds


To enable their prescience, Guild Navigators are continuously immersed in highly-concentrated amounts of orange spice gas, which causes their bodies to atrophy and mutate over time, their heads and extremities elongating.The first external sign of melange-induced metabolic change is visible in the eyes, as the drug tints the sclera and iris to a dark shade of blue, called "blue-in-blue" or "the Eyes of Ibad," appearing almost black.
Because the Spacing Guild uses mainly envoys and ambassadors in their dealings, Guild Navigators are historically seldom seen.The Guild Navigator Edric is called a "humanoid fish," and described in his tank of spice gas as "an elongated figure, vaguely humanoid with finned feet and hugely fanned membranous hands — a fish in a strange sea." Navigators were forever bathed in the orange gas of melange, their features often fogged by the vapors," that they possess a "tiny v of a mouth" and "ugly flap of nose" and that "Mouth and nose appeared small on a Navigator's gigantic face with its pulsing temples." Their mutated voices require translation devices.
Edric is described as surviving without spice gas once a hole is opened in his tank, though his prescient abilities are practically useless in this state.

Leto Atreides II (Imperialistic/Philosophical)
Emperor of the Fremen
Favorite Civic: Pacifism


Leto is the son of Paul Atreides and his Fremen concubine Chani, and the twin brother of Ghanima. Leto is named for his paternal grandfather Duke Leto Atreides I, who is killed in the Harkonnen/Imperial invasion of the desert planet Arrakis during the events of the Dune liberation. Leto II is the second child of Paul to bear that name, the first having been killed as an infant by the Emperor's Sardaukar in Dune.
Leto and his twin sister Ghanima are nine years old. Because of the spice ingested by their mother, Leto and Ghanima are "pre-born", meaning that as fetuses in their mother's womb they had been awakened to consciousness and to their genetic memories; they had been born as fully matured human beings in the bodies of infants. At the start of the novel, Leto is not prescient to the degree that his father Paul had been, but he senses the test his father had faced — to embrace a prescient vision of the universe is to set the universe on that path, a terrible responsibility that comes with terrible power. Paul had forsaken that responsibility by walking into the desert — his time as the Fremen messiah had shown him that he was not strong enough to be messiah/tyrant to the universe. Leto believes that he must face the same test.
At the same time, the Imperium created by Paul is ruled by his sister Alia Atreides as regent. The horror of the pre-born — the reason the Bene Gesserit call them "abominations" — is that they are easily possessed by the ego-memories of their ancestors. When Bene Gesserit awaken to their "other memories" in the ritual of the spice agony, they are adults with fully formed personalities, and can withstand the inner assault of their forebears; the pre-born have no such defense. Like Leto and Ghanima, Alia had been pre-born, and she succumbs to the pressure under an intense dose of spice. Among her ancestors is the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, still hungry for revenge against his enemies, the Atreides. Alia is possessed by him, and unconsciously turns against the Atreides empire, plotting to kill Leto and Ghanima and to tear down the Imperium in a bloody civil war.
Independently, Leto and Ghanima both solve the problem of the pre-born. Leto constructs his own personality out of an executive committee of his ancestors; with all (the important ones) possessing him, none can possess him individually. Following an assassination attempt by House Corrino, Leto disappears into the desert leaving Ghanima behind. As part of Leto's plan, Ghanima hypnotizes herself to believe that Leto had been killed; the intense mental discipline this demands builds a safe haven in Ghanima's mind for her own personality to safely develop.
Leto finds Jacurutu, a sietch that has been forbidden to anyone by Fremen law. There he faces the test his father had refused to take, and embraces prescience, its visions, its attendant power, and the terrible price it will extract — to follow his vision, Leto will become a symbiote with the sandworm, setting the universe on the Golden Path, a future in which humanity's survival is assured. After consuming massive amounts of spice, he allows many sandtrout to cover his body, the concentration of spice in his blood fooling the creatures:
This layer gives Leto tremendous strength, speed and protection from mature sandworms, who mistake his sandtrout-covered body for a lethal mass of water. He calls it a "living, self-repairing stillsuit of a sandtrout membrane," and soon notes that he is "no longer human." Leto returns to wrest the Imperium from Alia and take his rightful place as Emperor.

Scytale (Industrious/Protective)
Face Dancer of the Bene Tleilux
Favorite Civic: Organized Religion


Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale is involved with the Guild Navigator Edric, Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, and Princess Irulan Corrino (the consort of Emperor Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides) in a plot planned by Scytale himself to force Paul from the throne through assassination or abdication. Unlike later Face Dancers presented in the series, Scytale appears autonomous, and his high-level dealings with the other conspirators suggest a certain rank and level of trust among the Tleilaxu.
Scytale kills and assumes the appearance of Lichna, the daughter of the trusted Fremen Otheym, in order to gain entrance to the Atreides Keep at Arrakeen and lure Paul out to Otheym's house, where Scytale has planted a nuclear weapon called a stone burner. The attack fails to kill Paul, but the atomic blast blinds him. Scytale soon makes an attempt to force Paul's allegiance. With the Tleilaxu ghola of Duncan Idaho having regained the memories of the deceased original, Scytale has proven that the Tleilaxu can essentially "resurrect" a human being. He offers Paul a ghola of his concubine Chani, who has just died giving birth to their twin children Leto II and Ghanima. Though tempted, Paul refuses. Scytale holds a knife over the newborn twins; unless Paul accepts, he will kill them instantly. Paul instead kills Scytale with a thrown crysknife, guided by a prescient vision sent by his infant son.