Dune: Cultures: Spacing Guild

The spacing guild control all space travel. Everything from launching satellites to transporting people and goods across galaxies is covered under their massive monopoly. The guild is operated by humans mutated by the spice mélange. The mutations vary from almost pure human to giant fish like beings called steersman.

If you were to see members of the spacing guild in a bar, they’d be the wonky bohemians. They would be drinking absinthe. We here at SadGeezer have often made up crazy drinks and professions of various cultures and peoples in a pub, but I am completely certain that a steersman would be enjoying the green fairy!

The guild was created shortly after the Butlerian Jihad, as part of Aurelius Veneport’s monopoly on foldspace engines. Their charter set up by the great convention is to be impartial in all matters, and act as transport connecting the vast human imperium. They control a vast financial empire, and even act as official auditors for the imperium. Their services can be bought for any price. Which is usually very high if one wants to do something in secret.

The Guild is operated from the planet Junction which is really just a huge spaceport. It is from here that all voyages are coordinated. Almost all of the Guild ships were built on Ix, including the great Heighliners. With a handful produced on Richese.

The guild is a very secretive group, who usually only recruit from within their own ranks. It is mostly because of the spice mutations which give the guildsman a hive mind, and make them non-human in appearance. As stated earlier most guildsman are mutated in some way by spice. The final product of these mutations are the navigators, which transport vessels through fold space. The navigators are prescient and are able to predict obstacles in fold space and thus keep the ships from danger. And they do a good job at it too. Since their inception they have lost only two vessels, and that was due to sabotage. Navigators are fish like beings, that must live in mélange filled chambers to survive.

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These chambers usually have Holtzman Fields about them to allow the navigators to swim in their chambers. Chambers can be small enough from a single navigator or as large as a stadium. Navigators of the highest prescient abilities are called Edrics in honor of the navigator who presciently shielded those in the conspiracy against Muad’Dib.

Once a human undergoes the process of becoming a navigator, they will forever be addicted to spice. Those whose minds are capable of understanding the unlimited possibilities that the spice offers will become a navigator. The rest will only mutate so far, and then stop. Those who fail this process survive as administrators and representatives of the guild.

The Guild is highly embarrassed by the transformation, and go to great lengths to hide it from the rest of humanity. They fear that if humans find out there non-human nature that they will exterminated in a great pogrom. It was 11,000 years before a navigator (Edric) made a public appearance.

More Navigator Pics

  

Race Rating –  Spacing Guild
Personality 1 (rancid butter) – 5 (cool dude) 2
Attractiveness 1 (requires paper bag) – 5 (Drop-dead-gorgeous) 1
Humour 1 (stomach-turning) – 5 (sidesplitting) 1
Dress Sense 1 (laughable) – 5 (hip) 1
Aggression 1 (big/little softy) – 5 (hard as nails) 2
Social Standing 1 (scumbag) – 5 (god) 5

SadGeezer Race Rating (out of 30) = 12          

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This Dune review is © 2003 Greg Frantz.
Not for reproduction without the authors express permission.

Dune names, characters and everything else associated with the series are the property of Sci-Fi Channel, New Amsterdam Entertainment, and the assorted publishing companies who own the rights to the various Dune novels.

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