User Guide

Why would anyone choose voluntarily to come to a place like Dune? One good reason - its unique natural
resource, the Spice, known as melange , a substance currently fetching a cool 620,000 solaris a decagram. The
spice which has an odour not unlike cinnamon, is linked to the existence of the sandworms in a complex eco-
chain and must be extracted from the planet like ore.
While it has life prolonging properties and pleasant side effects the real reason it is so precious lies in its ability
to provide the key to deep space navigation (the folding of Space).
As such it is in great demand with the peoples of the universe - run as a giant feudal empire controlled by an
all powerful autocrat and a giant corporation served by great Houses.
The Emperor controls the rights to mine Spice and it is a lucrative contract for anyone to possess. When he
offered it to the House Of Atreides, which had lived for generations on Caladan, the third planet of Delta
Pavonis, it was an opportunity too good to pass up - particularly since those very rights had once been held
solely by the House Of Harkonnen, their sworn enemies in what they call a kanly or vendetta stemming back
many years.
The Harkonnens alone had been profiting from Spice and had enslaved the Fremen to mine it for them.
It was a chance that could not be turned down despite the possibility that there would be treachery and
conflict.
So Duke Leto transferred his entire Imperial House to Dune including his son, Paul. At 15 years old, Paul was
already demonstrating powerful skills of leadership and fighting, but he had special powers too, powers which
not even he fully understood which came from his mother, Jessica a member of the powerful female Bene
Gesserit sect. They were powers that he would have to master far sooner than anyone realised…
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