Gorgon Family

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Gorgon Family
IconGorgonFamily.png
Logo, evoking an imagined esteemed lineage
Patriarchal family unit
Motto: Remember Family
Patriarch: Martin Gorgon
Operation
Based in: Charon
Allies: Union of Saturn, Kuiper Minerals
Historical information
Founded: 3200s
Founded by: Walter Gorgon
[Source]
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

–Ayn Rand

'The Gorgon Family has been the ruling family of Pluto and most of its satellites for the past six hundred years. The dynasty has survived through a combination of ruthlessness, occasional moderation, and a healthy dose of transhumanism. The Gorgons generally are pretty aloof to Plutonian affairs nowadays and usually delegate their duties to cronies or sell out to corporations. Their jet black hair and pale complexions have become known across the Kuiper Belt as signs of power and madness. However, the winds of change are blowing currently, and some Gorgons have taken notice...

History[edit | edit source]

The early history of the Gorgons is shrouded in mystery, as the family has effectively altered or erased most of the records regarding their early years on Pluto. Why they did is unknown, but being in an isolated planetoid with power over its media and information keeping has led to no reliable sources on the Gorgons before their arrival on Pluto.

What is known was that the Gorgon Family was that they were among the oligarchs who had initially funded the colonization of Pluto. It is unknown from where they originated on Earth. Their descendants would live quietly for centuries with the ownership of a shipping company until the Climate Crisis on Earth at the dawn of the 33rd century.

Change would come in the form of Walter Gorgon, a handsome ambitious heir of his father’s failing shipping company. Early in his life, Walter had witnessed his father practically run his business into the ground and was certain he would only live to see it dissolve. However, the influx of new people from Earth provided an opportunity he had never planned for, an ample supply of employees. Gorgon saw the opportunity to turn around Pluto from a dying rock into the thriving port it had been in days of old, a trading hub between the Solar System and extrasolar territories. He saw the dwarf planet's potential when seemingly no one else did. Purchasing a fleet of interstellar capable vessels from the Callisto Shipyards, Gorgon would lay the foundations for his new business. He would spend the rest of his lifetime negotiating first ever trade deals with the newly independent Zhu Que; the fledgling colonies of Nova and Tranquility, as well as the IGSA departments of Proxima Centauri b and Barnard's Star b.

Walter Gorgon would ultimately die before he really achieved his dream but his descendants would benefit enormously from his efforts. Walter's grandson would form the council that would come to rule Pluto, and the Gorgon Family would become more powerful with each passing century. They bought stock in various prosperous corporations and took over several mining operations on Pluto. The real coup came when the Gorgons seized Phlegethon and Charon.

The Gorgons have held onto their power ever since, but their powers have slipped at times. This first came when the Commonwealth of Earth occupied Pluto and many other Tran-Neptunian objects. The Earthers subjugated Pluto and forced the Gorgons to collaborate with them under pain of death. The Gorgons went along with them, but they were not without some resistance. The Gorgon partiarch initially wanted to fight to the death but was assassinated. After that, a more pliable patriarch agreed to help but there were still Gorgons who resisted Earther rule. Therefore, it was easy pickings for the more combative Gorgons to dispatch their collaborator patriarch when Saturnians swept over Pluto. The arrival of the Saturnians on Pluto and the rest of the Kuiper Belt ushered in an era of change that still can be felt today.

Pluto eventually regained self-governance, but the effects of the brief Saturnian occupation left a deep impact on the Gorgons. The family housed Saturnian freelancers on Charon, and they marveled at the habits of the freelancers. The Saturnians occupiers introduced their extreme brand of hedonism to the Gorgons who found it to their liking. The Gorgons were rich and bored enough that the sorts of debauched delights partaken by the Saturnians were something that became almost an addiction for the Plutonian elite.

In the centuries since the Great Interstellar War, the Gorgons have continued their hedonistic ways even after the end of the brief Saturnian occupation. The Gorgons' cutthroat ways have persisted through time as well, with none of the Gorgon patriarchs dying through natural causes. The previous patriarch, Alexander Gorgon, died in 3898 to an anonymous poisoner's bottle after threatening a Kuiper Minerals representatives. His son Martin Gorgon has tried to ingratiate himself with his own family, Kuiper Minerals, and various Saturnian allies with flattery and numerous displays of wealth. During all this time, the Gorgon Family has slowly begun to divide into factions depending on their view of the status quo. The Gorgons who back the patriarch want to maintain the increasingly untenable status quo. The Gorgons who back the unstable Isabelle Gorgon want to go further than the current regime and make Pluto a second Saturn under a celestial state headed by the Gorgons. The Gorgons who back the young Cecil Gorgon are more sympathetic to the Plutonians and detest the hedonistic ways of their relatives. The division of the Gorgons is a mounting issue for the family, and it will eventually have to come to a head, setting a new paradigm for the family and perhaps Pluto itself.

Activities[edit | edit source]

The Gorgon Family are mostly immortal amoral hedonists who have made Charon their own personal playground. Owning mining operations on Pluto and stock within Kuiper Minerals, the Gorgons passively make money off of their many assets. Instead of working, most of the Gorgons, including Councilman Martin, indulge themselves in pleasure and pain in the subterranean “rapture pits” on Charon. Gorgons also like to take trips to Saturn to experience new delights among the Saturnian elite. Isabelle Gorgon is the most active hedonist within the family and makes sure to travel to Saturn every two years.

There are however a handful of Gorgons who are not satisfied with mindless bliss and feel the need to make themselves useful in some way to wider society. Usually, this involves leaving Pluto and Charon for greener pastures, but recently, a few Gorgons have decided to make themselves useful in a more personal capacity to the family. The most notable of these is Konstantin Gorgon, who is the Gorgons’ chief enforcer in charge of meting out the family’s will on Pluto and keeping an eye on the local INTPOL. Konstantin, a former merchant marine, took the role of chief enforcer because of his subtle disgust with his own family for growing soft over centuries of unbridled hedonism. The other more active Gorgons are on the younger side and led by Cecil, have taken a greater interest in Pluto. They regularly work administrative jobs on Pluto usually delegated to non-family members and try to navigate the growing discontent against their family on the dwarf planet while also living relatively normal lives in comparison to the rest of the Gorgons.

Notable Members[edit | edit source]

Cecil Gorgon[edit | edit source]

Walter Gorgon was the original Plutonian patriot, he kept this place alive after the mines dried up. Why can't we recapture some of that energy and become the leaders Pluto needs?

–Cecil Gorgon

Cecil Gorgon is one of the youngest Gorgons and the most prominent of growing cadre of more active Gorgons unsatisfied with the status quo. Born to a favored second cousin of Councilman Martin, Cecil was the first Gorgon to be born in over fifty years and was engineered to be immortal from birth. However, Cecil proved to be utterly unlike many of his more indulgent relatives. He wanted to be more productive with his life, and so he became the first Gorgon to work an actual administrative job on the surface of Pluto in centuries. Cecil is now the most available bachelor on Pluto, a high-ranking mining administrator, and one of the few Gorgons actively interested in the fate of the dwarf planet, along with a few others he has convinced of its importance. A pious member of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Cecil sympathizes with the Plutonians' grievances but would not go so far as to throw in his lot with the Psychopomps. Cecil shares his cousin Martin's views of family, but he wishes Martin would do more with Pluto than sell it out to off-world interests. Because of this and some degree of personal ambition, Cecil sees himself as the perfect future councilman.

Isabelle Gorgon[edit | edit source]

I used to agonise about how the world was unfair to me, and it tore me apart. I couldn't take my mind away from what could have been, and to some degree, I think that's still true. However, I think now, I am finally more satisfied with who I am.

–Isabelle Gorgon

Isabelle Gorgon is the eldest of the Gorgon brood and perhaps the most influential of the family, even including Councilman Martin. A raging narcissist and an egomaniac, Isabelle is the daughter of a previous Councilman and was passed over for the position in favor of the grandfather of Councilman Martin. Isabelle has been dealing with her feelings of jealousy and inadequacy ever since then in increasingly unhealthy ways. She did this at first by throwing herself into work for the Gorgons' various enterprises that made her enormously wealthy. After she became bored with that, Isabelle moved on to making clone daughters of herself. This usually went badly and only two of these are living currently, with one being only five years old. Isabelle is the biggest hedonist of all her family, but she should not be underestimated for that. She is very calculating and can hold a grudge for centuries. That is why Isabelle has a small party of Gorgons around her who act as courtiers and sycophants. She is suspected of being responsible for more than one death of a Gorgon patriarch, but no one would accuse her of that to her face. Isabelle's superficial charm and ability to adapt have managed to maintain her reputation throughout the centuries. Isabelle is even closer to Saturnians than Martin but lacks any of his compassion for the wider family.

Konstantin Gorgon[edit | edit source]

Staying on this rock will poison you, will rot your mind. Just look at Martin and the rest of them, they're a bunch of degenerates. Why have immortality if you don't go out and experience the universe? That being said, you can't forget about your own blood, even if they're libertines. As Martin says, family is what really matters in the end.

–Konstantin Gorgon

Konstantin Gorgon is a former merchant marine who traveled for many years before returning to the family to become their chief enforcer on Pluto. Scarred and hardened, Konstantin is feared by his family and many Plutonians, but he surprisingly is not a very bloodthirsty individual. As chief enforcer, Konstantin is one of the few Gorgons who regularly visits Pluto, and he therefore has a cordial working relationship with his nephew Cecil. Konstantin also has a known weakness for women, and he has broken many a woman's heart over the years and has had his own heart broken on the occasion.

Martin Gorgon[edit | edit source]

Ehhh, I don't see why anything has to change here? I've got Saturn, the corporates, and the family behind me. What does the mob down there have that we don't?

–Martin Gorgon

Martin Gorgon is the jovial Gorgon patriarch who makes it his job to keep himself on top and his family happy. Martin was groomed by his father to look out for the family, and he does, only them. He is in favor of the status quo and very friendly with Saturnians. He has presided over almost two centuries of prosperity for his family, but time has not been as kind for Pluto. Martin turns a blind eye to the growing discontent among Plutonians, as he sees popular opinion as irrelevant. When has he needed support from anyone besides his family anyways?

Nadia Gorgon[edit | edit source]

Being a Gorgon is a death sentence for anyone who wants to be comfortable in life. The old vultures at the top are always looking to cull a little bit of the herd, regardless of Uncle Martin's crap about family.

–Nadia Gorgon

Nadia Gorgon is an altogether minor member of the Gorgon Family who indulges in pleasure like many other Gorgons. She lives in the Gorgon Family Estate and indulges like many others. However, Nadia is more than a simple hedonist. Her real name is not even Nadia, and she is older than any of the other Gorgons besides Isabelle. She knows how to play the game, and she has done it well so far.