Upon its release in September 2023,Starfieldrepresented Bethesda’s first new universe in 25 years. A massive open-world roleplaying game set in the 24th century, the game sees players assume the role of a space miner in the employ of Argos Extractors two decades after the conclusion of a massive interplanetary war between Starfield’s two main factions, the United Colonies and the breakaway Freestar Collective.The protagonist finds themselves navigating a hostile and chaotic universe, seeking outpowerful Artifactson behalf of a mysterious group of explorers known only as Constellation while narrowly avoiding squabbling factions and the enigmatic Starborn.
One of the manyorganizations players will encounter throughout their time inStarfieldis the secretive House Va’ruun,a sprawling theocracy in the Settled Systems that worships a hibernating deity known as the Great Serpent.Fervent believers in the Great Serpent’s impending awakening in an apocalyptic event they refer to as The Shrouding, House Va’ruun begins the game in isolation following the end of the Colony War, having quietly ratified the Armistice before retreating to seclusion. But the House’s relative isolation compared to rival factions in Starfield conceals over a century and a half of intricate lore, which has major ramifications for the game’s universe.
The Rise of House Va’ruun
The roots of House Va’ruun lie within a colony ship, theArchimedes, originating from New Atlantis, the capital city of the United Colonies, in 2190, according toStarfield’s official timeline. One of the passengers on the ship was a colonist named Jinan Va’ruun. As theArchimedesentered into deep space from Martian orbit, the colony ship lost contact with New Atlantis. A year later, as the ship arrived in the previously unexplored Kavnyk system, Jinan Va’ruun experienced a hallucinatory episode during the final grav jump where he claimed to commune with the Great Serpent. As theArchimedes’ passengers began to colonize the Kavnyk system, Jinan slowly accumulated a dedicated sect enthralled by tales of his purported encounter with the Serpent.
By 2193, the colonization of Kavnyk I-b was spearheaded by Jinan, representing a massive power shift within the hierarchy of the colony ship, which was previously tightly controlled by the Colonial Council. The Great Serpent’s prophet bestows the name of Dazra upon the planet’s newly founded capital city. In a show of thanks for his dedication to the development of Kavnyk,the colonists name the planet’s moon Va’ruun’kai.
Jinan finally completed his grand societal upheaval in 2200 with a complete integration of church and state, forcing all his subjects to become servants of the Great Serpent.
Over the next seven years, Jinan solidified his control over the colonists. By 2197, the Kavnyk Colonial Council – which still remained the de jureauthority over the former passengers of theArchimedes– formally disbanded,officially handing over the reins of power to Jinan.The prophet’s first task was to completely reform the colonial society he inherited, introducing a new hierarchy in the form of noble families such as Houses Ma’leen and Ka’dic. With the new order now completely beholden to him, Jinan finally completed his grand societal upheaval in 2200 with a complete integration of church and state, forcing all his subjects to become servants of the Great Serpent.
House Va’ruun Enters the 23rd Century
A Violent Introduction To The Outside World
By 2207, members of House Va’ruun were alarmed by their rapidly dwindling supplies. Jinan’s main concern, however, remained religious, andthe prophet occupied his time with a series of grav drive experiments in the hope of repeating his original encounter with the Great Serpent. But the House’s relative isolation could not last. By 2230 – the 40th anniversary of theArchimedes’ disappearance – a ship appeared in the Volii system with the original colony ship’s transponder code. This wasMourning, House Va’ruun’s flagship, which had ostensibly arrived to establish diplomatic relations with major factions and corporations within the Settled Systems.
In the shadows, however,House Va’ruun was quietly preparing for a bloodbath, gathering information about rival factions in the Settled Systems while assembling an armada of ships. For the next decade, the House retained cordial affairs with the outside world until abruptly severing communications in 2240 and declaring holy war on the rest of humanity in a bloody conflict that would come to be known as the Serpent’s Crusade. Thousands of non-believers died in the face of Va’ruun’s onslaught, and the Old Den, a star station of the United Colonies, was destroyed in battle.
Jarek’s pacifistic outlook was deeply disheartening to his noble underlings, fomenting tensions that would soon lead to chaotic conflict.
For the following 23 years,the crusade raged on violently until Jinan died suddenly in 2263 following a seven-decade reign. His son, Jarek, promptly assumed control of the House and sued for peace,recalling most of his troops to the Kavnyk system. For the next several decades, Jarek desperately attempted to rehabilitate the reputation of his House, even constructing an embassy in New Atlantis as a sign of goodwill towards the now deeply embittered rival factions. Jarek’s pacifistic outlook was deeply disheartening to his noble underlings, fomenting tensions that would soon lead to chaotic conflict.
By 2270, Jarek’s twin brother, Jandar, rose against his antiwar isolationist policy. In his opposition, he was roundly supported by House Ma’leen, spurring hostilities that would erupt in 2274, whenMa’leen formally split from House Va’ruun and formed an extremist factionof Great Serpent worshippers known as the Va’ruun Zealots. For the next 60 years, the Va’ruun Zealots terrorized the nonbelievers of the Settled Systems, attempting to continue the Serpent’s Crusade with a new, ultraviolent approach to the Va’ruun faith.
House Va’ruun in the 24th Century
The House’s Status At The Beginning Of Starfield
By 2298, Jarek Va’ruun dies and is replaced by his son, Anasko, as Speaker for the Great Serpent. By the fourth year of his reign, Anasko – much like his grandfather –began a secret research program focused on grav drive technology. The program is shadowy and privately referred to as unorthodox inside the House’s territories. Following ratifying the armistice that concluded the Colony War, House Va’ruun remained relatively silent until 2230, when one of its starstations, The Oracle, arrives in the Settled Systems broadcasting a distress signal, the impetus forStarfield’sShattered SpaceDLC.
House Va’ruun occupies a storied – if bloody – history in theStarfielduniverse. Abandoning its violent tendencies and embracing a policy of nonaggression has left it divided yet still powerful, and as it continues through the 24th century, the House grapples with a deeply uncertain future. Beholden to the past yet struggling to survive in a hostile future, House Va’ruun provides yet another fascinatingStarfieldfaction for players to discover.
