Chapterhouse: Dune

The Bene Tleilax, also called the Tleilaxu, were a faction of genetic engineers. They were frowned upon by many other factions in the Old Imperium, yet their services were widely sought. They created the Face Dancers and gholas, and thanks to their axolotl tanks, they were a major source of Spice Melange. The Honored Matres destroyed them, leaving only a single survivor, Scytale, who resides in Bene Gesserit custody.

Chapterhouse is a planet the Bene Gesserit consider their home base. After the destruction of Rakis, the final surviving sandworm was brought there. Beams from weather control satellites begin to alter the climate of the planet to become more dry and arid, ideal for a population of sandworms. The downside of this is that the orchards the Bene Gesserit cared for die, and much of the population of the southern hemisphere of the planet will be displaced. A base in the deep south of the planet was established to allow Sheeana to keep watch over the growing desert for signs of adult sandworms.

Face Dancers are a race of genetically altered humans with the ability to shapeshift. They use this ability to impersonate others, infiltrate factions, and assassinate leaders. They are totally sterile and unable to reproduce. They are born from Axolotl Tanks. Bene Tleilax often used Face Dancers as assistants and companions.

A ghola is an artificially created human usually grown from the cells of a cadaver. They are created by the Tleilaxu in Axolotl tanks. Often, they are encoded with specific skills or instructions. Gholas can also access the memories of their original body, but this requires an event of great pain or trauma.

The Honored Matres are a militant all-woman order and deadly rivals to the Bene Gesserit. Their origins lie in The Scattering following the death of Leto II. They are suggested to be an offshoot of the Bene Gesserit, but there are some stark differences. They have lost many Bene Gesserit abilities, including The Voice and the ability to control their internal biochemistry. They also don’t make use of the Spice Melange and thus have no Reverend Mothers with access to ancestral memories among their ranks. Instead, they have the ability to sexually imprint men, transforming them into pliable slaves. They have a hyper aggressive ideology of conquest and are known to kill on a whim.

Ixians are a technologically advanced culture and, prior to the Honored Matre’s invasion, one of the three powers of the post-Leto II imperium. The Ixians are known to produce the vast majority of the technology in the universe. This includes the undetectable no-ships, the Navigator Machines that enable interstellar flight, and a host of other innovations. They are the only faction in the galaxy that is known to break taboos set down by the Butlerian Jihad. When the Honored Matres conquered the Old Empire, they took control of the Ixians.

A no-ship is a type of starship that is shielded from prescience, which means that Guild Navigators and other gifted people are unable to track it with their psychic abilities. It is also invisible to all other methods of detection, including the naked eye. They were used extensively in The Scattering as people fled the Old Imperium after the death of Leto II. They possessed navigational computers, which also meant they could fold space to travel great distances without having to rely on Navigators.

The Old Empire, also called the Old Imperium, is an area of space where the former human empire from before the Butlerian Jihad existed. It is effectively the cradle of human expansion in the Dune universe.

Sandworms are large creatures originally indigenous to Arrakis. They live beneath the sand and are attracted to rhythmic vibrations on its surface. They are highly territorial and are prone to bouts of aggression, especially if a personal shield is used in their vicinity. Sandworms are essential to spice production, as it is a side product of their lifecycle. They can grow up to 450 meters long, are extremely resilient to damage, and can live for thousands of years.

These are a valuable, iridescent gemstone form the planet Buzzell. They are the carapaces of monoped sea creatures named Cholisters. They are a sought-after commodity for smugglers due to their small size and great worth. They also have hypnotic focusing abilities that can be utilized by skilled or gifted individuals.

The Spice Agony is a ritual ordeal that an acolyte of the Bene Gesserit undergoes when they are ready to become full Reverend Mothers. This involves ingesting The Water of Life, a poison produced by drowning a young sandworm. If the acolyte can alter her body chemistry to neutralize the poison, she can learn to access the genetic memories of all her female ancestors.

Suspensors are a type of anti-gravity devices that uses the Holtzmann field to nullify gravity. They are used on vehicles, machinery, freight, and occasionally by individuals like the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in the first Dune book.

Suk Doctors are medical experts that graduated from the Suk Schools. They are considered the preeminent physicians of the known universe and are renowned for their incredible medical knowledge. They are a kind of specialized Mentat and are conditioned against taking human life, ensuring that they would never be used as assassins.

The Ones of Many Faces are the mysterious and malevolent force that sent the Honored Matres into an exodus that would eventually bring them to the Old Empires. They are mysterious figures, but there are several suggestions that they utilize technology and genetic engineering. They created The Weapon and the Futars for the express purposes of destroying the Matres. It is also suggested that they use bacteria in warfare.

The Spice Melange, often referred to simply as Spice, is an addictive substance with many beneficial properties. It is one of the most valuable substances in the universe, used by several factions to enhance their abilities. The Navigator Guild use it to enhance their prescience; the Bene Gesserit use it to trigger the Spice Agony ritual that allows them to become Reverend Mothers.

It was previously unique to the planet Arrakis (later called Rakis), but the Tleilaxu discovered a way to artificially produce it with their Axolotl tanks. It later appeared on Chapterhouse when the Bene Gesserit successfully introduced sandworms. It is created as a side product of the life cycle of sandworms while they exist in their juvenile form, referred to as a sandtrout.