Solo Traveller - Aloin's Saga Backgrounder #4

Having introduced two Navy vessels into Aloin’s story, the designs of which are now in the Starships and Space ships page, it seems appropriate to examine the Imperial and Subsector Navies as I see them operating within the RimWorlds.

When Kolin Venuraski (later Sector Duke Kolin I) launched the settlement of the RimWorlds by the 3rd Imperium in the 6th Century, he had at his disposal a small flotilla of Imperial Navy ships for the protection of his colony fleet. This flotilla was augmented by such armed auxiliaries as his supporters could buy, equip, or supply. And as they spread out and were granted, or took, planetary holdings, it soon became imperative for each Noble to possess at least a couple of armed ships to both protect their fief, and to send to serve the Sector Duke when he called for aid. Kolin I took his duties as Sector Duke, and head of his comitatus, very seriously and he did not hesitate to downgrade Houses Major to House Minor status if they did not fully support him.

While numbers of available ships, and the technology level of their build, have fluctuated over the centuries, the current system for the defence of the RimWorlds has changed little from Kolin Venuraski’s day, nor from the House Trumer restoration of the Sector in the 10th Century. There is an Imperial Sector Fleet, currently utilising Tech Level 15 ships, charged with defending the nine Imperial controlled Subsectors of the Sector. Headquartered at the Sector capital Thiroor/Gazolan, Sector Fleet has at least one base in each Imperial Subsector and regularly shifts squadrons between them to maintain a state of readiness. The Reserve Fleet of older, Tech Level 14, units is based at Raelmar/Thurgandarn. There is no mothball fleet as all surplus units are sold to Houses Major to augment their Subsector Fleets.

Each Subsector Duke maintains a Subsector Fleet as his or her comitatus and is responsible for the defence of that subsector, as well as being obliged to commit units to assist the Sector Duke as required. As the standing a House Major holds is dependent upon the resources it can both commit to the defence of its Subsector, and to the defence of the Sector, very few recalcitrant Houses have survived the refusal to render aid. "Send ships or grasp the diadem" is a saying that we might translate as "Do your duty, or take charge", with the implication that the act of taking charge involves irrevocably committing the resources and fortunes of your House to both overthrowing the current Sector Duke and dealing with whatever problem was threatening the Sector.

Houses Major of Siridar-Count and Siridar-Baron rank can, and often do, maintain Planetary Navies which both defend their respective systems, and support their Subsector Duke as required. This ships may be built locally, or purchased from shipyard systems. Even System Defense Boats can be moved from system to system if there is sufficient Jump-capable transports of suitable tonnage available.

On the whole, this system works reasonably well with Subsector Fleets, usually backed up by a Sector Fleet squadron, being sufficient to maintain order or deal with most border incursions, and the heavy units of the Sector Fleet being committed only in the event of a major war.

In Miazan Subsector, the bulk of the 12.1 billion Imperial sophonts are concentrated in just three systems – Nakaya, Exxilon and Miazan.

The 6.2 billion inhabitants of the isolated Nakaya system make do with an average Tech Level of 7 – below Interstellar, meaning that they lack the technology to produce the machines that produce the machines that manufacture starships. While the Siridar-Baron of Nakaya maintains a few orbital forts and a large System Defence Boat flotilla, these have all been purchased from elsewhere and have to be maintained by expensive off-world technicians. Nakaya does contribute approximately one fifth of the annual Miazan Subsector Navy Budget of TCr 5.1.

With a population of 575 million sophonts, the Exxilon system is just on the edge of developing a native starship building industry at Tech Level 9 – or it will be when it develops its starport further. Like Nakaya, its greatest contribution towards the defence of the subsector is to finance shipbuilding elsewhere.

And elsewhere just happens to be the Subsector capital of Miazan. With a Tech Level of 12, an A Class Starport, and a population of 5.2 billion, Miazan has a yard capacity of over 6 million tons and the ability to produce ships of up to 100,000 tons in size. It is also the only major starship producing shipyard facility in Imperial-controlled space within the Subsector.

For the last decade, yard space at Miazan has been at a premium as House Geyukthi, Dukes of Miazan, have sought to replace Navy losses incurred during the 4th Outrim War and the Kalar-Wi War, as well as encourage the expansion of interstellar trade required to boost the subsector, financially. With such a bottleneck in the supply chain, and the smaller shipyards at Celephais out of action due to damage sustained during the Kalar-Wi War, the Miazan Subsector Navy is finding itself being out-built by neighboring polities that it is obliged to defend against.

Solo Traveller - Aloin's Saga #2

The main hatch of the Iridium Queen swung open just as Aloin reached out to push the call button again. A small, grey-haired man looked out, and then up. He kept on looking up until Aloin wondered if his head was going to fall off behind him.

“Hello,” Aloin said politely, trying not to loom over him. “My name is Aloin Grathikka. I was told to report to here. Meccan Vesukka sent me.”

The little man swallowed and blinked. “Aloin?” he said weakly. “Meccan sent you? I was expecting someone a little …”

“Shorter?” Aloin suggested. The little man grinned.

“Kiirgun Atmai, Cargo Master,“ he said. “Come meet the Captain,” he added, inviting Aloin on board.

Walking down the corridor, Aloin found himself ducking instinctively to avoid the overheads and service runs. Stepping into the lift, they were whisked to the upper deck, and then Kiirgun ushered Aloin into the crew common area.

Pushing Aloin into a seat, Kiirgun passed him a fizz drink from a small chiller, and then took one for himself.

Captain Elera Lukk, Iridium Queen

A tiny, elderly woman sauntered into the common area and hoisted herself up onto a stool. Staring intently at Aloin, she produced a curled, edron wood pipe from a pocket and tamped some dry leaf into the bowl. Producing a hot wire from a ring on one gnarled finger, she lit the pipe and drew heavily on it. “What have you brought me, Kiir?” she asked Kiirgun while continuing to examine Aloin through the cloud of sweet smelling smoke she wrapped about her.

 “New crewman, ma’am, Aloin Grathikka,” Kiirgun replied.

“From this dust bowl? Recommended? “

“Yes, ma’am. By Meccan Vesukka, my shuttle pilot on the Arch of Heaven.”

“Pain in the arch, more likely,” the little old woman replied. “Why did she end up here?”

“This is her homeworld.” Kiirgun shrugged. “Not enough people here to make it worth bombing during the war, and during the peace it’s a good place for a quiet life.”

“Or to hide,” the old woman grumbled, relighting her pipe. She looked Aloin directly in the eye. He felt as if she was seeing right through him. “All right, lad, I am Captain Elera Lukk,” she said. “I am master of this ship, the Iridium Queen, and represent the owner aboard. We are a free trader, out of Celephais, and we are honest. We don’t steal, we don’t smuggle, and we steer a course that’s straight and true. If you can abide by these rules, you will have a berth with us for as long as you like. Otherwise? And you will walk home. Understood?”

Aloin straightened up. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Captain Lukk permitted a half-smile to flicker across her face. “You may be a little premature with your thanks,” she replied. “You brought him in, Kiir, so you can process him and see to his basic training.” She slid down off her stool and tapped her pipe out into a waste chute. She glanced back at Aloin. “We have a little time, dirt-side, while we’re waiting on a cargo. Use this time wisely and learn this ship,” she said sharply. “When we lift, we won’t be carrying passengers.” She strode out of the common area, heading forward.

Aloin looked downcast. “Cheer up, lad,” Kiirgun said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “She didn’t throw you off the ship, so you have a berth and a job. Let’s go get the paperwork squared away, and a bunk sorted for you. And then we’ll get to work.”

---

Commentary

So, that’s sort of how Aloin ended up as an apprentice crewman on the Iridium Queen.

His father’s partner had served with the Gunner/Cargo Master Kiirgun Atmai (oh, he didn’t mention that he is also the ship’s gunner? That was a bit remiss of him when meeting a young man he doesn’t know) on a previous ship. The fact that “the war” was also mention would seem to indicate that their mutual service was during, or soon after “the war”. The last war to affect the Miazan Subsector was the 4^th Outrim War which ended in 1085. The Kalar-Wi War, which occured just to Coreward in Gamelea Subsector, finished in 1105, and as the current game date is 1107, and Aloin’s father and Meccan Vesukka have been together for at least four years, it is unlikely that “the war” Kiirgun was referring to is the Kalar-Wi War.

Captain Elera Lukk and Kiirgun Atmai would appear to have some history in that she trusts his judgement with regards to new hires, and she knows, or knows of, people that he knows. Lukk’s age and physical size changed a lot as I generated a bunch of Merchant characters to get the skill-set I wanted. I’m quite happy with the final result I achieved for her, and I’m starting to get a feel for her and what she is like as a character. 


I have found a piece of freeware called 'Traveller Character Generator', which is available from, amongst other places, CNET, and have been having some fun generating Book 1 characters to flesh out the crew of the Iridium Queen. I used to have a little programme that would generate Book 1 and Supplement 4 characters, but I seem to have lost it when my old computer died.

A to Z: O is for Outrim Wars

The Outrim Wars are a series of four wars fought along the Spinward borders of Miazan, Gamelea and Daltharmai Subsectors as Imperial expansion to Spinward in the RimWorlds Sector has run into an increasingly resistant alliance of small, non-Imperial polities.

1st Outrim War 925 – 930
In the face of rising resistance, Imperial forces launched an attack upon the Geithurian Republic in Lymethius Subsector. After some initial successes, the war bogged down. In 929 Sector Duke Leonid II was killed at Jul’ni/Lymethius. As the Imperial Fleet was wracked by mutinies, his successor, Leonid III, arranged a hasty peace.

2nd Outrim War 954 – 962
Seeking to avenge the death of his father, Sector Duke Alexuv II, brother and successor to Leonid III, began preparations for a second campaign against the Outrim Alliance. Upon his sudden death in 954, just weeks into the campaign, his son Karl succeeded to both the Sector Duchy and to leadership in a war that he had little understanding of. The sudden succession caused a command crisis as Karl switched the main theatre of operations from Daltharmai Subsector to Gamelea Subsector. Following his grandfather’s invasion plan, Sector Duke Karl took Jul’ni/Lymethius, but was killed in the Alliance counterattack.

This war was to claim the lives of four members of Alexuv’s family – Alexuv, himself; his sons Karl and Leonid IV; and Leonid’s son Joln-Karl – as well as the careers of two Sector Admirals and five Fleet Admirals. In 962, Sector Duke Alexuv III, son of Leonid III, concluded a peace with the Outrim Alliance that restored the pre-war borders. Major weaknesses in the Imperial Armed Forces, and particularly the command structure, were identified – some dating from the mutinies in 930 and others due to weak oversight of the officer corps – and Alexuv’s reforms were to stand the Imperial Navy in good stead over the next forty years.

3rd Outrim War 1025 – 1038
The Imperial colonisation of Auru/Lymethius alarmed the Geithurian Republic. While the Geithurians were actively attempting to revive the Outrim Alliance, they launched a massive shipbuilding programme. This, in turned, alarmed the Imperium. The assassination of Sector Duke Mah’radys I at Auru unleashed a raider war as Geithurian forces attacked into Gamelea Subsector and Huiha Esoyatre forces battled the Kalar-Wi. Other Alliance task groups eventually crossed the Uedhkinthuez nakhae Rift and swept into Miazan Subsector. The Imperial forces could beat the Alliance Fleets, but they couldn't stop the raiders and commando units. After their initial successes, the Alliance discovered that they could seize low population worlds but could not take high population worlds. Eventually, the Alliance forces were worn down by Yuri Sethlemarl, Admiral in Command, Celephais/Miazan’s policy of Hold and Wait. A negotiated peace brought the war to a close in 1038.

4th Outrim War 1080 – 1085
It was brought to the attention of the President of the Geithurian Republic that there had been an alarming increase in the number of secessionist movements on various Republican worlds over the preceding decade. It was later revealed that this was part of a plan by Imperial Intelligence to force the Geithurian Republic into a war they were not ready for and let them wreck their Navy against prepared Imperial positions. The political implosion in the aftermath of such loses, it was reasoned, would tear the Republic apart and allow the Imperium to absorb systems at leisure. The death of the Sector Duke and the Duke of Gamelea in quick succession almost derailed the plan as the new Sector Duke, Edenar of Nolgor was much more cautious than his predecessor. Dragging on longer than planned, the 4th Outrim War eventually ended in an Imperial victory, largely due to Imperial Intelligence persuading the Kalar-Wi to reactivate their alliance with the Imperium and enter the war. While the Geithurian Republic was not destroyed outright, it was paralysed from within by dissention. With one of the driving forces of the Outrim Alliance neutralised, the Alliance itself lost focus and direction.

Four different campaigns, each with a slightly difference twist, that have influenced the current Border Worlds area of the RimWorlds.

History of the RimWorlds #2

The dating system used in my Traveller campaign is the same as that used in Classic Traveller – ie it has been some one thousand one hundred and nine years since Cleon I founded the Third Imperium. To put this into perspective, if today’s year, 2010, equals Third Imperial Year 1109, then Cleon I ascended the Iridium Throne in 901 AD. On Earth at the beginning of the Tenth Century AD, Harald Finehair ruled a united Scandinavia, the Kievian Rus dominated Russia, and historians traditionally viewed this period as the darkest part of the European Dark Ages.

The first entry in my History of the RimWorlds is intriguing:

-3410

Maasubi Religion founded by the Prophert Ragarn

The Maasubi Religion is the faith of the Most Excellent Order of Tijur, Talur and Belesarn – known as the Tijur Monks – of Lotarf/Nolgor. Of Ragarn’s story I know as little now as I did when I first pencilled the entry into my notebook sometime before December 1984.

Ragarn’s religious mission, if I have the date correct, takes place at the height of the 1st, or Vilani, Imperium, nearly one thousand years before the Solomani achived space flight. When I recently rechecked this date, my first reaction was that I had placed Ragarn’s story too early in the timeline. After playing around with several alternate interpretations of the date entry, I found that the decider here was whether Maasubi owed its origins to Vilani or Solomani mysticism. As I write this, I find myself beginning to come down on the side of the Vilani for several reasons:
· The word ‘Maasubi’ appears to me to have a certain Vilani flavour to it with the long first vowel;
· There are relics of Vilani culture and language scattered around the edges of Imperial space in the RimWorlds – such as the Rimward Coalition trade tongue Khishsuun, the Vilani/Solomani language Mersim spoken by the inhabitants of the Khedivate of Nutharal/Cabria, the Old Vilani dialect Siikharsim spoken in the Dathynan Concordance in Gazul Subsector, and the Vilani dialect Khasikha spoken in the Geithurian Republic;
· Plus given the brevity of the 2nd Imperium, the most likely pre-Third Imperium human migrants into the remote RimWorlds are Vilani, fleeing “something” –Vargr incursions or persecution by the Bureaux - by moving across Corridor Sector and into the Spinward March. Some of the Vilani exiles lingered in the March, while others pressed on, seeking to put more distance and time between them and whatever it was that had set them to flight. When the 3rd Imperium began moving into the March in the 4th Century, the Vilani exiles who had remained behind either submitted, or started running again, eventually passing up the Whisp towards Intergalactic space in the wake of the earlier migration.

This last point neatly explains the various Vilani dialects in various parts of the RimWorlds Sector, as they are indicative of several migrations of isolated populations over a period of perhaps one thousand years. This time frame is important as it neatly straddles the mysterious Thongaloros Empire.

In concept, Maasubi appears to be a meditative and martial monastic religion, something akin to Shoalin Buddhism. Additionally, Tijur Monks, particularly from Lotarf/Nolgor, are attributed Psionic powers. By 1109, Lotarf, Shenn and Thrisk are the sole remaining strongholds of Maasubi in the Rimward subsectors of the RimWorlds, though other monestary planets may exist in the Coreward subsectors, towards the Whisp route back to the Spinward March.

-609	Droyne colony ship reaches Yuar/Cabria.

Droyne turn up all over the place. I quite like Droyne, and really should re-read the material I have on them. Yuar/Cabria is an interesting system for them to be occupying as it controls the Jump-3 route across the middle reaches of the Uedhkinthuez nakhae – The Black Beast – a Rift running Rimward from Gyffd and Gaidon in the Cabria Subsector. The Yuar Droyne are only Tech Level 12, but have a population in the billions. It is assumed that they arrived in the RimWorlds prior to the rise of the Thongaloros Empire but what their relationship with the Empire was like is unknown.

-143	Aslan colonise Yuwe/Lymethius.

There are three known Aslan Clans in the RimWorlds; Huiha Esoyatre, Huiha Khysokhou and Huiha Weakhayuwikhye. Of the three, Huiha Weakhayuwikhye is the most isolated at the Rimward end of Gazul Subsector, and the last to settle in the RimWorlds Sector, arriving some four hundred years after the other two Huiha. Huiha Esoyatre and Huiha Khysokhou are both member-states of the Outrim Alliance and Huiha Esoyatre has been taking a greater leadership role within that alliance since the 4th Outrim War of 1080 – 85. It is possible that Huiha Khysokhou owes its origins to Huiha Esoyatre ihatei who struck out on their own to seize new lands.

Huiha Esoyatre and Huiha Khysokhou appear to have settled Yuwe/Lymethius during the Thongaloros Empire period of RimWorlds history. It is possible that the Huiha were welcomed as mercenary soldiers and given the land they craved in returned for serving the Empire as soldiers. When the Empire began to weaken, the Huiha expanded into whatever niche they could find, and fought to hold what they already had.

Given the date of settlement, it would appear that the ihatei that formed Huiha Esoyatre left Hierate space early on, crossing the Great Rift and the Trojan Reach before finding their way up the Whisp to the RimWorlds.

Accidents in Astrogation – Lymethius Subsector #2

The Fourth Outrim War (1080 – 85) was the last major conflict along the Spinward Frontier of Gamelea Subsector prior to the Kalar-Wi War of 1103 – 1105. Once again, Outrim Alliance fleets penetrated Imperial Space, wrecking havoc in the Jump Zones of lightly held Imperial worlds and, once again, Imperial and Subsector Task Forces stopped Alliance Fleets cold in the approaches to High Population worlds. Once again, Alliance Ground Forces were landed on individual Imperial worlds and, once again, they took Low Population worlds and were defeated on High Population worlds.

Konzevr Zdiea Edlchtel of Appaer/Lymethius, acting in his capacity as President of the Geithurian Republic, forced the war vote through the Republican Council in early 1080. In the months leading up to the war vote, Edlchtel and his advisors had become increasingly alarmed at reports from Republican Intelligence - Iqro' Zhdable. Iqro' Zhdable Section 4 (IZd 4) - Counter Intelligence - had noted the trending upwards of separatist actions and activities on various member worlds of the Republic. Investigations indicated possible Imperial Intelligence involvement as agents provocateurs or in providing material assistance and training. As the separatist movements gathered strength and sought to paralyse the Republic’s military forces, President Edlchtel felt driven to strike back against them and against their Imperial masters.

Assured of the support of the Esoyatreko Tlehiui V of Yuwe/Lymethius and of the Huiha Esoyatre, President Zdiea Edlchtel moved quickly to bring other member states of the Outrim Alliance into the impending war. While Huiha Khysokhou remained neutral in the ensuing conflict, the other members of the Alliance began to mobilise.

The deaths in quick succession of Imperial Sector Duke Kanus II and Duke Pahran of Gamelea in 1080 should have paralysed the Imperial defence as Alliance Fleets crossed the border but, in both cases, Imperial forces were much better prepared than had been predicted. This state of readiness was no accident. Sector Duke Kanus II and his Head of Imperial Intelligence, Siridar-Lord Elmar Hendrian of Pashur/Gazolan, had been actively working to neutralise the Geithurian Republic by encouraging the centrifugal political forces suppressed by President Zdiea Edlchtel to tear the Republic apart. Part of their planning factored in Edlchtel’s possible need for an external war to retain power, and to this end the bulk of the RimWorlds Imperial Naval units were already on-station in the Gamelea Subsector when war was declared.

Kanus’ death in 1080 on the eve of the war threw the Subsector Fleets into turmoil as various political factions began jockeying for influence with his uncle and successor, Edenar of Nolgor. Lord Elmar managed to keep Kanus’ plan on track by pulling squadrons into Gamelea Subsector from Gazul, Gazolan and Thurgandarn Subsectors but Duke Pahran’s death was a complication unplanned for. Fortunately, Lord Elmar’s brother, Duke Akansair of Thiroor/Gazolan, persuaded Duke Pahran’s son, Adryos Urzov, to move faster than required by protocol. Ordering the Gamelea Subsector Navy under his brother, Admiral Lord Talarman Juharl-Zarquestuir, into action, Adryos Urzov went personally to meet Duke Edenar’s Nolgor Subsector Fleet at Canblyne to urge them on towards the crucial first battlegrounds at Julnar.

Sector Duke Edenar was far more cautious and far less imaginative than his nephew, Kanus II, and so the war ground on with Imperial Forces grimly attempting to hold the border while Alliance raiders attempted to cut their supply lines. During this time, Lord Elmar continued his secret war in the Geithurian Republic, while trying to provide the intelligence that Sector Duke Edenar demanded, yet never paid any attention to. Elmar’s greatest coup of the war was the reactivation of the alliance with the Kalar-Wi which had fallen away after the Klorin Asteroid War of 1022.

In 1085, Kalar-Wi Grand Admiral Odg’tal Alveuk lead the Kalar-Wi Planetary Navy to a crushing victory over a predominantly Geithurian Republican fleet at Anthorann/Gamelea. The member governments of the Republic, sick of the war, promptly recalled President Zdiea Edlchtel’s Council and the Republic was effectively out of the war. Sector Duke Edenar’s Fleet Admiral Colleen von Aachol-Kalan-Salvan defeated an Outrim Alliance fleet at Gaidon/Cabria a month later and Admiral Chi’leur Baron Culvenia led the mopping up operation that chased the last of the raiders out of the Border Worlds by 1086.

Sakliavr Edlchtel became Konzevr of Appaer/Lymethius in late 1085 and President of the Geithurian Republic two years later, but his tenure as President was marred by a political malaise that threatened the collapse of the Republic.

Lord Elmar’s secessionists had struck deep roots amongst some of the populations of the Republic, roots that IZd 4 could not pull out. Such were the divisions in the Republican Council that when the Kalar-Wi War broke out in 1103, nearly twenty years later, the Republic took four months to issue a political position on the war, and then couched in such terms as to be mostly irrelevant. With the Geithurian Republic’s attention focussed inward, Huiha Esoyatre has assumed defacto leadership of the Outrim Alliance. Esoyatreko Tlehiui V of Yuwe/Lymethius, 79 in 1109, remains firmly in control of the Huiha but has shown little interest in managing the complex relationships within the larger Alliance.