Gazolan Subsector #5 – Moving Again

It has been a number of months since I last looked at Gazolan Subsector. Rolling up an entire subsector of average and below average Tech Level worlds with indifferent to rubbish starports was rather depressing – I had anticipated a spread of Tech Levels and facilities, though I expected a much wider spread over 30 systems.

Looking at the Trade codes, I see a lot of Poor, Non-Industrial and Non-Agricultural worlds. My initial concept for the Julnar Reach, with its Poor, Non-Industrial worlds, was that the 10^th Century mining boom – mentioned previously in connection with Tulvan in Gamelea Subsector - had paid out and that the Reach Systems had then experienced a decades-long economic depression. I still like this idea and it gells with the results I rolled up for this section of the Gazolan Subsector, so I will lock in the main world names and UWPs for the Coreward end of the Julnar Reach and declare them complete.

I did play around with the idea that, as Gazolan Subsector has been a battle field subsector on a number of occasions, the economy, infrastructure and facilities of the systems within the subsector had taken repeated hits and were still recovering. The 4^th Outrim War of 1080 – 85 was the last major war that might have impacted Gazolan Subsector. While the main theatre of conflict was further Rimward in Gamelea and Miazan Subsectors, Outrim Coalition naval units most certainly pushed over the border through Daltharmai Subsector, and along the Daltharmai Main, into Gazolan Subsector.

I have decided that the Azakarii Cluster (previously Constellation E) and the Miigaurshish (the Wedding Cup) contain the Industrial worlds of the subsector – these were the systems that fell initially to the Imperial advance in the mid 6^th Century, prior to the extended period of conflict that was to ultimately destroy Sector Duke Kolin I’s dynasty. It was here that the Outrim incursions of the 4^th Outrim War were halted. Given that Thiroor, the Subsector Capital, is at 2213, right on the rim of the Wedding Cup, and that House Hendrian of Thiroor’s power base was firmly fixed amongst the Miigaurshish systems, it is likely that this region of space is well settled and well developed. Just over a decade after the end of the 4^th Outrim War, Subsector Duke Akansair of Thiroor became Akansair I, Sector Duke of the RimWorlds.

Interlude

As often happens when I’m working on a project, instead of continuing with the development of Gazolan Subsector I suddenly decided that I needed to re-examine the economics of the RimWorlds using GURPs Traveller: Far Trader. This then involved trying to beat the various GURPs economics formulae into a spreadsheet. After much swearing and Googling, I developed a semi-automatic method for generating the various World Trade Numbers, and then a manual method for linking them together to generate the Bilateral Trade Number.

Currently, I have worked up numbers for Lymethius Subsector and have just started moving out into Gamelea. I am starting to see the beginnings of trade routes, though the Far Trader rules demand relatively high values for routes.

Heaven and Earth would generate the trade routes for me, but it doesn’t seem to present all the World Trade Numbers. Also, I’m finding the exercise useful in getting me to see different patterns in my subsectors. I’m looking forward to extending the numbers up the Julnar Reach into Gazolan Subsector to see if the story I was beginning to create about the Reach in my last post is backed up by the economic data. Lastly, generating these numbers, while useful for the background of a trade game, will also give me a feel as to the true volume of shipping travelling the routes of the Subsector.

Gazolan Subsector #4 – Dealing with Randomness

Heaven and Earth is a mighty programme for generating systems and sectors and I have used it to sketch out the subsectors of my Sector that I never got around to mapping back in the day. I used it again to map out Gazolan Subsector for me when I decided that I needed to take a closer look at this region of space. Then, when I sat down to look at the UWPs for Gazolan Subsector, I experienced the same feeling of “blurg” that I experience whenever I look at any of the OTU Sector maps and their endless lists of UWPs – basically, I feel no connection with these strings of numbers.

For me, part of the fun of system and subsector creation is the story telling that goes along with it. A vocal portion of Traveller players/referees moan and whinge about the “inaccuracies” of Traveller world generation and “how is it that a billion people live on an airless rock while a garden world a parsec away has a population of a couple of hundred people?” My answer is, “So, how is that? Tell me the story of settlement of this region of space. Tell me of the hopes and dreams of the people who came to this place, or evolved out of the mud of this place, and I’ll tell you why these people are here”.

So, I sat down and rolled my own UWPs, and here they are:

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Hex No.	Planet	UPP	Bases	PBG	Trade
1712	Gampir	B-98A69A-B	Nil	621	Ni/Ri/In
1714	Iir	B-232884-C	Nil	010	Na/Po
1715	Baladar	C-5036A8-C	S	632	Na/Ni
1717	Kekhi	A-A69879-C	Nil	320	Ri
1718	Lediginkuurga	B-886673-6	Nil	800	Ag/Ni/Ri
1720	Shimurii	A-6619B9-C	N	901	-
1814	TBA	E-7B36A9-7	Nil	540	Ni
1818	Ishmagshaka	X-351531-0	Nil	740	Ni/Po
1819	Simamingigshis	C-7A4210-A	S	630	Ni
1915	TBA	B-337857-C	Nil	230	Na
1917	Malasadasad	E-334795-4	Nil	400	Na
1919	Khilu	C-5459AA-5	Nil	432	In
2013	Udsha	E-262547-7	Nil	522	Ni
2014	Ghima	A-437541-F	Nil	330	Ni
2020	Zekhiipkuka	C-550456-8	Nil	230	Po
2117	TBA	B-667676-9	N	522	Ag/Ni/Ri
2120	Karpathurnal	C-542672-A	S	710	Ni/Po
2211	TBA	C-466573-A	Nil	900	Ag/Ni
2213	TBA	B-232733-A	N	441	Na/Po
2214	Ir	A-444752-B	Nil	440	Ag
2216	TBA	D-302787-7	Nil	630	Na
2217	TBA	C-5656AA-7	Nil	502	Ag/Ni
2219	TBA	B-243551-A	Nil	831	Ni/Po
2312	TBA	E-430788-8	Nil	111	Na/Po
2314	Aguus	E-462400-3	Nil	720	Ni
2316	TBA	A-783533-A	Nil	611	Ni
2319	Giirmuum	B-669667-B	N/S	030	Ag/Ni/Ri
2320	Agarkhiki	D-140753-8	Nil	542	Po
2412	Dupi	A-410854-C	N	131	Na
2413	TBA	C-535775-6	Nil	500	Na

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Looking at what I came up with, my heart sank. The story is that Gazolan was a rich subsector – that’s why Kolin I pushed into that part of space, even against opposition - and here I was rolling up Poor worlds, and Low Tech worlds, and crappy starports and next to no bases - almost time to dump the home rolls and go back to Heaven and Earth. And then it struck me, Gazolan was a rich subsector in the time of Kolin I, some five hundred years ago. It has also been fought over in various civil wars and border wars since then.

Looking at the systems that make up the new and extended Julnar Reach, I was struck by the number of Poor worlds, especially towards the Rimward end of the constellation. Kerak (1922) and Tulvan (2021) in Gamelea Subsector are already noted as economically depressed worlds, due to the Odinite mines paying out in the 1090’s. Perhaps Zekhiipkuka (2020) and Karpathurnal (2120) in Gazolan were also depressed mining worlds? Giirmuum (2319), a Rich world, and Julnar (1823), a High Tech world, dominate the economy of the Reach, with Tech Level 15 Julnar taking the economic lead over Tech Level 11 Giirmuum.

Suddenly, the columns of numbers I had rolled up were beginning to tell me a story, and it looked like that it might be a different one to what I had been expecting.

Gazolan Subsector #3 – The Reach that Ate the Main

Back in Accidents in Astrography: Gamelea Subsector #2, I indicated that the Kerak and Tulvan systems in Gamelea Subsector were part of the Julnar Reach, a broken reach that extends into Lymethius Subsector. Looking at the freshly generated map for Gazolan Subsector, I see that Kerak (1922) and Tulvan (2021) are actually the Rimward extensions of the seven-system Main (G). I toyed with the idea of including Main (G) in the Julnar Reach, but then decided against it. The stars of the Julnar Reach will all have the same proper motion and inclination to the Galactic plane which, in spite of the Jump-2 gap between Julnar and Por’via, will indicate that they are all members of the same group. I have yet to decide whether Run (H) in Daltharmai Subsector is also part of the Julanr Reach

So, Kerak and Tulvan are now members of Main (G), which links them culturally to Rimward Gazolan as is evident by the fact that Cassingal – a dialect of Gazolan Imperial Basic - is spoken on both worlds as well as along Main (G). At the moment, I’m mulling over whether to merge the map
I created for the BurrowWolf webcomic with the existing maps. Doing so will introduce two new systems to the Gamelea/Gazolan Subsector border area; Acorlis V at 1822 and Shinurii at 1720. Shinurii does not cause any problems and expands Run (F) by a system but Acorlis V, on the other hand, links Julnar and Leminkainen to the Main (G) and effectively writes the Julnar Reach out of the story.

As an alternative, and just to show what coming back to a problem after a couple of weeks can do, if Main (G) and the Julnar Reach do merge with the addition of Acorlis V, an idea that I discounted above, there is no reason why Main (G) should not become the Julnar Reach. This would create a ten-system constellation stretching from Leminkainen in Gamelea Subsector to the system at 2319 in Gazolan Subsector.



Julnar, itself, is the homeworld of the Julnari Minor Race who, in 1109, enjoy a high tech TL15 society on their water world. Their population isn’t very large, though, numbering only some 830, 000 natives in 1109. For the Reach to be named for the system, there is the implication that either the system’s culture dominates the constellation, or the system is associated with some astronomical feature that makes the constellation recognisable.

Oloro is the native language of the Julnari, though Cassingal, an Imperial Basic dialect, is the dominant language of the Julnar Reach. I did have some early thoughts about the Julnari perhaps having a pocket Empire that was absorbed by Imperial expansion but I think that whatever influence the Julnari may have had along the Reach has waned and that lower tech, but higher population worlds elsewhere now dominate commerce and culture in the Reach. At present, my thinking is that some feature either in or near the Julnar system is sufficiently detectable at distance to have leant its name to the constellation.

Accidents in Astrogation: Gamelea Subsector #3

Gamelea Subsector consists of 17 systems, 16 of which are part of the Duchy of Gamelea and under Imperial control. The 17th system, Kalar-Wi, while nominally under Imperial occupation, is in the process of being returned to local rule under the terms of the treaty that concluded the Kalar-Wi War of 1103 – 1105.

The subsector has a population of 142.7 billion (1.427 x 10^11) sophonts of which 99% are human, or of human descent. The three minor races native to the subsector; the Kalar-Wi, the Rimbaur of Rimbaud II, and the Julnari of Julnar, only number some 92.3 million, of which 91 million are Kalar-Wi.

The most densely populated world in the subsector is Bryak with a population of 99.9 billion. The next most populous world is Gamelea, the subsector capital, with a population of 29.3 billion. The highest tech systems are Gamelea and Julnar with a Tech Level of 15 (F). Syndon IV is a Red Zone and an Imperial reservation. Interdiction satellites, deployed to protect the Tech Level 2 native culture, orbit the planet. The Kerak system was abandoned in the 1080’s, and its main starport mothballed, when the marginal mineral deposits paid out. This retrenchment caused the fragile economy of neighbouring Tulvan to slide into a three-decade long recession.

There are two main language groups within the Gamelea Subsector, Vriok - the main Kalar-Wi language spoken on Kalar-Wi and the worlds of the old Kalar-Wi Empire, such as Varch, Anthorann and Rimbaud II – and Imperial Basic – the standard language form of the third Imperium. Imperial Basic is further divided into regional dialects that are drifting apart through the natural evolution of living languages.

There are three main dialects of Imperial Basic:
1) Gamelea Imperial Basic: - spoken in the Gamelea Cluster (Kalath, Feor, Vanvlack VII, Gamelea and Ventura), and on Varch, Anthorann, Rimbaud II and Bryak. Both Anthorann and Bryak have strong local accents and the Anthorannis have picked up a lot of Vriok loan words after some 70 years of Kalar-Wi rule.
2) Cassingal: - a dialect of Gazolin Imperial Basic, Cassingal has spread over the coreward border of the Gamelea Subsector and is spoken on all the worlds of the Julnar Reach. Gamelea Imperial Basic speakers and Cassingal speakers can understand each other, though quietly laugh at each other’s accents and spelling conventions.
3) Nolgor Imperial Basic: - spoken on Canblyne and Gilanda and indicative of these two worlds cultural links to the populations of the Nolgor Run to Trailing of Gamelea Subsector.

Other minor languages include Kalton, the native language of the Rimbaur Minor Race of Rimbaud II; Arkord, the native language of the primitive humanoid Arkordi of Syndon IV; and Oloro, the native language of the amphibian Julnari of Julnar.

Accidents in Astrography: Gamelea Subsector #2

Gamelea Subsector actually consists of several discrete regions; the Julnar Reach, the Gamelea Cluster, the Kalar-Wi Cluster and the Nolgor Run.

The Nolgor Run is a band of stars lining the edge of the J-3 Rift and stretching across Nolgor Subsector to include Gilanda and Canblyne at the Trailing edge of Gamelea Subsector. Canblyne has an A Class Starport, a Naval Base, and a Tech Level of 13. Canblyne’s small population has precluded it from becoming a fortress world, but its economy is still built around heavy engineering.

The Gamelea Cluster is separated from the Nolgor Run by the J-2 gap between Canblyne and Syndon IV, on the Trailing edge of the cluster. Syndon IV is a Red Zone and has been posted as such since the initial exploration of Gamelea Subsector in the early-to-mid Sixth Century. The Red Zone classification, and designation of the planet as an Imperial Reserve, was to protect the native humanoid inhabitants who have a late Iron Age culture. With sensitivities over access to the Syndon system already running high, most traffic between the Gamelea Cluster and the Nolgor Run is carried in J-3 capable vessels, staging out of either Ventura or Vanvlack VII. Vanvlack VII, a notable tax haven, is probably one of the most corrupt planets in the subsector and has little to recommend itself, apart from its almost non-existent regulatory system. Ventura’s Civil Service Bureaucracy on the other hand, is very efficient. With a B Class Starport, a Tech Level of 12 and an extensive naval base, Ventura suffered from several heavy assaults during the Kalar-Wi War of 1103 – 1105. Gamelea, subsector capital, is a rosette system with three world masses equipoised in the same orbit. The origin of this artefact is still unknown, even after nearly six centuries of study. With an A Class Starport, a Tech Level of 15 and the primary Naval Base of the subsector, Gamelea dominates the subsector economy. As seat of the subsector Duchy, Gamelea should also dominate politically, but under the weak and corrupt rule of House Juharl-Zarquestuir subsector government has become lethargic. Feor is a mineral-poor system and was not settled until 975, after the 2nd Outrim War. With an A Class Starport, a large population and a Naval Base, Feor has become one of the fortress worlds of the Gamelea Cluster in under 150 years. Technologically, Feor still lags behind most of the rest of the Cluster with a Tech Level of 9. The little ice world of Kalath has always been used as a refuelling point on the J-3 route to Leminkainen.

The Kalar-Wi Cluster extends across the borders of the Gamelea, Lymethius and Cabria Subsectors. Kalar-Wi, the capital of the Kalar-Wi Pocket Empire and homeworld of the Kalar-Wi Minor Race, lies within Gamelea Subsector and was occupied by Imperial forces after the Kalar-Wi War of 1103 – 1105.

The Julnar Reach is actually a broken Reach. Leminkainen and Julnar, a water world and homeworld of the amphibious Julnari, are separated from Kerak and Tulvan, within Gamelea Subsector; and Ouron, Finduil and Por’via in Lymethius Subsector by J-2 gaps. Kerak has been largely abandoned and Tulvan has suffered severe economic recession since the Odinite mines closed in the mid 1070s.