A to Z: R is for Rift

A Rift is an area of low stellar density. Rifts act as impediments to interstellar travel in that starships with short range Jump Drives find it difficult to cross them. The chief reason for this is a lack of fuel sources in the Rift.

As Jump Drives require hydrogen as fuel to operate, Jump Drive-equipped starships tend to jump from star system to star system, refueling at a local gas giant (fuel skimming) or planet with free standing water, if they possess on-board fuel refineries, or from local starports. It is possible to extend a ship’s range by carrying extra fuel-tankage, either externally in a drop tank, or internally as a refrigerated and pressurised bladder rigged in the cargo bay.

External tanks increase the mass of the ship, and reduce the efficiency of its Jump Drive. The usually method of operation when using drop tanks is for the ship to use its external fuel load for its initial jump, discarding the, now empty, external tanks as it transits to Jump Space. Upon returning to Normal Space, the ship will use its internal fuel load to make a subsequent Jump. While there are pros and cons with using this Jump method, it does extend the range of the ship while increasing the running costs in expendable tankage. The Gazelle Class Close Escort is a small warship that uses this method of operation. It is relatively unusual to come across a civilian vessel using Drop Tanks, unless it is working a regular route with some form of government subsidy.

The use of a fuel bladder rigged in the cargo bay is the other method for extending the range of a starship. The most obvious disadvantage in this method is that the more fuel carried, the less room there is for cargo, and the less likelihood that a particular voyage will cover costs. This method is commonly used by short range starships wishing to move between Mains or Clusters to follow the trade. The ship will leave its current Main and jump to a point in Deep Space. The ship’s fuel tanks are then refilled by pumping the hydrogen slurry from the bladder in the cargo bay into the tanks. Once the refueling is complete, the ship Jumps to its destination.

Rifts, by their nature, funnel trade and travel and, if sufficiently wide, make for relatively secure borders. Ships that can cross Rifts will command a premium as to go around the Rift can add months to travel time. Systems astride Rift crossing points tend to either be tense conflict zones or heavily defended as neighbouring polities attempt to control the choke point.

In the Rimward portion of the RimWorlds, there are two major Rifts: the Perrsherrik Rift and the Uedhkinthuez nakhae. While neither is anything close to the vastness in size of the Great Rift that isolates the Spinward March, both Rifts have had effects on the way trade and populations have moved in the RimWorlds.

The Perrsherrik Rift is a Jump 3 Rift running 13 parsecs to Trailing from the Tallu Cluster in Lymethius Subsector to Lotarf/Nolgor. This Rift effectively divides Gamelea and Nolgor Subsectors in two, and delayed Imperial expansion Rimward for decades. Jump 3 crossings can be made at Leminkainen – Anthorann, Leminkainen - Kalath, Solaris – Gilanda, Solaris – Xcothal and Thrisk – Lotarf. Only the Leminkainen – Anthorann, Leminkainen – Kalath and Thrisk – Lotarf routes have proved commercially viable, and the Thrisk – Lotarf route has fallen under the control of the Theocrats of Lotarf.

In the Cabria Subsector, the Uedhkinthuez nakhae ("The Black Beast" in Arrghoun – the language of the Vargr of the Hunt of Rronurl) is a Rift running 9 parsecs to Rimward from Gyffd and Gaidon in Cabria Subsector into Kfukskho Subsector. The main crossing point is at Yuar, a Droyne world. The Yuar Droyne run a regular Carryall service from Yuar to Brol, Nutharal and either Juchis or Gyven’s World – a Carryall is a massive spar with an oversized Jump Drive and anchor points for up to a dozen ships in the 200 – 400 ton range. The smaller ships are effectively carried as cargo by the Carryall. The Droyne service is prone to cancellation with little notice for particularly inscrutable Droyne reasons.

During the Outrim Wars, the Uedhkinthuez nakhae saved the Imperial-held Miazan Subsector from the worst of the Outrim Alliance’s initial assaults as the Alliance’s fleets had to either stage through the Hunt of Rronurl to Rimward, or move Coreward through Gyffd before they could engage Imperial targets. Even when Yuar sided with the Alliance, it took time for the Carryalls to bring sufficient of the slower Alliance ships across the Uedhkinthuez nakhae to open a front.

While rumours abound of secret Deep Space refuelling stations being built or established on wandering planetoids, deep in the Rifts, there has been no evidence that such facilities exist.

Revised Trade Map

The Trade Map redraw I decided upon last post, due to me inadvertently routing a major trade route through a dead system, is done. It is quite a discipline, when fixing trade routes, to keep within the Jump-2 parameters as “obvious” routes, as charted by X-Boats and military traffic, suddenly become unavailable. Systems such as Yuar/Cabria, providing a J-3 route across the Uedhkinthuez nakhae, begin to stand out as strategic choke points as the additional cost of either break bulking onto a J-3 carrier, or hiring a berth on a J-3 capable Carryall, outweighs the additional weeks required to transit around the end of such a Rift.

The Anthorann/Gamelea – Anar/Lymethius J-3 route is a product of the lack of refuelling in Nearo System. There is sufficient trade out-bound from the Gamelea Cluster towards the Geithurian Republic to keep J-3 haulers running between Anthorann and Anar. These haulers have also, in times of war, been quickly converted to Fleet Auxilaries so there may actually be an element of Sector Fleet sponsorship of this particular trade.

The Faiwawhwe/Lymethius – Jul’ni/Lymethius J-3 route is pretty much guaranteed by the Faiwawhwe – Appaer trade. The B-Class Starport at Jul’ni draws the faster ships away from the long haul through the Evikkim and Hiona Systems, though the bulk of the Spinward-bound trade from the Gamelea Cluster, and Coreward trade out of Miazan Subsector, still takes the longer route.

The Celephais/Miazan – Tonivar/Cabria J-3 route is a product of politics. In reality, the Rimward trade from Celephais invariably routes through Ektra in the Kamperalian Republic, while the Rimward/Spinward trade crosses into Cabria Subsector via Kalar-Wi space. The Celephais – Tonivar route is an attempt by Imperial authorities to keep Imperial trade within Imperial borders, rather than making the potential loss of trade a factor in ensuring peace beyond the borders.

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 – Cabria Subsector #1

Spinward of Miazan Subsector and Rimward of Lymethius Subsector, Cabria Subsector consists of the Tonivar and Suarya Clusters, the Crown of Brol and the Par Vera Main constellations.

Lying across the Trailing border of Cabria Subsector, and Jump-2 from the Kalar-Wi Cluster, the Tonivar Cluster consists of the Imperial controlled system of Tonivar, the Kalar-Wi colony world of Yolurlund, and Gaidon, homeworld of the Kiang Minor Race and a member world of the Kalar-Wi Pocket Empire. At the Rimward end of the subsector the six-system Suarya Cluster, controlled by the Vargr-dominated Hunt of Rronurl, sprawls over the Rimward border into Kfukskho Subsector. Suarya, capital of the Hunt, and Breknor, colonised within the last century, lie within Cabria Subsector while Akhvooel, Ingvouks, Rigvinghue and Taghdo lie further Rimward. The four-system Crown of Brol runs in an arc from Pythor on the Spinward border of the subsector, through Klearo, Naird – homeworld of the Gdemiar Minor Race, to Brol, part of the Solomani dominated Khedivate of Nutharal.

The most dominant astronomical feature of Cabria Subsector is the Par Vera Main. From Wyern, homeworld of the Ta'tero Minor Race, on the Rimward border, the Main passes through Heaohwiy, Khekheawaoh and Awakea (with a side spur to Hteiwekhoi in Entorth Subsector), member worlds of Huiha Khysokhou; then the independent worlds of Gyvern’s World, homeworld of the Ly-ly Minor Race, Juchis, Eurl and Withor; before looping through Nutharal, capital of the Khedivate of Nutharal; and Par Vera and Anoth, member worlds of the Tsalur-dominated Hand of Ssra’Ka Aissr. From Par Vera and Anoth, the Par Vera Main turns Spinward, running into Entorth Subsector for six parsecs before terminating at Sh’tok.

The second most dominant astronomical feature in the subsector is the Uedhkinthuez nakhae – the Black Beast – a Rift running to Rimward from Gyffd and Gaidon into Kfukskho Subsector. At its narrowest, the Uedhkinthuez nakhae is Jump-3 across, and this has historically restricted trade and communication across the subsector.

Cabria Subsector contains twenty-seven worlds with a total population of 13.198 billion sophonts. The highest population, 9, is at Par Vera, Yuar and Gaidon, and the highest Tech Level, E, is at Par Vera. Only two systems, Lo Taisang and Tonivar, are under Imperial control and are administratively part of the Duchy of Miazan; thirteen worlds belong to no interstellar polity – either due to choice, as in the case of the Droyne colony world of Yuar or the mixed-race colony of Waystar, or due to poverty or lack of technology; and twelve worlds belong to either the Aslan-dominated Huiha Khysokhou, the Vargr-dominated Hunt of Rronurl, Kalar-Wi, the Human-dominated Khedivate of Nutharal, or the Tsalur-dominated Hand of Ssra'Ka Aissr. Most systems in Cabria Subsector have been, or are still, members of the Outrim Alliance and have been involved in the various Outrim Wars against the Imperium.

Cabria Subsector is home to four Minor Races; the humanoid Kiang of Gaidon, the octopedal desert-dwelling Ly-ly of Gyven's World, the diminutive Gdemiar of Naird, and the hexapedal Ta'tero of Wyern.

Purvions from Lithia/Miazan established colonies at Pythor and Klearo during the Long Night, while Kalar-Wi colonies were established on Loa-Wi and Yolurlund within the last eight hundred years. Darrians, Zhodani and Hiver have also established relatively small and weak colonies at Withor, Eurl and Julchis, while the ancient Droyne settled world of Yuar enjoys both population and tech level superiority over many neighbouring worlds.