Characters who can Drive the Story #3

In my last post, the finger of suspicion was pointing in the direction of Dentian Venuraski, later Sector Duke Dentian I, as the murderer of Sector Duke Kolin I in 550.

To recap, in 550 Kolin I, at the age of 72, was on campaign in Gazolan Subsector, attempting to pacify a hostile and potentially dangerous pocket empire rimward of the Klarthur Confederacy. His son and heir, Metch, was, we have decided, serving as a theatre commander in Gazolan Subsector – possibly in a Ground role, but more likely as a Task Force Commander - with a Fleet Admiral and a Ground Force Commander to keep him from making any serious mistakes.

So where was Kolin’s nephew, the future Sector Duke Kolin II? While pondering this question, I re-read this passage from Origins of the Rimworlds Sector 497 - 557

“As tensions eased along the Spinward frontier, Viceroy Kolin turned his eyes Rimward and set his scouts in motion again.

“Following the path of least resistance, Imperial colonisation moved Rimward from Berimar’s Sceptre Subsector into Thurgandarn, and then into Nolgor Subsector. In 540, the years of planning and effort paid off. The Sector Duchy of the Rimworlds was formerly established with its initial capital on Raelamr/Thurgandarn and Kolin Venuraski was invested as its first Sector Duke.

“Great mineral resources were discovered in the Gazolan subsector and these fuelled the rapid expansion of the Duchy. This expansion was not unopposed. Ten years into his reign, Sector Duke Kolin I’s driving ambition led his downfall when he was killed on campaign. Gazolan subsector was to claim the life of his son and successor, Metch (reigned 550 – 552), before being finally pacified.

“The Perrsherrik Rift in Nolgor Subsector halted the march to the Rim for a few years, but by 552 Imperial forces under Sector Duke Kolin II Venuraski had penetrated the Coreward end of Gazul Subsector.”

So, contrary to what I suggested had happened a couple of posts back, expansion Rimward began soon after Kolin I signed the Treaty of Choraptur with the Klarthur Confederacy in 530. Imperial forces encountered little or no resistance as they moved through Thurgandarn Subsector and the Coreward end of Nolgor Subsector, advancing about a parsec a year until, sometime in the mid/late 540’s, Kolin’s Scouts ran into the Perrsherrik Rift. The establishment of the first Sector Duchy capital at Raelmar (Thurgandarn 0808) in 540, close to the advancing wavefront in Nolgor Subsector, and handy to the increasingly problematic Gazolan Subsector to Spinward, would seem to indicate the choice of capital was governed by the proximity of perceived flash points.

The Perrsherrik Rift was to hold up the Imperial advance for several years until Antoi Perrsherrik’s original crossing point through the Thrisk and Lotarf systems was secured. Imperial expansion then continued Rimward, encountering progressively stiffer resistance from the Zoni of Lur and the Dokari Diarchy in Core-Spinward Gazul Subsector until Kolin II’s reign when the 1st Rimward War was finally fought.

It was on this front – the march to Rimward – that Kolin Venuraski would gain command experience and why, I believe, he fought the 1st Rimward War. To Kolin I would go the honour of establishing the RimWorlds Sector. Kolin II sought his place in history by taking the Imperium to the edge of Intergalactic Space. With this goal in his mind, the war in Gazolan was a distraction for Kolin II, robbing him of the fleet elements he needed to put down the Zoni and to break up the Dokari Diarchy.

The transition between Kolin I’s administration and that of Metch, in the midst of the Gazolan War, would have effectively stalled Kolin II’s Rimward campaign. It is likely that Kolin II was required to be present for Metch’s investiture, which would have taken him out of the Gazul theatre and his conflict with the Dokari Diarchy. Given his Rimward focus, which he returned to with a vengence after Metch’s death, I am inclined to believe that Kolin II did not murder his uncle.

So, where was Dentain during this time? If Kolin II was in his fifty’s when he died in 557, and Dentian was five or six years younger, then that would make Dentian somewhere between 46 and 50 when his brother won the 1st Rimward War and was killed at the Battle of Gorth. This would make Dentian between 39 and 43 when Kolin I was murdered in 550.

Given that by 550 the conflict in Gazolin Subsector had been under way for upwards of five years, and that Dentian’s brother already had the Rimward front in hand, I suspect that Dentian – the younger of the refugee cousins - would have been put to work in some fashion in Gazolin, as another Venuraski theatre commander may very well have been of use there.

Was there some military disaster associated with Dentian, or one of his entourage in 549 – 550? A public dressing down, or similar humiliation by Kolin I, may have been the tipping point where a “disgruntled gardener” sought to do service, or regain face, by removing the Sector Duke. As Dentian did not immediately stake a claim to the Sector Duchy, nor was executed by Metch, Kolin’s successor, could it be that Metch supported his younger cousin in the face of accusations over the deeds of a minion? Metch had a war to fight, and with only two years to live, he may have taken Dentian’s word instead of waiting for the findings of a formal inquiry, which would have taken time to deliver a verdict. The murderer’s identity was discreetly buried, possibly along with his body, and Metch took the Ducal coronet.

And here’s a thought – was the indomitable Kolin I in failing health at this time? The stress of command in an increasingly bloody war, coupled with the onset of some form of age-linked neurological disorder, coupled with some form of setback that caused the Sector Duke to fly into a public rage? While TL 13 medical technology might be able to cure such things, if the patient is in a borderline state and is then suddenly pushed over the edge, the harsh words and decrees might be issued before the medics could make a difference.

I think we have processed this inquiry about as far as we can, without coming right out and making a definite statement. By examining the character and times of one individual, and it must be admitted that Kolin I Venuraski is one of those exceptional individuals, we have been able to cast some light of a personal nature upon events five hundred years before the current campaign time. This, in turn allows us the possibility of artefacts, or people, with links to those far distant times who, in turn, will have value or motivations of their own which can set events in motion even in the current time.

Characters who can Drive the Story #2

When attempting to solve a murder mystery, see who gains.



Sector Dukes of the RimWorlds

House Venuraski of Raelmar/Thurgandarn
Kolin I 540 – 550†
Metch 550 – 552†
Kolin II 552 – 557†
Dentian I 557 – 594 Abdicated

Kolin’s son and successor, Metch, inherited both the Sector Duchy and the war in Gazolan Subsector following his father’s death in 550. Given that Kolin was 72 when he died, Metch was probably in his 40’s or 50’s when he succeeded his father, assuming Kolin married and had issue in his 20’s or 30’s. Metch held the Sector Duchy for two years, dying on campaign in Gazolan Subsector in 552. Metch was succeeded as Sector Duke by Kolin II who finished the Gazolan War, and pushed Imperial expansion Rimward as far as Kasimir in Gazul Subsector before his death at the conclusion of the 1st Rimward War in 557.

Apart from the suddenly truncated timeline – three Sector Dukes within seven years, a war in Gazolan Subsector and a Rimward War, and a 15 parsec advance of the Imperial border after years of little or no progress – we also have the interesting question of the Ducal Succession. This is interesting in light of the question of who killed Sector Duke Kolin I.

My original Sector Ducal list is a sequence of Houses, names and reigns. The actual relationship between the various holders of the title and office was left rather vague, though hints of various relationships are evident in the accompanying initial draft of the Imperial History of the RimWorlds. While some Houses might still practise primogeniture, I reasoned that the council of elders of most Houses Major would collectively nominate the House’s most able member to fill such roles as might be granted to the House by the Emperor. And while such councils would have their own internal politics, as a clan or corporate body, the seniors of the House would strive to maintain the honour and status of the House above all else.

In the case of House Venuraski, Kolin I was such a dominant, and domineering force, that, unexpected death or not, his will dominated the political thinking of his time. In the middle of a conflict to pacify a subsector, a sudden change of leadership, or leadership policy, could be catastrophic to the war effort. Given his age, it is more than likely that Kolin’s son Metch was already an experienced Ground or Space Commander and serving in that conflict. It would not take much, when Kolin’s death was announced, for the military to rally behind Metch, and for the politicians to then submit to the fait accompli.

Then two years later, the war in Gazolan was almost over and Metch was dead. If Metch had murdered his father, or had his father murdered, then he had gained little from that heinous crime that he would not have received in due time and in the usual fashion, given that his father had, in effect, already secured the Sector Duchy for him. Therefore, it seems unlikely that Metch was involved in the death of his father.

This leaves the last two Venuraski Sector Dukes – Kolin II and Dentian I – as possible suspects. While turning over in my mind the relationship between these two and Kolin I, I recalled that Kolin I was initially described as “the head of a cadet branch of the House of Deneb”. My initial assumption had been that Kolin II, at least, and perhaps Dentian I, were younger sons of Kolin I. Now, I wondered if Kolin II and Dentian I were not in fact nephews, fostered in Kolin I’s Sector Ducal court to advance their careers.

Almost nothing is written about Kolin II directly; even his age and birthdate are not recorded. I picture him being of a similar age to his cousin Metch – in his mid-to-late fifties. He is active in command roles in the middle years of the 6th Century, both in the expansion of Imperial territory (more on this in my next post) in the Trailing Subsectors, the conclusion of the conflict in Gazolan Subsector and the 1st Rimward War – which costs him his life. Metch’s sudden death in 552 thrust Kolin II into the role of Sector Duke, which while unexpected, did not find him completely unprepared.

The character of Dentian I is drawn in slightly more detail, more for the latter part of his reign and his enforced abdication. He was a strong-willed individual, standing very much upon the points of the original charter of Kolin I’s Private Equity Company. Described by his opponents as more concerned with his own power and prestige than ruling justly, he sounds both vainglorious and tyrannical.

Could Dentian I be our murderer? I have decided that he is Kolin II’s younger brother. If Kolin II was in his 50’s when he died, perhaps Dentian I was five or six years younger. Having been in Kolin I’s Sector Ducal court for a decade, plus in his Vice-Regal court for at least a further 15 years, Dentian I had spent over half his life as a dependant of his uncle. As Kolin I manoeuvred his way between political hazards, did Dentian come to resent him and his real politik? And did he resent him enough to have him murdered?

Characters who can Drive the Story #1

At the end of my previous post, I briefly discussed the death of Sector Duke Kolin I Venuraski in 550. As you may recall, his brief biography in the Library Data ends Kolin’s driving ambition led to his downfall when he was killed on campaign in the Gazolan Subsector, killed, it is said, by a disgruntled gardener. I concluded that Kolin’s death at the hands of a gardener had the hallmarks of a historical myth – the mighty brought low by the humble – and left it at that.

A day or so later, I read a post on the Fire Broadside Blog about Oniwaban – ninja attached to the Court of the Tokugawa Shoguns who acted as intelligence agents and bodyguards. Martin at Fire Broadside had pretty much cribbed the fluff from the Infinity game site (as he’s busy painting up Infinity figures) but a quick Google on Wikipedia uncovered further information about these special agents that got me thinking.

Back in the day, I used to be a fan of Cerebus the Aardvark. At one point Cerebus, while working as Head of Security for Lord Julius, was given the title of Kitchen Staff Supervisor. Lord Julius was a great believer in impenetrable bureaucracy and miss-direction by mislabelling. He had a theory that a job title did not define the job and, in fact, it was better from a security point of view if a person’s job title actually had no relation to their actual job.

So, an interesting scenario presents itself. Sector Duke Kolin I is on active service in Gazolan when he his killed, not in battle, but by someone in his entourage. This person becomes known to history as a disgruntled gardener, in effect written out of history even though they have just killed a Sector Duke. When examined with a slightly suspicious mind, this could hint at a deliberate blurring of events to protect … whom?

Like double cream, the plot suddenly thickens.

History of the RimWorlds #10 – Missing Years

A chronology is a series of date pegs that one hangs events from. A history takes these date pegs and attempts to construct a narrative that carries the reader along with it. The problem with the latter approach is that without enough of the former, the story moves in fits and starts, just like a jerky piece of film. And, just like a jerky piece of film, when you look closely, you realise that there are pictures missing.

When we last left Viceroy Kolin Venuraski, the Treaty of Choraptur, settled in 530, had reduced tensions with the Klarthur Confederacy along the Spinward Frontier of the Imperial RimWorld Territories. This enabled Kolin’s exploratory missions to begin to move Rimward again.

“Following the path of least resistance, Imperial colonisation moved Rimward from Berimar’s Sceptre Subsector into Thurgandarn, and then into Nolgor Subsector.”
- The Origins of the Rimworlds Sector 497 - 557

What is interesting, here, is that the Chronology states:

History of the RimWorlds

497	First Imperial presence in the RimWorlds in Kaorin and Berimar’s Sceptre subsectors.
525	Lord Kolin Venuraski is created Viceroy of the RimWorlds by Imperial Patent.
526	First Imperial contact with the Klarthur Confederacy in Riinu Subsector.
530	Treaty of Choraptur defines the border between the Klarthur Confederacy and the Imperial RimWorld Territories.
540	Sector Duchy of the RimWorlds established with its capital on Raelmar/Thurgandarn. Kolin I Venuraski is first Sector Duke.
552 - 557	1st Rimward War. Sector Duke Kolin II extends Imperial Rule into the Gazul Subsector against the opposition of the Rimward Coalition.

Whoa! In 540, Kolin Venuraski becomes Duke Kolin I of the RimWorlds Sector, and twelve years later Sector Duke Kolin II is fighting the 1st Rimward War in Gazul Subsector. Besides taking twelve years to move the frontier 14 parsecs, what happened to Kolin I whose career has played such a part in the Imperial narrative of RimWorlds history for the last 55 years?

The Origins of the Rimworlds Sector 497 – 557, quoted above, is part of a longer essay, entitled The RimWorlds Sector: An Imperial Overview, which I wrote to bring together all my notes into some sort of coherent form. It is still a work in progress as I add to it. It picks up the narrative thusly:

In 540, the years of planning and effort paid off. The Sector Duchy of the Rimworlds was formerly established with its initial capital on Raelamr/Thurgandarn and Kolin Venuraski was invested as its first Sector Duke.

Great mineral resources were discovered in the Gazolan subsector and these fuelled the rapid expansion of the Duchy. This expansion was not unopposed. Ten years into his reign, Sector Duke Kolin I’s driving ambition led his downfall when he was killed on campaign.

Gazolan subsector was to claim the life of his son and successor, Metch (reigned 550 – 552), before being finally pacified.

The Perrsherrik Rift in Nolgor Subsector halted the march to the Rim for a few years, but by 552 Imperial forces under Sector Duke Kolin II Venuraski had penetrated the Coreward end of the Gazul Subsector.

So, we learn a little more about Duke Kolin’s fate, but not much.

At some stage I wrote a brief biography of him for my Library Data:

Kolin I Venuraski
Kolin Venuraski (478 - 550†), Sector Duke of the Rimworlds 540 - 550. Head of a cadet branch of the House of Deneb, Kolin saw, early on, the possibilities for expansion into the Rimworlds. Through deft manoeuvring, Kolin succeeded in having himself appointed to head the Imperial Commission that considered the Scout Service reports on the Kaorin and Berimar’s Sceptre Subsectors. Shamelessly exploiting his position, Kolin was made Viceroy of the Rimworlds in 525. Pooling the resources of his immediate family, and tapping the fortunes of his cousins, Kolin organised the massed settlement of the Thurgandarn Subsector. Part of his success lay in his ability to recruit talented younger members of the other Houses Major of the Greater Deneb Sector and skilfully exploit their skills and resources to achieve his own great aim. In 540, the years of planning and toil paid off with the creation of the Sector Duchy of the Rimworlds and the investiture of Kolin Venuraski as its first Duke. Ten years later, Kolin’s driving ambition led to his downfall when he was killed on campaign in the Gazolan Subsector, killed, it is said, by a disgruntled gardener.

Hmmm, death by gardener. Sounds a bit like a myth, especially with the “it is said” qualifier, but still a suitably delightful end to such a colourful character.

Having drawn together such threads as exist, I feel the urge to flesh out the narrative a little as there was obviously a major conflict in the Gazolan Subsector which I want to learn more about, and I want to develop Kolin's relationship with Kolin II. But, that’s a project for another day.

Website Update #12

A long and wet weekend enabled me to finally get some painting done and I managed to finish my Imperial Marine platoon.

I still have to finish the vehicles for the unit, as well as find or convert some officer figures. More pictures and notes can be found on
my website in the Modeling log.

AE: Bounty

AE: Bounty
by Matthew Hope
Darkson Designs

One of the Bloggers whose blog I follow recently purchased AE: Bounty. He was still in the process of reading the rules and hasn't commented further.

As I was also looking for some skirmish rules, I decided to order a copy for myself. I sourced my copy from The Book Depository in the UK - delivery time to New Zealand was 12 days and postage was free.

So, a nice 98 page, A5, softback book, nicely presented. I am finding the small print and grey/burgundy page background a little difficult to read under artificial light, though. At the moment, I'm still wading through the game background, though I did have a quick flick through the rules mechanics earlier. The basics seem relatively simple, with a series Abilities, and a choice of weapons options, to modify the basic characters.

I'm quite looking forward to playing this, so I hope to report back with an update in a couple of weeks.

History of the RimWorlds #9 – A last look at the Klarthur Confederacy

This brief examination of the Klarthur Confederacy has answered some questions, but has raised more.

We know that the dominant race within the Confederacy is the H’ran – an aggressive bipedal reptilian species uplifted to sentience by the Thongaloros Empire and used by them as enforcers and shock troops. We know that the H’ran State managed to retain some of the Empire’s shipping during the Empire’s collapse, and that they used this shipping to dominate a small group of systems in the Aemilor Subsector. We know that, while militarily successful, the H’ran lacked the technological know-how to maintain their precious fleet so that within a couple of decades, their Pocket Empire was on the verge of collapse as their ships failed, one by one. We know that the H’ran encountered, and conquered the less aggressive, but more technologically-savvy Gherlach prior to this collapse, and that the Gherlach, while initially treated as servitor-technicians, actually took over the running of the H’ran State. And finally, we know that the Gherlach were still secretly in touch with, and ruled by, an isolated clan of Tsalur who had survived the collapse of the Thongaloros Empire.

The Tsalur clan The Talon of Dra’kken, working through their Gherlachi servants, initially encouraged the further expansion of the H’ran State. Then slowly, over a period of a century and a half, the Talon changed the H’ran’s relationship with neighbouring states from one of mutual hostility to one of mutual assistance. As alliances were strengthened, the Klarthur Confederacy came into being, named for the bright nebula that dominates Aemilor Subsector. The arrival of large numbers of human settlers in the RimWorlds, set in motion by Lord Kolin Venuraski’s Chartered Private Equity Company, quite probably disrupted long range plans for turning the Confederacy into a Second Thongoloros Empire.

This state of affairs would not have been apparent to the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service as it began exploration of the RimWorlds, nor would it have been apparent to Lord Kolin’s initial follow-on expeditions. First contact with the Klarthur Confederacy took place in the Choraptur system of Riinu Subsector in 526, 19 years after the First-In Scouts began moving into Kaorin and Berimar’s Sceptre Subsectors.

Discovering a large, organised stellar polity sprawled across four subsectors came as something of a shock to Viceroy Kolin Venuraski and Lord Saaroi hault-Creaso, his Vice-Regal Minister for Exploration. After initial skirmishes as scouts from both sides ran into each other, and each other’s installations, the vague outlines of a frontier zone began to emerge.

Fortunately for Viceroy Kolin’s future ambitions, Lord Saaroi was ably served by his chief Xenologists, Albathar Moranth and Htaukhealaiw Iyfa. Professor Moranth quickly realised that the H’ran State dominated the Confederacy Supreme Council, and that while the H’ran appeared to be in charge, it was actually their Gherlachi servants who made things happen. Professor Iyfa was then able to crack the social codes that enabled Lord Saaroi to deal directly with Humblest-of-the-Humblest-and-Guide-of-the-Masses Cliirumpurathaal, the Gherlachi Chief Servitor.

After several false starts, the Treaty of Choraptur, concluded in 530, defined the official border between the Imperial RimWorld Territories and the Klarthur Confederacy, splitting Riinu Subsector evenly between the two states and strictly limiting Imperial expansion into Daltharmai Subsector.

As tensions eased along the Spinward frontier, Viceroy Kolin turned his eyes Rimward and set his scouts in motion again.


History of the RimWorlds

103	Thongaloros Empire falls to the Outrim Barbarians.
114	The H’ran State in Aemilor Subsector declares its independence from the Thongaloros Empire and begins to expand.
139	The H’ran State in Aemilor Subsector, on the verge of collapse, conquerors the Gherlach. Gherlach technological skill saves the H’ran State.
290	The Klarthur Confederacy established. Initially based in Aemilor Subsector, the Confederacy expands into Riinu, Nantarn and Daltharmai Subsectors.
323	Ftaioiaftew/Gazul settled by Aslan of Huiha Weakhayuwikhye.
497	First Imperial presence in the RimWorlds in Kaorin and Berimar’s Sceptre subsectors.
525	Lord Kolin Venuraski is created Viceroy of the RimWorlds by Imperial Patent.
526	First Imperial contact with the Klarthur Confederacy in Riinu Subsector.
530	Treaty of Choraptur defines the border between the Klarthur Confederacy and the Imperial RimWorld Territories.
540	Sector Duchy of the RimWorlds established with its capital on Raelmar/Thurgandarn. Kolin I Venuraski is first Sector Duke.