We made it, everyone! Happy Traveller Tuesday Thursday, except last night Domain of One’s Own had an outage, so now it’s Traveller Tuesday Thursday on a Friday–Traveller Tuesday Observed?. Hopefully this is worth the wait–I introduce you to:
The Coreward Setting
Occupying the spinward half of Gvurrdon sector and the coreward half of the Spinward Marches, the Coreward Setting of Millieu XX16 focuses on the borders between the Third Imperium, the Zhodani Consulate, and the various nations of the Vargr. While (at the time of posting) this map is far from final, it should be a good glimpse into the major political forces in this setting.
Huge thanks to the Traveller Map, a really robust tool for exploring the canon Traveller universe. This map was made by downloading the sector maps using the booklet tool and editing them in Inkscape.
The major change I’ve made here is to move the Society of Equals into spinward Gvurrdon, exchanging its location with the Kezudh Commonality in order to move it closer to the border of the Third Imperium. Many worlds were moved as part of this project, but many others remained in place–as much as possible, if swapping a world’s location would take it out of the boundaries of the setting, I kept it in the area instead.
In this post, I’ll introduce these larger polities, their general cultures and histories, and the goals of their governments in the region. I’ll also introduce the Vargr, a species of non-human sophont who have spread into this setting from a home planet even farther coreward. Of course, no species or nation is a monolith–we’ll be taking deeper dives on all of these species and places in order to view the greater diversity within them, as well as on the species and places that are not major players on a sector scale. This is just the beginning of a deeper look into the Coreward setting, bringing you the background information anyone living in the area who had access to free information would have on the setting where they live.
The Vargr
(An official Traveller image comparing Human anatomy to Vargr anatomy. Retrieved from the Traveller wiki.)
The Vargr (Canis sapiens) are a species descended from the Terran wolf. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the mysterious Ancients transported Terran wolves across the galaxy to a planet called Kneng, or Lair in Anglic, in order to engineer them into a sophont species. Genetically modern Vargr, a bipedal species with human-like large brains and opposable thumbs, appeared over 300,000 years ago. They have a covering of fur over the whole body and use a digitigrade posture (meaning they stand on their toes, rather than on flat feet like humans). Being closely related to humans compared to other sophont species means that they can eat most of the same foods, though they remain carnivores. (Like Terran wolves, they are facultative carnivores, meaning they can survive on and do eat non-meat foods, but require a diet of 30-70% meat to thrive.)
One of the most notable differences between the Vargr and Humaniti comes in their social organization. Being descended from a species with such a strong history of pack organization, which seems to have been only strengthened as they developed into a sophont species. Vargr naturally create a complex system of packs in social situations. A group of Vargr often becomes a pack when they consistently spend time together for the same goal, and once a pack is formed, its members often become so close that they act as a single unit. Kfaegzhoukin, often translated as “Charisma”, is the social force that keeps these packs together, inspiring other Vargr to form and stay in packs with Vargr who display this trait most strongly. Within a pack, the members with the most kfaegzhoukin tend to rise to the top and become leaders, forming a hierarchy which shifts as members try to prove themselves worthy of leadership. Kfaegzhoukin inspires loyalty to the pack, and packs with highly charismatic leaders are often extremely loyal, but often leadership struggles tear packs apart, or members decide to go their separate ways following their own goals. Personal freedom, after all, is still highly important to the Vargr. Vargr cultures still tend to value individual instincts and goals highly, but express that ambition through the pack structure–finding a pack that suits their goals and proving themselves worthy within it. The status quo tends to be less important to Vargr. They often grow bored with familiarity and crave excitement and upheaval in their lives anyway, so violations of the status quo are far more understandable and common.
A notable aspect of Vargr psychology is that they tend to strongly dislike being told what to do by authorities whose kfaegzhoukin they cannot personally experience. This generally means that remote authorities and faceless legal systems are less effective among Vargr than among humans. This does not at all mean that Vargr are criminals–the causes of crime are nowhere near as simple as a dislike for rules–but more that distant, bureaucratic, governments are difficult to establish and maintain since they don’t appeal to the Vargr psyche. Large empires do exist among the Vargr, though not as large as the Third Imperium, but they tend to be short-lived, as they require charismatic representatives of the imperial powers to inspire the people and these types are rarely satisfied not to fight for control.
A notable aspect of Vargr culture is the archetype of the dhoune, often translated as “corsair”. What most non-Vargr fail to understand is that the dhoune is not simply a common pirate. Packs of dhoune evolved as packs which left their home communities to raid, trade, salvage, and discover resources and to protect those communities from the dhoune packs of their rivals. They developed a heroic reputation as underdogs and protectors of their communities, rather than the negative reputation of pirates, and, in the transition to spacefaring life, became an important part of Vargr economies. Rather than organized militaries, many smaller Vargr polities rely on dhoune to protect them, and even larger polities often have affiliated dhoune packs. Not all dhoune are affiliated with a government or home community anymore, with many being either only in it to support themselves and many others being enemies of a specific state or corporation rather than allies of anyone in particular. Dhoune tend to be particularly hated by governments and cultures which have no dhoune culture, which view them as lawless pirates encouraged by other governments to target and prey on them with an expectation of impunity.
Major Vargr dominated polities in the Coreward setting include the Society of Equals, the Worlds of Leader Rukh, the Anti-Rukh Coalition, the Thoengling Empire, the Thirz Empire, the Kedzudh Commonality, and the 40th Squadron.
The Society of Equals
Content warning for discussion of eugenics, slavery, and traumatic mouth injury in this section.
The Society of Equals is a Vargr empire which has persisted for 700 years in some form near the coreward Imperial border. It is founded on the idea that those who pass a certain test of merit become Equals, full citizens of the society with guaranteed equality in all matters of law and culture. Those who fail the test are considered Unequal, unworthy of the protection of the government in any capacity. They can be sold into slavery, and are permanently banned from certain jobs. They also have their canine teeth removed to brand them for life.
The test is being constantly revised by a council of scientists and politicians in order to ensure it “serves its purpose” of making sure all Equals have the skills, physical, and mental traits the Society wants in its citizens. Among their stated goals are not to allow any particular group an advantage or disadvantage on this test. All Vargr living within the Society must take the Equality Test on reaching the age of majority, regardless of their parenthood or social status; non-Vargr need not take the Equality test but will not be considered citizens unless they do.
Slavery is common in the Society, and while the government sets laws establishing a minimum standard of treatment for slaves, they are still considered the property of their masters. Equals may not be held as slaves, but may sell themselves into indentured servitude. Slavery within the Society is not chattel slavery–it is more similar to the slavery practiced in the Roman empire, where slaves could buy their freedom or be freed, andthe children of slaves are still expected to take the Equality test and, if they are Equals, go free. It is still a dehumanizing and inhumane situation. It is unfortunately common for pirates and dhoune of the Society to capture the crews of non-Society ships to be sold as slaves, and the government does not prohibit that as long as those captured are given the chance to prove themselves Equal. Even if they do, however, they will likely be stranded parsecs from home with no money or relations, and may need to sell themselves into indentured servitude to survive.
The Society of Equals, much like historical Rome, is a republic where only Equals are represented in government, but all Equals have the right to full representation. Relations with the Third Imperium are icy, but not actively hostile. They have maintained this tentative period of peace by imposing serious punishment for raiding on Imperial land, an unpopular policy both with the otherwise barely regulated dhoune packs and the Vargr polities they are encouraged to target instead.
End of content warning for discussion of eugenics, slavery, and mouth trauma.
Worlds of Leader Rukh
The Worlds of Leader Rukh are an upstart empire controlled by the charismatic dictator Rukh (as one might expect). Like many large Vargr empires ruled by a single charismatic leader, it is unlikely to outlive him and will most likely fracture as soon as he dies. It is extremely expansionist, conquering roughly a subsector worth of space, and will likely only prosper as long as it continues growing. Captured worlds receive an outpouring of financial support in order to encourage them to tolerate the heavy military presence as they are used to host fleets to wage war against their neighbors.
The Anti-Rukh Coalition is currently preventing the Worlds of Leader Rukh from expanding spinward.
Anti-Rukh Coalition
Ironically, though the Anti-Rukh Coalition is defined by its war with the Worlds of Leader Rukh, it may well outlive its enemy due to being governed as a diffuse collection of worlds sharing a similar goal rather than having a single charismatic dictator. While they are currently politically focused almost entirely on the dissolution of Rukh’s government, this pack-of-packs structure (as it is known) is one of the strongest forms of mass government among the Vargr, with different interests being treated as if they were individual members of a pack.
Thoengling Empire
Only the spinward frontier of this expansive and stable representative democracy is relevant to the Coreward setting. Existing for almost 300 years so far, the Thoengling Empire was once an expansionist true empire which became a constitutional monarchy and later a representative democracy after its charismatic original emperor died. New emperors are now elected by the Thoengling Assembly, which holds much of the power in the region and consists of members elected by the local populations of their worlds.
Thirz Empire
Only the very tip of this incredibly massive empire is relevant to the Coreward setting as presented. This totalitarian absolute monarchy is focused on total control of its citizens, down to attempts to dictate a single uniform imperial culture on all of its worlds. As powerful and massive as it is, most Vargr consider the Thirz Empire nothing but a pathetic client state of the Zhodani, since its control is so reliant on imported Zhodani psionic techniques and secret police.
Kedzudh Commonality
Formed in response to an incredibly powerful group of dhoune packs raiding in central Gvurrdon sector, the Kedzudh Commonality made peace with its one-time enemies, the Kforzueng dhoune, and became an alliance planetary states and the Kforzueng, who now protect it. Kedzudh itself is an asteroid belt in the middle of these systems; it was chosen specifically because it had no resources or population outside of the Commonality’s governmental spaces.
40th Squadron
The 40th Squadron is a military-run polity populated by the descendants of the original 40th Squadron during the Fifth Frontier War with the Imperium. All citizens are technically part of its military structure, whether assigned to its massive navy or on duty in a civilian field. Its most talented captains and crew are preserved using cryogenic storage to serve as additional leaders during times of crisis. The worlds controlled by the 40th Squadron are all notably rather poor and lacking in natural resources; strict military discipline is used to inure its citizens to a life without luxury.
The Zhodani Consulate
The Zhodani are a branch of Humaniti seeded to the distant planet Zhodane by the Ancients. Their main biological difference from Terran Humaniti is a strong affinity for psionics. Almost all humans of Zhodani descent live in the Zhodani Consulate, an empire which covers roughly eight entire sectors each as large as the whole Coreward Setting. The Coreward Setting includes only the very edge of its trailing spinward border.
The Zhodani Consulate is a unique society based off psionics as an aspect of everyday life. Mental privacy is a foreign concept to the Zhodani–almost every Zhodani is a telepath to at least some extent, and telepathy is a part of basic conversation, with Zhodani monitoring their conversational partners’ reactions and emotions as they speak. This is perfectly natural for them, fostering a community of total trust and lack of secrecy. However, it does mean that privacy is basically non-existent in the Consulate for those without the skill and training to shield their thoughts. This forms the basis for the classes of Zhodani society: Proles, who are incapable of psionic shielding, and Intendants and Nobles, who are capable of it.
Proles are not truly citizens, and do not receive any psionic training. They work average jobs without much impact on other people, whether in the service sector, producing and refining food and various resources, or in the military. The incredibly advanced social sciences of the Zhodani allow their lives to be exceptionally stable and happy; a complete lack of mental privacy allows all needs to be seen and met as much as reasonably possible. It also ensures that all proles are quickly mentally profiled and ushered into the most fitting possible jobs. This is not to say that they are never sad–a range of emotions is considered necessary for psychological health, and they are allowed to experience negative emotions as long as those do not lead to psychological issues. As soon as they do begin to lead to doubt in the Zhodani system or consideration of harmful actions, though, they will be visited by a member of the Tavrchedl’, or thought police, to address the issue and return them to society where they will lead a mentally typical life again.
These Tavrchedl’ are one of the professions exclusive to Intendants, the middle class of psionically-trained worker. One becomes an Intendant either by being born into the class or displaying psionic capability worthy of training as a Prole child. Young Intendants are psionically trained in order to succeed at careers involving managing or training other people or using psionics, from the thought police and psionic shock troops of the Zhodani military to everyday professions like teachers, doctors, ships’ captains, journalists, and administrators. Like Proles, they are psychologically profiled in youth to match them to a perfect job. They are full citizens, but lack the right to vote.
This right to vote is only given to the most psionically powerful class–the Nobles. With the right to total mental privacy, beyond even that of the Intendants, Nobles choose their own path in life from a variety of high-powered political, military, and scientific careers. It is they who determine the path of Zhodani society, and they are held to the highest standards in doing so.
With thousands of years of practice, the system works almost entirely without flaw. Happiness and stability in life is a perfect science enforced without fail; were the totalitarian control to falter, it would collapse entirely. Omelas should come to mind, if those who intended to leave instead had their minds psionically altered until they could stand the child’s torment.
However, all of this peace and prosperity is not an end in itself. Rather, this whole perfectly structured and stable society is aimed to support a single line of research–the origin and goals of the mysterious Ancients. Expeditions to the core of the galaxy, archaeology of Ancients sites, and even experiments into the nature of their created species are all carried out with a monomaniacal passion. Failure is unacceptable; failure which destroys evidence catastrophic. The Ancients may have been gone for millennia, but to the leaders of the Zhodani, they are not only still relevant but perhaps the only relevant topic.
The Third Imperium
The Third Imperium is the largest empire in all of Charted Space. Depending on how you count, it is the largest empire in the history of Charted Space. Its stated goals are simple–to administer peace, safety, and free trade among its worlds. It has been described as a techno-feudal system. Along with the explicit feudal system, with land granted from the Emperor to the Archdukes of Domains to Sector Dukes to Subsector Dukes to the Counts of various clusters and traces to the Marquises and Barons of individual worlds, the technological cores of the Imperium grant authority to smaller and more local corporations in the form of patents, deals, and advanced technology. At the top of the technological hierarchy are the megacorporations which have the technology and wherewithal to create Fusion+ reactors and high rated jump drives. They sell or lease these to their child corporations in exchange for shares in those companies, who then use them in production or sell and lease them to their own child corporations until they finally reach the factories and starships the working class sees.
Like the most successful empires of human history, the Third Imperium is known for allowing its member and client worlds almost complete freedom to retain their own cultures and policies. Its laws are as few as possible, and where reasonable, its nobles come from the areas they serve. Still, it remains an empire, one where war and newly captured land are the bloody grease on the wheels of commerce. Its military is immense and strong, and governments which intend to secede from or disrupt Imperial control are not tolerated. Neither are military threats permitted to persist on its borders, as much as possible, though those borders are now so far-flung that eliminating threats is no longer as easily done as it once was. Those who are uninterested in what Imperial citizens consider a reasonable compromise of becoming a member state of the Imperium are propagandized as idiotic barbarians at best and sinister threats at worst.
In the name of laissez-faire, the Imperium also permits staggering injustice within its own borders. While a member state may not explicitly legally allow chattel slavery nor commit genocide, the Imperium has never successfully prosecuted a member state for doing so in the absence of sedition on the part of that member state. Other practices, including totalitarianism, dictatorship, and extreme discrimination, have no legal process for even beginning to discuss preventing. In particular, “war crimes” have become a neglected issue, with the military technically having regulations against it but the authority to enforce them coming from the very people who give the orders.
That all being said, the Imperium is certainly nothing if not profitable for its member worlds and megacorporations.
Smaller Groups
Of course, these are only the most massive interstellar groups in the Coreward setting. Other species, including Monsters–you didn’t think I’d forgotten them, did you, dear reader?–and other polities will have to wait for another day. (In particular, the choice not to describe Monsters today is due to their presence in both the Coreward and Spinward setting as well as the fact that, as a diasporic species, they have no polities larger than a single system or cluster.) In particular, I intend to go over each subsector of the Coreward setting, beginning at the center and spiraling outward, and to go over each system within the subsector. I also want to cover more aspects of culture and government in these places, as the mood strikes me, including my Vargr conlang.
Examine Every Decision…?
I actually liked last week’s separate Examine Every Decision post a lot, and this post is already very, very, long. So we’ll run that one back and do it again, and unless anyone asks me to change this, I’ll make that the standard for longer posts.
This will be a link to that post when it exists.