Traveller 5: The Slavic Subsector
Jun. 11th, 2013 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maxomaiQ: What is the history of the Slavic Subsector, in a nutshell?
A: In the days before the Ramshackle Empire started in earnest, this subsector was colonized by Solomani primarily from Poland and Russia, who were, at that time, rivals in a regional space race. During the Long Night these worlds relied on their shared cultural roots and industrial base to survive. Although the balance of power has often shifted between the Polish-dominated and Russian-dominated factions, and even through several wars, the institutions of this subsector are mostly unchanged going back to the days before Twilight. They were re-discovered by the Imperium in 109 and reintegrated fairly easily.
Q: What are the astrographic features of the subsector?
A: Most of the population is situated along two mains roughly seven parsecs long each. The mains are joined at Porne, the spinward world of either main, and also the closest world from either main to Terra and to Imperial supply lines. These two mains are called "The Russian Main" and "The Polish Main," and are dominated by different cultural and political institutions.
Q: Why is it called the Slavic Subsector?
A: The subsector was named by the Imperial Scout Service after the language spoken by its inhabitants.
Q: What is the Slavic language?
A: Slavic is a mish-mash of all the languages from the cultures that colonized this subsector - Polish and Russian, but also Ukrainian, Croatian, Serbian, Belorussian, Czech and Slovak. There are Russian and Polish dialects that use different alphabets (modified Cyrillic and Latin, respectively), but they are mutually intelligible, much like New York City English versus London Cockney Slang. All natives of this subsector speak Slavic, with Galanclic as a second language. All official Imperial documents are printed in Slavic, Galanglic, and Vilani.
Q: Where is the subsector located?
A: In the Old Expanses, well coreward of the Solomani Sphere.
Q: What is the common tech level?
A: The two mains have been on a TL10 plateau for millennia, but their experiments with antimatter technology go up to TL14. Systems off these mains have substantially lower native tech levels, if they are populated at all. Higher tech than TL10 is either experimental or imported, and at exorbitant cost. The maximum jump possible with native technology is Jump-2, which was enough to reach almost every system in the subsector, but not enough to leave the subsector.
Q: What is the jump level required to reach an adjacent subsector?
A: A Jump-4 ship can reach Porne from the subsector to spinward. Anything else requires Jump-6 or greater.
Q: What are the major cultural institutions of this subsector?
A: The subsector has three strong religious institutions, all Christian, which make this subsector the only known part of Imperial space with a large presence of pre-Twilight religions. The Russian Orthodox Church has the most adherents, followed closely by the Polish Catholic Church. These are theoretically in communion with the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, respectively, but the former ceased to exist elsewhere during the Long Night, and the latter is a mere curiosity in the Swiss Alps. The Ancient Russian Orthodox Church is a distant third; this austere group dominates the Neterpimost system and has only a few million adherents elsewhere.
Q: What are the governing bodies of the subsector?
A: There is, of course, the Imperium, run from the Count's Palace on Novy Muscovy, but the Imperium takes a relatively hands-off approach with this subsector. The Duma on Novy Muscovy runs the affairs of the Russian Main and the Great Council on Druga runs the affairs of the Polish Main. Porne is run by the Confederated Unions, effectively a civil service bureaucracy staffed by prostitutes and dock workers, and is independent of either body.
Q: Are there any wars being fought?
A: Neterpimost and Porne are theoretically at war, but have been at a stalemate for thirty years. Neither side has much offensive capability. Neterpimost is protected by their allegiance to Novy Muscovy, while Porne is protected by their substantial system fleet and tacit support from the Imperium and several megacorporations. Currently the most either system can do is confiscate the ships that come into the others' systems, and conduct a cold war.
Q: What are their attitudes towards the Third Imperium?
A: Anyone from the subsector is considered a native; anyone from outside is an outsider. The Imperium is welcome to administer but not to govern too heavily. The inhabitants remember the collapse of the Second Imperium the way Americans remember the collapse of the Roman Empire, and their long term goal is to be able to survive should the Third Imperium collapse.
Q: What do they think of the Solomani movement?
A: This system is 99% Solomani, but the Solomani movement never had much traction here. The inhabitants remember the abuses of the Ramshackle Empire and seek not to relive them. The Solomani Movement has maybe a million adherents in the entire subsector, and not much political power to speak of. The Solomani Sphere of recent history never extended to this subsector. (As an interesting point of trivia, the Count of this subsector is of Vilani descent.)
Q: What are the starports like? Are there any highports?
Nearly every world on the mains has a class A or B starport. Porne, Druga, and Novy Muscovy all have highports and Imperial naval assets. There are scout stations at Porne and at the end of each main. Worlds off the mains have class D starports at best.
Q: Are there any amber or red zones in the subsector?
A: P9123 in the coreward-trailward corner of the subsector is three parsecs away from the Polish Main, and a red zone. Nobody knows why; until the Third Imperium came, that system was forgotten. The third planet in the Druga system (called "Pierwsza") is also a red zone. It was, as the name suggests, the first planet to be inhabited by Polish colonists. A local carnivorous plant evolved to prey on the human inhabitants and slaughtered nearly all of them in -1984.
A: In the days before the Ramshackle Empire started in earnest, this subsector was colonized by Solomani primarily from Poland and Russia, who were, at that time, rivals in a regional space race. During the Long Night these worlds relied on their shared cultural roots and industrial base to survive. Although the balance of power has often shifted between the Polish-dominated and Russian-dominated factions, and even through several wars, the institutions of this subsector are mostly unchanged going back to the days before Twilight. They were re-discovered by the Imperium in 109 and reintegrated fairly easily.
Q: What are the astrographic features of the subsector?
A: Most of the population is situated along two mains roughly seven parsecs long each. The mains are joined at Porne, the spinward world of either main, and also the closest world from either main to Terra and to Imperial supply lines. These two mains are called "The Russian Main" and "The Polish Main," and are dominated by different cultural and political institutions.
Q: Why is it called the Slavic Subsector?
A: The subsector was named by the Imperial Scout Service after the language spoken by its inhabitants.
Q: What is the Slavic language?
A: Slavic is a mish-mash of all the languages from the cultures that colonized this subsector - Polish and Russian, but also Ukrainian, Croatian, Serbian, Belorussian, Czech and Slovak. There are Russian and Polish dialects that use different alphabets (modified Cyrillic and Latin, respectively), but they are mutually intelligible, much like New York City English versus London Cockney Slang. All natives of this subsector speak Slavic, with Galanclic as a second language. All official Imperial documents are printed in Slavic, Galanglic, and Vilani.
Q: Where is the subsector located?
A: In the Old Expanses, well coreward of the Solomani Sphere.
Q: What is the common tech level?
A: The two mains have been on a TL10 plateau for millennia, but their experiments with antimatter technology go up to TL14. Systems off these mains have substantially lower native tech levels, if they are populated at all. Higher tech than TL10 is either experimental or imported, and at exorbitant cost. The maximum jump possible with native technology is Jump-2, which was enough to reach almost every system in the subsector, but not enough to leave the subsector.
Q: What is the jump level required to reach an adjacent subsector?
A: A Jump-4 ship can reach Porne from the subsector to spinward. Anything else requires Jump-6 or greater.
Q: What are the major cultural institutions of this subsector?
A: The subsector has three strong religious institutions, all Christian, which make this subsector the only known part of Imperial space with a large presence of pre-Twilight religions. The Russian Orthodox Church has the most adherents, followed closely by the Polish Catholic Church. These are theoretically in communion with the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, respectively, but the former ceased to exist elsewhere during the Long Night, and the latter is a mere curiosity in the Swiss Alps. The Ancient Russian Orthodox Church is a distant third; this austere group dominates the Neterpimost system and has only a few million adherents elsewhere.
Q: What are the governing bodies of the subsector?
A: There is, of course, the Imperium, run from the Count's Palace on Novy Muscovy, but the Imperium takes a relatively hands-off approach with this subsector. The Duma on Novy Muscovy runs the affairs of the Russian Main and the Great Council on Druga runs the affairs of the Polish Main. Porne is run by the Confederated Unions, effectively a civil service bureaucracy staffed by prostitutes and dock workers, and is independent of either body.
Q: Are there any wars being fought?
A: Neterpimost and Porne are theoretically at war, but have been at a stalemate for thirty years. Neither side has much offensive capability. Neterpimost is protected by their allegiance to Novy Muscovy, while Porne is protected by their substantial system fleet and tacit support from the Imperium and several megacorporations. Currently the most either system can do is confiscate the ships that come into the others' systems, and conduct a cold war.
Q: What are their attitudes towards the Third Imperium?
A: Anyone from the subsector is considered a native; anyone from outside is an outsider. The Imperium is welcome to administer but not to govern too heavily. The inhabitants remember the collapse of the Second Imperium the way Americans remember the collapse of the Roman Empire, and their long term goal is to be able to survive should the Third Imperium collapse.
Q: What do they think of the Solomani movement?
A: This system is 99% Solomani, but the Solomani movement never had much traction here. The inhabitants remember the abuses of the Ramshackle Empire and seek not to relive them. The Solomani Movement has maybe a million adherents in the entire subsector, and not much political power to speak of. The Solomani Sphere of recent history never extended to this subsector. (As an interesting point of trivia, the Count of this subsector is of Vilani descent.)
Q: What are the starports like? Are there any highports?
Nearly every world on the mains has a class A or B starport. Porne, Druga, and Novy Muscovy all have highports and Imperial naval assets. There are scout stations at Porne and at the end of each main. Worlds off the mains have class D starports at best.
Q: Are there any amber or red zones in the subsector?
A: P9123 in the coreward-trailward corner of the subsector is three parsecs away from the Polish Main, and a red zone. Nobody knows why; until the Third Imperium came, that system was forgotten. The third planet in the Druga system (called "Pierwsza") is also a red zone. It was, as the name suggests, the first planet to be inhabited by Polish colonists. A local carnivorous plant evolved to prey on the human inhabitants and slaughtered nearly all of them in -1984.
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no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 02:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 02:51 am (UTC)To understand the Russian mindset in this subsector, you need but know their anthem.
The Polish anthem, OTOH, is mere decades old and makes reference to their great battles against the Virus.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 03:46 am (UTC)