From wildstar@qrc.com Wed Jul 27 19:59:55 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA08039; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 19:59:48 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15268; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:38:17 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15866; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:36:22 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:36:22 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280036.AA15866@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Updates - Status Report #2 Status: RO Subject: Further Updates and Comments tonyz@eskimo.com (Tony Zbaraschuk) writes: > Derek, how _old_ are these characters? Age isn't mentioned anywhere. Good point! I never assigned an exact age, because I didn't actually generate any of these characters. The PCs have ages, but the NPCs don't because they're basically 'expanded templates' and not full-character NPCs. I'll see what I can do. > You may wish to mention here that Resolution Belt was only developed after > Gralyn re-contacted Botany Bay (the BBer's didn't have the ships). OK, it's worth a sentance or so. Done. > "its" not "it's"! One of my worst (and most consistent) grammar faults. I always do this. :-/ ccjoe@showme.missouri.edu (Joseph Heck) wrote: > Anyway, I wanted to be listed in the credits as having created the starmaps > and charts. Will do! > When's the deadline for stuff to you? > (including Maps) Send the maps directly to Kevin, I think. The sooner the better. > have you (or anyone at this point) done any planetary maps for the worlds > in the Drinsaar Loop? (Gralyn, Askopay, Botany Bay, etc....) Not exactly, although I do have a few sketch-maps that I created for several worlds, on the spur of the moment, as I needed them. Which worlds were you thinking about mapping? As far as I know, Gralyn, Askoapoy and Botany Bay have never been mapped, but check out the text for some place-names. l.guatney@genie.geis.com writes: > A quick check on the 1115 data revealed the following: > > Dran (1129) has three white dwarf companions, whereas the previous > version had only two. Going back into my archives, Dran has always had three dwarf companions, including in the Core.Data file dated December 1993. Is it possible that an earlier load of this data truncated the data line and dropped one of the companions? As all of my archived data files agree on this point, I'm leaving it with three. > Roakhoi (1224) still shows G5V for the primary spectral. I believe > I demonstrated that the distance it is from the star precluded it from > being this spectral class. It must be a K3V if you assume orbital 3 (I > think this unreasonable) or the better assumption is orbital 4, hence > requiring that the star be an F5V. Check your copy of Scouts again. G5V is appropriate for the 4th world in the system, located in Orbit 3. Making the star a K3V will definitely *not* work, and an F5V combined with Orbit 4 requires an empty Orbit 0 and doesn't work any better than the G5V. This stays, it's correct as is. > Kingston (1428) shows a pop. mult. of '8'. The total subsector pop > as was published in Far Traveller 1 doesn't even reach this total. It > also told us the highest subsector population was 3.7 at Marlheim. I > still recommend that the pop. mult. of '2' be used for Kingston. Done. Also noted that 'Hi' designator for high-population worlds has been missing from the 1130 data, going all the way back to Dec '93. I've fixed these by hand. > Garrison (2221) in PGD says it is military rule and therefore should > bear the "Mr" coding. Located this code in the PGD subsector listing. Done. > Kraan (1828) has per PGD: "scientific research station at the edge > of the shadowland mountains." and so should have (Rs) coded. > Dutrissal (2027) has per PGD: "A small research colony ... maintained > by the Institute of Science and Technology on Duncinae/Ea." and so should > have (Rs) coded. These worlds are not so coded in the PGD subsector listing - while these research stations are mentioned in the descriptions, they are not in the UWP data, and therefore aren't coded in our listing. Ted7@world.std.com wrote: > >And what about telepathic humans on Gralyn. Wouldn't it have been > >possible to establish contact one way or another? > I thought so. That's why I pointed it out as a problem. No telepathic humans on Gralyn, so that's not an issue. The radio (or even heliograph) possibility *is*, and I inserted a brief explanation into the history. Again, this was the best I could do on short notice. To answer your specific objections, while I'm sure the Droyne had some 'credit' with the humans, it *is* a reasonable assumption that the humans were at least as hard-hit as the Droyne, and from they were knocked down to, the investment required for a space program would exceed the available Droyne 'credit'. With nothing to trade for the balance of the cost, it hardly seems like a worthwhile expenditure of resources to attempt to contact the humans. It's not that trading technological knowledge for physical help is unacceptable, it's that they didn't think of it. Droyne aren't noted for massively innovative thinking, and a) technical knowledge had been available for free from the Imperium for hundreds of years, and b) many Droyne may not have realized that Humans *didn't* have some equivalent of the Droyne racial memory. rancke@diku.dk wrote: > >The Gralyn Union: A Pocket Empire for Aoreriyya > By far the largest part of this was written by Corran, but I think some > 10% or so of it is mine. So noted. > I will try to cudgel my brain into synthesizing something about Botany Bay, > but I guarantee nothing, especially not within a few days. What do you think of the crude patch I applied? > First a general comment. Well done! You've done a really fine job in > compiling all this. Thank you! > Mostly I like it. There were a few items that I wouldn't have put where you > put them (The _Loakhtarl_ item, for example - I would have put it with > the main listing), but nothing I thought strange enough to bother commenting > about. The intent is that the players get that at *some* point, and as a smaller supplimental listing, they might actually read it ... > If this ever became an issue I'd argue that there is an 'implied licence' > to use any Traveller Library Data in any other Traveller publication. (I > think we'd be in trouble if that wasn't so). I agree with you, but reworded the library data entries anyway. > >What do you think of the 'Hellion' Murdoch entry I added (yes, I know > >its another joke - I wonder how many members of this list will get it)? > Relay the number to me if you ever find out. Presuming that you *did* get it, so far the number is 2: you and me. That answers the question of "Who in this list reads 40-year-old science fiction by authors named Smith"? :) > That's all right. I didn't object to the Duquesne entry because it was a > lame in-joke, I objected because it was a second generation lame in-joke. > But, as you say, today's effete youths won't get it anyway ;-). Why, in my day, I had to ... (fill in favorit old-fart tall tale) ... to get the latest copy of Amazing/Analog, and smuggle it home so nobody would laugh at me for reading that 'trash'! And every one came with a Freas cover! ;-) > I actually worked that out some time ago. This may be sidebar material, if > you like: Done. > Perhaps it would be worth making a point about this. Gralyn relics would be > mostly TL 10 (As would Askoapoy). Anything higher would be importado. TL 11 > stuff could have come from several nearby worlds. Nearest TL 14 source was > the Carrillian Belt. TL 15 stuff would have had to come from clear outside > Aoreriyya. Right. Not a bad idea. TL-10 relics would not be unheard-of. TL 11-14 relics would be rare, but existant. And there's probably one whole TL-15 relic in the entire Union. > I see. But surely, by 1142 any computer with an _active_ virus would have > been tracked down by other means? Or are you just saying that the Askoapoy > Droyne made dandy multi-use canaries? If so, I think it is overstating > their importance to call it 'invaluable'. You give me the impression that > this ability was of major importance to the salvage effort, where I would > say it was a useful thing, but no more than that. Toned down slightly - I subsitituded 'useful' for 'invaluable'. > Apart from still wanting the 'megacorporation' to become something else > (perhaps an 'major interstellar corporation') I don't have much comment. > I still can't work out anything coherent. Fixed that. It's now a 'large Solomani corporation'. > >>What happened to the Gralynites stranded on Botany Bay in 1130? Could they > >>survive the local conditions without support from Gralyn? > >No, they eventually died when their supply of filter masks ran out, and the > >local technology was insufficient to produce more. > That deserves a mention, I think. I stuck a sentance in there about it. > >The total > >membership of the Steering Committe can be between 10 and 16 members. > >It currently has 15: 9 from Gralyn, 3 from Askoapoy, and 2 from Botany Bay. > > But how do you get these figures? By being unable to add. That should be 10 and 14, with the current figure being 13, 9 from Gralyn, 2 from Askoapoy (one of whom was popularly elected in the last election), and 2 from Botany Bay. Largest possible steering committee: 5 human members from each each election (these would be 10 humans, popularly elected), and 1 per election from each of the other two worlds (Two botany bay and two askoapoy) for a total of 14. Smallest possible steering committee: 5 members from each election, of which at least one is from each world, for a total of 10. This isn't actually included in any of the materials to Kevin, so I didn't have to change any of the them 'cause of my math error. > It's worse than you think. There's a very interesting bit of the expanded > history where some Aragishge Drandirdikun monks build a radio and contact > some Droyne. I'd REALLY hate to loose that. I think we must speculate in > Droyne motivation, not Droyne capability to explain it away. I vaguely recall that. Why does this problem require that we void that bit of history? > >The Gralyn Union Exploration and Survey Service > > > >Written by the TNE-POCKET discussion group, compiled by Guy Garnett. > >Primary Contributors: [Speak up if your name should appear here!] > > "Speaking!" Done. I also included myself in this one. Finally, for lack of anyone else speaking up, I listed the two of us as the primary contributors for the Aoereriyya overview. > Suggest adding: > > "We all believe in our cause to push into the unknown and find out what has > happened to the rest of the universe (for whatever reasons). We in the > first class should be proud of what we've started, and where we can go." > ---Lt. Cmdr. Hawkins, Valedictorian, GUESS Academy, Class of 1200 > > [Guy, didn't one of your players write this? I don't know where I got the > name Hawkins from, I thought your First Officer wrote it, but when I > checked he was named Napier. Anyway, I think the quote fits well there. > You figure out just who was the valedictorian, OK?] I don't recall ever seeing this before, and I can't find any references to "Hawkins" or "Valed" anywhere in the TNE-Pocket archives. Either I'm missing parts of the archives (possible), or it came from somewhere else. In any case, I'll use it. (Maybe on of *your* players wrote it?). Anyway, I added it, and the 1200 DA valedictorian is now Lt.Cdr. Hawkins. (Napier just graduated at the head of the class - he's not the world's best orator, so he probably wouldn't have been the valedictorian. > One thing: Transfers from other services retain a reserve > commission in their original service. If their reserve rank is higher > than their GUESS rank, they are often addressed with their reserve rank > as a matter of courtsey (This may lead to several captains aboard a > ship, a no-no in some services, but they don't mind in GUESS (there's > only one Skipper per ship, though). OK, that's a nice touch. I've added it. > I'm sorry to loose the lists of the rank names, especially the system with > {Specialist's} Mate, {Specialist}, Master {Specialist}. Any reason for that? Sheer lazyness on my part. I'll find it and put it back in, I think. > I'm nearly finished with the article about the Career Limitation Chart system > and will post it for comments sometime this weekend. Great. I figure the GUESS article can stand as written, and if the CLC article is done in time, then people can refer to that for character generation. Is that OK? > > Aoreriyya > > New Era adventures in Reavers' Deep > > Written by the TNE-POCKET discussion group, compiled by Guy Garnett. > > Primary Contributors: [Speak up if your name should appear here!] > "Guilty, M'Lud!" Anybody else? I listed myself in this one, too. > >In the Imperial era library data were assumed to be updated to a particular > >date mentioned in the publication. Thus all data mentioned in a given issue > >of the Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society were assumed to be true as of > >001-1105. > > Yes, I had forgotten the publication, hadn't I? It wasn't JTAS, though (each > number had it's own "Imperial" date). It was 'Adventure 1, _The Kinunir_'. Yes, but 'Adventure 1, _The Kinunir_' isn't a publication that exists within the context of the game (ie: your character can't go out and buy it), while The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society does (which is why I used that as an example). > I still think we'd do better to explain it in terms of motivation rather > than capability. I mean, you could _heliograph_ between a world and its > moon if you really wanted to. And you can't get much lower-tech than that. > (Well, there's drums, which I admit wouldn't work. But smoke signals > might...) Read over the item I inserted, and let me know if it answers this objection well enough. Ted7@world.std.com wrote: > Sigh. Very depressing. All my work essentially ignored. I know I > sent these TWICE to be included in the listed postings (as well as > posting them with the planetary descriptions for Tashrakaar and > Kamloops). My UWPs for Kamloops were in your last posted set of UWPs, > so this is a distinct regression. I'm sorry - I don't know what happened there, except that I obviously lost a version of the file. (I've switched machines during the preparation of this material, and what I *think* happened is that I lost the most recent file in the switch, and the wound up with an earlier version, thus the regression. I'm definitely not ignoring your material on purpose, and the new UWPs have been re-added to the listings. Thanks for the perseverance, and sorry for the lossage. > Lajanjigal, possessing a lo-tech, native population will not be affected > by the gyrations of the larger human, technical society with whom they > probably had little dealings (or they'd have had a higher tech than 3). > It's unlikely they would suffer a technologic decrease, or a population > decrease (unless bored humans visited just to practice genocide). Made this into a library data entry for the referee. l.guatney@genie.geis.com writes: > So I did another compare. All I found were additional stars. Each > of the following had one more star added. I repeat Dran for completness. > > Dran (1129) was 3 stars, now 4 stars > New Eden (1137) was 2 stars, now 3 stars > Hihlas (1537) was 2 stars, now 3 stars > Collins World (1631) was 1 star, now 2 stars > Concorde (1840) was 1 star, now 2 stars > Morgan (2038) was 2 stars, now 3 stars Checked these. The current data matches the earliest data files I have, dated December 28, 1993. I believe the 'current' values are correct and as far as I know, have never been changed. > As far as Ted7's comments are concerned, the above changes and > previously posted notes comprise the only differences between the latest > and the last version that was posted. I think I can understand how Guy > might moan a little about differences brought up in the "eleventh hour". Not a problem (I think - but wait 'till I hear from Kevin!). eclipse@world.std.com (Mark Urbin) wrote: > I noticed that the numbers for Venice didn't match my writeups. Here > are the raw numbers for Hard Times and 1200. I'll repost the whole > Venice Writeup in a day or two. OK, that's fine, I've gone and fixed these. Apologies if this is used to be correct and is now wrong again - in any case, it's fixed now. One comment that may be worthwhile: writers, please please don't assume that I've located or extracted UWPs from your text write-ups. There's 9 megabytes of archives, and searching through them for UWPs is a pain! If it didn't match a relatively simple 'grep', then I probably didn't find it. > Hard Times > 1534 D35A7FD 6 Wa Td i1 114 Na M5 III DM F What's that 'Td' code doing there? I assumed that it was in error, and removed it. > 1200 (New Era) > 1534 X35A674 4 Wa 914 NA M5 III DM Could you possibly have the Hard Times and New Era listings reversed? Ted7@world.std.com wrote: > Ooops. Yes, that should be 769 vice 669. Serves me right for trying to > edit three files with a twoyear old nosing about Fixed. That's it, the final version has gone to Kevin. IF you have any more changes or corrections ... AHahahahahahaha! IT's TOO LATE! You Die! The Girl Dies! Everybody Dies! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Oops, sorry, got carried away there after making these fixes. If you have any more changes, you may as well let me know, but it's going to press the way it is now. Thank you, everyone! wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Wed Jul 27 21:28:52 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA20324; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 21:27:16 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15526; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:55:44 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15956; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:53:39 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:53:39 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280053.AA15956@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - Timekeeping on Gralyn [Sidebar] Status: RO [Sidebar material, by Hans Rancke-Madsen.] TIME ON GRALYN In the early days of the Gralyn settlement an effort was made to stick to the Old Terran time measurements and calendar. It quickly became obvious, however, that some adjustments would be necessary to adapt to Gralyn's 35 hour 25 minute day. The first attempt was made in -1772 when the length of the hour was adjusted to 59 minutes and 1.66 second, making a G-day exactly 36 hours long. At the same tme the year was extended by 6 days to make it as long as a T-year[*]. 2 G-days became known as a 'thrice' and contained three 24 hour days. This calendar was kept (with occasional extra leap-days whenever accumulated errors had brought it out of synch with the Gregorian calendar) for official reckonings, but the general populace gradually adapted to sleeping for two 6-hour periods ('Full Day' and 'Deep Night') and being awake for two 12-hour periods ('Ascend' and 'Descend') of every G-day. The G-day thus became a common unit of time measurement while the T-day fell into disuse. In -1354 Envoy Archim Sanchez reformed the calendar to reflect this, but stuck as closely as possible to the T-year by making the years alternately 247 and 248 (G-)days long. The Archimian calendar remains in use to this day, but with the renewed interstellar contacts in the 2nd Century Imperial the Gregorian calendar (in its Imperial incarnation) was adopted by the space professions, and the two systems have been used in parallel ever since. [*] That is, 371 days long normally and 372 days long every fourth year. This year has nothing to do with the orbital period of Gralyn around Levin, of course. For this interval the word 'orbit' is used. wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Thu Jul 28 02:15:19 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA35468; Thu, 28 Jul 1994 02:13:42 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15526; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:55:44 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15956; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:53:39 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:53:39 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280053.AA15956@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - Timekeeping on Gralyn [Sidebar] Status: RO [Sidebar material, by Hans Rancke-Madsen.] TIME ON GRALYN In the early days of the Gralyn settlement an effort was made to stick to the Old Terran time measurements and calendar. It quickly became obvious, however, that some adjustments would be necessary to adapt to Gralyn's 35 hour 25 minute day. The first attempt was made in -1772 when the length of the hour was adjusted to 59 minutes and 1.66 second, making a G-day exactly 36 hours long. At the same tme the year was extended by 6 days to make it as long as a T-year[*]. 2 G-days became known as a 'thrice' and contained three 24 hour days. This calendar was kept (with occasional extra leap-days whenever accumulated errors had brought it out of synch with the Gregorian calendar) for official reckonings, but the general populace gradually adapted to sleeping for two 6-hour periods ('Full Day' and 'Deep Night') and being awake for two 12-hour periods ('Ascend' and 'Descend') of every G-day. The G-day thus became a common unit of time measurement while the T-day fell into disuse. In -1354 Envoy Archim Sanchez reformed the calendar to reflect this, but stuck as closely as possible to the T-year by making the years alternately 247 and 248 (G-)days long. The Archimian calendar remains in use to this day, but with the renewed interstellar contacts in the 2nd Century Imperial the Gregorian calendar (in its Imperial incarnation) was adopted by the space professions, and the two systems have been used in parallel ever since. [*] That is, 371 days long normally and 372 days long every fourth year. This year has nothing to do with the orbital period of Gralyn around Levin, of course. For this interval the word 'orbit' is used. wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Thu Jul 28 03:18:22 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA37315; Thu, 28 Jul 1994 03:16:49 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15377; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:45:16 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15895; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:43:14 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:43:14 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280043.AA15895@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - Credits Status: RO [Typographical Note: In the paragraph 'Playtest Group Denmark' below, there are a few special characters. The 'o/' in 'So/ren' and 'So/ndergaard' is an o with a slash through it. The 'aa' in 'So/ndergaard' is really a single a with a circle above it. If possible, please use the appropriate characters for these names. An 'o' (no slash) and an 'aa' are the correct substitutes if it is absolutely necessary to do so.] About the TNE-POCKET Project TNE-POCKET is the name of an Internet mailing list. It was formed in December, 1992 as a discussion group to explore the proposed universe for Traveller: The New Era by creating a "pocket empire" in that universe. One of the goals was to remain as true as possible to the spirit and background material of Classic Traveller, while setting a stage that allows adventures that were never really practical before. The Reavers' Deep was quickly decided on for a location; this sector has probably had more material developed for it than any other location in Traveller, except for the Domain of Deneb. References were gathered, and work began with the new year. More than nine million bytes of opinions, arguments, discussions, and creative writing ensued in the year and a half that followed. The mailing list still exists, and undergoes periodic bursts of activity. George Herbert created and administers the list. You can send mail to the list by addressing internet e-mail to TNE-POCKET@ocf.berkeley.edu. Administrative requests (to be added or removed from the list, for example) should be addressed to TNE-POCKET-REQUEST@ocf.berkeley.edu. Contributors to the project (in alphabetic order by first name) are: Bertil "Deckplans" Jonell, Burton Choinski, Chris Olson, Corran J. Webster, Curtis Peer, Dane Johnson, Dave Kennard, David "Mr David R Armour" Armour, Dennis Collver, Guy "Derek Wildstar" Garnett, Ed Sharpe, G.C.J. Timm, George "Pendang" Herbert, Matt "Goldman of Chaos" Goldman, Hans Rancke-Madsen, Andrew "Ineluki Seyt-Hamakha" Akins, John "Halifax Napier" Lewis, Judith Meng, Joseph "Starmaps" Heck, John "Particle Accelerator" Bogan, Jonathan Thierman, Keith Martin, Kelly St.Clair, Kent Landfield, Mark F. Cook, Mark Urbin, Mike "Near Miss" Metlay, Mike Basinger, Mitch "Ted7" Schwartz, Robert Piper, Ryan G. Faith, Sean C. "Patrick Angus Flynn" O'Toole, Scott "2G" Kellogg, Shalom Zaidfeld, Steve Gibbons, Steve and Cynthia Higginbotham, Steven Bonneville, Steven Eric Schwarts, Theresa Verity, Tony Zbaraschuk. The following contributors left only their e-mail addresses: 8841470@hydra.maths.unsw.EDU.AU, "Keeper Of The Lint" darkstar@chopin.udel.edu, LTG3878@RIGEL.TAMU.EDU, gt6963c@prism.gatech.edu, langsl@hhcs.gov.au, and uunet!violin.att.com!plb. Special Thanks to Joseph Heck, who created the starmaps and charts for us, and Bertil Jonell who drew the deckplans of the GUESS Fidelity. Playtest Group Denmark: Lars "Chuck Browne" Boye, So/ren "Espoy" Juul, Kaare "Thomas Honoko" Myltoft, Flemming "Hacbert Weinstein" Rasch, Morten "'Marvel'" So/ndergaard, refereed by Hans Rancke-Madsen. Playtest Group USA: D. Glenn "Espray" Arthur Jr., Mike "Henri Kranke" Davidson, Chuck "Dr. Q. Frederick Estervliet" Hamilton, Greg "Rocky Terranova" Hara, John "Halifax Napier" Lewis, David "Stephan Kendall" Rodger, refereed by Guy Garnett. Last, but certainly not least, we'd also like to thank J. Andrew Keith, co-creator (with his brother, William H. Keith) of Reavers' Deep, for giving us kind permission to work with the Reavers' Deep material. Thanks should go to Dave Nilsen and Loren Wiseman of GDW for assisting us with news and information as the New Era took shape. Guy Garnett, for TNE-POCKET. wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Thu Jul 28 06:27:40 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA22182; Thu, 28 Jul 1994 06:26:06 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15439; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:49:37 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15906; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:47:32 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:47:32 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280047.AA15906@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - The Gralyn Union Status: RO The Gralyn Union: A Pocket Empire for Aoreriyya Written by the TNE-POCKET discussion group, compiled by Guy Garnett. Primary Contributors: Corran J. Webster and Hans Rancke-Madsen. "Anybody got a light?" That is the question everyone has been asking themselves since those fateful few days, 5 years ago. Is there anyone else out there? Will we see the blue glow of a materializing jump grid tomorrow? Will the Imperium save us? Surely *someone* must have escaped the ravages of this computer virus? But still, this begs the question. "Has anybody got a light?" We must acknowledge that there are none of the great governments left; for surely we would have been visited by their emissaries. Their blazes of glory have been extinguished by this virus as surely as a bonfire by a tsunami. There is no Imperium, nor even its shattered pieces. There is no Aslan Hierate. The Solomani Confederation lies in ashes. For all we know even the distant K'kree and Zhodani empires may be fading into memory as we speak. Perhaps there are worlds which have escaped these ravages, but we must accept that they are either too far away or too beset by their own problems to help us. Maybe there are distant worlds who keep the flame of interstellar civilization bright, who through skill or luck have managed to avoid this disaster, but it may be centuries before their light reaches this corner of Charted Space. And still we ask, "Anybody got a light?" We here on Gralyn have weathered this storm well. Surely, times have been hard, but think of all the times when, if we had been a little less lucky, the few survivors would have been scrounging a meagre existence among the ruined remains of this city; picking at the bones of what would have been our dead society. We hold what is, if not a light, a spark, and it is our duty to ourselves and our children, and our children's children, to protect that spark, to kindle it, to turn it into a bright beacon of hope, and, perhaps, to shed a little light on our small corner of the universe! And when you ask yourselves "Anybody got a light?", remember that *we*, the people of Gralyn, have that light! --- Alyss Lim, first Chair of Gralyn, in her Inaugural Speech, 1137 The Gralyn Union In 1200, the Gralyn Union consists of five inhabited worlds, located in two star systems. The majority of the Union's population lives on Gralyn, a comfortable world in the Gralyn system. A significant minority are Droyne, who reside on Gralyn's moon Askoapoy. Although they make up only a small percentage of the Union's population, Droyne technicians and scientists have been particularly important in recovering lost technological skills. Gralyn System profile Primary: Levin. M0 V. Luminosity 0.45. Mass 0.489. Companion: Dimoro. K5 VI. Luminosity 0.40. Mass 0.330. Orbit 9. Levin: Orbit Name UPP Pop 0 Gralyn B758848-9 J Ri 1 40 Askoapoy A488608-A Fa Re 2 1 Levin Beta YS00000-0 9 Dimoro Dimoro: Orbit Name UPP Pop 0 Coonabarabran G00036B-9 J 4 1 Pearl SGG 3 Bowser H838000-9 4 Hastings Y769000-0 8 Harold Y650000-0 55 William Y510000-0 The Gralyn system presently holds 3 inhabited worlds, Gralyn, Askoapoy and the Coonabarabran belt. Bowser is listed as having a spaceport, actually the remains of an old reaver base now run down after a thousand years of neglect. Gralyn and Askoapoy form the twin hubs of the expanding Union. Botany Bay System profile Primary: Carmondy. F5 V. Luminosity 1.37. Mass 1.3. Orbit Name UWP Pop 0 Firefly Y410000-0 5 Firefly A YS00000-0 8 Firefly B YS00000-0 30 Firefly C YS00000-0 1 Resolution Belt Y000303-9 As Lo Ni 2 2 La Perouse H750000-0 3 Forth Y400000-0 4 Yuan Y200000-0 5 Botany Bay D643534-5 Ni Po 3 12 Cook H112000-0 Botany Bay is not a particularly well-endowed system, with no gas giant and only marginally habitable worlds. Two worlds are inhabited, the Resolution Belt, and Botany Bay itself. Prior to the collapse, Resolution Belt was not considered worth commercial exploitation. Belters from Gralyn have begun to mine the Resolution Belt, and although productive by Gralyn Union standards, no major finds or rich lodes have been reported. Botany Bay and its small moon, Cook, are the only worlds with free-standing water (or ice) on their surfaces. It is here that most of the human activity in the system takes place. Botany Bay itself is not an ideal world, but it is certainly the only earth-like world in the system, and indeed has its own native lifeforms. Gralyn History Although Askoapoy has native life, it is believed that the Droyne presence on this world is the result of Ancient activity. Archaeologists working with the Droyne on Askoapoy have dated the first colonization of the Gralyn system to some 300,000 years ago, when a colony of Droyne was established there by the Ancients. This colony survived the Final War that ended the Ancients' domination of known space and slowly recovered until its technological society had been reestablished. Explorers from the Rule of Man first entered the system circa -2000. The discovery of the Droyne on Askoapoy sparked some excitement and a contact mission was sent by the Governor of Daibei. Friendly relations were established, and plans made to create a combined embassy, research base and trading enclave. The enclave, initially a couple of hundred people, was established in -1893, but by -1780 the population was well over 1000. The Collapse of the Rule of Man stranded the humans in the Gralyn system. The last starship to leave Askoapoy was scoutship, sent to petition for an evacuation mission, but it was never heard from again. Askoapoy, never a part of the Vilani Empire or the Rule of Man, felt the Long Night less than many worlds. The only real effect was simple isolation. With the loss of support from back home the human enclave changed from a source of revenue for their Droyne hosts to a drain on community resources. The Droyne leaders wanted to rid themselves of this liability, but were reluctant to let the humans establish themselves permanently on Askoapoy, mostly because they believed the humans would begin to expand uncontrollably once released from the restraints of the enclave. The solution which was found was the primary planet of Askoapoy. Kraln was too cool for the comfort of Droyne, but was within acceptable human tolerances. The Droyne had had sublight space transport for a long time although it was considered wasteful and seldomly used. An old freighter was put into commission and the humans transferred to Kraln (which human tongues eventually corrupted to "Gralyn"). Many major features of Gralyn, including the continent of Merinu are still called by the corrupted Droyne names originally given to them by astronomers on Askoapoy. Throughout the Long Night regular flights connected the two worlds, and with the help of the Droyne, Gralyn quickly expanded beyond the initial colony, and prospered. Towards the end of the Long Night raids by Reavers became increasingly common and Gralyn and Askoapoy developed a joint system defence boat network to defend themselves. This system was very effective, and soon the Reavers learned to avoid the system. Having this space navy in place and toughened by the Reavers, Gralyn was able to defend itself against Aslan colonists, and weathered the Long Night well. During the Imperial Era, Gralyn continued much as before. With the Peace of Ftahalr, the world found itself in a good location on the Drinsaar Loop to profit from trade between the powerful Third Imperium and the Aslan Hierate. Smugglers also used the Loop, to move contraband between the Imperium and the Solomani Confederation. The Rebellion had relatively little direct effect on Gralyn. Trade, particularly the long-distance "overhead" trade that made up a large fraction of Gralyn's business, began to dwindle. When the Hard Times came, Gralyn was essentially run by the bureaucracy, run by a body called the Steering Committee. The interface lines from the Imperium stopped passing through, but the economy of the Aslan Hierate was still healthy, and a deal struck by a young diplomat, Alyss Lim, created a favourable trade relationship with a prominent clan. This achievement marked the start of her meteoric rise through the bureaucracy of the Gralyn Assemblage. When the Virus hit Gralyn, the effect on the planet was devastating. It was in the first few hours that Alyss Lim turned the fate of Gralyn. While most other Steering Committee members were despairing over the fall of civilization, she was treating it as the ultimate challenge of her career. She was able to identify the most pressing problems, and to rally support from the general populace to help out. Within a week, the other members of the Steering Committee had voted her into the chair, and she had won the hearts and minds of the people. It was Lim, as Minister for the Exterior, who first noticed the increasing malfunctions of high tech equipment and traced them back to the starport. Correctly deducing that the cause was a computer virus brought in by starships, she convinced the Steering Committee to issue the now famous "Shutdown Decree" which ordered that all computers be powered down. Although the Shutdown Decree didn't prevent systems and networks from becoming infected, it generally did prevent them from being re-infected with more advanced strains of the Virus. Most systems were infected with the common Suicider and Suicide-Inducer strains, and were shutdown before the more dangerous types could infect a large number of systems. Nevertheless, by dawn on 312-1131 a full scale battle was underway between the population and the machinery. By the next day 10,000 people had died and more than 30,000 people were injured, but the Army was mopping up the last few virus infected computers. Although most people had survived, society was in tatters, the economy dead on its feet and people were on the verge of panic. Fortunately the basic necessities of life were not in short supply. Due to Gralyn's short growing season, ordinary stockpiles of food were sufficient to last half a standard year. The original intention had been to protect against famine due to the loss of crops in a series of bad summers. Now, it meant that the heavily urbanized population would not starve. Calm was maintained by the Army, and by a stirring speech by Alyss Lim. This remarkably frank speech both calmed the fears and strengthened the resolve of the population. Alyss Lim had prevented Gralyn from perishing in the first heavy blow. The archives of a local religious sect called the Aragishge Drandirdikun (the Architects of Tomorrow) enabled the world to adapt to the drastically lower technology imposed by the lack of reliable computers. More than a millenium before, when Gralyn was passing through a technological slump caused by a repressive government, this organisation had recorded many Industrial and Pre-stellar technologies on paper. Its archives now proved a treasure-travel of information safe from the virus. Thus in the immediate post-virus years, Gralyn's efforts revolved around feeding itself and attempting to get the economy back on its feet. The first few years were very hard, with people living just above the starvation line, with insufficient power to heat homes, and with poor medical care. It is estimated that over a million people died of secondary effects of the virus, mainly the very young, the old and the sick. Law and order was kept by the Army, sometimes with very little compassion. During this time, the government of Alyss Lim was at best a charismatic dictatorship, at worst a police state. After 5 years or so, some degree of normality started to return to Gralyn. Worn out by 5 hard years of governing and hearing the first sounds of resentment against her rule, Alyss Lim started to reshape the government of Gralyn from dictatorship to democracy. In 1137, Alyss Lim was elected unopposed to her first 5 year term as Chair of Gralyn. In the new government, the populace elected the Ministerial Councils for each Ministry and each Council then elected a representative to the Steering Committee,which was chained by the Chair of Gralyn. This system remains virtually intact to this day. During this first term, Chair Lim set the agenda for recovering the lost technologies and directed huge amounts of government money towards research and development, specifically directed to two goals - the first to overcome the severe shortage of computers by rediscovering how to build computers, and the other to get back into space and to recontact the Droyne of Askoapoy. The complete silence from the world of Askopoy was one of the most puzzling and disturbing mysteries of the Crash. Telescopic observation showed the Droyne cities in ruins, with little evidence of rebuilding, but also showed signs of continued agricultural production and other indications that many Droyne had survived the disaster. The first program met with only limited success. Gralyn had always imported its computer equipment. The only computer manufacturers on planet were assembly plants that created customized systems from imported parts. Too much knowledge had been lost in the crash, or was never present on Gralyn at all, and this meant restarting virtually from scratch. Gralyn's local computer industry remains at about TL-6, with only slow advancement. The program redirected its efforts toward understanding the existing computers, and had more success. Maintenance, repair, and modification of relic computers is commonplace. The space program met with much better success, with the first Gralynite in space in 1146, shortly before Chair Lim's retirement due to poor health at the end of her second term. Alyss Lim's successor campaigned and was elected on the popularity of the space program. Increased funding meant that it was a mere 6 years before the first mission was launched to Askoapoy. Unfortunately Alyss Lim never saw this happen. In early 1047 Alyss Lim was diagnosed as having a rare form of cancer. A cure was known, but the technology was insufficient to complete it. The first mission to Askoapoy was a shock to the Gralynites. Although a large proportion of the world's infrastructure was damaged in the crash, the unique racial memory of the Droyne ensured that little knowledge was lost than was the case on Gralyn. With their small population base, and lack of natural resources, the Droyne lacked the ability to rebuild their world. Believing that they had nothing to trade for Human assistance, and that any possible Human survivors would be at least as devastated as they were, the Droyne leaders had decided to invest their meagre resources in other projects. Much of the effort of Gralyn's space program, now known as the Space Transport Authority, during the 50's and early 60's was directed toward the rehabilitation of Askoapoy and the reestablishment of regular trade links. Droyne knowledge and technical expertise were traded for Human labor and raw materials. It was during this period a very few psionic Droyne proved able to detect an active Virus in infected computers. This computer empathy was useful in the effort to meet the demand for computers which could only be met by salvaging pre-crash computers. The growing trade with Askoapoy was the spark that finally kicked Gralyn's economy out of the doldrums and into rapid growth. The expanding interplanetary trade and growing technical civilization attracted the attention of something that called itself Juniper. This entity, the Vampire that infested the ships and bases that mined Coonabarabran Belt, was hungry for other computers to infect. Sensing a technical civilization that could supply its needs, Juniper planned its expeditions to Gralyn with the patience only a mechanical mind can muster. The first attack, a hit-and-run raid in 1158, came as a complete sunrise to the spacefarers of Gralyn. But the long distances between Gralyn and Coonabarabran worked to Gralyn's advantage. Juniper couldn't exploit its initial successes, and Gralyn got a needed reprieve to prepare its defenses. A series of hit-and-run raids over the next decade were deflected by Gralyn's Planetary Defense Forces, operating in conjunction with the STA. Although no decisive victories were gained, the defenders usually managed to drive off the Vampires before they could damage Gralyn itself. In 1167 and 1168, Contra-grav and HEPLaR technology was regained, in part from the examination of disabled Vampire ships. This enormously increased the efficiency of Gralyn's spaceships, and a building program to replace or upgrade all of the fleet was started. Long-range sensor tracks of the attacking ships placed their origin in the Coonabarabran Belt. With the new, long-range ships, the STA planned and executed three missions to the Belt between 1168 and 1170. All three missions failed, with the loss of all their crews and ships. The magnitude of the disaster prompted a reorganization of Gralyn's defense establishment. The Gralyn Union Naval Service was established, and given responsibility for all operations outside the atmosphere. A major building program was started, to equip the Navy with purpose-built warships of new and sophisticated design. Shortly after its founding, the Navy decisively defeated a large Vampire raid. Realizing that Vampires would continue to harass Gralyn, the Navy began planning for a serious invasion of the Coonabarabran Belt. After six years of preparation, the invasion force was launched in 1178, and later that year won what was later called the Battle of Coonabarabran, breaking the strength of the Vampire fleet. Mopping up became a full-time occupation for the Navy in the following years, as there were many more virus infected ships which did not join the battle. To improve the supply situation in the Belt, the Navy began a research program, intended to produce an in-system jump drive. A similar project, intended to retain interstellar travel capability, was already being organized by the STA. After several clashes over funding and priorities, the Jump Research Institute was established as an independent research effort. Aided by information from Human archives, and skills preserved in the Droyne racial memory, several intact pre-collapse starships were repaired, the first completing trials in 1189, too late to be of much help to the Navy. The STA recontacted Botany Bay, and trade relations are soon established. Several more starships were repaired over the next few years, and regular trade with Botany Bay improved the economies of both worlds. Interstellar trade and the access to resources (particularly high-grade ores from Botany Bay) spurred the development of a local shipbuilding industry, and increased interest in additional exploration. Unfortunately the first two ships, both backed by commercial interests, to venture to Aikhiy were lost. Backlash from these events, coupled with repeated failures to produce a reliable, all-locally-built starship, caused the Gralyn Union to declare a 10-year moratorium on exploration in 1191. In the meantime, resources were devoted to perfecting a jump drive that could function with the available computer technology. Politically, Gralyn, Askoapoy, and Botany Bay cemented their relationship by forming the Gralyn Union in 1195. For most practical intents and purposes, the Gralyn Union is a re-established Gralyn Assemblage. However, there are important differences in the selection of the councils that govern the Union. These changes allow representatives of the smaller full-member worlds, Askoapoy and Botany Bay, more voice in the Steering Committee than their population would indicate. In the new Gralyn Union, each full-member world is guaranteed at least one seat on the Steering Committee. However, a separate council responsible for taxation and appropriation, the Ways and Means Committee, in which votes are weighted by population, acts as a check on the Steering Committee. Botany Bay History Although frequently visited as a refueling point, the Botany Bay system was not colonized until well into the era of the Third Imperium. During the Aslan Border wars it served as an impromptu supply base and refueling station for the Imperials. After the Peace of Ftahlar and under the terms of that treaty, the base was finally removed and the system remained uninhabited for over a century. In 492 a large Solomani corporation called Aphelion Enterprises established a research base on Botany Bay. Aphelion Enterprises was based on Wu (Magyar 0203), but operated in large areas of the Magyar and Daibei sectors. Aphelion Enterprises had interests ranging from genetic engineering to transportation to mining. It was the mining subdivision which initiated the activity on Botany Bay. A survey had indicated that there might be significant quantities of lanthanum on that world. Further investigation revealed that this was the case, and so a small mining operation was established. The mine proved to be a flop, however, as the readily-accessable ore quickly ran out, long before the initial set-up costs had been covered. Aphelion Enterprises continued to run the mine at a loss for tax purposes, but cut the staff back to a bare minimum. In 588, Terra finally joined the Third Imperium. By this time, many portions of Daibei, and parts of Magyar, had already been incorporated into the expanding empire. Aphelion Enterprises found much of its activities falling under Imperial law, and in particular the Imperial regulations on genetic experimentation (especially with sophonts) were considered far too restrictive by the corporation's executives. The solution was to find a world which was outside the Imperium and likely to be for some considerable time. Botany Bay was settled on, and became a major research establishment. Much of the effort of the facility was spent on creating genetically modified humans designed for specific worlds, usually as colonists, as well as some uplifting of non-sentient species. One of the first efforts was to genetically engineer workers suitable for the environment of Botany Bay itself. With lungs specifically designed to cope with the thin, tainted atmosphere and a physiognomy designed for the lower gravity of Botany Bay, the new workers were used to re-open the mines. Aphelion Enterprises flourished during the next couple of hundred years, even through the turmoil of the Imperial Civil War, largely through it's transport division acting as a large-scale interface line between the Imperium and the surrounding worlds in the Solomani sphere. The gradual expansion of the Imperium and the declaration of the Solomani Autonomous Region in 704 caused a loss in profitability of the interface trade, and a corresponding slide in the fortunes of Aphelion. Aphelion attempted to expand its profitable coreward routes, but stiff competition with Tukera Lines made this a slow process. Deteriorating relations between the fledgling Solomani Confederation and the Imperium dealt Aphelion its final blow. When war broke out in 988, Aphelion found itself on the wrong side of the border from its major profit centers, and was forced into bankruptcy. Most of the management of Botany Bay were recalled to Terra with the bankruptcy. The remaining inhabitants were effectively stranded, but for most Botany Bay was their home. When it became obvious that the remaining management were not sympathetic to the concerns of the people, there was a quiet coup by a coalition of workers and younger scientists. That was not the end of the difficulties, however. The coup effectively ended what little help the world was receiving from Aphelion, disrupting the supply of most manufactured items. The level of technology swiftly fell as more and more effort was required to provide basic services to the population. After a few years, it was apparent that Botany Bay was not viable as an independent colony. It was clear that Botany Bay would soon collapse to a pre-industrial culture without outside assistance. The de-facto government of Botany Bay appealed to Gralyn, which was their major customer for ore, for help. At first the Gralynites were loath to do so, for fear of antagonizing either the Imperials or the Solomani. Eventually, the pressure of public opinion convinced the bureaucrats of Gralyn that supporting Botany Bay would save much misery. The eventual system agreed upon was that Botany Bay would become part of the Gralyn Assemblage, with seats on the Assemblage, but with its government effectively run by the Assemblage as a whole. With the assistance of Gralyn, the slide of Botany Bay into barbarism was halted. Upon the conclusion of the Solomani Rim War, attempts were made by both the Imperium and the Solomani Confederation to regain control of the mines on Botany Bay through legal means. However the fact that Botany Bay was outside both states and had rebelled of its own accord, meant that they had little legal recourse, coupled with the sensitive politics of the region, ruling out any sort of overt action, to make Botany Bay too much effort to worry about. Botany Bay prospered under the guidance of the Gralyn Assemblage and swelled from a population of several thousand at independence to almost 300,000 just before the start of the Final War. The Collapse affected Botany Bay less than it did Gralyn. With a relatively low level of technology, the direct effects of the virus were limited to the starport. Gralyn's "Shutdown Decree" didn't reach Botany Bay, and when starships from that world stopped arriving, the inhabitants felt abandoned for the second time in their history. However, when news of the Virus spread across the world, many understood that Gralyn was unlikely to be able to come to their aid. Several desparate attempts to get offworld or produce a self-sustaining sealed environment were made by groups of offworlders. None of these attempts were to be successfull, and when their filter masks or other life support ran out, these individuals perished. Botany Bay's larger labor force, with a more diverse skill base allowed it to succeed where it had previously failed. When starships from Gralyn returned after a 70-year hiatus, there was little difficulty resuming trade relations. Gralyn still had manufactured products that Botany Bay wanted, and Botany Bay's mines still held valuable minerals for Gralyn. It was the negotiators from Botany Bay, however, that gathered support and solidarity for the new structure of the Gralyn Union from the various Droyne factions. During the long diplomatic discussions in 1194, the technically unsopisticated representatives of Botany Bay showed themselves to be shrewd negotiatiors and skillful coalition builders. wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Thu Jul 28 09:24:58 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA28643; Thu, 28 Jul 1994 09:23:22 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15526; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:55:44 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15956; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:53:39 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:53:39 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280053.AA15956@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - Timekeeping on Gralyn [Sidebar] Status: RO [Sidebar material, by Hans Rancke-Madsen.] TIME ON GRALYN In the early days of the Gralyn settlement an effort was made to stick to the Old Terran time measurements and calendar. It quickly became obvious, however, that some adjustments would be necessary to adapt to Gralyn's 35 hour 25 minute day. The first attempt was made in -1772 when the length of the hour was adjusted to 59 minutes and 1.66 second, making a G-day exactly 36 hours long. At the same tme the year was extended by 6 days to make it as long as a T-year[*]. 2 G-days became known as a 'thrice' and contained three 24 hour days. This calendar was kept (with occasional extra leap-days whenever accumulated errors had brought it out of synch with the Gregorian calendar) for official reckonings, but the general populace gradually adapted to sleeping for two 6-hour periods ('Full Day' and 'Deep Night') and being awake for two 12-hour periods ('Ascend' and 'Descend') of every G-day. The G-day thus became a common unit of time measurement while the T-day fell into disuse. In -1354 Envoy Archim Sanchez reformed the calendar to reflect this, but stuck as closely as possible to the T-year by making the years alternately 247 and 248 (G-)days long. The Archimian calendar remains in use to this day, but with the renewed interstellar contacts in the 2nd Century Imperial the Gregorian calendar (in its Imperial incarnation) was adopted by the space professions, and the two systems have been used in parallel ever since. [*] That is, 371 days long normally and 372 days long every fourth year. This year has nothing to do with the orbital period of Gralyn around Levin, of course. For this interval the word 'orbit' is used. wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Thu Jul 28 10:59:51 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA27356; Thu, 28 Jul 1994 10:59:43 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15439; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:49:37 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15906; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:47:32 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:47:32 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280047.AA15906@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - The Gralyn Union Status: RO The Gralyn Union: A Pocket Empire for Aoreriyya Written by the TNE-POCKET discussion group, compiled by Guy Garnett. Primary Contributors: Corran J. Webster and Hans Rancke-Madsen. "Anybody got a light?" That is the question everyone has been asking themselves since those fateful few days, 5 years ago. Is there anyone else out there? Will we see the blue glow of a materializing jump grid tomorrow? Will the Imperium save us? Surely *someone* must have escaped the ravages of this computer virus? But still, this begs the question. "Has anybody got a light?" We must acknowledge that there are none of the great governments left; for surely we would have been visited by their emissaries. Their blazes of glory have been extinguished by this virus as surely as a bonfire by a tsunami. There is no Imperium, nor even its shattered pieces. There is no Aslan Hierate. The Solomani Confederation lies in ashes. For all we know even the distant K'kree and Zhodani empires may be fading into memory as we speak. Perhaps there are worlds which have escaped these ravages, but we must accept that they are either too far away or too beset by their own problems to help us. Maybe there are distant worlds who keep the flame of interstellar civilization bright, who through skill or luck have managed to avoid this disaster, but it may be centuries before their light reaches this corner of Charted Space. And still we ask, "Anybody got a light?" We here on Gralyn have weathered this storm well. Surely, times have been hard, but think of all the times when, if we had been a little less lucky, the few survivors would have been scrounging a meagre existence among the ruined remains of this city; picking at the bones of what would have been our dead society. We hold what is, if not a light, a spark, and it is our duty to ourselves and our children, and our children's children, to protect that spark, to kindle it, to turn it into a bright beacon of hope, and, perhaps, to shed a little light on our small corner of the universe! And when you ask yourselves "Anybody got a light?", remember that *we*, the people of Gralyn, have that light! --- Alyss Lim, first Chair of Gralyn, in her Inaugural Speech, 1137 The Gralyn Union In 1200, the Gralyn Union consists of five inhabited worlds, located in two star systems. The majority of the Union's population lives on Gralyn, a comfortable world in the Gralyn system. A significant minority are Droyne, who reside on Gralyn's moon Askoapoy. Although they make up only a small percentage of the Union's population, Droyne technicians and scientists have been particularly important in recovering lost technological skills. Gralyn System profile Primary: Levin. M0 V. Luminosity 0.45. Mass 0.489. Companion: Dimoro. K5 VI. Luminosity 0.40. Mass 0.330. Orbit 9. Levin: Orbit Name UPP Pop 0 Gralyn B758848-9 J Ri 1 40 Askoapoy A488608-A Fa Re 2 1 Levin Beta YS00000-0 9 Dimoro Dimoro: Orbit Name UPP Pop 0 Coonabarabran G00036B-9 J 4 1 Pearl SGG 3 Bowser H838000-9 4 Hastings Y769000-0 8 Harold Y650000-0 55 William Y510000-0 The Gralyn system presently holds 3 inhabited worlds, Gralyn, Askoapoy and the Coonabarabran belt. Bowser is listed as having a spaceport, actually the remains of an old reaver base now run down after a thousand years of neglect. Gralyn and Askoapoy form the twin hubs of the expanding Union. Botany Bay System profile Primary: Carmondy. F5 V. Luminosity 1.37. Mass 1.3. Orbit Name UWP Pop 0 Firefly Y410000-0 5 Firefly A YS00000-0 8 Firefly B YS00000-0 30 Firefly C YS00000-0 1 Resolution Belt Y000303-9 As Lo Ni 2 2 La Perouse H750000-0 3 Forth Y400000-0 4 Yuan Y200000-0 5 Botany Bay D643534-5 Ni Po 3 12 Cook H112000-0 Botany Bay is not a particularly well-endowed system, with no gas giant and only marginally habitable worlds. Two worlds are inhabited, the Resolution Belt, and Botany Bay itself. Prior to the collapse, Resolution Belt was not considered worth commercial exploitation. Belters from Gralyn have begun to mine the Resolution Belt, and although productive by Gralyn Union standards, no major finds or rich lodes have been reported. Botany Bay and its small moon, Cook, are the only worlds with free-standing water (or ice) on their surfaces. It is here that most of the human activity in the system takes place. Botany Bay itself is not an ideal world, but it is certainly the only earth-like world in the system, and indeed has its own native lifeforms. Gralyn History Although Askoapoy has native life, it is believed that the Droyne presence on this world is the result of Ancient activity. Archaeologists working with the Droyne on Askoapoy have dated the first colonization of the Gralyn system to some 300,000 years ago, when a colony of Droyne was established there by the Ancients. This colony survived the Final War that ended the Ancients' domination of known space and slowly recovered until its technological society had been reestablished. Explorers from the Rule of Man first entered the system circa -2000. The discovery of the Droyne on Askoapoy sparked some excitement and a contact mission was sent by the Governor of Daibei. Friendly relations were established, and plans made to create a combined embassy, research base and trading enclave. The enclave, initially a couple of hundred people, was established in -1893, but by -1780 the population was well over 1000. The Collapse of the Rule of Man stranded the humans in the Gralyn system. The last starship to leave Askoapoy was scoutship, sent to petition for an evacuation mission, but it was never heard from again. Askoapoy, never a part of the Vilani Empire or the Rule of Man, felt the Long Night less than many worlds. The only real effect was simple isolation. With the loss of support from back home the human enclave changed from a source of revenue for their Droyne hosts to a drain on community resources. The Droyne leaders wanted to rid themselves of this liability, but were reluctant to let the humans establish themselves permanently on Askoapoy, mostly because they believed the humans would begin to expand uncontrollably once released from the restraints of the enclave. The solution which was found was the primary planet of Askoapoy. Kraln was too cool for the comfort of Droyne, but was within acceptable human tolerances. The Droyne had had sublight space transport for a long time although it was considered wasteful and seldomly used. An old freighter was put into commission and the humans transferred to Kraln (which human tongues eventually corrupted to "Gralyn"). Many major features of Gralyn, including the continent of Merinu are still called by the corrupted Droyne names originally given to them by astronomers on Askoapoy. Throughout the Long Night regular flights connected the two worlds, and with the help of the Droyne, Gralyn quickly expanded beyond the initial colony, and prospered. Towards the end of the Long Night raids by Reavers became increasingly common and Gralyn and Askoapoy developed a joint system defence boat network to defend themselves. This system was very effective, and soon the Reavers learned to avoid the system. Having this space navy in place and toughened by the Reavers, Gralyn was able to defend itself against Aslan colonists, and weathered the Long Night well. During the Imperial Era, Gralyn continued much as before. With the Peace of Ftahalr, the world found itself in a good location on the Drinsaar Loop to profit from trade between the powerful Third Imperium and the Aslan Hierate. Smugglers also used the Loop, to move contraband between the Imperium and the Solomani Confederation. The Rebellion had relatively little direct effect on Gralyn. Trade, particularly the long-distance "overhead" trade that made up a large fraction of Gralyn's business, began to dwindle. When the Hard Times came, Gralyn was essentially run by the bureaucracy, run by a body called the Steering Committee. The interface lines from the Imperium stopped passing through, but the economy of the Aslan Hierate was still healthy, and a deal struck by a young diplomat, Alyss Lim, created a favourable trade relationship with a prominent clan. This achievement marked the start of her meteoric rise through the bureaucracy of the Gralyn Assemblage. When the Virus hit Gralyn, the effect on the planet was devastating. It was in the first few hours that Alyss Lim turned the fate of Gralyn. While most other Steering Committee members were despairing over the fall of civilization, she was treating it as the ultimate challenge of her career. She was able to identify the most pressing problems, and to rally support from the general populace to help out. Within a week, the other members of the Steering Committee had voted her into the chair, and she had won the hearts and minds of the people. It was Lim, as Minister for the Exterior, who first noticed the increasing malfunctions of high tech equipment and traced them back to the starport. Correctly deducing that the cause was a computer virus brought in by starships, she convinced the Steering Committee to issue the now famous "Shutdown Decree" which ordered that all computers be powered down. Although the Shutdown Decree didn't prevent systems and networks from becoming infected, it generally did prevent them from being re-infected with more advanced strains of the Virus. Most systems were infected with the common Suicider and Suicide-Inducer strains, and were shutdown before the more dangerous types could infect a large number of systems. Nevertheless, by dawn on 312-1131 a full scale battle was underway between the population and the machinery. By the next day 10,000 people had died and more than 30,000 people were injured, but the Army was mopping up the last few virus infected computers. Although most people had survived, society was in tatters, the economy dead on its feet and people were on the verge of panic. Fortunately the basic necessities of life were not in short supply. Due to Gralyn's short growing season, ordinary stockpiles of food were sufficient to last half a standard year. The original intention had been to protect against famine due to the loss of crops in a series of bad summers. Now, it meant that the heavily urbanized population would not starve. Calm was maintained by the Army, and by a stirring speech by Alyss Lim. This remarkably frank speech both calmed the fears and strengthened the resolve of the population. Alyss Lim had prevented Gralyn from perishing in the first heavy blow. The archives of a local religious sect called the Aragishge Drandirdikun (the Architects of Tomorrow) enabled the world to adapt to the drastically lower technology imposed by the lack of reliable computers. More than a millenium before, when Gralyn was passing through a technological slump caused by a repressive government, this organisation had recorded many Industrial and Pre-stellar technologies on paper. Its archives now proved a treasure-travel of information safe from the virus. Thus in the immediate post-virus years, Gralyn's efforts revolved around feeding itself and attempting to get the economy back on its feet. The first few years were very hard, with people living just above the starvation line, with insufficient power to heat homes, and with poor medical care. It is estimated that over a million people died of secondary effects of the virus, mainly the very young, the old and the sick. Law and order was kept by the Army, sometimes with very little compassion. During this time, the government of Alyss Lim was at best a charismatic dictatorship, at worst a police state. After 5 years or so, some degree of normality started to return to Gralyn. Worn out by 5 hard years of governing and hearing the first sounds of resentment against her rule, Alyss Lim started to reshape the government of Gralyn from dictatorship to democracy. In 1137, Alyss Lim was elected unopposed to her first 5 year term as Chair of Gralyn. In the new government, the populace elected the Ministerial Councils for each Ministry and each Council then elected a representative to the Steering Committee,which was chained by the Chair of Gralyn. This system remains virtually intact to this day. During this first term, Chair Lim set the agenda for recovering the lost technologies and directed huge amounts of government money towards research and development, specifically directed to two goals - the first to overcome the severe shortage of computers by rediscovering how to build computers, and the other to get back into space and to recontact the Droyne of Askoapoy. The complete silence from the world of Askopoy was one of the most puzzling and disturbing mysteries of the Crash. Telescopic observation showed the Droyne cities in ruins, with little evidence of rebuilding, but also showed signs of continued agricultural production and other indications that many Droyne had survived the disaster. The first program met with only limited success. Gralyn had always imported its computer equipment. The only computer manufacturers on planet were assembly plants that created customized systems from imported parts. Too much knowledge had been lost in the crash, or was never present on Gralyn at all, and this meant restarting virtually from scratch. Gralyn's local computer industry remains at about TL-6, with only slow advancement. The program redirected its efforts toward understanding the existing computers, and had more success. Maintenance, repair, and modification of relic computers is commonplace. The space program met with much better success, with the first Gralynite in space in 1146, shortly before Chair Lim's retirement due to poor health at the end of her second term. Alyss Lim's successor campaigned and was elected on the popularity of the space program. Increased funding meant that it was a mere 6 years before the first mission was launched to Askoapoy. Unfortunately Alyss Lim never saw this happen. In early 1047 Alyss Lim was diagnosed as having a rare form of cancer. A cure was known, but the technology was insufficient to complete it. The first mission to Askoapoy was a shock to the Gralynites. Although a large proportion of the world's infrastructure was damaged in the crash, the unique racial memory of the Droyne ensured that little knowledge was lost than was the case on Gralyn. With their small population base, and lack of natural resources, the Droyne lacked the ability to rebuild their world. Believing that they had nothing to trade for Human assistance, and that any possible Human survivors would be at least as devastated as they were, the Droyne leaders had decided to invest their meagre resources in other projects. Much of the effort of Gralyn's space program, now known as the Space Transport Authority, during the 50's and early 60's was directed toward the rehabilitation of Askoapoy and the reestablishment of regular trade links. Droyne knowledge and technical expertise were traded for Human labor and raw materials. It was during this period a very few psionic Droyne proved able to detect an active Virus in infected computers. This computer empathy was useful in the effort to meet the demand for computers which could only be met by salvaging pre-crash computers. The growing trade with Askoapoy was the spark that finally kicked Gralyn's economy out of the doldrums and into rapid growth. The expanding interplanetary trade and growing technical civilization attracted the attention of something that called itself Juniper. This entity, the Vampire that infested the ships and bases that mined Coonabarabran Belt, was hungry for other computers to infect. Sensing a technical civilization that could supply its needs, Juniper planned its expeditions to Gralyn with the patience only a mechanical mind can muster. The first attack, a hit-and-run raid in 1158, came as a complete sunrise to the spacefarers of Gralyn. But the long distances between Gralyn and Coonabarabran worked to Gralyn's advantage. Juniper couldn't exploit its initial successes, and Gralyn got a needed reprieve to prepare its defenses. A series of hit-and-run raids over the next decade were deflected by Gralyn's Planetary Defense Forces, operating in conjunction with the STA. Although no decisive victories were gained, the defenders usually managed to drive off the Vampires before they could damage Gralyn itself. In 1167 and 1168, Contra-grav and HEPLaR technology was regained, in part from the examination of disabled Vampire ships. This enormously increased the efficiency of Gralyn's spaceships, and a building program to replace or upgrade all of the fleet was started. Long-range sensor tracks of the attacking ships placed their origin in the Coonabarabran Belt. With the new, long-range ships, the STA planned and executed three missions to the Belt between 1168 and 1170. All three missions failed, with the loss of all their crews and ships. The magnitude of the disaster prompted a reorganization of Gralyn's defense establishment. The Gralyn Union Naval Service was established, and given responsibility for all operations outside the atmosphere. A major building program was started, to equip the Navy with purpose-built warships of new and sophisticated design. Shortly after its founding, the Navy decisively defeated a large Vampire raid. Realizing that Vampires would continue to harass Gralyn, the Navy began planning for a serious invasion of the Coonabarabran Belt. After six years of preparation, the invasion force was launched in 1178, and later that year won what was later called the Battle of Coonabarabran, breaking the strength of the Vampire fleet. Mopping up became a full-time occupation for the Navy in the following years, as there were many more virus infected ships which did not join the battle. To improve the supply situation in the Belt, the Navy began a research program, intended to produce an in-system jump drive. A similar project, intended to retain interstellar travel capability, was already being organized by the STA. After several clashes over funding and priorities, the Jump Research Institute was established as an independent research effort. Aided by information from Human archives, and skills preserved in the Droyne racial memory, several intact pre-collapse starships were repaired, the first completing trials in 1189, too late to be of much help to the Navy. The STA recontacted Botany Bay, and trade relations are soon established. Several more starships were repaired over the next few years, and regular trade with Botany Bay improved the economies of both worlds. Interstellar trade and the access to resources (particularly high-grade ores from Botany Bay) spurred the development of a local shipbuilding industry, and increased interest in additional exploration. Unfortunately the first two ships, both backed by commercial interests, to venture to Aikhiy were lost. Backlash from these events, coupled with repeated failures to produce a reliable, all-locally-built starship, caused the Gralyn Union to declare a 10-year moratorium on exploration in 1191. In the meantime, resources were devoted to perfecting a jump drive that could function with the available computer technology. Politically, Gralyn, Askoapoy, and Botany Bay cemented their relationship by forming the Gralyn Union in 1195. For most practical intents and purposes, the Gralyn Union is a re-established Gralyn Assemblage. However, there are important differences in the selection of the councils that govern the Union. These changes allow representatives of the smaller full-member worlds, Askoapoy and Botany Bay, more voice in the Steering Committee than their population would indicate. In the new Gralyn Union, each full-member world is guaranteed at least one seat on the Steering Committee. However, a separate council responsible for taxation and appropriation, the Ways and Means Committee, in which votes are weighted by population, acts as a check on the Steering Committee. Botany Bay History Although frequently visited as a refueling point, the Botany Bay system was not colonized until well into the era of the Third Imperium. During the Aslan Border wars it served as an impromptu supply base and refueling station for the Imperials. After the Peace of Ftahlar and under the terms of that treaty, the base was finally removed and the system remained uninhabited for over a century. In 492 a large Solomani corporation called Aphelion Enterprises established a research base on Botany Bay. Aphelion Enterprises was based on Wu (Magyar 0203), but operated in large areas of the Magyar and Daibei sectors. Aphelion Enterprises had interests ranging from genetic engineering to transportation to mining. It was the mining subdivision which initiated the activity on Botany Bay. A survey had indicated that there might be significant quantities of lanthanum on that world. Further investigation revealed that this was the case, and so a small mining operation was established. The mine proved to be a flop, however, as the readily-accessable ore quickly ran out, long before the initial set-up costs had been covered. Aphelion Enterprises continued to run the mine at a loss for tax purposes, but cut the staff back to a bare minimum. In 588, Terra finally joined the Third Imperium. By this time, many portions of Daibei, and parts of Magyar, had already been incorporated into the expanding empire. Aphelion Enterprises found much of its activities falling under Imperial law, and in particular the Imperial regulations on genetic experimentation (especially with sophonts) were considered far too restrictive by the corporation's executives. The solution was to find a world which was outside the Imperium and likely to be for some considerable time. Botany Bay was settled on, and became a major research establishment. Much of the effort of the facility was spent on creating genetically modified humans designed for specific worlds, usually as colonists, as well as some uplifting of non-sentient species. One of the first efforts was to genetically engineer workers suitable for the environment of Botany Bay itself. With lungs specifically designed to cope with the thin, tainted atmosphere and a physiognomy designed for the lower gravity of Botany Bay, the new workers were used to re-open the mines. Aphelion Enterprises flourished during the next couple of hundred years, even through the turmoil of the Imperial Civil War, largely through it's transport division acting as a large-scale interface line between the Imperium and the surrounding worlds in the Solomani sphere. The gradual expansion of the Imperium and the declaration of the Solomani Autonomous Region in 704 caused a loss in profitability of the interface trade, and a corresponding slide in the fortunes of Aphelion. Aphelion attempted to expand its profitable coreward routes, but stiff competition with Tukera Lines made this a slow process. Deteriorating relations between the fledgling Solomani Confederation and the Imperium dealt Aphelion its final blow. When war broke out in 988, Aphelion found itself on the wrong side of the border from its major profit centers, and was forced into bankruptcy. Most of the management of Botany Bay were recalled to Terra with the bankruptcy. The remaining inhabitants were effectively stranded, but for most Botany Bay was their home. When it became obvious that the remaining management were not sympathetic to the concerns of the people, there was a quiet coup by a coalition of workers and younger scientists. That was not the end of the difficulties, however. The coup effectively ended what little help the world was receiving from Aphelion, disrupting the supply of most manufactured items. The level of technology swiftly fell as more and more effort was required to provide basic services to the population. After a few years, it was apparent that Botany Bay was not viable as an independent colony. It was clear that Botany Bay would soon collapse to a pre-industrial culture without outside assistance. The de-facto government of Botany Bay appealed to Gralyn, which was their major customer for ore, for help. At first the Gralynites were loath to do so, for fear of antagonizing either the Imperials or the Solomani. Eventually, the pressure of public opinion convinced the bureaucrats of Gralyn that supporting Botany Bay would save much misery. The eventual system agreed upon was that Botany Bay would become part of the Gralyn Assemblage, with seats on the Assemblage, but with its government effectively run by the Assemblage as a whole. With the assistance of Gralyn, the slide of Botany Bay into barbarism was halted. Upon the conclusion of the Solomani Rim War, attempts were made by both the Imperium and the Solomani Confederation to regain control of the mines on Botany Bay through legal means. However the fact that Botany Bay was outside both states and had rebelled of its own accord, meant that they had little legal recourse, coupled with the sensitive politics of the region, ruling out any sort of overt action, to make Botany Bay too much effort to worry about. Botany Bay prospered under the guidance of the Gralyn Assemblage and swelled from a population of several thousand at independence to almost 300,000 just before the start of the Final War. The Collapse affected Botany Bay less than it did Gralyn. With a relatively low level of technology, the direct effects of the virus were limited to the starport. Gralyn's "Shutdown Decree" didn't reach Botany Bay, and when starships from that world stopped arriving, the inhabitants felt abandoned for the second time in their history. However, when news of the Virus spread across the world, many understood that Gralyn was unlikely to be able to come to their aid. Several desparate attempts to get offworld or produce a self-sustaining sealed environment were made by groups of offworlders. None of these attempts were to be successfull, and when their filter masks or other life support ran out, these individuals perished. Botany Bay's larger labor force, with a more diverse skill base allowed it to succeed where it had previously failed. When starships from Gralyn returned after a 70-year hiatus, there was little difficulty resuming trade relations. Gralyn still had manufactured products that Botany Bay wanted, and Botany Bay's mines still held valuable minerals for Gralyn. It was the negotiators from Botany Bay, however, that gathered support and solidarity for the new structure of the Gralyn Union from the various Droyne factions. During the long diplomatic discussions in 1194, the technically unsopisticated representatives of Botany Bay showed themselves to be shrewd negotiatiors and skillful coalition builders. wildstar@quark.qrc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Science-Fiction Adventure In Reavers' Deep From wildstar@qrc.com Thu Jul 28 11:22:13 1994 Received: from plague-ether.Berkeley.EDU by showme.missouri.edu (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA21469; Thu, 28 Jul 1994 11:22:05 -0500 Received: from qrc.com (QUARK.QRC.COM) by plague.berkeley.edu (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4.1-Domain/CHAOS) id AA15463; Wed, 27 Jul 1994 17:51:50 -0700 Received: by qrc.com (5.65b/2.3-UTK) id AA15915; Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:49:11 -0400 Date: Wed, 27 Jul 94 20:49:11 -0400 From: Derek Wildstar Message-Id: <9407280049.AA15915@qrc.com> To: tne-pocket@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Subject: FINAL SUBMISSION - Gralyn Union Exploration and Survey Service Status: RO The Gralyn Union Exploration and Survey Service Written by the TNE-POCKET discussion group, compiled by Guy Garnett. Primary Contributors: Hans Rancke-Madsen and Guy Garnett. "We all believe in our cause to push into the unknown and find out what has happened to the rest of the universe. We in the first class should be proud of what we've started, and where we can go." ---Lt. Cmdr. Hawkins, Valedictorian, GUESS Academy, Class of 1200 The time is 1201. The place is Gralyn, a world that has weathered the Collapse better than most worlds. Its population did not exceed the maximum that the planet could sustain and a dynamic and charismatic leader managed to keep the planet together, most of it, anyway. By 1152 the Gralynites were back in space and had re-established contact with their sister world, the droyne-inhabited Askoapoy. By 1189 the two races working together were able to repair some of their jump-ships and reestablish contact with Gralyn's former colony world, Botany Bay. But then the cause of those who wanted to explore further received a severe setback: two expeditions in a row disappeared and were never heard from again. The result was the Exploration Ban: Gralyn's few precious jump ships were to be used for trade with Botany Bay, not risked in expeditions to unknown stars. This ban remained in effect until Gralyn became able to build a jump drive from scratch. Downtime Academy In 1197 several farsighted Explorationists foresaw the lifting of the Exploration Ban once Gralyn began to manufacture its own jump drives. With financial support from one such, a group of unemployed Navy officers began running a scout training program for volunteers in a borrowed house on Aymouth South Beach that was later to become known as Downtime Academy (Named after a Navy slang word for time spent off ship). In 1199 the ban was rescinded and a small budget was given to establish a scout service: the Gralyn Union Exploration and Survey Service - GUESS for short. The students from the Downtime Academy were all enrolled in the new, official GUESS scout academy on Merinu. Obviously there will be at lot of prestige in being one of those who were there at the very beginning. Those graduates who started out in the beach house will proudly boast of being Downtime Academy graduates, although in fact all of them officially graduated from GUESS Academy. The first class of the Downtime Academy started early in 1197, and consisted of 9 people. The second class was slightly larger, with about 17 students mixed with the first class for some courses, probably mixed with the first class) entered in 1198. In 1198 the Downtime Academy was also put on a more formal academic schedule, which made a lot of make-up work for the first class, to put them up where they should be. The last Downtime Academy class would be the one that entered in 1199, of 22 people. Later in 1199, the GUESS Academy was founded, and all three classes moved there. The total number of Downtimers is therefore 48 people; of which 9 have graduated and are now being assigned to ships. Downtimers will get first consideration for many of these crew slots; the average GUESS exploration vessel will have (at least) a Downtimer Survey Officer, Ground Team Leader, or Contact Officer (depending on the crew's composition and the ship's mission). Commanding these vessels will be experienced Navy ship captains, many of them brought to GUESS by Admiral Honoko when the service was created. Assuming that everything goes well, as the number of ships increases, so will the Academy graduating classes. Eventually, Honoko's contemporaries will be "kicked upstairs" (reassigned to more senior desk responsibilities), with the eventual goal of providing all ships with Academy-trained officers in all positions. Admiral Honoko The Director of GUESS is Admiral Lillian Honoko, an ex-navy officer who is an ardent Explorationist and a bitter and outspoken critic of the Exploration Ban. Her strong stance on this issue probably accounts for her being passed over for promotion several times in the past decade. She was promoted to the rank of Admiral by an act of the Steering Committee, so that she would be able to deal with the heads of the other military services, particularly the Navy, as an equal. It is almost certain that without her efforts, GUESS would instead be a sub-branch of Gralyn Union Naval Intelligence. She believes that elsewhere in Charted Space fledgling space empires may be expanding outwards in all directions, and that it could be vital for Gralyn to learn about them before they learn about Gralyn. She also believes that the Exploration Ban has put Gralyn behind in that race. Consequently she has a tendency to take chances that might not be the most prudent, trying to make her few ships do the work of twice their number. GUESS Personnel GUESS is still very small (no more than a couple of hundred members) and is still top heavy with officers. Officers who transfer from other services (primarily the Gralyn Union Naval Service) retain reserve commissions in their original service. If their reserver rank is higher than their GUESS rank, they are frequently addressed with their reserve rank as a matter of courtesy. This may lead to several Captains aboard one ship, which is not allowed in other Gralyn Union services. GUESS personnel generally refer to a ship's commanding officer as "the Skipper" so that no confusion results. This usage, considered highly informal, almost imroper in the other services, practically standard usage in GUESS. The GUESS budget is small and salaries correspondingly small. A GUESS officer makes only about 80% of the salary of a Navy officer with the same rank. There is a small, but very vocal, minority in the Navy which regards GUESS as a "toy" service and not a serious military organization. A considerably larger number believe that GUESS is performing what should rightly be a Navy job. The executive orders that require Navy and GUESS cooperation grate on these individuals, and the rivalry can be quite fierce. The GUESS' rank structure is copied from the navy, with a few minor exceptions. In the enlisted ranks, the particular speciality is substituted for the word 'Specialist'. For example: Trainee Medic, Medic's Mate, Medic, Master Medic. GUESS enlisted security troopers use Marine rank designations, however. Finally, there is, by Gralyn Union law, only one Admiral in GUESS, the Director of the service. Rank GUESS Title ==------================== O1 Cadet O2 Sub-lieutenant O3 Lieutenant O4 Lt. Commander O5 Commander O6 Captain O7 Commodore O8 Admiral E1 Trainee Specialist E2 Specialist's Mate E3 Specialist E4 Master Specialist GUESS Facilities GUESS is headquartered in a converted Navy SDB maintenance facility, which orbits Gralyn. Although placed in the reserves by GUNS due to its age and approaching obsolescence, the facility is adequate to GUESS's current needs. Although heavy construction is out of the question, most other maintenance and refit required by GUESS starships can be handled in the station's repair bay. Various GUESS contractors operate shipyards on Gralyn and Askoapoy where heavy repairs and construction take place. GUESS maintains several other facilities, including the GUESS Academy on the continent of Merinu on Gralyn, a training center on Botany Bay that specializes in advanced wilderness survival and survey training, and a research facility, co-located with the Jump Research Institute in the outer fringes of the Coonabarabran Belt. Many additional services and facilities are provided through interservice agreements with the Gralyn Union Naval Service and the Gralyn Union Marines. All GUESS recruits receive weapons and basic survival training from the Marines, while ship crews receive training from the Navy at one of several Navy bases. GUESS Starships The initial GUESS appropriation provided for the purchase of bases, starships, and other assets as well as personnel recruitment, training, and initial operations by the Service. The following ships are in service by the end of the first quarter of 1201. Two additional ships, both purpose designed survey ships based on the final configuration of FIDELITY, are under construction for completion early in 1202. NEW HOPE: Jump-1 Scoutship. Former 100T Scout "Peregrine" of Caledonian design, stranded on Gralyn in 1128 by a complete jump drive failure. Repaired in 1197 by the Jump Research Institute and equipped with prototype jump-1 drive. First successful micro-jump on 182-1198. Turned over to GUESS on 075-1200. FAITH: Jump-1 Survey ship. Former 200T Free Trader "McIlbrae's Venture" stranded on Gralyn by a Suicider virus. Repaired by Gralyn General Shipyards under GUESS budget. Commissioned on 316-1200. TRUST: Jump-1 Survey ship. Former 200T Free Trader "Pimalia" stranded on Gralyn by a Suicider virus. Repaired by Khan Industrial Enterprises, SC, in their yards on Askoapoy, under GUESS budget. Commissioned on 003-1201. FIDELITY: Jump-2 Survey ship. Former 400T Rift Trader "Mist Monster" was on Gralyn for repairs to her computer system, when the bankruptcy of her owners forced abandonment before the Crash. Repaired and extensively refitted by KIESC under GUESS budget. Commissioned 035-1201. BOTANY BAY: Jump-1 Supply ship. Former 400T Subsidized Merchant "Dawn Trader" repaired under GUESS budget by Merinu Industries. Subject of several delays, and an investigation by the GUESS Inspector General for cost overruns and program delays. Commissioned on 058-1201. Crew List for Fidelity The suggested campaign opens in early 1201. Several starships have been procured and refitted for exploration. The player characters are assigned to such a ship, the GUESS Fidelity (a modified type R2 400-ton rift trader, ex-Mist Monster). The Fidelity is a modified 400-ton Rift Trader. She contains accommodations for 28 individuals. Originally, her capacity was 22. This consisted of the captain, six operating crewmembers, two stewards and 13 passengers. In GUESS service, the ship requires a commander, two maneuver officers (pilot and astrogator), a sensor operator and three engineers for safe navigation. These personnel, marked with an asterisk, will never be attached to a ground team. PC? Position Main Asset Suggested Additional Skills ===--================--====================--================================ No* Captain Astrogation Leader, Admin, Tactics Yes 1st Officer Survey Leader No* 2nd Officer Pilot Astrogation No* 3rd Officer Pilot Astrogation No* Sensor Operator Sensors Communicators Yes Chief Engineer Ship's Engineering any technical skills No* 2nd Engineer Ship's Engineering any technical skills No* 3rd Engineer Ship's Engineering any technical skills No* Engineer's Mate Ship's Engineering any technical skills Yes Medical Officer Medical(Diagnosis) any life sciences skills Yes Security Chief Tactics Gun Combat, Observation No Gunner Gunnery(Missile) Gun Combat No Gunner Gunnery(Laser) Gun Combat Yes Security Trooper Gun Combat Survival, Observation Yes Security Trooper Gun Combat Survival, Observation No Security Trooper Gun Combat Survival, Observation No Security Trooper Gun Combat Survival, Observation Yes Lander Pilot Pilot Astrogation Yes Lander Engineer Ship's Engineering any technical skills No Skimmer Pilot Pilot Astrogation No Skimmer Engineer Ship's Engineering any technical skills Yes Chief Scientist Any physical science any sci/tech skills Yes Linguist Linguistics any languages Yes Scientist Any physical science any sci/tech skills Yes Scientist Any physical science any sci/tech skills Yes Scientist Any social science any sci/tech skills Yes Scientist Any social science any sci/tech skills Yes Scientist Any social science any sci/tech skills Chain of Command The chain of command aboard Fidelity generally follows normal GUESS (and therefore Gralyn Union Navy) practice, except for the scientists. Scientists are placed outside the chain of command. The Chief Scientist manages the science staff and directs scientific operations. However, the Captain (and on planetary missions, the First Officer) are responsible for the safety of the the ship and its crew, including the scientific party. Once away from the ship, the First Officer commands the lander and the security detachment. He gets to decide when the lander is leaving. Anybody not aboard when the lander leaves will be left behind or forcibly extracted (First Officer's choice). Similarly, the Captain is under orders from Admiral Honoko to preserve his ship above all else, the lander and ground party are considered expendable in the face of a threat to the survival of the ship. Captain | +----------------+------+------------------------------------+ | | | 1st Officer Medical Officer Chief Scientist | | +-----+-------------+-----------------+-----------+ 6 Scientists | | | | Chief Engineer Chief Pilot Navigator Security Chief | | | | 2 Engineers 2 Craft Pilots Sensor Op 4 Security Troopers 2 Craft Engineers 2 Gunners 1 Engineer's Mate Notes: The Chief Pilot is the 2nd Officer, FIDELITY's command pilot. The Navigator is FIDELITY's 3rd Officer. Technically speaking, Fidelity has three divisions: the Deck Division (headed by the 1st Officer), the Medical Division (headed, and consisting of the Medical Officer), and the Sciences Division (headed by the Chief Scientist). The deck division has 4 departments: Engineering, Flight, Navigation, and Security. However, due to the small size of the departments, the First Officer acts as the head of both the Flight and Navigation departments (the other two, Engineering and Security, are large enough to require a full-time department head). So, when Captain Sternbaum calls the department heads for a briefing, here's who should report: Division and Department Heads: 1st Officer Deck Division, Flight and Navigation Departments Chief Engineer Engineering Department Security Chief Security Department Medical Officer Medical Division Chief Scientist Sciences Division It is suggested that these are the first positions that the player characters should fill. Alternative organizations are possible, to reflect the mix of a particular group of players. For example, the players may decide that they are interested in planet-side scientific puzzle-solving adventures, and all choose to be scientists. In this case, the ship's crew and officers become NPCs, and simply a vehicle (both literally and literary) for moving the characters from one venue to the next. There are several ways of handling player characters in a chain of command situation. With a group that can stay in character, and are good team players, simply allowing them to choose a position that interests them can be made to work, particularly if the "natural" leader of the group chooses a leadership position such as 1st officer or Chief Scientist. If this is not the case, the referee can involve the Captain a little more, and have him treat the players as (approximate) equals, even though they may be of differing ranks. At least in theory, the individual department heads are the experts in their areas of experience. The Captain can gather them together and solicit opinions, after which he chooses a course of action and assigns responsibilities directly to the PCs. Watching the briefing-room scenes in Star Trek: The Next Generation is a good tutorial in this technique. Crew Descriptions The following short descriptions cover all of the positions on the ship, and can be used as a source of NPCs no matter which positions the player characters decide to fill. Note that this is a capsule description, and not all relevant skills and character traits are listed. Primary Skills are all at assets of 15 or more; secondary skills are important other skills, typically at assets of 8 to 15. For combat purposes, the science staff should be treated as Novice NPCs, the security troopers as Veteran, and everyone else as Experienced. Exceptions are the first officer, who should be Experienced if not a PC, and the Security Chief, who should be Elite. Position: Commanding Officer Name and Rank: Captain Isaac Sternbaum (GUESS officer, ex-GU Naval Service) Description: Tall and thin, Captain Sternbaum has wavy black hair that's rapidly going grey. He is usually quiet, and typically walks slowly from station to station on the bridge, observing operations over the operator's shoulder. When he does speak, it is with a penetrating, but not loud, voice. Primary Skills: Ship Tactics, Fleet Tactics, Leader, Administration Other Skills: Navigation, Pilot, Gunnery, Zero-G, Environment Suit Family: Married (over 25 years) with three grown children, one of whom followed her father's footsteps into the Navy. Position: First Officer Name and Rank: Commander Halifax Napier (GUESS officer, DA grad, ex-GUNS) Description: A tall man of average build, with red hair that he keeps in a short, Navy-regulation haircut. He is a veteran of the Coonabarabran campaign, where he was assigned as the liaison officer to a Marine combat team. Although he's a straight laced "by-the-books" officer, and a bit of a disciplinarian, he's willing to go to bat for his people whenever he sees the need. One of the first students of the Downtime Academy, Halifax graduated at the top of the first class. Primary Skills: Survey Other Skills: Leader, Ground Tactics, Pilot(intf/grav), Env Suit, Zero G Family: He is recently divorced after a difficult ten year long marriage. He is not on speaking terms with his ex-wife, and the bitter experience has made him even more withdrawn than usual. Position: Second Officer Name and Rank: Lieutenant Commander Gamaagin O'Connor (GUESS officer, ex-GUNS) Description: An attractive woman of average height and build, Gamaagin has blonde hair which she keeps cut short, as is currently popular with Navy pilots (men and women). She is an accomplished pilot; when she talks, it is with the assurance of someone who knows that she is one of the best in her field. She entered GUESS from a position as a Naval flight instructor. Primary Skills: Pilot, Astrogation, Instruction Other Skills: Persuasion, Leader, Unarmed Martial Arts Family: Gamaagin's parents, a sister and two brothers live on Merinu. Gamaagin is the oldest of the children. Position: Third Officer Name and Rank: Lieutenant Enerii Deraagar (GUESS officer, ex-STA) Description: Short and stocky but not overweight, Enerii wears his brown hair in an unfashionable crew-cut. He is a very good astrogator, and a competent pilot, and is the ship's main paperwork expert. Considered a bit of a bore by the rest of the crew, his main contributions to conversation are on mathematics and the intricate details of service regulations. Primary Skills: Astrogation, Pilot, RCV Operations, Admin Other Skills: Environment Suit, Zero-G, Bargain Family: Enerii's mother lives in Carterbourough, a small town in nothern Merinu. His father passed on shortly before Enerii earned his commission. Enerii is an only child, and has the bulk of his pay sent to his mother. Position: Sensor Operator Name and Rank: Chief Petty Officer Sean Weizheng (GUESS NCO) Description: Sean is tall and of average build; his straight, black hair the only clue to his Solomani ancestry. An animated and friendly person, he is the FIDELITY's premier raconteur. Most of the crew find his outrageous tall tales (accompanied by slapstick antics and humorously exaggerated accents) to be quite hilarious. Even "Ess" was amused by his portrayal of a Droyne merchant. Primary Skills: Sensor Operation, Communications, Act/Bluff Other Skills: Electronics, Disguise, Persuasion, Acrobatics Family: The youngest of a large extended family, Sean credits the development of his tale-spinning abilities to his older brothers (he claims he used his stories to distract them from picking on him). Position: Chief Engineer Name and Rank: Lt. Commander Espray Krinoyni (GUESS Officer, DA graduate) Description: Espray, or "Ess" as he is known throughout the ship, is a Droyne Sport. Like all Droyne, he has a vaguely-lizardlike appearance, with compound eyes and large bat-wings. His body is tough and scaly, although very small by human standards at only 1.5m and 40kg. His skin is dark grey, with black freckle-like markings. Primary Skills: Computer, Gravitics, Ship's Engineering, Electronics Other Skills: Communications, Trauma Aid, Starship Architecture, Survival Psionics: Strength 7, Computer Empathy, Teleport Family: Espray remains close to his "family" (oyntrip), and visits them on Askoapoy whenever his duties permit. Position: Second Engineer Name and Rank: Lieutenant Tombo Thorndike (GUESS Officer, Ex-GUNS) Description: Tombo is of average height, but is slight build makes him appear to be one of the least physically imposing members of the crew, aside from the Droyne. He has dark hair and eyes, and is almost always immaculately dressed. He is a careful worker and although not as quick as the other engineers, he never has to fix the same problem twice. Tombo's hobby is astronomy, and his careful observations have appeared in a few amateur journals to date. Primary Skills: Ship's Engineering, Gravitics, Science(Astronomy) Other Skills: Electronics, Mecnanical Family: Married to a young gravitics engineer in Otaku City. Their first child was born shortly before Fidelity's departure, Position: Third Engineer Name and Rank Sub-Lieutenant Joanna M'tana (GUESS Officer, ex-GUNS) Description: Short, with dark, reddish hair, Joanna has "cafe-au-lait" colored skin. She has recently transferred from the Gralyn Union Naval Service. She is ambitious, intelligent, and eager to learn. Joanna is an amateur musician, and plays in the ship's band. Primary Skills: Ship's Engineering, Electronics, Mechanical Other Skills: Gravitics, Computer Position: Engineers' Mate Name and Rank: Petty Officer Cheepoy Krayloni (GUESS NCO) Description: Humans apparently have difficulty distinguishing one Droyne sport for another. The fact that "Chee" and his superior, Espray, are both in the engineering department doesn't help. Chee is considerably younger than Ess, and is correspondingly a lighter shade of grey. Primary Skills: Ship's Engineering, Gravitics Other Skills: Electronics Family: Cheepoy is a distant relative of Espray, and maintains close contact with his family, as his duties permit. Position: Medical Officer Name and Rank: Dr. Q. Frederic Estervliet (GUESS Officer, [Lt.Cdr. equiv]) Description: Dr. Estervliet is of average height and build. He is rapidly going bald, and has only a ring of greying hair left. Although well trained in modern space medicine, Estervliet has interests that span all of the biological and medical sciences, making him an excellent choice for an exploration mission. Primary Skills: Medical, Biology Other Skills: XenoBiology, Psychology, Observation, Research Family: He is very reticent about his past, but it is known that his father was a doctor, and had a small family practice in Sanchez City. Position: Security Chief Name and Rank: 1st Sergeant Ren "OB" Obenhowzer (GUESS NCO, ex-Marine) Description: "OB" looks like (and is) an experienced Marine 1st Sergeant. He's volunteered for the thankless task of keeping all the officers and scientists of the landing party alive. He's a tough taskmaster, but has been known to display a sense of humor, and commands considerably loyalty from the security troops assigned to the ship. Primary Skills: Leader, Tactics(Ground), Liaison Other Skills: Slug Rifle, Melee Combat(Armed) Family: Position: Missile Gunner Name and Rank: Private First Class Manuel Yankovitch (GUESS) Description: Of average height and build, Manuel has curly brown hair that he keeps cut short. Manuel is the ship's unofficial odds-maker and bookie; he always seems to be running a craps game, or a betting pool on just about anything. Primary Skills: Gunnery(Missile), Gambling Other Skills: Streetwise Family: Manuel's parents and older brother live in a small town on the main continent of Merinu. They do not approve of his career choice (or his gambling "hobby"). Position: Laser Gunner Name and Rank: Private First Class Charles Stuart, Jr. (GUESS) Description: PFC Stuart is of average height and build, with brown hair and an intense expression. He is serious and opinionated, and has difficulty seeing the humor in a situation. He is, however, a good shot with the ship's laser turret. Primary Skills: Gunnery(Laser) Other Skills: Melee Combat(unarmed) Family: Charles left home and enlisted in GUESS after a fight with his father, who is apparently too much like his son for the two to get along. Charles occasionally writes to his older sister, however. Position: Security Trooper Name and Rank: Corporal Steven Marks (GUESS NCO, ex-Marine) Description: A recruiting-poster-perfect picture of a marine: tall and handsome, with close-cut blonde hair. He attracts quite a bit of feminine attention, and although he is never long without a partner, his relationships seldom last. Primary Skills: Slug Rifle, Observation, Survival(Mountain) Other Skills: Carousing, Streetwise Family: Steven's father died when he was quite young; his mother later re-married. Steven has a step-brother and two half-sisters. Although he does not get along with his step-brother, he is fiercely protective of his half-sisters. Position: Security Trooper Name and Rank: Private First Class Marie Nakamura (GUESS, ex-Army) Description: Short, with short, straight dark hair, Nakamura is solidly built without appearing (too) un-feminine. She is the best marksman (marksperson?) of the marine squad. Nakamura is a good martial artist as well, making up for an average strength with suprising speed and agility. When off-duty, she generally can be found in the gym, or playing bass in the ship's band. Primary Skills: Slug Rifle, Energy Weapon(Laser), Unarmed Martial Arts Other Skills: Streetwise, Music Family: Her parents live in Otaku City, and she has an older brother who is a businessman there. Position: Security Trooper Name and Rank: Private First Class Gordon Stallion (GUESS, ex-Marine) Description: Short, stocky, and muscular, Gordon is barely tall enough to meet the Gralyn Union Marine entrance requirements. He more than compensates for his short stature with a confrontative personality, and tackles problems head on, with all the force he can muster. Primary Skills: Slug Rifle, Energy Weapon(Plasma) Other Skills: Artillery Family: Gordon's parents are farmers on Gralyn, and they exchange letter frequently. Gordon has decided to make GUESS his career, and is actively learning about the ship from anyone who will teach him. Position: Security Trooper Name and Rank: Private First Class Arno Blackston (GUESS, ex-Marine) Description: Arno is tall and built on a large frame, easily the physically strongest individual on the ship. Arno has a slight speech impediment, and although he is of avarage intelligence, his difficulty with language makes him seem less bright than he really is. Primary Skills: Slug Rifle, Grenade Launcher Other Skills: Heavy Weapons Family: Arno is self-conscious about his size and speech problem, but receives letters regularly from both his mother and fiancee, a surprisingly petite (at least when compared to Arno) woman from Sanchez City. Position: Lander Pilot Name and Rank: Lieutenant Henri Krancke (GUESS, ex-GUNS) Description: Kranke is a wiry man of average height, with dark red hair and chipped-tooth grin. A streetwise punk from Merinu City, Henri was saved from a life of petty crime by a juvenile court judge, who convinced him to join the Navy and make something of his life. Primary Skills: Pilot(Interface/Grav), Astrogation Other Skills: Streetwise, Pilot(Fixed-Wing), Pilot(Rotary-Wing) Family: The Navy provided Krancke with the structure his life needed. Henri still regards one of his early instructors as a father figure and role model. A natural aptitude for flying got him into flight school, and a penchant for risk-taking prompted the transfer to GUESS, hoping to see some 'excitement'. Position: Lander Engineer Name and Rank: Cadet Hans LaFleur Description: A rugged, outdoors-type individual, Cadet LaFleur looks slightly out of place in a ship's engine room. He is, however, very good with machines of all types, and is particularly good at improvised repairs of all kinds. Primary Skills: Ship's Engineering, Sensor Operation Other Skills: Mechanical, Survival Family: Hans was recently married his childhood sweetheart, and is planning a family. He gets along well with his in-laws, and frequently spends time hunting and fishing with his father and father-in-law. Position: Skimmer Pilot Name and Rank: Sub-Lientenant Wulf DeForest Description: Laconic, even for a space pilot, Sub-Lt. DeForest has brown hair, and is of average height and slim build. DeForest's hobby is amateur radio, and his cabin is littered with circuit diagrams of dubious utility. He has been forbidden to build any of his designs after an early experiment induced a nasty hum on the ship's intercom system that took "Ess" nearly four hours to track down. Primary Skills: Pilot, Astrogation Other Skills: Electronics, Communications Family: Wulf has parents and a younger brother in Otaku City on Gralyn, and visits them whenever he has leave. Position: Skimmer Engineer Name and Rank: Cadet Stev Hogan (GUESS, ex-STA) Description: Tall and thin, with dark, almost black skin and curly brown hair, Stev was the sensor operator and apprentice engineer aboard an STA merchant ship before joining GUESS. Primary Skills: Ship's Engineering, Sensor Operation Other Skills: Electronic Family: The son of a Sanchez City police detective, Stev is on good terms with his family, including his elder brother (who is also a police officer there). Position: Chief Scientist (Geologist) Name and Rank: Rocky Terranova, Ph.D. (Senior Scientist) Description: The only son of a university professor and a navy ship captain, Rocky is of average height and stocky build, with rough, "farm-boy" good looks. Rocky is a geologist who has spent the last several years as a consultant to the mining industry on Botany Bay, Coonabarabran, and Resolution Belt. Primary Skills: Geology, Excavation, Geophysics Other Skills: Meteorology, Chemistry, Persuasion, Leadership Family: Both of Rocky's parents were killed, his mother was killed when her ship was lost at the Battle of Coonabarabran, and his father died in a freak accident a few years ago. Rocky's only love is Dr. Cordelia Naismith, a fellow geologist. However, both have decided to put their careers first. Position: Scientist (Linguist) Name and Rank: Sharik Rodriguez, Ph.D. (GUESS Scientist) Description: Short and petite, with frizzy blonde hair, Sharik looks like one of the last people you'd expect to see on a first-contact team. She is a gifted linguist, and one of the few people on Gralyn to be fluent in "useless" languages such as Trokh (Aslan) and Vilani. Although frequently outspoken in her opinions, she enjoys all kinds of challenges, and makes an effort to pull her own weight (and more) aboard ship and on ground teams. Primary Skills: Linguistics, Language(Aslan), Language(Droyne), Other Skills: Language(Vilani), (and several other languages, too). Family: Is a middle child of a large family from the town of Liddell, all of whom seem to enjoy arguments and confrontations. She has been known to spend hours (apparently) arguing with her sisters, and then describe it as 'a pleasant lunchtime conversation'. Sharik doesn't have a current boyfriend, and shipboard speculation is that she's still looking for someone who can stand up to her in one of her intense 'conversations'. Position: Scientist (Geneticist) Name and Rank: Stephen Kendall, Ph.D. (Scientist) Description: Dr. Kendall is tall and thin, with thinning but still jet black hair and a very intense expression when he is working on a problem. He is not a physically impressive person, and the best most people can do is to describe him as nondescript. Stephen has always believed that education holds the solution to any problem. He has put this into action in his life, earning a Ph.D. in Genetics, and along the way picking up the equivalent of advanced degrees in physics, computer science, and chemistry. His is the person on the ship most likely to know odd facts and unconnected bits of trivia. Primary Skills: Genetics, XenoBiology, Chemistry Other Skills: Physics, Admin/Legal, Language(Aslan), Computer Family: The one thing Kendall lacks is much of a social life. He can usually be found in the crew lounge when off duty, reading a book. His parents are both deceased. Position: Scientist (Physicist) Name and Rank: Richard F. Lobachevsky, Ph.D. (Scientist) Description: Dr. Lobachevsky is of average height, and slight build, and appears to be the prototype of the long-haired intellectual. He is in better physical condition than he looks - his hobbies include cross-country running (he'll have to make do with the FIDELITY's treadmill for now). His other hobbies include music, and he has organized a band aboard ship. Although he has a relatively few publications to his credit, they are on a wide variety of subjects (from atomic physics through the mechanism for ocean waves, and everything in between), and he is considered by most of his colleagues as brilliant, although a little eccentric. Primary Skills: Science(Physics), Mechanical, Electronic, Computer Other Skills: Research, Music Family: Divorced, with no children. Position: Scientist (Economist, ex-STA) Name and Rank: Donald Shillman, Ph.D. (Scientist) Description: Tall, although tending toward overweight, Shillman is the least physically fit member of the crew (which means that he barely passed the qualifying physical, not that he is horribly out of shape). Quite the liberal reformer in his early college days, his economics are now quite conservative (he's overly fond of saying "If you weren't an idealist at 20, you have no heart, and if you aren't a capitalist at 40, you have no head"). Although the arrangement is certainly not official, Shillman is the representative of the big business interests that have recently supported exploration. He is willing to expound on his economic theories eloquently and at great length (and has made a considerable amount of his reputation doing just that as a popularizer), but is otherwise an uninteresting shipmate. Primary Skills: Trader, Admin/Legal Other Skills: Persuasion Family: Married, with his only son currently in college. Position: Scientist (Archaeologist) Name and Rank: Ripley W. Scott, Ph.D. (GUESS Scientist) Descripion: Tall and thin, with dark hair, Dr. Scott looks more like a caricature of a graduate student than an assistant professor of archaeology. He is, however, respected within his field, and a mine of information about the past. Primary Skills: Science(Archaeology), Science(Anthropology), History Other Skills: Research Family: Dr. Scott's parents are divorced; his father, a retired Navy officer, has remarried. He has three brothers, one of whom is in the Navy. Position: Scientist (Sociologist) Name and Rank: Suzanne Yeager, Ph.D. (Scientist) Description: Tall and willowy, with long, light-brown hair. Suzanne is approximately middle-aged, and in fair physical condition. Her specialty has long been alien and interstellar human cultures, and she jumped at the chance to be among the first to go on contact missions. Much of her recent work has been about the culture of Botany Bay, and she has been to Botany Bay several times over the last ten years. Primary Skills: Science(Sociology), Science(Psychology), Research Other Skills: Language(Droyne), Language(Vilani), Xenobiology Family: Happily married to Thomas Yeager MD for the past 18 years, and the mother of two children (Steven and Akane, ages 15 and 17 respectively). Character Creation Player characters for the main campaign have to conform to some very specific constraints to fit the initial situation. A merchant just wouldn't be chosen for a position with an exploration team, no matter how good a tradesman he was. So any player who wants to play a wily master trader is out of luck (Unless he is willing to play a wily master trader who is also an explorer type, and unlikely to get to use his trader skills much). Some players tend to resent such constraints. Talk to your players beforehand and ensure that they understand the situation. Unless specifically mentioned here all standard rules for character creation apply. Background: All PCs come from the Gralyn Union. They should be almost all be from Gralyn itself, although Droyne PCs from Askoapoy, or modified humans from Botany Bay aren't entirely out of the question. Playing such characters will require extra work from both the referee and the players involved, but the results are definitely worth it. Both playtest campaigns incorporated Droyne characters with good results. Attributes: Due to the budget and time constraints GUESS personnel are not the top-trained, elite, best-in-the-world experts one might think an exploration team warranted, but neither are they average people. They may not be the very best, but they are the best GUESS could get. Players who roll attributes for their player characters totalling less than 42 points may therefore add attribute points to bring the total up to 42. Careers: Careers are limited by the technical and social history of the character's homeworlds. Referees should consult the Gralyn Union history, and help players work out individual histories appropriate to their origins and professions. Generating characters which match their worlds background and history requires a little more care, but the campaign will be considerably better for it. Main skill: Player characters are expected to fill certain spots on the crew roster for the expedition. Each slot has a 'main skill' listed. A character must have an asset of no less than 15 in that skill in order to fill that slot. That is, if the character is designed to fill the slot of Team Leader for the Ground Team and has an intelligence