Clan Status across One Thousand Hierates

The clan generation system presented in Clans of the Aslan was born right here on this blog just about four years ago and I’ve continued to refine it ever since. An early version was used to flesh out clans for The Deep and the Dark, which fed into the next iteration of the system, which I used and further refined for Clans.

As I worked on The Aslan Hierate manuscript I used the published system to develop several new clans for Hlakhoi sector. And as I’ve noted before, I began to observe some emergent properties that hadn’t been obvious when generating clans within the context of a single subsector. At scale it seemed clear that the Holdings for Multiworld clans should follow a skewed distribution, and that change also necessitated a tweak to Vassal clans.

One of the key characteristics used in the clan generation system is Clan Status, which is roughly equivalent to Social Standing for individual Travellers. Aslan are extremely conscious about their place in Aslan society, and equally aware of their clan’s place within the Hierate. Clans have a pecking order in terms of social precedence, with roughly half of the recognized clans being assigned rankings that are followed (and debated!) as closely as the rankings of human sports teams.

Status follows a familiar range of 0 to 15 (F). Clans with older pedigrees, clans with larger holdings, clans with access to higher tech level goods all tend to have higher Clan Status scores than those without. A 1D roll is used to capture unquantifiable traits like luck, honour, leadership, or notable deeds.

Page 83 of Clans of the Aslan has a Clan Status table that assigns a range of rankings to each Status score. Status F, for example, includes clans ranked from 1st to 288th. The following page includes a discussion of the loose relationship between a clan’s Status score (used by females like a credit score to roughly assess economic clout) and a clan’s ranking (used by males to determine social precedence).

If Status scores are assigned to clans by Aslan corporations much like bond credit ratings, who determines clan rankings? I expect a Tlaukhu standing committee does nothing but debate the rankings of the top 2,048 recognized clans in the Hierate. (2,048 is 4,000 in the Aslan octal number system.) Although rank, like Tlaukhu recognition, is materially inconsequential, these debates are as fierce as any other in the Council of 29. As Sayre’s Law states, “In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake.” The resulting rankings are published on a regular schedule like an Aslan Who’s Who, maybe every four ftahea or so.

Prior to Mongoose Traveller, we knew the specific rankings of only a small number of clans, including all 29 members of the Tlaukhu. A sidebar in the MegaTraveller Referee’s Companion also gives the ranks of a few more random clans: Akhailrau (340), Aroaye’i (397), Loakhtarl (730), and Raohkerl (450), suggesting that at least the top 800 or so clans in the Hierate have designated rankings. But that was it for known clan rankings.

The Aroaye’i are known to us: as noted in CT Aslan, they are a vassal to the Tlaukhu clan Hlyueawi, ranked 6th, and overlord to the Wahtoi. No rank is assigned to the Wahtoi, but it would presumably be lower than 397. According to CT Merchant Prince the Aroaye’i and Wahtoi are equal partners in the ancient transport company Khu Su’ikh (“Five Shields”), which “maintains a benevolent monopoly on rift passage service.” This suggests both clans are well established and prosperous as of 1105.

We also know the Loakhtarl and Raohkerl, who are both described in the “Syareahtaorl” adventure from CT Aslan. These are Multiworld clans of significant means; the Loakhtarl were able to outfit an ihatei expedition of “ten armed 50,000 ton ships, each capable of jump-3 and 3-G.”

With only these few data points to calibrate a ranking system, I initially assumed rankings would fall into tranches of 288 clans each, so Status F would include clans 1–288, Status E would include clans ranked 289–576, etc. I wanted to preserve the MT rankings, and because the Aroaye’i and Loakhtarl both seemed like fairly powerful clans I reasoned each increment of Status must cover a fairly large number of clans. The relative rankings of various clans provided in Clans of the Aslan seemed right from a cursory look.

As I built out the clans for Hlakhoi, though, the absolute ratings for the new, larger clans seemed hinky, particularly after tweaking the Holdings of the Multiworld clans. In short, it became clear that relatively few clans would have very high Status scores: our model of the Hierate presumes significant resource inequality among the clans, with a small number of elite clans controlling a large share of the available resources. As a corollary to that assumption, there can only be so many slots in that elite tier of clans.

And if all that were true, the published rankings for clans with Status D or E were probably much too low and should be higher, and many unranked clans should have rankings. In order to test whether the range of rankings suggested in Clans was accurate or not, I needed to understand what the expected distribution of Status scores would be across the Hierate if using the clan generation rules in Clans of the Aslan.

So I built a spreadsheet that would randomly calculate full profiles for every recognized clan in the Hierate, and then I used that to generate simulations of 1,000 different Hierates. This proved a fairly effective way to test Status along with all the different clan characteristics. In order to keep things apples-to-apples, I kept the total number of clans constant for each simulation, as well as the distribution of clan types:

Aslan Clans

Clan Type	Number
Major	29
Major Vassal	350
Minor	1,200
Minor Vassal	860
Multiworld	156
Single World	930
Vassal	580
Total	4,105

My initial run used the rules-as-written in Clan of the Aslan, and I was happy to see the overall results fell within my expected parameters. I then retooled the generation formulas to include the tweaked Multiworld and Vassal clan numbers. Again, the results looked decent, but it was clear the revised sim was producing too few clans of Status D+. By giving Major Vassals and Vassal clans a +1 boost to Status, the distribution fell into place.

Here are the resulting Status scores for 4,105 clans across 1,000 simulated Hierates:

Sum of Status Results

Status	Major	Major Vassal	Minor	Minor Vassal	Multiworld	Single World	Vassal	Grand Total
F	29,000	961	0	0	2,808	180	13	32,962
E	0	3,429	0	0	4,840	908	179	9,356
D	0	10,234	0	0	10,009	4,764	855	25,862
C	0	21,840	0	0	17,886	15,753	4,099	59,578
B	0	37,007	14	6	22,782	43,362	12,739	115,910
A	0	51,477	307	137	24,454	103,569	30,733	210,677
9	0	56,906	2,827	1,365	23,796	150,160	63,321	298,375
8	0	54,603	16,944	8,812	21,188	153,915	93,377	348,839
7	0	48,109	85,475	44,045	16,294	150,273	96,028	440,224
6	0	36,418	188,782	132,596	8,327	139,211	92,221	597,555
5	0	21,217	199,556	143,707	2,878	111,955	83,860	563,173
4	0	7,180	199,798	143,059	682	51,063	66,040	467,822
3	0	619	197,026	142,157	56	4,887	33,198	377,943
2	0	0	309,271	244,116	0	0	3,337	556,724

Again, these numbers looked right to my eyes: a small number of clans for each of the top Status scores, sharply rising in number at each step before flattening out in the mid range. Some of the outliers are interesting: in 180 simulated Hierates, Single World clans reached Status F; in 13 sims humble Vassal clans reached this height.

Dividing these results by 1,000 gives us the average Hierate result:

Average Status Result

Status	Major	Major Vassal	Minor	Minor Vassal	Multiworld	Single World	Vassal	Grand Total
F	29	1	0	0	3	0	0	33
E	0	3	0	0	5	1	0	9
D	0	10	0	0	10	5	1	26
C	0	22	0	0	18	16	4	60
B	0	37	0	0	23	43	13	116
A	0	51	0	0	24	104	31	211
9	0	57	3	1	24	150	63	298
8	0	55	17	9	21	154	93	349
7	0	48	85	44	16	150	96	440
6	0	36	189	133	8	139	92	598
5	0	21	200	144	3	112	84	563
4	0	7	200	143	1	51	66	468
3	0	1	197	142	0	5	33	378
2	0	0	309	244	0	0	3	557

I think we could make a case for a new Status score of G (16), reserved for a handful of Major clans that lead Tlaukhu blocs. Using this data we can revise the Status table from Clans of the Aslan like so:

Clan Status

Status	Description
0	Exohierate clan
1	Exohierate clan, outcast or unrecognised Hierate clans
2	Unranked Hierate clan
3	Unranked Hierate clan
4	Unranked Hierate clan
5	Unranked Hierate clan
6	Hierate clans ranked 1,537–2,048
7	Hierate clans ranked 1,025–1,536
8	Hierate clans ranked 769–1,024
9	Hierate clans ranked 513–768
A	Hierate clans ranked 257–512
B	Hierate clans ranked 129–256
C	Hierate clans ranked 65–128
D	Hierate clans ranked 49–64
E	Hierate clans ranked 33–48
F	Hierate clans ranked 9–32
G	Tlaukhu clans ranked 1–8

While I think this is a much improved distribution of rankings, it unfortunately necessitates modifying either the Status or rankings for several clans as published in Clans of the Aslan:

• Aeahekihiykhiy – Change Status to 9 (694^th).
• Afaikhiyoi – Change Status to 9 (541^st).
• Ahroay’if – Change Status to C (71^st).
• Akhailrau – Change Status to A (340^th).
• Arao’e – Change Status to A (488^th).
• Arhiyao – Change Status to 8 (790^th).
• Aroaye’i – Change Status to E (34^th).
• Ftawsteaoihalr – Change Status to 8 (917^th).
• Hlaotiyoiho – Change Status to F (30^th).
• Hlyueawi – Change Status to G (6^th).
• Hrakoea – Change Status to E (37^th).
• Hrasua – Change Status to G (5^th).
• Hreakhari – Change Status to 8 (973^rd).
• Hweaolriya – Change Status to B (166^th).
• Ikhtealyo – Change Status to G (8^th).
• Iyhlua – Change Status to C (85^th).
• Khaukheairl – Change Status to G (2^nd).
• Khtiatiyeea – Change Status to 6 (1,751^st).
• Lahtouyo – Change Status to 6 (1,927^th).
• Loakhtarl – Change Status to A (271^st).
• Raohkeil – Change Status to A (450^th).
• Stahfiei – Change Status to 7 (1,350^th).
• Staoiyloulr – Change Status to 8 (874^th).
• Syoisuis – Change Status to G (3^rd).
• Tiykhisto – Change Status to B (145^th).
• Tralyeaeawi – Change Status to G (4^th).
• Uawairlew – Change Status to D (63^rd).
• Uiktawa – Change Status to G (7^th).
• Wahtoi – Change Status to D (49^th).
• Waisyauiai – Change Status to 7 (1,032^nd).
• Yehaso – Change Status to D (55^th).
• Yerlyaruiwo – Change Status to G (1^st).
• Zodia – Change Status to C (113^th).

Note that these revised rankings for Aroaye’i and Loakhtarl are higher than those published in the old Referee’s Companion. This can be explained by noting the MT rankings reflect the Rebellion period, when both clans suffer significant turmoil. MegaTraveller sources provide some of our most detailed information on the Aslan Hierate, but unfortunately it’s rarely clear if that information is accurate for the 1105 time period.

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The Traveller, 2300AD and Twilight: 2000 games in all forms are owned by Mongoose Publishing. Copyright 1977–2026 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller is a registered trademark of Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose Publishing permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Mongoose Publishing is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Mongoose Publishing’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Vassal Clans Revisited

An archival image of Hrasiyah Wi‘ (2549–3624 Aslan), former warlord of the Koihes clan, a vassal of the multiworld Boldway (Syhkikh) clan. The Koihes capital is on the agricultural world of Ahwyeu (Hlakhoi 1822, A8486B8-C). They have two vassal clans that owe them fealty in turn, the Iryoa and the Fiyliei. (Image courtesy of the Koihes Clan Information Service, 1105.)

In “Holdings and the Multiworld Clan” we created a weighed distribution of Multiworld Aslan clans, resulting in many more Multiworld clans with smaller Holdings scores and far fewer clans with larger Holdings scores. One knock-on effect was this change roughly doubled our estimated number of Multiworld clans in the Aslan Hierate from 75 to over 150.

Most Multiworld clans have additional worlds that are administered by Vassal clans—such worlds are held in fief on behalf of the Multiworld clans through subinfeudation. There are about a thousand such worlds in the Aslan Hierate; they can be identified by either Aslan Government Type M or the Allegiance Code AsVc.

We have previously estimated that the average Multiworld clan commands 2.5 direct Vassal clans that administer an average of 2 worlds each; these vassals command 2 indirect Vassal clans of their own that administer and average of 1.67 worlds each. This suggests that 76 Multiworld clans command 190 direct Vassal clans, that in turn command another 380 indirect Vassal clans.

The typical Multiworld clan thus has 7.5 Vassal clans, including both direct and indirect vassals. These basic assumptions are largely reflected in Clans of the Aslan. However, by doubling the number of Multiworld clans in the Hierate we then need to adjust one or more assumptions around Vassal clans. I think the easiest way to go is to reduce the number of vassals each clan controls, resulting in the following revised assumptions:

• The average Multiworld clan has 8.326 worlds under its direct control
• The average Multiworld clan has 3.75 Vassal clans
• The average Vassal clan administers 1.78 worlds
• The average Multiworld clan has 6.675 worlds administered by Vassal clans
• Vassal clans therefore administer a number of worlds equal to roughly 80% of the worlds directly controlled by their overlord clan.

These assumptions are illustrated in the following table, which breaks out Multiworld clans by their Holdings scores:

Multiworld Clans and Their Vassals

	Clan Holdings
	6	7	8	9	A	Total
Number of Clans	26	87	30	9	4	156
Worlds Controlled	66	479	346	212	190	1,293
Average Worlds per Clan	2.5	5.5	11.5	23.6	47.5	—
Vassal Worlds	53	383	277	170	152	1,035
Number of Vassals	30	215	156	96	85	582
Average Vassals per Clan	1.2	2.5	5.2	10.7	21.3	—

With these revised assumptions, the following table can be used to determine the number of Vassal clans owing allegiance to a Multiworld clan, based on the Holdings score of that Multiworld clan.

Number of Vassals

2D	Holdings
	6	7	8	9	A
2	D3-2	D3-2	D3-1	2D+1	2D+4
3	D3-2	D3-2	D3	2D+1	2D+6
4	D3-2	D3-1	D3+1	2D+1	2D+8
5	D3-1	D3	D3+2	2D+2	2D+11
6	D3-1	D3	2D-2	2D+3	3D+9
7	D3-1	D3+1	2D-2	2D+4	3D+11
8	D3-1	D3+1	2D-1	2D+4	3D+13
9	D3	D3+1	2D	2D+5	4D+11
10	D3	D3+2	2D	2D+6	4D+13
11	D3+1	D3+2	2D+1	2D+7	4D+15
12	D3+1	D3+2	2D+1	2D+8	4D+17

Roll to determine the total number of Vassal clans; divide by 3 and round up to determine number of direct vassals. The remainder will be indirect vassals that owe fealty to one or more of the direct vassals.

Copyright Information

The Traveller, 2300AD and Twilight: 2000 games in all forms are owned by Mongoose Publishing. Copyright 1977–2026 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller is a registered trademark of Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose Publishing permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Mongoose Publishing is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Mongoose Publishing’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Holdings and the Multiworld Clan

Aihao (Iwahfuah 2409 A9CA947-C), the industrial capital of the multiworld Hlaotiyoiho (Manytongues) clan, a likely Tlaukhu contender ranked 30^th in the Hierate, and said to control over 50 mainworlds.

Clans of the Aslan introduced the clan profile, which defines an Aslan clan much like the world profile defines a Traveller world. One of the keystone characteristics is Holdings, which measures the amount of mainworld territory directly controlled by the clan. (A clan might also hold additional territory on secondary or split-control worlds, or in lands held by vassal clans in fief.)

A Holdings score of 4 or less indicates the clan controls less than one entire world; a Holdings score of 5 indicates the clan dominates exactly one mainworld in its entirety; and a Holdings score of 6 or more indicates the clan controls two or more mainworlds. Each step in this scale represents a rough doubling of worlds:

Clan Holdings Scores

Holdings	Description	Average
6	2–3 worlds	2.5
7	4–7 worlds	5.5
8	8–15 worlds	11.5
9	16–31 worlds	23.5
A	32–63 worlds	47.5

A Multiworld clan therefore will always have a Holdings score between 6 and A. Aslan worlds controlled by Multiworld clans can be identified by either Government Type K or the allegiance code AsMw.

In a previous post on Independent Clans we assumed that approximately 1,300 worlds in the Hierate are controlled by Multiworlds clans, and an average Multiworld clan controlled 17 worlds, implying there were probably around 76 different Multiworld clans. These estimates were reflected in this passage from Clans of the Aslan:

There are probably less than 100 Multiworld clans in the entire Hierate. On average, Multiworld clans have populations in the low tens of billions. These clans can hold as few as two mainworlds to over 30, with an average somewhere between 12 and 24 worlds.

These estimates are also reflected in the clan generation system, where the average Holdings score is between 8 and 9.

While I think the clan generation system works perfectly well for fleshing out a handful of clans for a subsector, as I worked up details on an entire sector I felt the system was producing too many Multiworld clans with Holdings scores that were too high, even though the averages were consistent with our previous assumptions. Hlakhoi sector, for example, has 78 worlds with the AsMw allegiance code—which, with an average of 17 worlds apiece, would represent only 4–5 Multiworld clans. This struck me as far too few, even assuming that Multiworld clan territories overlap sector boundaries.

I was also concerned with how these Multiworld clan results stacked up against the Tlaukhu clans. When I first reverse-engineered the composition of the Hierate, I assumed all Tlaukhu clans had Holdings scores of A, and thus an average Multiworld clan Holdings of 8 or 9 made sense. But once I had sleuthed out details on the individual Tlaukhu clans, I ended up with a handful of Tlaukhu clans with Holdings as low as 8, and another handful with Holdings as high as B. This meant the average Multiworld clan had Holdings comparable to the weakest Tlaukhu members. While some overlap in strength between the two groups is both reasonable and desirable, too much would contradict previous canon, which holds that membership on the Twenty-Nine is relatively stable.

The problem, I concluded, was that clan Holdings should likely exhibit a highly skewed distribution, wherein a small number of very large clans push the average Holdings results upward, much like average “real world” incomes can be skewed upward by just a few ultra-wealthy individuals. Traveller world populations exhibit a similar skew, as each increment in the Population code represents an order-of-magnitude increase in population. Using straight-up world generation, the average Traveller world has a population of 1.71 billion, which is driven by only a handful of Pop A worlds.

For skewed data like World Population, real-world income, or clan Holdings, the median value is often more informative than the average value, as it reduces the impact of extreme outliers on either end of the data set. So while the average Traveller world population is 1.71 billion, the median population is only 500,000. Roughly half of the worlds produced by Traveller world generation would be expected to have populations below 500,000, while half would have populations above 500,000.

By going back to basics, I played with a 2D6 distribution that would produce more Multiworld clans with lower Holdings scores and much fewer clans with higher Holdings scores. I wanted to target a Holdings score of 7 (4–7 mainworlds) as the median result.

Multiworld Clan Revised Holdings Distribution

2D	Probability	Holdings	Total Clans	Worlds/Clan	Total Worlds	Weighted Result
2	2.77%	6	4	2.5	10	0.07
3	5.55%	6	9	2.5	23	0.14
4	8.33%	6	13	2.5	33	0.21
5	11.11%	7	17	5.5	94	0.61
6	13.88%	7	22	5.5	121	0.76
7	16.66%	7	26	5.5	143	0.92
8	13.88%	7	22	5.5	121	0.76
9	11.11%	8	17	11.5	196	1.28
10	8.33%	8	13	11.5	150	0.96
11	5.55%	9	9	23.5	212	1.30
12	2.77%	A	4	47.5	190	1.32
			156		1,293	8.326

With this distribution, the median number of mainworlds controlled by a Multiworld clan drops to 5.5 (Holdings 7), with an average of 8.33 (Holdings 8). This seems much more reasonable to me, though it does increase the expected total number of Multiworld clans in the Hierate from 76 to 156. These results can be further consolidated like so:

Multiworld Clan Holdings

2D	Probability	Holdings	Clans	Worlds
2–4	16.65%	6	26	66
5–8	55.53%	7	87	479
9–10	19.44%	8	30	346
11	5.55%	9	9	212
12	2.77%	A	4	190
			156	1,293

Based on these changes, the description of Multiworld clans in Clans of the Aslan could be revised to read:

There are probably more than 150 Multiworld clans in the entire Hierate. Multiworld clans have median populations in the high hundreds of millions and average populations in the low billions. These clans can hold as few as two mainworlds to over 30, with an average somewhere between 6 and 12 worlds. A Multiworld clan also controls a comparable number of secondary worlds and have many smaller holdings on split-control worlds.

With these change in mind, the table of Random Clan Holdings on page 79 of Clans of the Aslan can thus be expanded from a 1D to 2D table like this:

Random Clan Holdings (Revised)

2D	Major	Multiworld	Single World	Minor	Major Vassal	Vassal	Minor Vassal
2	8	6	5	0	5	5	0
3	8	6	5	0	5	5	0
4	8	6	5	0	5	5	0
5	9	7	5	0	6	5	0
6	9	7	5	1	6	5	1
7	9	7	5	1	6	6	1
8	A	7	5	2	7	6	2
9	A	8	5	2	7	6	2
10	A	8	5	3	7	6	3
11	B	9	5	4	7	6	3
12	B	A	5	4	7	7	3

This revised table reflects another important change from the old table in Clans of the Aslan: Vassal clans have minimum Holdings scores of 5, meaning they administer at least one world in its entirety. Vassals that hold less than one world in fief are by definition Minor Vassal clans.

The old table works fine for most uses, but if a referee wanted to develop an area larger than a subsector or two, this revised version should work better for that purpose. Using this, the number of Multiworld clans in Hlakhoi increased to twelve, with one clan with Holdings A, one with Holdings 9, three with Holdings 8, three with Holdings 7, and four with Holdings 6—a much more varied and interesting result, in my mind.

Copyright Information

The Traveller, 2300AD and Twilight: 2000 games in all forms are owned by Mongoose Publishing. Copyright 1977 - 2025 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller is a registered trademark of Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose Publishing permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Mongoose Publishing is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Mongoose Publishing’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Sleuthing Out Tlaukhu Details

Hlakhoi (-4/-2) sector, known to the ancient Terrans as Albireo.

I turned in The Aslan Hierate manuscript back at the end of October; the book is currently on the Mongoose Release Schedule for next summer. Unfortunately, I have been too busy on various projects to catch up with this poor, neglected blog.

I haven’t been completely idle on the Traveller front, though: I’ve provided a few suggested tweaks regarding Aslan Traveller generation for the upcoming revision to Aliens of Charted Space Volume 1. I’ve also been hard at work outlining a campaign book with the working title of Kith and Clan. I’m shooting for a big, sandboxy romp very much in the same vein as Pirates of Drinax, but set in Hlakhoi sector.

As part of this work I’ve been playing with the clan generation system from Clans of the Aslan, and realized I’ve never really explained how I derived many of the details for the 29 Tlaukhu members that appeared in Clans. I’ve previously discussed a bit of this in an older post on Developing the Tlaukhu.

To recap, we know from the CT Aslan Alien Module (1984) that the “Hierate includes more than 4,000 clans spread across about 7,000 worlds in 17 sectors.” Aslan world generation and published sector data indicates how many of these worlds are controlled by members of the Tlaukhu.

Unlike other types of Aslan clans, we know the names of all 29 members of the Tlaukhu, their relative ranking to each other, and their associated power bloc and the ranking of those alliances:

Tlaukhu Power Blocs

Power Bloc	Member Clans
AsT0	Yerlyaruiwo (1), Hrawoao (13), Eisohiyw (14), Ferekhearl (19)
AsT1	Khaukheairl (2), Estoieie’ (16), Toaseilwi (22)
AsT2	Syoisuis (3)
AsT3	Tralyeaeawi (4), Yulraleh (12), Aiheilar (25), Riyhalaei (28)
AsT4	Hrasua (5), Eteawyolei’ (11), Fteweyeakh (23)
AsT5	Hlyueawi (6), Isoitiyro (15)
AsT6	Uiktawa (7), Iykyasea (17), Faowaou (27)
AsT7	Ikhtealyo (8), Tlerfearlyo (20), Yehtahikh (24)
AsT8	Seieakh (9), Akatoiloh (18), We’okunir (29)
AsT9	Aokhalte (10), Sahao’ (21), Ouokhoi (26)

This information allows us to estimate additional details about the Tlaukhu members. We know from our post on Governments and Allegiances in the Hierate that there are probably about a thousand worlds (16%) completely controlled by a Tlaukhu clan. Evenly distributed, this would be about a hundred worlds per power bloc or a little more than 34 worlds per individual Tlaukhu clan.

The composition of the Tlaukhu has been fairly stable for over 3,000 years, at least in terms of individual members: most current seats have been held by the same clan since the council’s founding. We also know that members are not completely equal, as they can be ranked both individually and collectively as power blocs. So I assume the most powerful Tlaukhu members are much more powerful than the weakest ones, but not so powerful as to bully their lessers with impunity. In fact, the various blocs probably arose to address persistent power disparities.

I further assume that the best indicator of power among the Tlaukhu members is probably the number of worlds controlled. While other considerations undoubtedly influence rankings, such as honor, cultural or historical importance, or economic and military might, the sheer number of worlds under direct control is probably the clearest signal of clout.

To start, I looked at dividing up a thousand worlds between the ten power blocs. First I ordered the ten blocs by rank. I assumed that the first ranked bloc (Yerlyaruiwo) would not be more powerful than the bottom two blocs (Seieakh and Aokhalte) combined. So I assigned the first ranked bloc an arbitrary strength of 1, and the tenth ranked bloc exactly half that: 0.5. I then did just a simple linear interpolation for the remaining eight blocs. An interval of 0.05556 separated each consecutive bloc. These strengths sum to a total of 7.5, which I used to develop prorated estimates of the number of worlds controlled by each bloc:

Tlaukhu Bloc Strength and Estimated Worlds

Power Bloc	Rank	Bloc Strength	Worlds Controlled
First (Yerlyaruiwo)	1	1.00	139.20
Second (Khaukheairl)	2	0.94	131.47
Third (Syoisuis)	3	0.89	123.73
Fourth (Tralyeaeawi)	4	0.83	116.00
Fifth (Hrasua)	5	0.78	108.27
Sixth (Hlyueawi)	6	0.72	100.53
Seventh (Uiktawa)	7	0.67	92.80
Eighth (Ikhtealyo)	8	0.61	85.07
Ninth (Seieakh)	9	0.56	77.33
Tenth (Aokhalte)	10	0.50	69.60

Thus, the first (Yerlyaruiwo) bloc was estimated to control 140 worlds, while the tenth (Aokhalte) bloc was estimated to control 70. Now that we’ve estimated the number of worlds controlled by each bloc, we can further break these numbers down to individual Tlaukhu clans.

We know the number and identity of Tlaukhu clans within each bloc as well as their individual rank. I simply grouped each bloc member by relative rank within their bloc: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. As a starting estimate, I assumed the second-ranked clan controlled half the worlds of the first ranked clan, the third controlled a third, and the fourth, a fourth. This resulted in the following distribution:

World Distribution within Tlaukhu Blocs

Power Bloc	No. of Members	Worlds by Member				Total Worlds
		1st	2nd	3rd	4th
First (Yerlyaruiwo)	4	67	34	22	17	140
Second (Khaukheairl)	3	72	36	24	–	132
Third (Syoisuis)	1	124	–	–	–	124
Fourth (Tralyeaeawi)	4	56	28	19	14	117
Fifth (Hrasua)	3	59	30	20	–	109
Sixth (Hlyueawi)	2	67	34	–	–	101
Seventh (Uiktawa)	3	51	26	17	–	94
Eighth (Ikhtealyo)	3	46	23	15	–	84
Ninth (Seieakh)	3	42	21	14	–	77
Tenth (Aokhalte)	3	38	19	13	–	70

I then laid out all 29 Tlaukhu members in order. I had honestly expected the result would need a lot of hand tweaking but the raw numbers seemed pretty decent:

Tlaukhu Worlds by Clan Rank

Rank	Clan	Bloc	Worlds
1	Yerlyaruiwo	AsT0	67
2	Khaukheairl	AsT1	72
3	Syoisuis	AsT2	124
4	Tralyeaeawi	AsT3	56
5	Hrasua	AsT4	59
6	Hlyueawi	AsT5	67
7	Uiktawa	AsT6	51
8	Ikhtealyo	AsT7	46
9	Seieakh	AsT8	42
10	Aokhalte	AsT9	38
11	Eteawyolei’	AsT4	30
12	Yulraleh	AsT3	28
13	Hrawoao	AsT0	34
14	Eisohiyw	AsT0	22
15	Isoitiyro	AsT5	34
16	Estoieie’	AsT1	36
17	Iykyasea	AsT6	26
18	Akatoiloh	AsT8	21
19	Ferekhearl	AsT4	17
20	Tlerlearlyo	AsT7	23
21	Sahao’	AsT9	19
22	Toaseilwi	AsT1	24
23	Fteweyeakh	AsT4	20
24	Yetahikh	AsT7	15
25	Aiheilar	AsT3	19
26	Ouokhoi	AsT9	13
27	Faowaou	AsT6	17
28	Riyhalaei	AsT3	14
29	We’okurir	AsT8	14

Note that “worlds” here refers only to main worlds directly controlled by a single clan. Each Tlaukhu clan has a comperable number of worlds held in fief by Tlaukhu Vassal clans, as well as additional holdings on Split Control and secondary worlds. All told, the main worlds might only represent about a third of a clan’s total holdings. Knowing the number of worlds held by vassals also helps us estimate the number of vassals sworn to each Tlaukhu clan.

These numbers help explain the importance of power blocs among the Tlaukhu members. Although the Yerlyaruiwo clan individually holds only the third-highest number of worlds in the Hierate, their leadership atop the most powerful bloc helps place them as the top-ranked clan. In contrast, the Syoisuis clan, which controls almost twice the number of worlds as the next largest clan, has no allies and thus is only ranked third in the Hierate. This also explains why the clan has adopted a “studied neutrality” in Hierate politics: it is vulnerable to an attack from any two blocs.

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Spotted in the Wild

Hard copies of Clans of the Aslan, my second book for Mongoose Traveller, have finally started to land on people’s doorsteps. Mine arrived on Monday and—maybe this is due to my old, small laptop screen—I think the artwork is far more impressive on paper than in the PDF. Cassie Gregory at Mongoose really did a fantastic job laying out this book.

So what’s next? I am hard at work on the manuscript for the The Aslan Hierate, the third book in what is turning out to possibly be a quadrilogy. Hopefully there’s much, much more to come on that in the not-too-far future.

Leviathan Rising

Our latest Into the Interface session saw the crew of the IMV Starjammer embroiled in the twisty, dirty world of espionage in Magyar sector.

Ship’s Log

Ship Name Starjammer.

Port of Registry Kline (MAGY 3012 A642987-E).

Ship Type U-CA33 Armed Packet.

Registration # 338-C-2725.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 090-1105

1322. While the Starjammer was docked at Kline highport, Marc Vachon agreed to sign on as pilot for the armed packet, making him the new executive officer to Captain Wayne Masada. Like Chief Engineer Richy Jamoor, Marc had attended the prestigious Imperial Naval Academy on Seloo (Magyar 2102, A4319BA-E), though he had not graduated. Instead, Marc worked his way up the ranks to a commission, eventually becoming an analyst for Imperial Naval Intelligence.

1347. Marc received a summons from Sir Virgilio Khan, seneschal to the Imperial subsector duchess of Walpurgis. Marc asked the ship’s surgeon, Dr. Howard Barrera, to accompany him to the surface of Kline.

1815. After a brief shuttle ride down the gravity well, Marc and Dr. Barrera arrived at the offices of Duchess Shanika. Sir Virgilio ushered the two Starjammers into a secure conference room and explained why he had summoned them.

The Kline Security Directorate, the duchess’s own intelligence service, believed it had identified a significant threat to the Imperium, but needed to corroborate its findings. Sir Virgilio explained that the high nobles of Magyar had long been concerned that the Solomani Confederation was building up its naval strength along the spinward edge of the Imperial border. For over a decade the nobles had noted the steady deployment of first strike capital ships to nearby Confederation military bases.

However, the nobles’ concerns had fallen on deaf ears with the Imperial Admiralty, who were supremely confident that their technological edge ensured that the Solomani would be badly outmatched should they ever initiate hostilities. The Admiralty believed that Magyar’s fortress worlds and sector fleet would be able to hold out against a Confederation invasion long enough for more powerful naval units from the Solomani Rim to be brought to bear.

Former Imperial Navy Commander Ginnoni Salman, taken 349-1102 (Source: Kline Security Directorate).

While Marc had been with Naval Intelligence he had worked closely under Commander Ginnoni Salman, a brilliant and charismatic officer who was a legend for his skill at recruiting high value Solomani assets, and his willingness to buck the system.

Salman had cultivated a trusted source with contacts inside the Confederation Naval Design Bureau at Keyor (Magyar 1521, A201889-E). The Keyor system lay some sixteen parsecs spinward and rimward of Kline and served as Magyar Sector Fleet headquarters for the Solomani.

Salman’s source claimed to have obtained planning documents outlining the development of an entirely new class of dreadnought, the largest and most advanced fighting vessels in any navy’s fleet. Such a development could shift the balance of power in the sector, which currently favored the Imperium.

But just as Salman was about to extract his source the commander learned that the operation had been blown: his contact had been arrested by Solomani Security and Salman’s entire intelligence network inside the Confederation, built up over the course of several years, had been rolled up by SolSec in just a few weeks.

Salman never fully recovered from this disaster, and all INI files associated with the affair were classified and withheld from circulation within the Imperial intelligence community. Just a few years later Salman was forced out of the service due to some scandalous business concerning diverted funds, and in the years since he had dropped off the grid.

Sir Virgilio explained that the Kline Security Directorate had recently obtained highly credible intelligence that some new, very large starship was currently being constructed under great secrecy at the Confederation shipyards at Keyor. The KSD analysts believed this mystery ship was likely the same dreadnought Salman’s contact had seen the plans for.

Sir Virgilio asked Marc to locate his old mentor in the hope that Salman could verify the new intel. The seneschal casually noted that the Starjammer had been provided on long-term loan by Duchess Shanika with the understanding it would be made available for exactly such services. Both Dr. Barrera and Marc agreed to look for the missing intelligence analyst.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 091-1105

0700. Back on the Starjammer, Marc and Dr. Barrera relayed the details of their meeting with Sir Virgilio to the rest of the crew.

Marc also noted that much more than mere arrogance might have led the Admiralty to ignore warnings about a Solomani build-up. He explained that, following the disaster at Keyor, Salman became convinced that Imperial Naval Intelligence was compromised, and that the Solomani had embedded one or more moles inside the service, and that these moles had been feeding the Admiralty bad and misdirected intel, while passing Imperial secrets back to Solomani Security.

Although Salman had been very tight-lipped about his suspicions, Marc believed his mentor had gotten very close to uncovering the mole when Salman became embroiled in the financial scandal. Marc also believed that the scandal had been a set-up and that Salman was innocent of the charges.

1200. The ship’s resident entertainer, Daren Rigby-Garner, declared that he needed to return to Kline because his upcoming spa appointment was necessary for his well-being and non-refundable to boot. His android bodyguard, Sonny, felt obligated to accompany his charge.

The rest of the crew began investigating Sir Virgilio’s claims by checking public sources available on the Kline worldnet. A news item in the Solomani Rising Phoenix News Service from late 1102 announced the award of a large military contract to the Keyor shipyards for construction of new capital ships.

A Hiver, one of the of the six Major Races in Charted Space. Their own name for themselves has no spoken equivalent; “Hiver” is simply a Human term applied to them. They are descended from omnivore gatherer/scavenger stock, and are unique in that they attained a form of agriculture before they became sentient. Hivers are highly individualistic while driven by curiosity, parental instinct, and a desire to maintain the unity and uniformity of their race both within and outside their Federation.

Another news piece from 1103 trumpeted the arrival of a Hiver embassy ship on Keyor. The Hivers were a mysterious, non-human alien species that controlled the vast Hive Federation located to trailing of the Imperium. The Hivers, which somewhat resembled Terran starfish, were highly intelligent creatures with inscrutable motivations. While considered cowards and pacifists, the Hivers were also believed to be highly adept at manipulating entire societies over decades and even centuries into eventually conforming to the Hivers’ goals.

Conspiracy theorists often posited that the Hivers were behind every Human calamity in the last 500 years, but some serious Imperial and Confederation historians had speculated that the Hivers might have somehow manipulated the Solomani into rebelling against the Imperium in order to weaken both their human neighbors.

In any case, the Hivers possessed technology at least equal to the Imperium in most areas and in some respects possibly surpassing it. Although the Solomani’s prejudice against non-humans would normally prevent them from working with such an alien race, access to TL15 items might help them overcome their inherent chauvinism.

A report published in 1104 from a Solomani Party subcommittee for economic development in Valhalla subsector touted that unemployment rates had been steadily dropping to levels not seen since the Rim War. The report also noted that on Keyor the demand for skilled shipfitters had been so high that shipyard quotas were going unfilled, and had been partially to blame for cost overruns and delivery delays.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 093-1105

1200. Back on the mainworld’s surface, Marc, Dr. Barrera, Brogue, and Richy visited an old colleague of Salman’s, Marrin Torrez. Marc explained that the Kline office of Naval Intelligence was euphemistically referred to as the “Local Edition.” The head of their office was the “Editor’s Desk,” while Salman and Marc worked in the “Newsroom.” Marrin worked in the “Research” department. Like Salman and Marc, she was an outsider within an organization that was largely made up of self-congratulatory, over-educated sons and daughters of the nobility.

Marrin was brilliant at cross-referencing hundreds of databases to uncover hidden connections, but she was called the “Gorgon” by her coworkers for her withering disdain for the lazy or dim.

Marrin was quite fond of Salman and by extension, Marc, and the two men were only rarely the subject of her acidic tirades. She had tried to soldier on at the Local Edition after Salman was forced out, but only lasted a little more than a year longer before she retired.

The Starjammers found the Gorgon living in Mirjam city, in a modest apartment on the edge of one of Klime’s domed parks, where she had taken up botany as a hobby. She appeared glad to see Marc, and groused that she never saw anyone from the Newsroom anymore.

When asked, Marrin claimed that she had not kept in contact with Salman, but had heard he was teaching Galangic on Shugammiir (F622ACE-C), a high population secondary world of the Kline system. During the Solomani occupation many Vilani citizens across the subsector were rounded up and forcibly relocated to Shugammiir, a dirty industrial world of over 40 billion. Since becoming liberated during the Rim War, Shugammiir had become a hotbed for Vilani nationalism and virulent anti-Solomani sentiment.

Loyal to the end, the Gorgon—like Marc—believed that Salman had been framed, possibly by the mole. Marrin said that Salman had three main suspects inside the Local Edition but he never revealed their identities to her, as he wanted to be absolutely sure before he began leveling accusations against fellow Imperial intelligence officers.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 094-1105

0700. On board the Starjammer, JUN0 briefed the crew on Shugammiir. This secondary world orbited Megishi, a distant red dwarf companion star located almost 2,500 AU from Pemami, Kline’s primary star. Due to the great distance between the primary and companion stars, travel to Shugammiir was almost always made via jump drive. Captain Masada made the necessary preparations for jump, including filing a flight plan stating the Starjammer would be bound for the Kanamsa (Magyar 3214, B577355-C) system.

The Kline System

Object	Orbital Distance (AU)	Profile	Remarks
Pemami	—	M0 V	Primary
Kline	0.40	A642987-E	He Hi In Po Cp Tz Co
Else	0.67	Y100314-9	Mi
Minemkirke	1.54	LGG	Size U Gas Giant
Adu	4.70	LGG	Size T Gas Giant
Pemami V	9.50	YDA4451-7	Mi
Megishi	2,335	M1 V	Far Companion
Shugammiir	0.20	F622ACE-C	Hi In Tz
Duzegan	0.40	YAC5000-0	Tz Co
Niikuzega	0.58	LGG	Size V Gas Giant
Zadishbaka	1.06	SGG	Size R Gas Giant
Uuman	1.72	H300532-7	Mi

1153. The Starjammer unmoored from Kline highport and began making for Pemami’s 100 diameter limit.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 095-1105

0101. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Jumpspace 098-1105

2100. Richy found Marc on the bridge, querying JUN0’s library files. Marc explained that the Starjammer had occasionally been used by the Kline Security Directorate for special missions into the Solomani Confederation, and that he had been issued a backdoor code that allowed him to access the secret logs from these missions. Richy said this explained why many of the ship’s components showed runtimes much higher than would be expected based on the official logbooks.

Shugammiir (Magyar 3012 F622ACE-C) 101-1105

2316. The Starjammer emerged from jump space just outside Megishi’s 100 diameter limit. Marc began piloting the vessel toward Shugammiir at maximum acceleration.

Shugammiir (Magyar 3012 F622ACE-C) 102-1105

1857. The Starjammer reached orbit above Shugammiir.

1951. The Starjammer landed at Shugammiir Spaceport.

2122. The Starjammer cleared Imperial customs. Shugammiir was a grim industrial world with an extremely high law level. Any weapons were effectively banned, and state surveillance was omnipresent.

A review of the starbase arrival board indicated that an Imperial Naval courier, the INS Liebman, had arrived six hours earlier than the Starjammer.

Brogue, Richy, Howard, and Marc debarked the Starjammer. A check of the Shugammiir worldnet confirmed that Salman was teaching Galangic to factory workers at a state-run technical school. Brogue was able to map out a route to the lecture hall where Salman was currently located, and the Starjammers headed out.

Shugammiir was a dirty, claustrophobic maze of underground pedestrian corridors and maglev tunnels. The Starjammers arrived at Lecture Hall 323A just as Salman’s class was breaking up. The former naval commander was shocked to see Marc on Shugammiir, and Marc was equally as shocked to see how far Salman had fallen: the formerly proud, nearly vain man who had always been meticulous about his appearance was now unshaven and disheveled, dressed in shabby workclothes.

Brogue, Richy, and Howard hung back while Marc took Salman to a nearby dive bar, the Unda Kimginrir. Salman was clearly suspicious about the sudden appearance of an old colleague, but Marc noted that the older man had grown sloppy in the intervening years: formerly an exemplar of fieldwork, Salman had not seemed to pick up on the three Starjammers trailing them both to the bar.

At the Unda Kimginrir Marc bought Salman round after round of kassig, the cheap and acrid greenish-yellow Vilani beer—a beverage that Salman, an aficionado of fine imported Terran wines—never would have touched in his former days at Naval Intelligence.

Shugammiir (Magyar 3012 F622ACE-C) 103-1105

0034. After a couple hours of harmless badinage Salman’s demeanor abruptly changed. Evidently satisfied that Marc’s motivations were likely good, Salman began bracing his friend about his true purpose for visiting Shugammiir.

Once Marc explained Sir Virgilio’s request, Salman became very agitated. Several years earlier Salman had managed to turn a Solomani Security agent codenamed SLIDE-RULE. The agent was an engineer by training, and SolSec had managed to get him placed as a tenured professor with the Imperial University at Fornorb (Magyar 2616, C997A85-A) where he was expected to gather information on advanced hull materials being developed by Imperial scientists. However, SLIDE-RULE had come to enjoy the greater freedoms and luxuries found on the Imperial side of the border, and once Salman pegged him as a SolSec agent, SLIDE-RULE was readily flipped to become an asset for Imperial Naval Intelligence.

SLIDE-RULE confirmed that the Confederation Navy was at work on a new dreadnought class. Since the end of the Rim War, the Solomani had systematically built larger and larger warships, and this proposed new “Sector United” class would have been even bigger than the Imperium’s own 500,000-ton Tigress class. Perhaps even more concerning, the class was intended to integrate advanced technologies, including stealth, new Hiver-designed power plants, and a massive meson spinal mount some 60,000 displacement tons in size. A spinal mount represented the apex of starship weaponry, a platform so large it ran nearly the entire length of the ship. Meson spinals were particularly destructive, utilizing dual-particle beams that ignored all armor and radiation shielding, which made them capable of ending naval engagements before they even begin. These innovations would allow the vessel to go toe-to-toe against Imperial ships-of-the-line.

SLIDE-RULE had signaled Salman that he had obtained documents outlining the entire Sector United program. Just as Salman had made arrangements to bring SLIDE-RULE and his intel in, the double-agent was picked up by SolSec and extraordinarily renditioned across the border, where he spent five years in a Confederation prison before being exchanged for three Solomani agents being held by the Imperium.

Salman then began to rant about the mole who was likely still burrowing away inside the Local Office. Salman revealed to Marc that he had never stopped working on his mole theory, even after being tossed out of the Newsroom. Salman’s lead suspect had been and remained none other than Lei Calderon, the Editor of the Local Office. Calderon was a fairly typical glad-handling dilettante, the third son of the Countess of Dexter (Magyar 2416 B587510-B). Salman noted that he had copies of files implicating the Editor hidden away back at his apartment.

Realizing that his old mentor was likely in great danger, Marc called in the rest of the away team and after brief introductions they hustled Salman back to the safety of the Starjammer. Captain Masada made arrangements for a hasty departure from Shugammiir, while Ronald and Boone took steps to secure the ship.

0500. The away team made for Salman’s apartment, though Howard soon noticed they were being tailed. Once the Starjammers reached their destination they saw that it had been taped off as a crime scene, with members of local law enforcement moving in and out carrying forensic equipment and boxes.

The team was approached by a man Marc recognized as Kiran Fillips, the cocksure head of the Local Edition’s “Collections” unit, ex-Imperial Marines used for internal security and occasional muscle. Fillips recognized Marc and asked where Salman was, noting that the old analyst was now wanted for illegal possession of classified materials, an Imperial crime. Fillips joked how low the once mighty Salman had fallen, and warned Marc about associating with suspected criminals.

1200. Ronald and Brogue returned to Salman’s apartment, easily slipping by the pair of local officers placed on guard. Once inside they found that Salman’s hiding place had been discovered and his files removed. On their return trip to the Starjammer they encountered two of Fillip’s boys from Collections, but after a brief tussle were able to escape without bloodshed.

Jumpspace 105-1105

1200. While disappointed that his personal files had been lost, Salman explained that they would be of little help to Naval Intelligence, as they were encrypted and set to self-destruct if tampered with. Further, Salman claimed he still knew the contents well enough himself.

Salman recommended that the Starjammers seek out SLIDE-RULE, who could likely corroborate Sir Virgilio’s intel. His real identity was Sing Habib; Salman said that as of twelve months earlier, Habib had reportedly returned to Fornorb and was working at the starport there.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 112-1105

0214. The Starjammer returned to Kline Highport.

0600. Marc and Howard reported the recent events at Shugammiir to Sir Virgilio, who agreed that they should track down Habib Sing on Fornorb.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 114-1105

2048. Ronald reported that the INS courier Liebman had returned to Kline.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 115-1105

1100. Marc reported that some old contacts still working at the Local Edition claimed that Fillip’s Collections team had irrevocably destroyed Salman’s files while trying to retrieve them in jumpspace.

1700. Marc, Howard, and Richy brought Salman to the Blackriver delegation for safe keeping. The Aslan clan owed the Starjammers a great debt for saving their ambassador, and were quite familiar with the complicated nature of internal politics. They pledged that Salman would be safe in their care.

Kline (Magyar 3012 A64287-E) 116-1105

0500. Captain Masada filed an erroneous flight plan with Kline system control, claiming that the Starjammer was bound for the Grendel (Solomani Rim 0111, A96A98B-E) system.

0721. The Starjammer unmoored from Kline highport, bound for the Pemami 100D limit.

2103. The Starjammer reached the Norkio jump point and entered jumpspace.

Norkio (Magyar 2915 C67578A-9) 124-1105

0748. The Starjammer emerged from jumpspace deep in the Norkio outer system, nearly 6.4 million kilometers from the smallest and most distant gas giant. Captain Masada ordered the ship to make ready for fuel skimming operations.

Norkio (Magyar 2915 C67578A-9) 125-1105

0424. The Starjammer, fully refueled, entered jumpspace bound for the Fornorb system.

Fornorb (Magyar 2616 C997A85-A) 132-1105

0833. The Starjammer emerged from jumpspace near the 100D limit of Fornorb’s primary Makligu, a red dwarf star. Marc began piloting the Starjammer toward the Fornorb mainworld. The planet was marginally habitable, its atmosphere tainted with industrial pollutants, and locked in a resonant orbit with Makligu.

Fornorb (Magyar 2616 C997A85-A) 133-1105

Fornorb and its primary star, Makligu, as seen from orbit.

1033. The Starjammer touched down at Fornorb Starport, located on the planet’s surface. Fornorb was a high population industrial world of over 20 billion citizens, and formerly a major shipbuilding center for the Solomani Confederation. During the Rim War the system had been the site of two major space battles and in the subsequent fighting the highport and the shipyards were destroyed by the Imperials and not yet rebuilt. Fornorb, which had been on the verge of reaching TL14, was plunged back to TL10 where it has remained for the last 100 years.

Captain Masada declared the entire ship under seal and thus was subjected to only a brief inspection of the crew manifest. As a Law Level 5 world, everyone on the away team raided the ship’s locker for a filter mask, an Imperial standard model S-4 shotgun, and handfuls of shotshells.

Although Habib was a highly educated starship engineer, he was evidently working at the only job he could find: an entry-level mechanic in the starport’s maintenance department. Richy was able to hack into the starport work schedule and determined that Habib had the day off.

1301. The away team tracked Habib to Fusion Fare, a café just outside the starport. Habib was still sharp with his fieldcraft, if a bit paranoid, and immediately clocked the Starjammers. Marc was able to quickly establish that he was a friend sent by Salman through use of a sign and corresponding countersign.

Habib was clearly embittered by his experience working for Naval Intelligence but heartened to learn that the Kline Security Directorate was digging into the Sector United program. Habib shared that he had, even through imprisonment, managed to hold onto documents that would corroborate KSD’s findings, and that these were available back at his apartment.

1522. Habib and the Starjammers reached his apartment, located in a decrepit tenement building populated with factory workers. Once inside Habib seemed to have new doubts: while eager to embarrass Naval Intelligence, he demanded assurance that his intel would actually be put to good use and not buried by KSD. Marc and Howard did their best to mollify Habib, and he eventually relented.

Habib went to a large terrarium populated with several purple-furred mice. Picking one up, he produced a syringe and took a small blood draw, which Dr. Barrera accepted. Habib explained he had encoded all of his files on the Sector United program into synthetic DNA that was carried by this line of genetically modified mice. SolSec had never puzzled out where Habib had hidden his files, not realising the mice were the carriers.

The Starjammers urged Habib to leave Fornorb as soon as possible, and Habib pointed to a go bag next to his front door. Habib explained that he needed to make a couple of vidcalls and would be gone himself in the next 20 minutes.

1708. Five or six blocks away from Habib’s apartment the Starjammers heard an explosion, followed seconds later by the sirens of Fornorb first responder units, speeding toward the apartment. While the crowd on the street was abuzz with activity, the team spotted three tails ignoring the chaos and instead marching steadily toward them. Howard and Brogue lured the trio into an ambush in a back alley.

An Imperial standard model S-4 shotgun. The S-4 has an 18mm diameter barrel and fires shells containing either six 7mm pellets or 130 3mm pellets. In each case, velocity for the projectiles is about 350 meters per second.

Although the three strangers were armed with submachine guns the Starjammers had the drop on them, and the S-4 shotguns got the job done in quick order. The team quickly grabbed the strangers’ IDs, which Richy ran through his portacomp. Richy confirmed that the IDs were high-quality fakes, and likely forgeries prepared by Solomani Security.

1840. The away team returned to the Starjammer without further incident. Given how easily SolSec and INI agents seemed to be able to follow the Starjammer across star systems, Howard had begun to suspect that Marc, the newest crew member, might be a turncoat.

Howard asked JUN0 if any unauthorized transmissions had been sent from the ship, and she confirmed that there had been several, but none originated from Marc. Instead, Chairman Meow, the ship’s robotic cat, had recently begun sending and receiving a series of short, coded bursts identified as “programming updates” whenever the Starjammer had been in port. These transmissions had been sent over the last six weeks, but JUN0 had assumed they were just the typical marketing spyware that often plagued commercial robots.

Howard then realized that the J0NZ-E line of robotic cats was manufactured by Thinking Machines, Incorporated—a Solomani corporation. JUN0 indicated that she was unable to locate Chairman Meow on board the Starjammer, kicking off a furious cabin-by-cabin search through the ship.

Brogue found Chairman Meow resting comfortably on a gravpallet in the cargo bay on Deck C. The cargomaster tried to capture the suddenly hissing cat but Howard, taking no chances, quickly racked his S-4 and blasted the robotic cat into smithereens.

Copyright Information

The Traveller, 2300AD and Twilight: 2000 games in all forms are owned by Mongoose Publishing. Copyright 1977 - 2025 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller is a registered trademark of Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose Publishing permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Mongoose Publishing is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Mongoose Publishing’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Agent Marc Vachon

Marc Vachon was originally an NPC in the Blackriver Charter adventure who, as a PC, has recently joined the Starjammer crew as a pilot and executive officer.

Name Marc Vachon		Position(s) Pilot/Executive Officer
Species Human	Gender Male	UPP 9AAEB4
Birth Date 009-1060	Homeworld Kline (Magyar 3012 A642987-E)
Service Navy		Rank Lieutenant
Certifications Mechanic’s Certificate, Spacecraft Pilot’s License, Limited Mate’s License, Sensor Operator’s Certificate, Qualified Operator (autopistol, cutlass, gauss pistol).
Possessions autopistol, cutlass.		Assets kCr12.25
Comments Marc was admitted to the Imperial Naval Academy but failed to graduate. He did serve five terms in the Navy, first with Flight branch, then Support, and finally transfered to Naval Intelligence before his retirement in 1102.

The Meritorious Performance of Duties Medal is a non-combat decoration occasionally “awarded for impressive service in areas the navy does not want to disclose, such as intelligence work or research and development of sensitive systems.”

Marc Vachon was born in the planetary capital of Mirjam, a metropolis of some 300 million. His family had a long history working as shipfitters in the Allied Prefabricated Ships and Vessels yards, but due to his grandparents’ involvement in union organizing Marc’s parents were unable to find employment in the family trade and were forced to work a series of menial, unskilled jobs. Despite growing up impoverished, Marc’s athletic ability and keen intellect allowed him to do well in school, which offered his best chance at escaping the slums of Mirjam.

In 1078 Marc won entry to the Imperial Naval Academy (Magyar Branch), located at Seloo (Magyar 2102 A4319BA-E). Candidates are normally recommended by a noble patron who holds either an active or a reserve naval commission, but Marc won his own way through exceptional academic performance. The Navy operates these very selective academies for the recruitment and training of officers. Over the four-year course the candidates learn basic shipboard skills and receive specialized training in the branch of their choice during the final year. Although Marc excelled at his coursework, in his senior year he became involved with the daughter of an instructor and failed to graduate.

In 1082 he was inducted into the Imperial Navy as a lowly Spacehand, though his academic performance allowed him to enter the Flight Branch, normally reserved for well-connected officers. Flight is perhaps the most prestigious of the specialist navy branches: its officers pilot and navigate starships and are the most likely to gain a command position. Flight personnel are responsible for communications, sensors, and small craft operations as well as the more obvious flight operations.

Marc was assigned to the 109th Fleet, which protects Kline subsector. He served on Gionetti-class light cruisers as part of the 180th Cruiser Squadron based out of Hrongding (Magyar 2817 B621511-C). The commander of the 180th, Commodore Amanda Iikam, quickly recognized Marc’s potential and ensured he was promoted to Able Spacehand.

In 1086 Marc signed up for another term in the Navy, but his romantic relationship ended badly, and he gained an enemy in his former academy instructor. With the assistance of Commodore Iikam Marc was granted a commission as an ensign and was sent to Flight School on Seloo.

In 1090, at Commodore Iikam’s direction, Marc transferred to her personal staff and attended the Naval Intelligence School on Hrongding. The Commodore recognized Marc’s ability to seamlessly slide between rough working class and posh upper class social circles, a useful skill for an intelligence agent. While serving on the commodore’s staff Marc uncovered a conspiracy of several officers within the 109th Fleet, high-born “gentlemen” with sympathies to the Solomani cause. The resulting fallout was a deep embarrassment to Admiral Denis Hansen. Rather than being rewarded with a promotion, Marc was held back.

In 1094 Marc transferred to Imperial Naval Intelligence, “the foremost intelligence service in the Imperium, with a remit to ensure the security of the Imperium from both internal and external threats.” There Marc was promoted to sublieutenant and caught the attention of Commander Ginnoni Salman, a legendary analyst within Naval Intelligence who was known for his intellect, conviction, and willingness to buck the system in pursuit of Solomani agents. When Marc met him Salman was on the outs with his superiors for relentlessly pushing his theory that Solomani Security had at least one high-level mole embedded within INI. Accordingly, Salman was forced to chase his theory off the books. The famously prickly Salman took a liking to Marc and used him to run down various leads on his special project. Despite this, Salman was always very careful never to share too many details about his theory with Marc.

In 1101 Salman’s offices were raided by agents from INI’s internal investigation bureau, who claimed that Salman had been improperly diverting Imperial funds for his personal use. Marc found himself frozen out of their special project files and brought in for days of questioning, but he knew few details about Salman’s theories and absolutely nothing about missing funds. In the end Salman was forced to resign and stripped of his pension, but the entire affair was kept out of the public press. Marc was promoted to lieutenant but pressured to retire from the Navy in 1102.

Within a few weeks Marc was approached by Sir Virgilio Khan, seneschal to Duchess Shanika. The Duchess maintained her own Kline Security Directorate, a subsector intelligence and counterintelligence agency under her control. The KSD had cultivated its own HUMINT networks and enjoyed something of a “friendly” rivalry with the much larger Imperial services such as INI. Sir Virgilio, an old friend of Salman’s, brought Marc in as an outside consultant to the KSD, where Marc discovered that the Duchess had her own concerns about the integrity of Imperial Naval Intelligence.

Copyright Information

The Traveller, 2300AD and Twilight: 2000 games in all forms are owned by Mongoose Publishing. Copyright 1977 - 2025 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller is a registered trademark of Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose Publishing permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Mongoose Publishing is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Mongoose Publishing’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.