Revised Dark Nebula Stellar Data

The M2 III red giant primary of the Steiaseah (DARK 1927) system. The ancient Terrans designated the star Beta Pegasi, while the Aslan know it as Ua’aloiatye, the Bright Star.

The current stellar data for Dark Nebula sector, as found on the Traveller Map, reflects fairly early world generation methods. Atlas of the Imperium (1984) included a dot map of the sector with system locations and rudimentary data such as starport class and the names of high-population worlds. Stellar data for Kilrai’ subsector was first provided in the Travellers’ Digest 17 (1989) and for the entire sector in Solomani & Aslan: The Rimward Races (1991). Like the old Spinward Marches data set, this data has a relatively high number of subgiant, giant, and even supergiant stars as well as many white dwarfs.

For my house version of Dark Nebula, I wanted to follow a similar path as the T5 Second Survey Marches review by curtailing the number of stars outside of the main sequence and trying to match up habitable worlds with reasonable primaries.

All sources agree that Kusyu’s primary is Tyeyo, a G4 V star with a close white dwarf companion, Saietaie. (Of course, no one could agree just where Kusyu was located until the T5SS!) Although having a habitable world and white dwarf seems implausible, this has so much canonical weight I think it’s best considered inviolable.

The only other canonical text reference to stellar data I could locate was to Yehta/Siei (Dark Nebula 0226), a planetoid torn between two stars and a gas giant.

Although it is nowhere described in canon, many have noted the presence of an extremely bright supergiant (F8 Ia) in Dark Nebula. Originally located in the Eakhoi (2123) system, which has a high population garden world, the stellar data was shifted to the asteroid system Troutiyka (2230) during an earlier pass of the T5SS. As noted in that thread, even with this change a supergiant in this location of Charted Space (65–70 parsecs from Terra) would be the brightest star in the Earth’s sky, roughly as bright as Jupiter.

There are a handful of bright real world stars that would be located in approximately the same area as Dark Nebula:

Real World Stars Near Dark Nebula

Bayer Designation	Common Name	RA	Dec	Galactic Long (lb°)	Galactic Lat (b°)	Spectral Type	Vis Mag	Abs Mag	Dist (LY)
Gamma Draconis	Eltanin	17 57	51.5	79.1	29.1	K5 III	2.24	-1.04	148
Beta Pegasi	Scheat	23 04	28.1	95.8	-29.1	M2 III	2.44v	-1.49v	200
Alpha Pegasi	Markab	23 05	15.2	88.4	-40.4	B9 IV	2.49	-0.67	140
Eta Pegasi	Matar	22 43	30.2	92.5	-25	G2 II-III F0 V	2.93	-1.16	215
Theta Aquilae		20 11	-0.8	41.6	-18.1	B9.5 III	3.24	-1.48	285
Delta Aquarii	Skat	22 55	-15.8	49.6	-60.7	A3 III	3.27	-0.18	160
Zeta Pegasi	Homam	22 41	10.8	78.9	-40.7	B8.5 V	3.41	-0.62	210
Beta Bootis	Nekkar	15 02	40.4	67.6	60	G8 III	3.49	-0.64	220

Standard disclaimer: it is folly to try to establish a consistent relationship between real world stars and jump maps of Charted Space. And our real world understanding and classification of stellar data is constantly changing. But if we’re a little more than 50 parsecs from Terra, I think it’s useful to give unusually bright stars in the sector data extra scrutiny (why don’t we see this F8 Ia star from Earth?), and if possible associate them with a real world analog. Maybe the A7 IV primary of Stralsund (Solomani Rim 0618) is really Alpha Cephei, and maybe it isn’t, but the connection is there if a referee wants it.

As I worked through the data I took a hard look at the outlier stars—the subgiants, giants, white dwarfs, and so on. In general, I reduced these to main sequence stars, though I tweaked a few to line up with some of the real world candidates. I found a nice home for Beta Pegasi in Steiaseah (1927), a system without gas giants or belts and an airless planetoid for a mainworld. And it just happens to be in the same area as Daanarni, the “Bright Star” of the Dark Nebula board game.

I dithered over what to do with that F8 Ia, especially with Beta Pegasi already placed in the sector. I went back and looked at past discussions and really didn’t see anyone arguing that Dark Nebula needed a supergiant, and with no canonical grounding I decided to scale that star back.

I also took a hard look at the M class stars: there are at lot of these, and that’s consistent with real world data. But red dwarfs are so cool that worlds in the habitable zone are almost always tidally locked unless they wind up in a resonant orbit. There is an interesting debate going on right now about the habitability of tide-locked worlds, so I generally left the red dwarf stars alone. But in a handful of cases—generally agricultural and/or garden worlds—I changed the primary to something a bit warmer.

Here are my proposed changes to the Dark Nebula stellar data:

• Aohoikiy (0207) - Change stellar data from M3 III D to M3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Tahetlo (0609) - Change stellar data from M6 III K9 V to K9 V to remove giant star.
• Nalale (0801) - Change stellar data from M3 III to M3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Helene (1005) - Change stellar data from K4 III to K4 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Hfieao (1207) - Change stellar data from A1 IV F7 V to F7 V to remove bright subgiant star.
• Teioyukh (1310) - Change stellar data from K1 III to K1 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Reawaiy (1402) - Change stellar data from M3 III to M3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Eiyriou (1608) - Change stellar data from M0 III D to M0 V D to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Bathanfel (1805) - Change stellar data from M1 V M6 V to G6 V to reflect habitability.
• Cuoon (2105) - Change stellar data from M0 V to K0 V to reflect native Chirper population.
• Rindnoir (2201) - Change stellar data from M2 V M4 V to G2 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Elahkilr (2203) - Change stellar data from M2 V M3 V to K8 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Caprona (2607) - Change stellar data from K7 II M6 V to K7 V M6 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Bedegrayn (2608) - Change stellar data from A3 IV to M3 V to reduce bright subgiant star to main sequence.
• Frasden (2801) - Change stellar data from K0 II to K0 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Romart (2810) - Change stellar data from K5 II to M0 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Strova (2903) - Change stellar data from M9 III D to K5 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Hfayulealr (0319) - Change stellar data from M2 V M2 V M3 V to F5 V to reflect likely Terran colony.
• Tahwyafe (0717) - Change stellar data from M6 II to B8 V (Zeta Pegasi).
• Rosal (0720) - Change stellar data from M2 V to F7 V to reflect native Droyne population.
• Hipera (0814) - Change stellar data from M1 V to F7 V to reflect likely Terran colony.
• Htaweal (0817) - Change stellar data from K5 IV to K5 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Kipelaresh (0914) - Change stellar data from K7 II to M0 V M4 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Meshmo (1215) - Change stellar data from K4 IV to K4 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Akhlare (1313) - Change stellar data from M2 V to K2 V to reflect native Ormine population.
• Yakolev (2215) - Change stellar data from M2 V to F1 V B9 III (Delta Cygni).
• Ilriyhya (2415) - Change stellar data from M0 III D to G9 V M9 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Stop Gap (2416) - Change stellar data from M2 II to F2 V G3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Neween (2619) - Change stellar data from M2 II D to G4 V M1 V to reduce giant star to main sequence and remove white dwarf.
• Waq (2819) - Change stellar data from M1 II to G8 III (Zeta Cygni).
• Nabebe (3015) - Change stellar data from M2 V M5 V to F5 V to reflect planetary habitability
• Nabokov (3118) - Change stellar data from M1 V M8 V to K1 V M8 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Ro Hyeres (3218) - Change stellar data from M6 III D M5 V to G8 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Syerakhir (0222) - Change stellar data from M2 V M9 V to K2 V M9 V to reflect likely Terran colony site.
• Uiaio (0224) - Change stellar data from K6 IV M6 V to K6 V M6 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Iyyoiy (0321) - Change stellar data from M9 II M9 V to M2 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Teaiyre (0427) - Change stellar data from G8 III to M1 V M8 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Hlyerl (0429) - Change stellar data from M3 III to K5 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Kteaesyah (0527) - Change stellar data from K8 II M8 V to G7 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Khteau (0628) - Change stellar data from G3 IV to G2 II F0 V (Eta Pegasi).
• Ahaiehea (0726) - Change stellar data from M2 V to G2 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Ziha (0824) - Change stellar data from M0 III D to M0 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Iylhreyu (0829) - Change stellar data from M1 V to K1 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Ewirle (1028) - Change stellar data from M1 V to G2 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Weisaow (1327) - Change stellar data from M3 V to K2 V M3 V to reflect planetary habitability and match board game; stars correspond to Blatta and Xida.
• Iyohkeih (1427) - Change stellar data from K4 III to K4 V to reduce giant star to main sequence; primary named Rosa based on board game.
• Aiearye (1428) - Change stellar data from K0 II D to K2 V to reduce giant star to main sequence; primary named Panas based on board game.
• Syailei (1724) - Change stellar data from M4 III to M0 V M7 V to reduce giant star to main sequence and reflect binary system in board game; stars named Dim and Astek.
• Eieiau (1830) - Change stellar data from K6 IV to K6 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Troi' (1923) - Change stellar data from M3 V M2 V to G9 V M9 V to reflect planetary habitability; based on board game G9 V primary named Ria and the M9 V near companion Alis.
• Steiaseah (1927) - Change stellar data from M1 V to M2 III (Beta Pegasi); based on board game asteroid belt also known as Daanarni.
• Kihahouwu (2028) - Change stellar data from K4 IV M7 V to K4 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star and match board game; primary named Salia per board game.
• Eakhoi (2123) - Change stellar data from M1 V to K1 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Iouhtah (2128) - Change stellar data from M1 V M3 V to K1 V to reflect planetary habitability; based on board game primary named Kov.
• Troutiyka (2230) - Change stellar data from F8 Ia to F8 V G4 V to reduce supergiant star to main sequence and correspond to stars N3 and N4 from board game.
• Styaroir (2325) - Change stellar data from M7 III D to M1 V M9 V to reduce giant star to main sequence; based on board game stars named Umuro and Omoro.
• Eiouktoh (2427) - Change stellar data from M0 V to M0 V G3 V to reflect board game; stars named Rishi and Kamat.
• Arakhal (2729) - Change stellar data from M2 V to G2 V M2 V to reflect board game; stars named Maadin and Omyl.
• Tanjert-Nebo (2821) - Change stellar data from K3 III M6 V to K3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Gilead (2921) - Change stellar data from M3 V to K5 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Iywaiwofu (0337) - Change stellar data from K9 IV to K9 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Hyeirih (0537) - Change stellar data from K9 IV to K9 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Sualriyw (0636) - Change stellar data from M3 V M8 V to K5 V to reflect planetary habitability.
• Khohoa (0733) - Change stellar data from M3 III D to M3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Waohar (0738) - Change stellar data from M0 III to M0 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Fuihafai (0834) - Change stellar data from M5 II to G8 V K5 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Hai Ei (0836) - Change stellar data from K3 IV M6 V to K3 V M6 V to reduce unlikely subgiant star to main sequence.
• Steisua (1135) - Change stellar data from K8 III to G1 V M1 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Yoreah (1431) - Change stellar data from M5 III D to M3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Taiea (1535) - Change stellar data from K8 III M5 V to G8 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Ualaohei (1934) - Change stellar data from M2 V M5 V to K9 V to reflect planetary habitability; based on board game star named Osa.
• Tloueaeiei (2037) - Change stellar data from G6 III D to K8 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Eiaohe (2039) - Change stellar data from K0 III D to F5 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.
• Hkyosali (2132) - Change stellar data from M2 V M4 V M9 V to G6 V; based on board game primary corresponds to star N1.
• Erelefo (2335) - Change stellar data from M1 V M0 V to F1 V to reflect planetary habitability, based on board game star corresponds to Duduki.
• Irihroalea (2432) - Change stellar data from K7 III to K7 V to reduce giant star to main sequence; based on board game primary named Irbev.
• Euhisai (2434) - Change stellar data from M2 V M1 V to K4 V to reflect planetary habitability; based on board game primary named Changa.
• Steahryoha (2540) - Change stellar data from M2 III to G3 V to reduce giant star to main sequence.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2021 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future 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 Far Future Enterprises’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.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.

Revised Dark Nebula World Names

Names are one of the hardest things about working with Aslan material: all those Trokh vowels run together, making them devilishly hard to proofread. Further, DGP’s Solomani and Aslan (1991) was the first and only supplement to provide sector data for all of Dark Nebula, including names for all worlds. The sector data is only three pages of very tiny, cramped typeface—hard to read even for younger eyes in good lighting.

When I first started playing around with Dark Nebula, sector files could be found online but they were of widely varying quality. The Dark Nebula sector file was particularly bad, as it appeared to have been built off an early OCR scan of Solomani and Aslan. Errors in the world names abounded, with "i," "l", "k," and "t" all scrambled up. And when you combine that with the alien nature of Aslan worlds, and you get yourself a real mess.

When the T5 Second Survey project turned to Dark Nebula sector, before converting the material to the Traveller⁵ format, the team cleaned up the badly scanned data to make sure it conformed to Solomani and Aslan. Some poor, nameless hero went line-by-line through the sector data and cleaned up all the discrepancies in mainworld names. Fortunately I kept a copy of that corrected data because these errors keep creeping back. The current Dark Nebula data on Traveller Map contains some, but not all of those corrections.

I can’t guarantee I’ve caught all of the errors, but I think I’ve got a lot of them. Here are my suggested changes to the current mainworld names in order to bring them back in line with Solomani and Aslan:

• Oifairouw (0109) - Change mainworld name to Oifalrouw.
• Tahetio (0609) - Change mainworld name to Tahetlo.
• Oeuilyuh (1110) - Change mainworld name to Osuilyuh.
• Hlakaoea (1408) - Change mainworld name to Htakaoea.
• Kofyikh (1405) - Change mainworld name to Kofyoha.
• E'loa (1505) - Change mainworld name to E'ioa.
• Brensal (1609) - Change mainworld name to Brensat.
• Aowoikies (1705) - Change mainworld name to Aowoiktes.
• Eariure (1901) - Change mainworld name to Earlure.
• Kelsung (2202) - Change mainworld name to Kemsung.
• Mamail (2404) - Change mainworld name to Mamalt.
• Hleoe (0117) - Change mainworld name to Hteoe.
• Ealyurei (0120) - Change mainworld name to Eatyurei.
• Auiyelyu (0214) - Change mainworld name to Aulyetyu.
• Htaweai (0817) - Change mainworld name to Htaweal.
• Hweshre (1014) - Change mainworld name to Hopeshre.
• Oyarn (1420) - Change mainworld name to Qyarn.
• Khilyw (1715) - Change mainworld name to Khiiyw.
• Hloa (1719) - Change mainworld name to Hlao.
• Khoakia (1918) - Change mainworld name to Khoakta.
• Ehoiol (2218) - Change mainworld name to Ehoioi.
• Torisad (2516) - Change mainworld name to Tortsad.
• Merelace (2815) - Change mainworld name to Merejace.
• Shrlmia (3119) - Change mainworld name to Shrimia.
• Ktealau (0130) - Change mainworld name to Kteatau.
• Iyoiy (0321) - Change mainworld name to Iyyoiy.
• Wuhliaweh (0329) - Change mainworld name to Wuhtiaweh.
• Hlyeri (0429) - Change mainworld name to Hlyerl.
• Ao'iyauira (0627) - Change mainworld name to Ao'iyaulra.
• Akheariafei' (0828) - Change mainworld name to Akhearlafei'.
• Hlehekah (1127) - Change mainworld name to Htehekah.
• Troli'ih (1221) - Change mainworld name to Troti'ih.
• Hlokiye (1725) - Change mainworld name to Hloktye.
• Sewaiair (2121) - Change mainworld name to Sewalair.
• Louhtah (2128) - Change mainworld name to Iouhtah.
• Aokhiyfti (2728) - Change mainworld name to Aokhtiyfti.
• Khiyu (0239) - Change mainworld name to Khtyu.
• Airlyrlyu'eas (0931) - Change mainworld name to Airiyrlyu'eas.
• Uryarili (0937) - Change mainworld name to Uryarlil.
• Wyuyelro (1032) - Change mainworld name to Wyuyetro.
• Teayokhlae (1238) - Change mainworld name to Teayokhtae.
• Htakaoea (1331) - Change mainworld name to Htaka Oea.
• Hrikair (1631) - Change mainworld name to Hrikalr.
• Ihiye (1731) - Change mainworld name to Ihtye.
• Ehalriwa (2131) - Change mainworld name to Ehairiwa.
• Hwiliwaoh (2239) - Change mainworld name to Hwuiwaoh.
• Araliarg (2940) - Change mainworld name to Araljarg.
• Hynrl-Lavo (3036) - Change mainworld name to Hynri-lavo.

Earle (DARK 0307) is named “Ealre” in Atlas of the Imperium. Nancy Parker used this same spelling for the name of subsector A in “Dark Nebula: Library Data of the Sector” in Travellers’ Digest 17. DGP appears to have deliberately changed the name of both the world and subsector to “Earle” in Solomani and Aslan (see pages 69, 99, and 102). Although AotI normally trumps other sources, in this case I think it makes sense to keep Earle.

Hloa (DARK 1719) is an interdicted world briefly described in Travellers’ Digest 17: "Hloa’s (1719) population of aquatic sophonts shows no interest in contact with the interstellar community, as they are self-sufficient and feel they have little in common with walkers." However, the spelling is Hlao in the subsector data. Further, Hlao is also used in the Solomani and Aslan sector data and in a different write-up that describes a (presumably Human) population happily living under an incredibly restrictive government. If I had to guess, the DGP writers decided to retcon the aquatic sophonts out of existence. In any case, it seems clear DGP meant for the world to be called Hlao.

A recent article in the NYT discusses how a single typo in a 1928 Supreme Court opinion continues to circulate despite being identified and corrected almost immediately. Because the erroneous Dark Nebula data had spread so far for so long, it’s easy enough to see how the errors keep creeping back in to Traveller Map. Someone working on stellar data but using a slightly older version of the world names might accidently reintroduce some or all of the base data. And because Aslan names are so unfamiliar anyway, errors are hard to spot. So you end up playing data whack-a-mole. In fact, this is a pretty good example of how one bad data entry—like an erroneous location of Kusyu—could propagate across the entire Imperium like a virus and persist despite all efforts to correct the record.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2021 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future 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 Far Future Enterprises’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.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.

Placing the Nebula in Dark Nebula

As I developed my house version of Dark Nebula sector, I turned to the usual sources: CT Atlas of the Imperium and Alien Module 1, Aslan; MT Solomani and Aslan, GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 2, and MgT Alien Module 1, Aslan. But I also took a hard look at a more unusual source, the GDW board game Dark Nebula (1980), a two player chit-and-hex wargame based on the earlier Imperium game.

While the board game has some familiar elements from the Third Imperium setting, the game precedes the CT alien module by four years and some of these elements are rather different from later incarnations. Yes, one player controls Aslan (or more properly, “Aslanic”) forces. And yes, the other player controls a “Solomani Confederation” force. There are jump drives and a few other familiar looking bits—but otherwise, the game seems to take place in a completely anachronistic setting untethered from the OTU. The introduction describes the game as occurring “far rimward of the Imperium” which only makes sense if we are thinking of the Spinward Marches as the Imperium. And the default map positions appear to show the Aslan Hierate on what we would call the trailing side of the board and the Confederation on the spinward side.

So I was left to wonder: (1) Can any relationship be discerned between the Dark Nebula board game and the OTU sector, and (2) Is there actually a dark nebula in Dark Nebula? These questions seemed worth chasing: the Dark Nebula maps and world names are extremely evocative and I find them considerably more interesting than most subsector maps. Evidently Andy Slack did also, as he developed a nifty rescaled and reversed version of the map for some GURPS Traveller games.

Of course, even with these changes the map does not obviously line up with the canonical sector maps in Atlas of the Imperium or Solomani & Aslan. Only two systems share names between the board game and sector data.

But one of those systems is Kuzu/Kusu/Kusyu. And if we take Slack’s map, superimpose it over the Traveller Map, and rotate it around Kusyu a few degrees clockwise, interesting things start to fall into place. The neutral human world Sequel (2225) lines up with the boardgame Mizah system, a neutral human world. The board game Mechane lines up with Earltras (2527); both are part of the board game “Solomani Confederation.” And we see an isolated cluster of four systems in Yohkui subsector that lines up with the board game dark nebula.

From there, it’s not hard to begin connecting board game systems with Traveller Map systems. Some matches are rougher than others, but for the record, here’s my take on matching the two sources:

Dark Nebula Board Game Systems

Region	System	Match
Vecinos	Eski	Uiwealirlao (2435)
Vecinos	Duduki	Erelefo (2335)
Vecinos	Changa	Euhisai (2434)
Vecinos	Bulan	Jingleswelt (2732)
Vecinos	Karpos	Ewausiaktiy (2136)
Vecinos	Irbev	Irihroalea (2432)
Vecinos	Janibor	Eahkihkao (2033)
Vecinos	Salan	Oiirl (2430)
The Fastness	Umuru	Styaroir (2325)
The Fastness	Omoro	Styaroir (2325)
The Fastness	Kov	Louhtah (2128)
The Fastness	Mizah	Sequel (2225)
The Fastness	Salia	Kihahouwu (2028)
The Fastness	Simba	Iyhahorl (2125)
The Fastness	Tangaa	Hakhyas (2027)
Solomani Quadrant	Zloban	Macario (2829)
Solomani Quadrant	Llavia	Gallbre (2529)
Solomani Quadrant	Avair	Aokhiyfti (2728)
Solomani Quadrant	Merchane	Earltras (2527)
Solomani Quadrant	Rishi	Eiouktoh (2427)
Solomani Quadrant	Kamat	Eiouktoh (2427)
Solomani Quadrant	Omyl	Arakhal (2729)
Solomani Quadrant	Maadin	Arakhal (2729)
Solomani Quadrant	Gazzain	Wusihahai (2327)
Solomani Quadrant	Icat	Iweakhte (2426)
Rift Routes	Dim	Syailei (1724)
Rift Routes	Astek	Syailei (1724)
Rift Routes	Mir	Aiwaosois (1821)
Rift Routes	Amani	Hyesiyr (1622)
Rift Routes	Kinada	Easouyao (1721)
Moralon	Drax	Aftea (1826)
Moralon	Craco	Aftea (1826)
Moralon	Oja	Heahelie (1629)
Moralon	Dno	Lahaih (1627)
Moralon	Valka	Aowaelr (1529)
Moralon	Godoro	Tenarna (1825)
Moralon	Enjiwa	Riyikahail (1628)
Moralon	Pasar	Hlokiye (1725)
Dark Nebula	Osa	Ualaohei (1934)
Dark Nebula	N5	Ehalrlwa (2131)
Dark Nebula	N6	Ehalrlwa (2131)
Dark Nebula	Taida Na	Hiwoieikh (2832)
Dark Nebula	N4	Troutiyka (2230)
Dark Nebula	N2	Oakheiye (2031)
Dark Nebula	N3	Troutiyka (2230)
Dark Nebula	N1	Hkyosali (2132)
Bright Star	Hasara	Fyawahrl (2026)
Bright Star	Daanarni	Steiaseah (1927)
Bright Star	Ria	Troi' (1923)
Bright Star	Alis	Troi' (1923)
Bright Star	Simsek	Iyaiah (1925)
Aslan Hierate	Rosa	Iyohkeih (1427)
Aslan Hierate	Panas	Aiearye (1428)
Aslan Hierate	Blatta	Weisaow (1327)
Aslan Hierate	Xida	Weisaow (1327)
Aslan Hierate	Kuzu	Kusyu (1226)
Aslan Hierate	Bors	Hlitilar (1224)
Aslan Hierate	Ikona	Hlehekah (1127)
Aslan Hierate	Vaxt	Ftaosye' (1225)

Yeah, I realize this a little insane—but I can’t have been the first person who ever wanted to reconcile these two sources. So if we have figured out where the board game might fit in the Third Imperium setting, then next question is when. Although the Solomani Confederation and Aslan Hierate are said to be engaged in a series of border skirmishes during Classic Traveller and MegaTraveller (approximately 1085 to 1130), the system names, setting description, and technology don’t really line up with the period. We know that in the OTU timeline, the region will be devastated by Virus so the board game doesn't fit a near or far future, either.

So that leaves the past: the overall setting described in Dark Nebula fits pretty well with what we know of the Aslan Border Wars, which lasted from -1100 to 380. Except for one big problem: the Solomani Confederation was not formed until 871. We learn from Alien Module 6 - Solomani (1986) that Admiral Estigarribia first used the word “Solomani” around -2200, so it’s possible that other, earlier “Solomani Confederations” might also have existed. Or the term used in the board game was either a misnomer or anachronism. For my own background I have written a “Suleimani Confederation" into the history of Dark Nebula during the Border Wars. It’s not a great fit but it works for my purposes.

What I like about placing the board game during this period is that we are given a potential springboard for developing interesting stories set during the Border Wars, which is mostly just one big blank in canon, particularly for this area of space. It’s not hard to imagine the board game taking place during the depths of the Long Night (say, -800 or so), when the Aslan have finally reached tech parity with the Terrans and begin pressing trailing into areas settled by the humans.

The Dark Nebula on Traveller Map.

But the most important implication of this exercise is that the dark nebula is a real thing, located in and around the cluster of worlds that includes Troutiyka (2230). This cluster is surrounded by a stellar rift, and is as good a candidate as any for locating a dark nebula in Dark Nebula.

As I was working through all of this, the Mongoose Traveller Great Rift kickstarter landed, which provides details on astronomical anomalies such as black holes and stellar nebulae. The Traveller Map was updated to include many of these new features so I proposed adding a nebula to Dark Nebula running roughly from hex 2328 to 1837 or so. I am tickled that Joshua Bell took me up on this—I don’t know that this idea was ever blessed by Marc, but for now it’s out there for other Traveller fans to play with.

Imagine a small molecular cloud, over twenty-six light years across—a cloud that somehow interferes with jump drives. During the Interstellar Wars early explorers approaching from the direction of Terra enter this cloud and never return. Soon everyone knows to avoid this region, and Terran settlers heading spinward either divert far coreward or far rimward, missing Kusyu altogether. By -2205 you have settlements in the spinwardmost section of Dark Nebula and even in Iwahfuah, but you don’t have Terran-Aslan first contact until two centuries later, when Terran development finally “backfills” the sector map.

The Dark Nebula interferes with jump drive operations to such an extent that it represented a significant navigation barrier for early Terran and Aslan explorers. Per the rules in the Great Rift Book 4: Deep Space Exploration Handbook, treat the Dark Nebula as a protostar instead of a nebula. Ships jumping into or out of the Dark Nebula (or from point-to-point within it) are more prone to misjumps, with DM-8 imposed on Engineer (j-drive) checks made to jump into or out of the Nebula and DM-4 applied to jumps passing through it. Ship movement within the Dark Nebula is as normal but sensor operations are subject to DM-4.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2021 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future 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 Far Future Enterprises’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.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.

Developing Dark Nebula

A barbarian nomad overlooks the ruined Aslan city of Hkarlye on Gilead (DARK 2921 X586879-1).

Many years ago I sketched out a proposed Traveller game to be set in a small, backwater cluster of low tech worlds. A bronze-age swords and sandals setting, like Conan the Barbarian but instead of towers of sorcery and vaults of gleaming treasure, the great cities would hold bazaars filled with technological wonders, and a starport with the promise of passage offworld.

For whatever reason, I specifically wanted to place this game in the Third Imperium setting. So I spent quite a bit of time poring over sector data looking for a suitable location. This was all long before the T5 Second Survey Project cleaned up and regularized sector data, and before the dream that is now Traveller Map made such data readily available and searchable. Back then plenty of semi-canonical data could be found out on the internet, but it was messy and strange and hard to use.

One problem I discovered early on: truly primitive worlds (TL 0 or 1) are really quite rare, particularly inside the Imperium, and they are almost always interdicted. Checking Traveller Map, I count only nine TL 1 worlds and no populated TL 0 worlds in the entire Imperium.

I initially scoured the frontier sectors around the Spinward Marches, then looked at the neutral areas around Hinterworlds before I started zeroing in on Dark Nebula. I eventually found a promising group of fairly primitive Human worlds in the neutral space between the Solomani Confederation and the Aslan Hierate, and after reading up on the history of this region, these worlds seemed to fit the bill.

It’s an area of Charted Space with an interesting backstory but not a ton of published canon, leaving it open for further development. And by happy coincidence, some of the best supplements written for Traveller have dealt with the Aslan: the CT Alien module, MT Solomani and Aslan, and GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 2 are loaded with gameable ideas, hooks, and background.

My original campaign idea never actually went anywhere, as sometimes happens. But much of this canoodling eventually fed into other games, including my current Into the Interface campaign. As a result, I’ve ended up doing quite a bit of development work on Dark Nebula, which I’m going to start sharing on this blog.

I had seriously considered publishing this material under Mongoose Publishing’s Travellers’ Aid Society license, but one of the more important sources I’ve relied upon has been the DGP Solomani and Aslan supplement. While this is a fantastic game book, most of the DGP material is currently trapped in a copyright limbo, usable for non-commercial fan material like a blog but generally off-limits for Mongoose to use. And as such, not usable for TAS licensed material.

So why use Dark Nebula as a setting? I find the Aslan to be one of the more interesting alien races of Traveller: a bit more exotic than simply humans in fur suits, but not so alien as to be completely unidentifiable. Intra-Hierate politics alone are complex enough to fuel many adventures, but throw in a conflict with the encroaching Solomani Confederation and the possibilities multiply quickly. Both Aslan and Solomani can work well as protagonists or antagonists, giving PCs many opportunities to work for and against either side. The Buffer Zone lends itself well for remixed Western adventures: a dangerous frontier region with a wide mix of tech levels and law levels.

Over the next few weeks I’ll walk through some of the tweaks I’ve made to the sector as well as some thoughts I have about the nature of the Aslan Hierate, which is really very different from any other major interstellar polity.

Copyright Information

The image at the start of the blog is from the science fiction illustrator Peter Elson, and was used as the cover of Samuel R. Delany’s novel The Einstein Intersection (1967).

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2021 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future 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 Far Future Enterprises’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.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.