Dark Nebula is notable for the scattered nature of its astrography: instead of a sprawling main connecting most subsectors by jump-1, the sector features several stellar rifts and dozens of small, isolated clusters and lone systems that can only be reached with jump-2 or even jump-3 drives.
The Aslan homeworld of Kusyu (DARK 1226 A876976-E) lies at the edge of Aslan space, rather than in the middle of a sphere of influence as is more common with starfaring major races. (The Vilani spread mostly in one direction because of the limitations of jump-1 drive, but for most others, the stars were more evenly spread.) Most agree that this is because Aslan developed jump drive relatively late, and found that Humans had already claimed most of the worlds to coreward and trailing of Kusyu.
It is noteworthy that in order to expand in the direction left open to them, Aslan had to develop jump-2 soon after inventing jump drive. Many small clusters of Aslan worlds would be isolated with only jump-1 drive available.
| Quadrant | Subsector | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Earle | Earle cluster, Ul cluster |
| Aotrei | Ftahalr cluster, Samarorn cluster | |
| Kyaenkha | Au'aiyyee cluster, Hipera cluster | |
| Akhlare | Ormine cluster | |
| Beta | Ruih | Murphy cluster |
| Akuusir | Akuusir cluster, Urartu cluster | |
| Kilrai’ | Strin cluster | |
| Danvers | Savage main | |
| Gamma | Siei | Nurnlin cluster, Ktaol cluster |
| Yataw | Kusyu cluster | |
| Hrorehe | Hrorehe cluster | |
| Kou | Steisua cluster | |
| Delta | Khtoiakta | Mir Cluster, Eakhoi cluster, Mizah cluster, Mechane cluster |
| Kimson’s Stand | Maadin trace | |
| Yohkui | Yohkui cluster, Dark Nebula | |
| Staai | Vecinos trace, Treege cluster, Staai cluster, Agarian cluster |
The Aslan and Humans of Dark Nebula tend to have long memories, and many astrographic features retain names that are thousands of years old. Here are a few representative clusters:
The Kusyu cluster is a grouping of 17 Aslan worlds connected by jump-1 distances, located entirely within Yataw subsector. The cluster contains, naturally, the Aslan homeworld of Kusyu (DARK 1226 A876976-E). Following the development of the jump drive in -1999 the Aslan rapidly expanded across the cluster, claiming all worlds prior to -1700. The high population water world of Bacci (DARK 1123 D77AADE-5) is notable as the site of first contact between Terrans and Aslan in -1980, when the Awiykoheh, a Yerlyaruiwo survey vessel encountered the Cudi, a Turkophone colony vessel from Suleiman (SOLO 1504). Given this ancient pedigree, Aslan clans place tremendous prestige on any holdings, no matter how humble, located on worlds of the cluster. Accordingly, all secondary worlds, including tiny moons and planetoids, have been thoroughly surveyed and divided over the millennia.
The Ktaol cluster, one of the largest clusters in the sector with 27 worlds, lies mostly in Siei subsector and contains no less than three important worlds. To the Aslan, the Ktaol cluster is second only to the Kusyu cluster in terms of cultural importance, as settlement began in earnest between -1700 and -1600.
The Mizah cluster is a string of 14 worlds separated by jump-1, located entirely in Khtoiakta subsector. The cluster is anchored by the non-aligned Human world of Sequel (DARK 2225 C773973-9). The mainworld was settled approximately -1950 by Turkophone Terrans from Suleiman (SOLO 1504), who named the primary Mizah. Sequel was an important stop on the ancient Hkiyrerao Passage, a trade route that connected Kusyu with Human worlds as far distant as the Solomani Rim. By -1118, the start of the Border Wars, Sequel had expanded to control most of the cluster and enjoyed reasonably good relations with both Clan Yerlyaruiwo and the Suleiman Confederation. By -600 the Aslan had largely absorbed the entire cluster. Today Sequel is populated by biological humans who have largely embraced Aslan culture.
The Mechane cluster is a small but historically important grouping of worlds located in Khtoiakta and Kimson’s Stand subsectors. The cluster is notable for Earltras (DARK 2527 B6A1965-8), a system known originally by the name of its primary, Mechane. Earltras was not settled until -700 by Terran refugees from the Mizah cluster and beyond as the Border Wars steadily drove Terrans out of worlds deeper in Aslan space. By -500 the Aslan claimed most of the cluster, though the Human populations proved more difficult to assimilate. As the Long Night drew to a close Earltras welcomed expeditions from both Old Earth Union and Third Imperium, and became an early, enthusiastic supporter of the Solomani Movement. Earltras was captured by worlds from the Solomani Autonomous Region during the War of Kimson’s Stand in 832. Following the Solomani Rim War Earltras has aggressively cultivated human worlds within the borders of the Hierate.
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