“Tlaukhu literally means ‘the 29.’ The Aslan words ‘tlau’ and ‘khu’ are the digits three and five. In the Aslan base 8 numbering system, the number 35 equals 29 in a base 10 system. The name certainly fits this debating body composed of the 29 most powerful Aslan clans. So important are the 29 to the Aslan that their calendar dates from the year of the Tlaukhu’s formation (-2083 Imperial)” (“The Tlaukhu,” Travellers’ Digest 18).
The Tlaukhu is a council made up of representatives from the 29 most powerful clans in the Aslan Hierate, and understanding how this council works helps us understand how the rest of the Hierate might work. Some key points to consider:
The Tlaukhu is not a ruling body. The Tlaukhu can arbitrate disputes between clans and deliberates on issues of social or political import to the entire Hierate, but the council does not make or enforce laws. While the Tlaukhu can issue recommendations or make proclamations, the council has no legal authority over any clan in the Hierate
The Tlaukhu is not a government. The Tlaukhu does not have a collective scout or military force and does not own bases. The Talukhu does not run starports and does not maintain or host foreign missions. Each Tlaukhu member, just as each individual clan, maintains its own governmental structures, while corporations run starports in the Hierate.
Membership on the Tlaukhu is predicated on clan strength. Factors considered include population, military strength, industrial power, and landholdings. (Note that these criteria incorporate both explicitly male and female Aslan metrics for calculating value.) A Tlaukhu member must be independent and not a vassal to another.
The Institution is stable. The Tlaukhu has existed for over 3,000 years: this implies that despite the constant competition between clans, the council is fairly balanced in strength between members and factions. A review of sector data suggests that each Tlaukhu member directly commands roughly the same number of worlds across the Hierate. As Hans Rancke-Madsen once wrote, politics in the Hierate is “a 4,000 man Diplomacy game.” That is, the entire system is in equilibrium, making it difficult for any one clan to accumulate too much power without overextending itself—and falling prey to a coalition of other clans.
But membership is not static. The Hierate is cutthroat and rivals are always waiting for an opportunity. As clan strength can wax and wane over time, members of the Tlaukhu can be removed and replaced by stronger clans. Aslan clans are constantly contending with each other for land and other resources, and weaker clans covet a place on the council, which brings great prestige and honor.
Members are intermixed throughout Aslan space. As CT Alien Module 1 (CTAM1) notes, “The boundaries between the territories of Aslan clans are indistinct due to the nature of their landholdings. . . . Even Tlaukhu clan territory boundaries can overlap.” While a Tlaukhu member might be more powerful in one region than than others, no Tlaukhu member exclusively controls even a single subsector.
Most clans do not answer to the Tlaukhu, but almost all respect them. Although Tlaukhu members command great resources, including vassal clans that owe them fealty, most clans in the Hierate are independent.
Tlaukhu Clans and Power Blocs
Only a handful of Tlaukhu clans are named in Classic Traveller. And as Solomani and Aslan (1991) mentions, “Over the centuries, the twenty-nine clans that make up the Tlaukhu have formed long-standing alliances, creating ten well-defined power blocs. Each of the major clans still remains an independent entity, with its own character and with a full voice in the Tlaukhu.”
Surprisingly, Travellers’ Digest 18 (January 1990) is the only source to list all 29 members and their various alliances as of the Golden Era. S&A has similar information, but it is specific to the Rebellion Era, following a shuffling of members around 1120.
The T5 Second Survey project, focused on cleaning up data circa 1105, retained the original ten power blocs from TD18, as reflected in the current Hierate sector data on Traveller Map. A breakdown of the blocs and the sectors associated with each, follows:
| T5 Allegiance Code | Bloc Members | Dominant Sectors |
|---|---|---|
| AsT0 | Yerlyaruiwo (1), Hrawoao (13), Eisohiyw (14), Ferekhearl (19) | Afawahisa, Heakhafaw (coreward), Hlakhoi (spinward), I’aheako, Iwahfuah |
| AsT1 | Khaukheairl (2), Estoieie’ (16), Toaseilwi (22) | Aktifao (coreward), I’aheako, Iwahfuah |
| AsT2 | Syoisuis (3) | Staihaia’yo |
| AsT3 | Tralyeaeawi (4), Yulraleh (12), Aiheilar (25), Riyhalaei (28) | Ealiyasiyw, Karleaya, Hlakhoi (trailing) |
| AsT4 | Eakhtiyho (5), Eteawyolei’ (11), Fteweyeakh (23) | Waroatahe |
| AsT5 | Hlyueawi (6), Isoitiyro (15) | Aeitle Sakh, Ftaoiyekyu, Iiyoihvakh, Khtiyhkokaelw, Kyatvlyare’, Lerlarilaii, Weasuirlaoa |
| AsT6 | Uiktawa (7), Iykyasea (17), Faowaou (27) | Aktifao (rimward), Etakhasoa, Ftahtuak, Hkakhaeaw, Kefiykhta, Uistilrao, Yahehwe |
| AsT7 | Ikhtealyo (8), Tlerfearlyo (20), Yehtahikh (24) | Hlaoirloahawrl |
| AsT8 | Seieakh (9), Akatoiloh (18), We’okunir (29) | Esai’yo, Kefiykhta |
| AsT9 | Aokhalte (10), Sahao’ (21), Ouokhoi (26) | Aeitle Sakh, Ftaoiyekyu, Iiyoihvakh, Karleaya, Khtiyhkokaelw, Kyatvlyare’, Lerlarilaii, Weasuirlaoa |
Each individual partner in a power bloc probably directly controls something like 1D + 32 worlds.
Mongoose Traveller, perhaps due to copyright issues, uses a slightly different list of Tlaukhu clans: only Hlyueawi (often misspelled Hlyeawi), Hrawoao, Ikhtealyo, Khaukheairl, Syoisuis, Tralyeaeawi, and Yerlyaruiwo are noted as Tlaukhu members; MgT adds the clans Hrasua and Tlaiowaha. I think Hrasua is completely new, but “Tlaiowaha” is both an established world (Trojan Reach 1928 B420954-E) and subsector K of Trojan Reach. I believe all are the creation of Mike Jackson, and detailed in issue 3 (1986) of his fanzine Third Imperium. Jackson wrote that Tlaiowaha subsector had been explored and named by a Tlaukhu member of the same name.
Due to their similar, bellicose natures one could easily conflate the DGP Eakhtiyho and MgT Hrasua clans. Maybe they are just different names for the same clan—the Aslan are notorious for using different words for the same thing in slightly different contexts. Likewise, DGP Tlerfearlyo and MgT Tlaiowaha, both Human-friendly trader clans, might be one-and-the-same. In both cases, the different names might reflect a regional destinction: while Hrasua and Tlerfearlyo are more common near Kusyu, Eakhtiyho and Tlaiowaha might prevail on the other side of the Great Rift.
We know from CT Aslan that “Of the original 29, nineteen of the original clans remain in it today; the remaining ten positions have been occupied (some by a succession of clans) by new clans which have risen in strength, power and population to replace the others” (5). Canonically, the Uawairlew lost their Tlaukhu seat to the Hlyueawi in 652. And in MgT canon, the Hlewela lost their seat during the Cultural Purge, and the Rayur may have migrated across the Great Rift following elimination from the Tlaukhu. Further, we know from S&A that in the Rebellion timeline the Hlyueawi will eventually lose their seat on the Tlaukhu to the Hlaotiyoiho.
It’s important to note that just as membership on the Tlaukhu is dynamic, presumably the composition and ranking of the ten power blocs is also dynamic, and perhaps even moreso. A bloc is an alliance of peers, and not composed of an overlord and vassal clans, even though each member has an individual ranking that establishes precedence within the bloc. These alliances could shift and blocs could theoretically move up and down in ranking. I assume, for example, that both the Yerlyaruiwo and Khaukheairl blocs probably dropped in ranking after being forced to share the star drive with the rest of the Tlaukhu in -1667.
Tlaukhu Worlds
Who can be found on a Tlaukhu bloc world? Well, a single clan from the Tlaukhu bloc will be in primary control of the world, but partner clans might have smaller landholdings onworld. Rarely, even clans from rival blocs might have modest onworld landholdings, but these would have to be insignificant in relation to the controlling clan—otherwise the world would be classified as Split Control.
Vassal clans to the controlling Tlaukhu clan might be present, along with their vassal clans. There might be several independent minor clans that have not sworn fealty to the controlling clan, but are too small to challenge the authority. If the controlling clan has an associated corporation, the world might have industrial facilities.
If the world has an A or B starport and a decent population base, the Imperium or Solomani Confederation might have an embassy or consulate depending on the location and overall disposition of the controlling clan. In Dark Nebula, smaller states like the Gerontocracy of Ormine or the Union of Harmony, or non-aligned worlds in the Buffer Zone, might also have an on-world presence.
To randomly determine a Tlaukhu bloc, the following table can be used:
| 1D | 1D | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 | Yerlyaruiwo bloc (AsT0) | Khaukheairl bloc (AsT1) | ||||
| 2 | Syoisuis bloc (AsT2) | Tralyeaeawi bloc (AsT3) | ||||
| 3 | Eakhtiyho bloc (AsT4) | Hlyueawi bloc (AsT5) | ||||
| 4 | Uiktawa bloc (AsT6) | Ikhtealyo bloc (AsT7) | ||||
| 5 | Seieakh bloc (AsT8) | Aokhalte bloc (AsT9) | ||||
| 6 | Reroll | |||||
If the controlling Tlaukhu bloc is known but the specific member needs to be determined, the following table can be used:
| Bloc | 1D | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 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 | Eakhtiyho (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) | |||
To randomly determine a Tlaukhu member the following D66 table can be used:
| Die | Bloc | Tlaukhu Member | Die | Bloc | Tlaukhu Member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | AsT0 | Yerlyaruiwo (1) | 41 | AsT4 | Eakhtiyho (5) |
| 12 | AsT0 | Yerlyaruiwo (1) | 42 | AsT4 | Eteawyolei’ (11) |
| 13 | AsT0 | Hrawoao (13) | 43 | AsT4 | Fteweyeakh (23) |
| 14 | AsT0 | Eisohiyw (14) | 44 | AsT5 | Hlyueawi (6) |
| 15 | AsT0 | Ferekhearl (19) | 45 | AsT5 | Hlyueawi (6) |
| 16 | AsT1 | Khaukheairl (2) | 46 | AsT5 | Isoitiyro (15) |
| 21 | AsT1 | Khaukheairl (2) | 51 | AsT6 | Uiktawa (7) |
| 22 | AsT1 | Khaukheairl (2) | 52 | AsT6 | Iykyasea (17) |
| 23 | AsT1 | Estoieie’ (16) | 53 | AsT6 | Faowaou (27) |
| 24 | AsT1 | Toaseilwi (22) | 54 | AsT7 | Ikhtealyo (8) |
| 25 | AsT2 | Syoisuis (3) | 55 | AsT7 | Tlerfearlyo (20) |
| 26 | AsT2 | Syoisuis (3) | 56 | AsT7 | Yehtahikh (24) |
| 31 | AsT2 | Syoisuis (3) | 61 | AsT8 | Seieakh (9) |
| 32 | AsT3 | Tralyeaeawi (4) | 62 | AsT8 | Akatoiloh (18) |
| 33 | AsT3 | Yulraleh (12) | 63 | AsT8 | We’okunir (29) |
| 34 | AsT3 | Aiheilar (25) | 64 | AsT9 | Aokhalte (10) |
| 35 | AsT3 | Riyhalaei (28) | 65 | AsT9 | Sahao’ (21) |
| 36 | AsT4 | Eakhtiyho (5) | 66 | AsT9 | Ouokhoi (26) |
Copyright Information
The illustration at the start of this blog entry is by Michael Vilardi from Soloman and Aslan (1991).
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