Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Happy MayDay!

The Iconic Cover of the Basic Traveller set.

The original Traveller featured the iconic Mayday! on its box: the universal distress call M’aidez! (French for Help Me!), generally expressed in English as “Mayday.” Traveller traditionally celebrates May 1 as its holiday.

In honor of the game’s 47th anniversary, I’ve recently developed a quartet of unofficial Aslan sectors for Traveller MapEtakhasoa, Kefiykhta, Waroatahe, and Karleaya are all live on the site. All are sectors on the spinward/rimward fringes of the Hierate and there are fairly few published details for any of them.

Etakhasoa and Kefiykhta had previously existed only as dotmaps from DGP’s Solomani and Aslan: The Rimward Races book. I generated new sector data mostly using the Traveller5 Book 3 rules, with political details and bases created with good old CT Aslan - Traveller Alien Module One. I did break out Mongoose’s excellent new World Builder’s Handbook for stellar details and help with some other questions. 

Kefiykhta (-7,-4) is a true frontier for the contiguous Hierate: beyond are only pockets of Aslan colonies amidst unclaimed systems and those held by outcasts or alien races. This is a recently settled and relatively peaceful area, with lands still plentiful enough to prevent significant interclan conflict. Clans from the Uiktawa and Seieakh blocs of the Tlaukhu have holdings here, and the Seieakh capital is located at Hkawuakhiys (Kefiykhta 0928 A000988-D).

Etakhasoa (-5,-4) is a couple of sectors trailing of Kefiykhta, nearer Kusyu. About a quarter of the sector is outside the borders of the Hierate, including a noticeable carveout in subsectors J, L, M, and N—an artifact of the Cultural Purge, I suspect. This area was originally settled by Aslan separatists, but since the Cultural Purge has been relatively peaceful. The Tlaukhu members lykyasea and Uiktawa are known to have holdings in this sector.

Jo Grant and Jeff Zeitlin had partially generated data for Waroatahe and Karleaya and I worked with that information. The system locations were generally based on the Solomani and Aslan dotmap, and the existing data included names, UWPs, remarks, bases, and PBG. While the UWPs and bases didn't seem to use the Aslan world generation system, I tried to retain as much as possible while bringing everything up to T5SS standards. So most names were preserved. Starport, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Population were generally retained. Government, Law Level, Bases, Allegiance, and TL were regenerated using AM1 and then adjusted where necessary to fit T5SS standards. Stellar data was generated using World Builder’s Handbook

Waroatahe (-6,-3) is dominated by the Eakhtiyho (Hrasua) bloc and has been one of the most turbulent sectors in the Hierate. The Alien Realms adventure “First Son, Lost Son” was set in Waroathe and eventually located in subsector N, “Hekisearai.” The Hrasua clan capital is located at Ouh (Waroatahe 0333 A567884-D) and their ally the Fteweyeakh keep their capital at Aoieyakh (Waroatahe 2310 B8C6A86-C).

Karleaya (-5,-3) is an old sector, having been settled for over 3,000 years. Politically, it is currently split between the Tralyeaeawi and Aokhalte blocs. There’s a Chirper world in subsector H per Dronye - Traveller Alien Module Five. The Aokhalte capital is at Iykte (Karleaya 1306 A848A89-D), while the clan capital of the Aiheilar, a Tralyeaeawi ally, is at Oihtieal (Karleaya 2902 A573A77-E).

Here’s to 47 more years of Traveller!

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