Recently I’ve been taking a hard look at Hlakhoi sector, located in the heart of the Aslan Hierate at coordinates -4,-2. It’s got a lot of potential as a place to set an Aslan campaign: Hlakhoi isn’t exactly a frontier region, even though three of its spinward subsectors abut the Great Rift, and it’s over 70 parsecs from Kusyu to the center of the sector. It is also said to be the locus of multiple conflicts between several of the larger Aslan clans. Another attraction: not much has been done with it yet.
I believe the sector is first named and placed in the map of “Sectors of the Aslan Hierate and Environs” from CT Aslan (1984), but that’s it. Hlakhoi is included in CT Atlas of the Imperium (1984), which provides a dotmap of the sector, names the high population worlds, and offers rudimentary system data like starport class, the presence of asteroid belts, gas giants, surface water, and bases.
CT Merchant Prince (1985) introduced “Reastirlao, an independent corporation having grown from a small trading company that served parts of Hlakhoi Sector” into a legitimate megacorporation by 900. “Besides its merchant operations, Reastirlao maintains a base of heavy industry in Hlakhoi” (58). The home port for Reastirlao is Htyaaeirl, a high population system shown in the Atlas of the Imperium at Hlakhoi 2128. Htyaaeirl had a class A starport, no surface water, and one or more gas giants.
Travellers’ Digest 19 (1990) tells us that the Fteweyeakh clan was exiled to Hlakhoi after a failed coup d’etat against the leadership of the Wahtoi clan (22). Furher, the population of Wahtoikoeakh was greatly augmented by miners pouring in from Hlakhoi sector.
Solomani and Aslan (1991) provides the same Reastirlao information from Merchant Prince, but adds that Hlakhoi is part of the Central region of the Hierate and offers some insight into the political situation:
The Tralyeaeawi bloc controls large parts of . . . trailing Hlakhoi. The Yerlyaruiwo have extensive holdings in . . . spinward Hlakhoi. The Hlaotiyoiho and Aokhalte blocs also hold power here.
* * * * *
The politics in this [Central] region have always been turbulent. Some of the fiercest battles of the Yerlyaruiwo-Tralyeaeawi conflict were fought along the Khaelas Main and several other areas of trailing Hlakhoi (49).
Hlakhoi was covered by the T5 Second Survey review so the system data was cleaned up and verified for compliance with Traveller5 rules. This is the data currently up on Traveller Map.
One problem that jumps out at me is that, as with Dark Nebula, the original Hlakhoi data for bases in Atlas of the Imperium was clearly not generated using the rules from CT Aslan, and as such the sector has far fewer clan and Tlaukhu bases than would be expected, particularly for a sector with a history of turbulence and armed conflict.
There are nearly 400 stellar systems within Hlakhoi. The following table breaks down the number of systems by allegiance and starport:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 9 | 17 | 29 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 77 |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 12 | 19 | 30 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 86 |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 11 | 23 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 58 |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 8 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 57 |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 13 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 62 |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 6 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 45 |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Grand Total | 59 | 107 | 112 | 40 | 63 | 12 | 393 |
We can convert the T5 allegiance codes to CT Aslan Government codes, which gives us the following probability of having a clan base by starport and allegiance:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 83.33% | 72.22% | 58.33% | 41.66% | 00.00% | 41.66% |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 72.22% | 58.33% | 41.66% | 27.77% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 58.33% | 41.66% | 27.77% | 16.66% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 72.22% | 58.33% | 41.66% | 27.77% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 72.22% | 58.33% | 41.66% | 27.77% | 00.00% | 27.77% |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
Clan bases can appear on any kind of Hierate world except for ones wholly controlled by a member of the Tlaukhu. Applying the probability of base to the number of worlds gives us the expected number of clan bases in Hlakho sector:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 7 | 12 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 41 |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 9 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 9 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 34 | 49 | 43 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 139 |
And here’s the actual number of clan bases:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 9 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
While we would expect to have 139 clan bases in Hlakhoi, instead we have only 20, which is 15% of the expected number. Further, four of these bases occur in Tlaukhu controlled systems, which would not be allowed in CT Aslan worldgen. Note that in addition to expecting many more bases in Class A, B, and C starports, we would also expect to see some in Class D and X starports.
Tlaukhu bases, which are like clan bases but moreso, are limited to only worlds controlled by Tlaukhu clans, their vassal clans, and split control worlds. And here’s the probability of having a Tlaukhu base by starport and allegiance:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 58.33% | 41.66% | 27.77% | 16.66% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 83.33% | 72.22% | 58.33% | 41.66% | 00.00% | 41.66% |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 41.66% | 27.77% | 16.66% | 08.33% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% | 00.00% |
Here’s the expected number of Tlaukhu bases in Hlakhoi:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 7 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 9 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 37 |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 19 | 29 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 71 |
And here’s the actual number of Tlaukhu bases:
| Allegiance | A | B | C | D | E | X | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-World Clan (AsMw) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Split Control (AsSc) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tlaukhu Clan (AsTX) | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Tlaukhu Vassal (AsTv) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vassal Clan (AsVc) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| On-World Clan (AsWc) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unclaimed Hierate (AsXX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
Again, we would expect 71 Tlaukhu bases and instead we have only 12. Further, 4 of these Tlaukhu bases are in invalid systems due to the allegiance. And again, in addition to expecting many more bases in Class A, B, and C starports, we would also expect to see some bases in Class D and X starports.
Why is this a big deal? Well, it’s important to remember that in the Hierate, each clan is responsible for its own navy, and that a clan navy consists of not just military fleets but also trading fleets and migration (ihatei) fleets. There is no overarching Grand Fleet of the Hierate, and in the absence of such each clan needs to build and support its own navy and by extension, its own bases.
The worldgen sequence in CT Aslan suggests that Aslan space has many more bases than does Imperial space, but that these Aslan bases are probably smaller and support a much wider range of missions, including mercantile activities, than comparable Imperial bases. Split control worlds like Kusyu might have dozens of different bases, each owned by a different clan or possibly shared by close allies.
To fix this, I recommend changing the allegiance code for worlds with invalid bases to match the base, keeping the data consistent with AotI. I would also regenerate the base rolls for all systems without bases, and then add any new bases to the existing data. It would be a big change, yes, but would bring Hlakhoi into line with the expectations set by CT Aslan.
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