Wu Interlude Library Data

Akludu (Magyar 0902 B568669-A). Agricultural, Non-Industrial, Rich. An important Solomani Confederation world located in the Urartu Cluster in Eery subsector. Terran emigres established a major colony on Akludu by -2000, naming the world Aabida. The Terrans were joined by Aslan ihatei sometime before -1000, and the world has maintained an Aslan population ever since. Following the Solomani Rim War the Confederation has resettled thousands of Aslan from Dark Nebula to Akludu, where “Integration Schools” help assimilate them to Solomani life. Akludu lies on an intermediate trade route between Parade (Daibei 0940 A5458AA-C) and Xian (Magyar 1103 B7B48DC-9). The world is under military rule, controlled by the Confederation Army, and hosts a Confederation joint naval and army base. Recruits drawn from resettled Aslan serve in Army posts across the spinward theater of the Confederation.

Dal (Magyar 0202 F10086A-A) [Secondary World]. The solitary large moon of Wu (Magyar 0203 B66A99A-E), orbiting the mainworld at an average distance of 170,783 km with an orbital period of 12.12 standard days. Dal has a population of 743 million and is an important production center for power plants, jump drives, and maneuver drives. The Wuan Technology Association maintains a major research station on Dal for development of advanced materials. Confederation Naval Base Sereniti, located on a military reservation on the far side of Dal, is the headquarters for the Urartu Cluster Fleet. Sereniti Base has a modest orbital component at the Wu-Dal L2 point, and is the home port of the 53rd FleetRon and 19th CarrierRon. A co-located Army base on Dal supports the Solomani 44th Grav Tank Corps. The Confederation Army conducts protected forces training on the moon’s surface.

Greenvald (Magyar 0504 B864695-A). Agricultural, Non-Industrial, Rich. An important Solomani Confederation world located in the Urartu Cluster in Eery subsector. The habitable mainworld is locked into a resonant orbit with the system’s M1 V primary, Novisad, at a distance of approximately 35.9 million km. Terran emigres established a major colony on Greenvald by -2000, naming the world Novisad I. Several feeder and minor trade routes converge on Greenvald, which also hosts a Confederation joint naval and army base.

World Map Grid
World Name (and UWP) Greenvald B864695-A	Subsector/Sector Location Eery/Magyar
Date of Preparation 201-1096	Hexagon Scale (km) 1,005
IS Form 8-F	Size 8 World Map Grid

hkyadwaeh. A mildly intoxicating beverage, exceedingly popular among the Aslan and far preferred by them over alcohol. Humans call the beverage bitter-root tea, after its taste, or muleskick tea, after its observed effect on Aslan who drink it. Hkyadwaeh is derived from the hkyao plant, a fairly common shrub found on several worlds of the Hierate, most notably Kualakhtaea, a secondary world of Ayeiyfua (Dark Nebula 0311 E100643-8). The beverage is brewed by steeping dried hkyao roots in boiling water, and when consumed by Aslan is about as strong as beer or ale on a Human system. A large number of specific blends and brews exist. Hkyadwaeh is a common cargo within Hierate space, though virtually no market exists outside the Hierate except among extrahierate Aslan. Humans find hkyadwaeh rather bitter and unpalatable, though a few individuals have learned to drink it without betraying their distaste.

monoblade. A light, one-handed polymer bladed weapon with a monofilament edge, a cutting edge just one molecule thick created by spinning a single-molecule strand.

Sharn (Magyar 0601 A7568BG-C) [Amber Zone]. Garden World, Pre-Agricultural, Pre-High Population, Puzzle. A member of the Wuan Technology Association, located in the Urartu Cluster in Clan subsector. Terran emigres established a major colony on Sharn by -2000, naming the world Choan; Wu was originally settled by colonists from Sharn. The world is located on an intermediate trade route connecting Association worlds to Daibei. The highport and the large shipyards attached to it are owned and operated by Optimum Heavy Industries, a Wuan corportation concentrating on starship construction. Even for a Wuan world, Sharn is infamous for the rigidity and conformity of its society. Sharn has one of the highest per capita production outputs in the entire sector, and any deviations are quickly rooted out and corrected by the oppressive clone government of the High Sharn Administrator.

Shrine of Heroes. A traditional space found in Aslan homes, factories, or starships where Aslan meditate on and gain confidence from the deeds and philosophies of their ancestors. This “ancestor worship” is the closest thing the race has to a religion. The Shrine is typically a small, private room, draped in tapestries and decorated with scenes of conquest.

Shuttle. One of the most common small craft seen in Charted Space, designed to carry passengers and cargo from orbit to surface and back again, as well as act as an interplanetary transport. A shuttle uses a 95-ton hull, is capable of 3g acceleration, carries 1 ton of fuel, and has a crew of one. It may have one fixed mount. The standard computer for the shuttle is the Model/1. It can carry eight passengers and has 67 tons of excess space, and costs MCr15.147.

Treakhouaia. An extrahierate Aslan clan, formerly dominant in the Akuusir Cluster following the Peace of Ftahalr in 380. The Treakhouaia had been exiled from the Hierate during the Cultural Purge for having become too familiar with humans, relaxing roles between the sexes and settling differences through legal arbitration rather than combat. The Treakhouaia came to dominate the worlds along the lucrative Wu-Kusyu route, including Colcan and Fonfado, and also had holdings on Dengmi, Wang, and Satwor. Following defeat in the Rim War and the loss of Terra, the Solomani Confederation began absorbing worlds of the Akuusir Cluster in 1041. The Treakhouaia clan at first tried to negotiate, then accommodate, and finally assimilate, though with generally unsatisfactory results. Many Treakhouaia holdings were seized by the Solomani under various legal pretenses and the inhabitants resettled to Akludu in Magyar sector. Today, most of the Aslan encountered in Akuusir subsector working in starports, crewing merchant ships, or serving in the Confederation military will be Treakhouaia.

A yeheal autorifle.

yeheal. An Aslan 7.5mm automatic rifle that functions much like a Human autorifle. It can be equipped with a shoulder sling, sights, a bipod, and a muzzle brake, and may be switched from semi-automatic to full automatic fire as needed. The yeheal uses a dual magazine feed with an internal mechanism that strips cartridges from one magazine until it is empty, and then proceeds to strip cartridges from the other magazine. As a result, total magazine capacity is 64 rounds and the weapon can be reloaded with one new magazine whenever less than 32 rounds remain.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.

Wu Interlude

We recently had a chance to play through a couple of short “Into the Interface” scenarios. In the first adventure, the crew of the Starjammer deals with ramifications from the Ross Charter. And in the second adventure, the Starjammer receives an unusual new charter with some demanding passengers.

Ship’s Log

Ship Name Starjammer.

Port of Registry Kline (MAGY 3012 A642987-E).

Ship Type U-CA33 Armed Packet.

Registration # 338-C-2725.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 126-1103.

0800. At High Nara starport the ship’s purser, Howard, paid the crew salaries. A total of Cr35,225 was debited from the ship’s account. Captain Cryo, Chief Engineer Richy, Wayne, and Brogue all took their liberty off station. The rest of the crew occupied the Travellers’ Aid Society Hostel on High Nara. As Weapons Officer Barry “Boone” Russell is a TAS cardholder, he received VIP treatment.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 145-1103.

1200. Several members of the crew engaged in training programs to improve various skills. Boone entered High Nara to purchase a cowboy hat, boots, and custom belt buckle. The ship’s entertainer, Daren Gardner, had his security robot, Tech-9, further customized. In addition to the tricked-out paint job, Daren added disco lights, a bass booster, and a concealed fabricator unit capable of printing TL8 items of up to 1 liter in volume.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 152-1103.

0800. Howard paid Cr49,500 in berthing fees for the Starjammer to the High Nara Port Office. The starship was then transferred to a maintenance bay for its annual overhaul. Chief Engineer Richy and the Captain returned to High Nara from liberty in order to supervise the work.

2000. Ronald, Boone, and Howard celebrated the sensor operator’s 40th birthday in the bar of the TAS Hostel.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 156-1103.

0800. Howard paid the crew their monthly salaries.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 159-1103.

1200. Crew members completed their training programs. Howard and Ronald improved their proficiency ratings with vacc suits and energy weapons, respectively. Daren was unable to complete his vacc suit course. Boone purchased a skill wafer providing expertise in unarmed combat. The ship’s android owner, Bodyguard 3185D31A (“Sonny”), completed a basic education course.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 160-1103.

2133. As Boone, Sonny, Daren, Howard, and Ronald relaxed in the lounge of the TAS Hostel, they noticed a disturbance near the lobby entrance. A tall, dark-haired woman scuffled with a couple of men dressed in suits. As Hostel security convened on the melee, the woman drew a primitive sword and stabbed one of her attackers. Boone intervened and disarmed the woman, who was then shot by one of her attackers with a gauss pistol. The woman stumbled toward Boone, whispering a single word to him before dying: "Klementin." Solomani Security soon arrived to secure the scene. Boone and the rest of the crew were detained.

2300. Sophron Hampson, the TAS Director of Facilities on High Nara, checked in with Boone and apologized for the dreadful inconvenience. Hampson assured Boone that nothing like this had ever happened before at the TAS Hostel. Boone asked about the woman, and Hampson said his security team thought that, based on her build and use of a sword, she was probably an immigrant from one of the barbarian worlds on the edge of Aslan space.

Hampson discretely urged Boone to be cautious in dealing with Solomani Security: the agency closely monitors the movements and communications of Imperial citizens and maintains an extensive network of paid informants. The TAS Hostel is relatively secure, as the staff regularly sweeps the facilities and computers for surveillance devices. Hampson agreed to comp the party drinks while they awaited an interview with Solomani Security.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 161-1103.

0100. Boone was braced by a representative from Solomani Security who introduced himself as Strephon Oest. Oest asked the same questions over and over again, asking Boone about his service record in the Imperial Marines, the recent charter to Wang (DARK 2506 D789899-2), how Boone knew the woman at the Hostel, and whether she had given him anything—or told him anything—before she died. While Boone omitted any mention of Klementin, he truthfully explained that he had never seen the woman before. In the course of the interview Oest revealed that the woman was a Wangian native named Yora. After a couple of hours Oest released Boone.

0900. Daren accessed the Wuan information net and confirmed that Oest was an officer of SolSec, assigned to Wu two years earlier. Daren inserted fictitious, embarrassing information into Oest’s public file. Daren learned that Yora arrived from Wang approximately six months earlier and had been placed on a SolSec watchlist.

Daren also reviewed library data that provided some useful historical context. In 1054 the Solomani Confederation deposed the indigenous ruler of Wang, Saeae Zui, and replaced her with a provisional government overseen by Solomani advisors. Ever since then the Empress of Yooi has lived in hiding, leading a government in exile. Due to ongoing political turmoil on Wang, all visitors from that system are flagged for enhanced surveillance by SolSec.

Although Daren found no records of a person named Klementin, he did identify a bar named Klementin in the Little Yooi section of Gyon, the capital city of Wu. Little Yooi contains a large community of expatriates from Wang and is located in a poorer section of the city.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 162-1103.

0600. Boone, Sonny, Daren, Howard, Ronald, and Tech-9 took a 95-ton shuttle down the gravity well to the Wu mainworld. Tech-9’s laser weapon was disabled to comply with Wu’s high law level.

0721. The shuttle landed at Wu Down starport, located just outside Gyon, a megalopolis of 1.8 billion that sprawls along the eastern shore of Keun Island.

0847. The team found a secluded space in a local museum for Tech-9 to print out body pistols, which are illegal on Wu’s surface. Tech-9’s laser was reactivated.

1222. The team arrived at Klementin, a nondescript bar in Little Yooi. The party chatted up the bartender, who was suspicious but invited them to come back tomorrow, when he might have some additional information about Yora.

1301. While at Klementin, the party was approached by a disheveled man with a bad haircut who introduced himself as Niilo Král. Král claimed to be a huge fan of Daren’s professional alter ego, HotLolz.

While sitting with the team, Král claimed that he was working for the Duchess of Walpurgis and said that the Imperium was very interested in establishing contact with the deposed Empress of Yooi. Král hinted that the Imperium may wish to provide support to the Wang government-in-exile.

Král left his contact information and encouraged the group to seek out the Empress, but Daren was suspicious: the man did not seem to actually know Duchess Shanika and—more damningly—seemed rather poorly dressed for a fan of HotLolz.

1347. Ronald used his considerable street smarts to lead any SolSec tails on a wild goose chase through the slums and alleys of Little Yooi.

1615. The team found lodging in a modest offworlder hotel on the outskirts of Gyon.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 163-1103.

1100. The team returned to Klementin and found two imposing Yooi tribesmen armed with swords waiting for them. The group was then ambushed by Král and three SolSec operatives wielding gauss pistols and monoblades, which are swords composed of super-hardened material with the edges honed to the width of single molecule. The team quickly joined forces with the tribesmen against the SolSec operatives.

After a fierce battle Král and the Solomani operatives were killed but Howard and Boone seriously wounded. The Yooi exiles quickly disposed of the bodies and wiped down Klementin before Solomani reinforcements could arrive. Boone claimed one of the monoblades, Daren another. The tribesmen then offered to take the team to meet the Empress.

1433. The team was led to a heavily guarded safe house where they were brought before Saeae Zui, the deposed Empress of Yooi. An imposing woman dressed plainly, she explained that she was only seventeen when the Confederation forced her into exile nearly fifty years ago, and she had lived on the run ever since. She asked what the team knew about the attack on the Yooi market, and insisted that her partisans were not behind this act of terrorism. She agreed that offworld brigands were most likely responsible.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 164-1103.

0700. The team boarded a return shuttle to High Nara.

0823. The shuttle docked at High Nara.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 166-1103.

1500. The Starjammer was released from its overhaul and the TAS renewed the starship’s annual operating certification.

2017. Brogue and Wayne returned from their vacations.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 167-1103.

0800. Captain Cryo reported that Hrol, the female Aslan translator, had identified a potential charter for the Starjammer.

1000. Cryo, Sonny, and Wayne met with Hrol. The prospective charter for Cr700,000 (Solomani) would deliver three Aslan males and the body of one of their fallen comrades to Akludu (MAGY 0902 B568669-A) and after a short layover, return the three Aslan to Wu. Wayne noted that for the Starjammer, Akludu is a three jump trip from Wu—completely within Solomani Confederation space.

Hrol explained that the Aslan are all members of the Solomani Confederation Army’s 630th Assault Infantry regiment, assigned to Akuusir subsector. While serving on a peacekeeping mission to Wang (DARK 2506 D789899-2), the Aslan soldiers were caught in the same Yooi market explosion that killed the bounty hunters Roozer Cogbin and Dibefe. Sonny countered the proposed charter, asking for the fee to be Cr700,000 plus fuel costs. Hrol thought she would be able to negotiate this amendment.

1200. Howard, acting as the Starjammer’s chief medical officer, performed annual physicals for the crew. All crew members were certified as fit for duty.

1630. Wayne submitted a flight plan to Wu Control; Sonny applied for an exit visa.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 168-1103.

Akludu and surrounding worlds of the Urartu Cluster.

0800. Hrol reported to the Starjammer to provide a detailed training on interacting with Aslan males, who can be notoriously touchy and prone to violence. Hrol noted that a male Aslan is on constant guard for any perceived slight to his honor, and will usually challenge the offender to a duel. Hrol strongly urged all crewmembers to avoid receiving such a challenge, but explained that declining a challenge would result in a great loss of face.

The three Aslan passengers, Eirleal, Feyol, and Khuias, are all members of the Treakhouaia clan, which had once been dominant in Akuusir before the Confederation annexed their worlds following the Solomani Rim War. Many Treakhouaia were forcibly relocated to settlements on distant Akludu. For desperate young Aslan males growing up in the settlement camps, the Confederation military is considered the most viable means of upward mobility.

Hrol explained that these Treakhouaia soldiers are only partially assimilated into Solomani culture. They have lived among Humans long enough to have gained a modicum of tolerance and can speak enough Anglic to understand basic commands. But otherwise, they observe Aslan cultural practices and will view the Starjammer crew through the lens of traditional Aslan gender roles, which are rigidly defined. Male Aslan, for example, have no concept of money, which is exclusively handled by females, and it is considered offensive to offer a male Aslan money—he will assume he is being cheated. For the charter, Hrol will handle all monetary transactions for the passengers.

Hrol explained that the captain, pilot, and weapons officer will all be considered male by the Aslan soldiers, as they are performing traditionally male roles. In contrast, the purser, engineer, sensop, and cargo master will all be considered female. Hrol advised the crew to simply accept these perceptions, rather than confuse—and potentially offend—the passengers. One benefit of being perceived as female: male Aslan do not challenge female Aslan to duels.

Hrol described Aslan dietary preferences to Howard so that the Starjammer would be appropriately provisioned. An Aslan diet is almost entirely meat-based, and the Aslan have difficulty digesting Terran-based animal proteins without special supplements. She further recommended Howard lay in a quantity of hkyadwaeh, a mildly intoxicating beverage known to Humans as bitter-root tea.

Hrol explained that a traditional Aslan way to pass time in jumpspace is to trade stories. Daren took great interest in this information, although Hrol attempted to dissuade him from engaging with the passengers, noting that Aslan tastes in art differ greatly from Human tastes.

Finally, Hrol suggested that the crew designate one of the empty staterooms a “Shrine of Heroes,” a traditional Aslan space used for meditation and veneration of fallen heroes and respected ancestors.

1730. The Starjammer’s exit visa and flight plan were approved.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 169-1103.

0600. The Starjammer departed from High Nara starport, bound for Wu’s only moon, Dal (F10086A-A).

0702. Ronald contacted the Confederation military base Sereniti on Dal, requesting permission to enter restricted space and land at the base. The base control provided a specific flight path and coordinates, urging the Starjammer not to deviate.

0726. The Starjammer landed at the designated pad on the moon’s surface. A Confederation Army inspection team came aboard to review the manifest.

1120. After a thorough review, the inspection team declared the Starjammer free to take on passengers.

1146. The Aslan soldiers Eirleal, Feyol, and Khuias came aboard with the body of Akou preserved in a cryo unit draped with a Confederation flag. The three Aslan soldiers each stood over 2 meters tall, wore Confederation Army uniforms, and carried only their army packs and their yeheals, a traditional Aslan autorifle.

1200. Brogue carefully secured the unit in the cargo hold.

1315. Howard provided a safety briefing for the Aslan before showing them to their staterooms.

1401. The Starjammer was cleared to leave Dal and made underway for the Greenvald jump point.

1654. The Starjammer reached the jump point and entered jumpspace.

Jumpspace 170-1103.

2000. Much to Hrol’s consternation, an excited Daren premiered a new holovid he created to the Aslan soldiers. The vid was a gaudy, over-the-top action piece featuring Aslans, filled with gratuitous violence, nonsensical explosions, and a concussive soundtrack. The soldiers watched with rapt attention, and roared their approval at the end, insisting that Daren play the entire holivd again from the very beginning.

Jumpspace 175-1103.

1100. As Daren entertained the Aslan soldiers, the robotic ship’s cat J0NZ-E entered the passenger’s lounge. The Aslan assumed the cat to be a mockery of the Aslan species. The outraged soldiers began working themselves into a rage, but Daren—to the surprise of Hrol—skillfully defused the situation.

Greenvald (MAGY 0504 B864695-A) 177-1103.

1553. The Starjammer exited jumpspace just outside the 100 diameter limit of the Greenvald system’s cool red dwarf primary, Novisad—nearly 115 light-seconds or approximately 34.4 million km from the mainworld. The starship made underway for Greenvald, almost 19 hours distant.

Greenvald (MAGY 0504 B864695-A) 178-1103.

1027. The Starjammer reached orbit around Greenvald, a rich agricultural world similar in size and atmosphere to Terra. As the starport had no orbital component, Captain Cryo ordered the Starjammer to prepare for atmospheric entry.

1057. The Starjammer landed at Greenvald Down starport, located on the western edge of the Equitorial Ocean. Howard paid the starport authority Cr250 in berthing fees.

1322. Eirleal, Feyol, and Khuias debarked from the Starjammer for a rendezvous with on-world representatives of their clan, Treakhouaia. Hrol explained that the Aslan have a tradition of providing hospitality to visiting clan members. Although Daren was invited to accompany the Aslan, the entertainer wisely declined.

Greenvald (MAGY 0504 B864695-A) 179-1103.

The rich, agricultural world of Greenvald (Magyar 0504 B864695-A) in the Urartu cluster. The planet is locked in a close, resonant orbit with its M1 V primary star, Novisad. The Terrans first established a major colony world on Greenvald well over 3,000 years ago.

0700. Chief Engineer Richy, Wayne, and Boone began monthly maintenance activities. Howard purchased replacement parts from the starport for Cr2,339.

1622. JUNO relayed a Greenvald news report of a disturbance in startown with shots fired. Local law enforcement were said to be en route.

1632. Ronald tuned the comms into a planetary emergency frequency that was reporting the theft of a grav vehicle. The car was flying easterly from the starport and out over the Equitorial Ocean, with two local civilian vehicles in pursuit. Law enforcement units had been dispatched to intercept.

1636. Captain Cryo ordered the Starjammer powered up.

1637. Engineering reported that the Impetus-E power plant and the Mark V maneuver drives were online.

1638. Wayne reported that an intercept course was laid in.

1640. Ronald requested emergency permission to depart from the starport tower. Permission was denied.

1642. Ronald feigned that the tower’s last communication had not been received and declared an emergency. The Starjammer lifted off and made at top speed over the ocean for the fleeing grav car.

1706. Ronald reported visual contact with the lead grav car, which contained three Aslan exchanging fire with two following civilian vehicles. Law enforcement vehicles were several hundred kilometers behind.

1708. Boone reported weapons systems unlocked and online.

1713. Wayne maneuvered the Starjammer in front of the lead grav car while Brogue opened the main cargo hatch. Boone fired warning shots from the dorsal turret’s lasers at the trailing vehicles, which veered away.

1715. Wayne decelerated in order to allow the Aslan to fly into the cargo hold. They crashed their grav car into the hold and Brogue narrowly avoided being crushed.

1717. Brogue reported the cargo bay doors secure.

1739. Wayne reported that the Starjammer had reached orbit above Greenvald.

1900. On the bridge, Captain Cryo toasted Wayne’s 38th birthday.

Greenvald (MAGY 0504 B864695-A) 180-1103.

1320. Wayne reported reaching the 100 diameter limit of Greenvald’s primary.

1326. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Sharn (MAGY 0601 A7568BG-C) 188-1103.

0516. The Starjammer exited jumpspace and began maneuvering toward the Sharn mainworld.

0800. The purser paid the crew their salaries and transfered Cr7,797 to the annual overhaul fund.

0828. The Starjammer arrived at Sharn Highport and commenced refueling. Howard paid the starport authority Cr1,000 for berthing fees. The mainworld below is a garden world, a member of the Wuan Technology Association. But the oppressively high law level gave the world an Amber Travel Zone. As such, landing by Starjammer crew or passengers was inadvisable.

1928. Refueling complete, the Starjammer departed from Sharn Highport.

2301. The Starjammer reached the Akludu jump point.

2308. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Jumpspace 193-1103.

2100. Howard and other offduty crewmen celebrated his 38th birthday in the crew lounge.

Akludu (MAGY 0902 B568669-A) 195-1103.

0258. The Starjammer exited jumpspace and got underway for the mainworld.

0540. The Starjammer landed at Akludu Down starport on the planet’s surface. Akludu is a rich, agricultural world under military rule. A large Confederation joint Army-Navy base is adjoined to the starport.

0700. Eirleal, Feyol, and Khuias cleared customs with the body of their comrade, Akou.

0800. Howard paid Cr250 to the starport authority for berthing fees and Cr29,000 to renew the life support systems.

Akludu (MAGY 0902 B568669-A) 198-1103.

1000. The Aslan soldiers returned to the Starjammer.

1124. The Starjammer lifted off from Akludu’s surface.

1141. The Starjammer reached orbit.

1500. Ronald reported contact with the CSS Nirah, a Type SX fleet courier arriving in system from maneuvers in the Xian (MAGY 1103 B7B48DC-9) system. The courier did not respond to hails.

1601. The Starjammer reached the Sharn jump point.

1608. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Sharn (MAGY 0601 A7568BG-C) 205-1103.

1958. The Starjammer exited jumpspace and made for the Sharn highport.

2310. Ronald reported contact with the outbound Aristelle, a 400-ton Type R subsidized merchant registered to the non-aligned world of Reynold (MAGY 0105 C401899-B). Captain Katya Knox was making a hasty departure for the Yamashita Belt (MAGY 0602 E000535-A). She warned the Starjammer of Sharn’s extremely high Law Level.

1646. The Starjammer docked at High Sharn starport and began refueling. Howard paid Cr1,000 to the starport authority for berthing fees.

Sharn (MAGY 0601 A7568BG-C) 206-1103.

0610. The Starjammer finished refueling and departed High Sharn.

0634. Ronald reported contact with a 95-ton shuttle in orbit, standing by for landing on the mainworld surface.

0722. The Starjammer reached the New Sol jump point.

0841. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

New Sol (MAGY 0503 D501956-7) 214-1103.

0042. The Starjammer exited jumpspace in the outer system and set course for the gas giant Hfoileiiau.

0100. Ronald reported that a beacon in the inner system warned that the mainworld remained under Confederation interdiction.

New Sol (MAGY 0503 D501956-7) 214-1103.

1049. The Starjammer reached orbit around Hfoileiiau and began fuel skimming and refining.

1419. The Starjammer completed skimming operations and began maneuvering to the 100 diameter limit.

New Sol (MAGY 0503 D501956-7) 215-1103.

0047. The Starjammer reached the 100 diameter limit and held there while the fuel processors continued to refine the raw hydrogen.

0839. The Starjammer completed fuel refining.

0845. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 222-1103.

1235. The Starjammer exited jumpspace.

1400. The purser paid the crew their monthly salaries and transferred Cr7,979 to the annual overhaul fund.

1529. The Starjammer docked at High Nara.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.

Aslan Clans and Prides

Several Aslan families combine into a pride, and several prides combine into a clan. We can estimate 4,000 clans and 9.1 trillion clan members at one end of the scale, and approximately 1,200 billion families at the other end, but there’s no clear indication how big prides are or how many there might be in the Hierate.

If Aslan families range from Pop 0 to 1, and Aslan clans from 4 to A, prides must fall in between with some potential for overlap. In fact, given the lack of specificity perhaps prides could range from as small as Pop 1 to as large as Pop 6 for a Tlaukhu or multiworld clan. A large pride, then, might be larger than a small clan and might well command similar resources. The one hard and fast rule should probably be that a pride cannot be larger than its clan’s Pop -1.

Random Pride Size

1D	Clan Size
	4	5	6	7	8	9	A
1	1	2	3	4	4	5	5
2	1	2	3	4	5	5	5
3	2	3	4	5	5	5	6
4	2	3	4	5	6	6	6
5	3	4	5	6	6	6	6
6	3	4	5	6	6	6	6

Relatively little canonical detail is available about prides, but the adventure “Ahriy Uprising” from the CT module Alien Realms gives us a tantalizing glimpse of internal clan politics at the pride level. As the name suggests, the adventure involves an Ahriy (pride) vying for rule of their clan.

Prides are probably much more regional in scope than clans. Even a pride of a Tlaukhu clan might be restricted to a sector, a pride of Mulitworld clan to a subsector, prides of vassal clans a world or two, and a pride of a Single World clan might be limited to a single continent or region.

Given the immense scope of the very large clans, prides offer tremendous potential for development as well as opportunity to make interacting with a Tlaukhu clan a bit more manageable. For a player with an Aslan character belonging to one of the Twenty-Nine, their pride identification might be much more meaningful than their clan affiliation.

Just as clans within the Hierate constantly contend for status and power, so do prides within clans and families within prides. Inter-pride politics are probably every bit as messy and fraught as inter-clan relations, but with many more complications of kinship and marriage. Civil wars, after all, are some of the fiercest and bloodiest conflicts.

Copyright Information

The illustration at the top of the blog is by D. J. Barr in the adventure “Ahriy Uprising” from Alien Realms (1986).

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.

A Death in the Aslan Family

I used Aslan population data to build a random family generator that can determine the composition of an Aslan family. The generator outputs a family patriarch, his wives, all of their children, and other household members. The generator calculates the year each family member was born and married, enabling me to identify the male heir.

But as I was tinkering with the results, I realized that being able to determine if any of these family members had died would be a useful addition to my generator. Based on examples from the Classic Traveller books Aslan (1984) and Alien Realms (1986), the Aslan are biologically and culturally a “live hard, die young” species. Male aggression probably results in plenty of untimely deaths by misadventure via duels, feuds, or clan warfare, but many other dangers exist in Aslan space. The “Syareahtaorl” adventure, for example, describes a clan heir badly weakened by a common virus and then subsequently murdered.

In order to develop a “survival function” for Aslan family members, we can turn to actuarial science, a real-life discipline that uses mathematics and statistics to assess risk, often for insurance purposes. We can apply basic actuarial concepts to develop crude life tables for Aslan.

But first, let’s consider what we know about the Aslan life cycle. CT Aslan explains that

Aslan characters begin their careers at 16 Aslan years of age (about 14 standard years). At this point, as untrained and inexperienced Aslan, they embark upon a career in order to gain skills and experience. Careers are resolved on the basis of Aslan terms of service which are eight Aslan years (seven Imperial years) each (8).

* * * * *

Aslan aging is slower in its onset but more severe in effects than in human characters. The first roll on the aging table is not made until age 56 (after five terms of service have been completed); thereafter, it is checked every two Aslan years (10).

MT Solomani and Aslan (1991) adds that

The Aslan growth cycle seems “compressed” to humans. Newborn Aslan grow rapidly to young adulthood. Once an Aslan reaches 24 ftahea [Aslan years]—21 years in human terms—his or her strength gradually begins to decline, until they enter old age in their fifties—again, mid-forties to mid-fifties by human standards.

Typically, Aslan males live to be 70 ftahea old—61 human years—while females tend to die sooner at age 67—age 58 to humans (43).

Similar information is contained in GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 2 (1999) and Mongoose Traveller Aliens of Charted Space 1 (2020), though MgT uses conventional four-year career terms for Aslan rather than seven-year terms.

With this information we can construct Aslan life tables. Example tables for the 20th and 21st century are readily found online, as this data is used by governmental agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, or Social Security Administration. As described above, Aslan appear to generally follow similar aging patterns as Humans: infancy, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and old age. The largest difference seems to be that Aslan mature earlier and stay in their physical prime longer, but then rapidly decline.

GT: Alien Races 2 explains that most Aslan clans have access to items of Technology Level 9–11 (45), and Tlaukhu members would be able to produce items as high as TL14. I’m not sure that technology advances would have quite as large an impact on Aslan medical care as on Humans: the Aslan are notoriously conservative about embracing tech, perhaps even moreso than Vilani. For example, Solomani and Aslan notes that “Use of anagathics is rare among Aslan” (71). While I would imagine that Aslan doctors would be very good at traumatology, I suspect they would not be nearly so good about basic preventative medicine, going back to the “life fast, die young” ethos.

Given all this, I thought it made sense to adopt actuarial data from the mid-twentieth century United States for the Aslan. This mid-century data reflects enormous improvements to infant mortality, but not all of the life extension benefits brought about by lifestyle and pharmacological interventions. I compressed this data to produce Aslan tables with average lifespans of 58 for females and 61 for males. I then translated the actuarial data into the probability of survival to each age, as seen in the following survival curves.

Figure 1. Aslan survival curves.

These curves show Aslan males with a significantly higher chance of dying at younger ages than Aslan females. Imagine reckless, aggressive males, engaged in more dangerous careers like combat infantry or fighter pilot, compared to Aslan females, who are usually in military support roles. But once aging begins to set in, the females begin to fail more quickly than males. Perhaps those males who survive five or six terms are disproportionately the same ones likely to become head of a family and, as such, are the individuals most likely to lead lives of relative privilege with the best medical care available.

This data can then be summarized into a table with a nice percentage chance of survival for an Aslan of either sex:

Aslan Survival

Career Term	Age		Proportion Surviving
	Aslan ftahea	Imperial Years	Male	Female
–	0	0	100%	100%
–	0–1	0–1	95%	97%
–	2–8	2–7	93%	96%
–	9–16	8–14	93%	96%
1	17–24	15–21	91%	94%
2	25–32	22–28	90%	93%
3	33–40	29–35	87%	91%
4	41–48	36–42	84%	87%
5	49–56	43–49	78%	81%
6	57–64	50–56	70%	68%
7	65–72	57–63	58%	48%
8	73–80	64–70	42%	18%
9	81–88	71–77	23%	2%
10	89–96	78–84	8%	0%
11	97–104	85–91	1%	0%
12	105+	92+	0%	0%

For my Aslan family generator, I use this table to check each family member to determine whether or not they are still alive. The results have already begun to pay off in story ideas, which is the whole point of the exercise. For one family, the patriarch’s first wife died young in the very first year of marriage. For another family, the only heir was killed in his first term, probably serving in the clan military—kicking off a succession crisis.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.

Prides and Prejudice: Aslan Families and Society

In my last post, we developed estimates of an average Aslan family, and then constructed a theoretical population of one million Aslan families:

One Million Aslan Families

Category	Numbers
Patriarchs	1,000,000
Wives	2,500,000
Female Children	3,125,003
Male Children
Htatei	535,558
Ihatei	506,110
Other Household Members	1,000,000
Total Population	8,666,671

Wiykhearl (DARK 0335 E100646-7), the gas giant moon homeworld of the Wioarlil clan, which coincidentally comprises approximately 1 million Aslan families.

These numbers contain critical implications for Aslan society. Although our theoretical pool of one million families produces more than one male child for each family, because they are distributed unevenly nearly half of all families have no heirs, and the pool has nearly as many ihatei as htatei. A common proverb among Aslan females can be translated as Males: always too many and never enough.

Many of these ihatei are destined for lives on the margins of Aslan society, becoming mercenaries, travellers, outcasts, or even outlaws. But other options are available.

Because births are based on the number of wives, which is related to social class, lower class Aslan families would be expected to produce fewer children, and thus be more at risk of not having a male son to inherit any family holdings. Higher class families, in contrast, are much more likely to have both ihatei sons and larger holdings that require vassals to administer. For such families, many ihatei may elect to “stay behind” and serve as vassals to their htatei brother.

A significant number of ihatei could find careers in the clan military forces. A million Aslan families is the equivalent of a Population 6, and nearly Population 7, world. The ground defenses forces of such a world at TL10, the Aslan average, would be the equivalent of 15 to 150 battalions, or 7,500 to 75,000 troops. If we assume that the clan space forces have similar staffing needs, then perhaps as much as a quarter of these ihatei could be gainfully employed by the clan.

Another option is for a second son to join a clan migration fleet, also called an ihatei fleet. The MT Rebellion Sourcebook (1988) explains that “Migration fleets carry excess population in search of new worlds to settle and exploit. These are the instrument by which the Aslan clans expand their territory. lhatei fleets are raised by the clan, with their ships and equipment paid for by the families of those who will travel with it” (29).

Although the Sourcebook holds that “Every Aslan clan periodically organizes an ihatel fleet” (58), such an expedition represents an enormous undertaking. Even for clans of population 8+, TL 9+, and access to the shipyards of a class A starport, an ihatei fleet is probably a once-in-a-generation event. CT Aslan describes how the Loakhtarl clan established an ihatei fleet that consisted of “ten armed 50,000 ton ships, each capable of jump-3 and 3-G. Each ship carried 10,000 tons of cargo (primarily colonial supplies), a crew of 300, and a colonial force of 1,700 and represented some of the best shipbuilding the clan could obtain” (38). Smaller, less technologically advanced clans might require multiple generations to set aside enough resources to sponsor a modest fleet of their own.

The large number of “surplus” sons and the large number of sonless families does create an interesting social opportunity for addressing this “market inefficiency”: adoption. CT Aslan describes families adopting orphaned children of blood relatives, and GT Alien Races 2 notes that “Some clans will admit clanless outsiders, even non-Aslan, who have done them a great service. Whether they are ‘associate members’ with limited rights or full clan members depends on local custom” (11).

A family adopting an ihetai to continue the family line is probably fairly rare, despite its inherent rationality. A family would be very reluctant to name a male of lower status as its heir, though an ihatei of higher status might gladly “adopt down” to a lower status family. Having any landhold of one’s own would probably be better than having nothing. An ideal candidate for adoption might be a distantly related male of higher status, from within the same clan or even the same pride.

The 1:3 sex ratio of males to females creates additional tensions within Aslan society. Because of the extreme division of labor between the sexes in Aslan culture, females are every bit as important to the success of a family as males. A son is needed to inherit the family’s holdings, but spinster aunts, unmarried daughters, and daughter-in-laws are all required to actually run the place. If a male Aslan can’t even handle money, someone needs to keep the books, manage the household, and direct any business interests.

Marriageable daughters help build or solidify alliances with other families, and competition between females and their families for a small number of potential husbands is likely intense. If we assume that the 535,558 htatei in our pool of 1 million families each take 2.5 wives, that still leaves 1,786,108 unmarried females, or nearly 23% of the population. Such a large number of unmarried females would create a significant workforce and again, competition between these females within an Aslan corporation must be every bit as intense as the competition between males for territory.

If a highly skewed sex ratio was a beneficial biological adaption for early Aslan, it might be much less adaptive for a society with stellar technology and correspondingly lower mortality rates. All of the competition between males, between females, between families, prides, and clans can easily become unproductive if not outright destructive with nuclear technology. The extreme social conservatism of Aslan culture, with an emphasis on tradition and ritual, might be an important way to channel these potentially destructive tensions into safer and more regulated outlets.

Aslan history has shown that when competition gets out of hand, Aslan societies can career right up to and beyond the point of mutual destruction, as seen in their three world wars from the pre-spaceflight era. While the infamous Aslan touchiness might seem designed as an excuse for conflict, the elaborate codes of honor and conduct are intended to regulate conflict into predictable, non-lethal rituals like the duel. Similarly, primogeniture is a way for Aslan culture to regulate natural conflicts over inheritance.

Although not explicitly described in canon, Aslan culture likely regulates marriage and reproduction into fairly rigid channels of tradition. But just like violence, sometimes passions spill over the banks of these channels. The adventure “First Son, Last Son” from the CT module Alien Realms (1986) hinges on an unfaithful Aslan wife. An emotional, sometimes impulsive species caught within a very rigid culture of tradition makes for inherent tension—and great potential for drama. Aslan literature is probably filled with stories of unhappy marriages, star-crossed lovers, ruined daughters and wastrel sons, tragic rivalries between families, and profound anxieties over property, social status, and inheritance.

Sounds familiar, right? Although the Aslan have been long described as a “Proud Warrior Race,” as I was looking at the demographic numbers I did not find myself thinking about samurai movies or Klingon episodes of Star Trek. Instead, I was thinking about 19th century novels. In particular, I was struck by how well Jane Austen’s novel of manners Pride and Prejudice would work as an Aslan scenario. Consider this summary from Wikipedia:

Mr. Bennet, owner of the Longbourn estate in Hertfordshire, has five daughters, but his property is entailed and can only be passed to a male heir. His wife also lacks an inheritance, so his family faces becoming very poor upon his death. Thus, it is imperative that at least one of the girls marry well to support the others, which is a motivation that drives the plot.

Mr. Bennet’s plight is an all-too-common one in the Hierate. Elizabeth is in many ways a model female Aslan: intelligent, discerning, and resolute, just as Mr. Darcy is a model male: proud, moody, and artistocratic. Of course, an Aslan Mr. Darcy would not be forced to chose between Elizabeth and Anne, the daughter of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as both would make excellent wives.

I also found myself thinking of Anna Karenina or The Age of Innocence (published 1920, but set in the 1870s), where different characters are torn between their personal desires and the constraints of their social obligations. Through these lenses, the equivalent of an Aslan drawing room is far more perilous than any battlefield. While not every group of players may be interested in a social maneuvering, role-play heavy “adventure of manners,” understanding this vital aspect of Aslan society can add considerable texture to any Aslan scenario, and help make an alien race considerably more relatable to humans.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.

Aslan Family Structure

In one of the best Dungeons & Dragons games I ever played in, each player character was a junior member of an extended noble household, similar to the Starks of Winterfell from Game of Thrones. There were brothers, illegitimate half-brothers, cousins, children of retainers and allies, and hostages. The genius of this setup was that each character began the game with an inherent relationship with all of the other characters as well as the major NPCs in the household. And since almost everybody has a family and can relate to familial issues, the players could easily identify with and engage in this rich, complicated, and occasionally messy situation. I think any kind of Aslan game would greatly benefit from adopting such a setup, since the family is so central to Aslan identity. So understanding the composition of a typical Aslan family becomes very helpful.

CT Aslan (1984) provides some useful insights into the structure of Aslan families (ekho). We know that the average family includes 2 to 12 individuals under a patriarchal leader (3). We know that the average male has 0–5 wives, or 2.5 on average (5). Finally, we know that approximately three females are born to every male born (9).

CT Aslan doesn’t detail how many children each wife is expected to produce, but if we assume each wife produces 0–4 children (1D - 2), or an average of 1.67 children, the average family will have 4.17 children in a total household of 7.67 individuals, which falls within the range described in CT Aslan. With 4.17 children, most Aslan families would have at least one male child, which is vital for the continuance of the family. If we adjust that average number of children per wife up or down even slightly, we can end up with so few males that most Aslan families would not have heirs, or else the average family is larger than the upper range given in CT Aslan.

The number of wives (ekhiy) is generally related to the Social Standing of the patriarch (ekaw, or tao’): higher status males would be expected to have more wives than lower status males. The following table could be used in lieu of 1D - 1 for generating the number of wives:

Number of Aslan Wives

Patriarch SOC	1D
	1	2	3	4	5	6
0	0	0	0	1	1	1
1–2	0	1	1	2	2	3
3–5	0	1	2	2	3	4
6–8	0	1	2	3	4	5
9–11	1	2	3	3	4	5
12–14	2	3	3	4	4	5
15+	3	4	4	5	5	6

The number of children in a family is, obviously, related to the number of wives.

Average Number of Aslan Children

Children	Wives
	0	1	2	3	4	5
	0.00	1.67	3.33	5.00	6.67	8.33

The following table lists the number of D6 combinations that result in X wives producing Y number of Aslan children. For example, a single wife has a 2 in 6 chance (33.33%) of producing no children, while two wives reduces the odds of no children to 4 in 36 (11.11%), three wives to 8 in 216 (3.7%), and so on. The aggregate probability of an Aslan family producing no children is roughly 25%, while the probability of 20 children is 0.002%.

Distribution of Aslan Children

Number of Children	Number of Wives						Aggregate Probability
	0	1	2	3	4	5
0	0	2	4	8	16	32	24.97%
1	0	1	4	12	32	80	6.14%
2	0	1	5	18	56	160	7.54%
3	0	1	6	25	88	280	9.22%
4	0	1	7	33	129	450	11.19%
5	0	0	4	30	148	601	7.36%
6	0	0	3	28	162	745	7.23%
7	0	0	2	24	164	855	6.72%
8	0	0	1	18	151	905	5.73%
9	0	0	0	10	120	865	4.17%
10	0	0	0	6	92	781	3.32%
11	0	0	0	3	64	655	2.46%
12	0	0	0	1	39	505	1.66%
13	0	0	0	0	20	355	1.02%
14	0	0	0	0	10	235	0.63%
15	0	0	0	0	4	141	0.35%
16	0	0	0	0	1	75	0.17%
17	0	0	0	0	0	35	0.075%
18	0	0	0	0	0	15	0.032%
19	0	0	0	0	0	5	0.011%
20	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.002%
Total	0	6	36	216	1,296	7,776	100%

Households with no wives might represent a young, newly installed patriarch who has not yet taken a wife; a poor, luckless male who has not found a suitable mate; or perhaps an older patriarch whose wife or wives have died or left the household. Although the table assumes that households without wives have no children, that may not always be true.

An Aslan household may include additional members beyond the patriarch, his wives, and their children. GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 2 (1999) has an evocative description of a typical Aslan household:

The ekho includes the patriarch, his wife (or wives), the patriarch’s unmarried siblings, aged parents, orphans of blood relatives adopted into the family, and perhaps members of allied or conquered clans exchanged for one’s own relatives. This last allows future comrades-in-arms to train together while young, and provides hostages for the good behavior of new vassals (10).

Let’s assume a typical Aslan household contains 1D - 3 additional members. The number of additional members is probably correlated to the number of wives. A patriarch without a wife likely needs significant assistance from female blood relatives to keep the household running, while adding extra members to a household with many wives might only add headaches. The following table can be used to determine the number of additional family members based on the number of additional wives:

Number of Additional Family Members

Wives	1D
	1	2	3	4	5	6
0	2	2	3	4	5	6
1	0	1	1	2	3	4
2	0	0	1	2	3	4
3	0	0	1	1	2	3
4	0	0	0	1	2	3
5	0	0	0	0	1	2
6	0	0	0	0	0	1

The following table can be used to determine the nature of each additional household member.

Additional Household Members

2D	Relationship
2	Patriarch’s father
3–4	Patriarch’s unmarried brother
5	Exchanged child from allied clans
6	Patriarch’s mother
7–8	Patriarch’s unmarried sister
9	Patriarch’s aunt
10	Adopted orphan of blood relatives
11	Patriarch’s uncle
12	Hostage from conquered clans

So let’s consider a hypothetical pool of one million Aslan families. The following table details how many children of each sex this pool of families would be expected to produce:

Population Distribution per 1 Million Aslan Families

Children per Family	Number of Families	Patriarchs	Wives	Female Children	Male Children	Other Members
0	249,657	249,657	122,771	0	0	249,657
1	61,385	61,385	117,627	46,039	15,346	61,385
2	75,446	75,446	161,694	113,169	37,723	75,446
3	92,164	92,164	216,478	207,369	69,123	92,164
4	111,883	111,883	283,565	335,649	111,883	111,883
5	73,581	73,581	247,021	275,929	91,976	73,581
6	72,295	72,295	255,766	325,328	108,443	72,295
7	67,194	67,194	250,064	352,769	117,590	67,194
8	57,335	57,335	225,587	344,010	114,670	57,335
9	41,688	41,688	177,576	281,394	93,798	41,688
10	33,200	33,200	144,912	249,000	83,000	33,200
11	24,584	24,584	110,061	202,818	67,606	24,584
12	16,611	16,611	76,496	149,499	49,833	16,611
13	10,181	10,181	48,332	99,265	33,088	10,181
14	6,323	6,323	30,328	66,392	22,131	6,323
15	3,537	3,537	17,168	39,791	13,264	3,537
16	1,736	1,736	8,552	20,832	6,944	1,736
17	750	750	3,751	9,563	3,188	750
18	322	322	1,608	4,347	1,449	322
19	107	107	536	1,525	508	107
20	21	21	107	315	105	21
	1,000,000	1,000,000	2,500,000	3,125,003	1,041,668	1,000,000

Our theoretical pool of 1 million families has a total population of 8,666,671, including additional household members.

Within Aslan society, the entire family landhold is passed from the father to the eldest son, or htatei. Younger sons, ihatei, inherit nothing. As detailed in the following table, the more children in a family reduces the possibility that no male heir is produced, but also increases the chance for ihatei.

Probability of Sons

Total Children	Number of Sons
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1	75%	25%
2	56%	38%	6.25%
3	42%	42%	14.1%	1.6%
4	32%	42%	21.1%	4.7%	0.39%
5	24%	40%	26.4%	8.8%	1.46%	0.10%
6	18%	36%	29.7%	13.2%	3.30%	0.44%	0.02%
7	13%	31%	31.1%	17.3%	5.77%	1.15%	0.13%	0.01%
8	10%	27%	31.1%	20.8%	8.65%	2.31%	0.38%	0.04%	0.00%
9	8%	23%	30.0%	23.4%	11.68%	3.89%	0.87%	0.12%	0.01%	0.00%
10	6%	19%	28.2%	25.0%	14.60%	5.84%	1.62%	0.31%	0.04%	0.00%	0.00%
11	4%	15%	25.8%	25.8%	17.21%	8.03%	2.68%	0.64%	0.11%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
12	3%	13%	23.2%	25.8%	19.36%	10.32%	4.01%	1.15%	0.24%	0.04%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
13	2%	10%	20.6%	25.2%	20.97%	12.58%	5.59%	1.86%	0.47%	0.09%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
14	2%	8%	18.0%	24.0%	22.02%	14.68%	7.34%	2.80%	0.82%	0.18%	0.03%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
15	1%	7%	15.6%	22.5%	22.52%	16.51%	9.17%	3.93%	1.31%	0.34%	0.07%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
16	1%	5%	13.4%	20.8%	22.52%	18.02%	11.01%	5.24%	1.97%	0.58%	0.14%	0.02%	0.00%	0.00%
17	1%	4%	11.4%	18.9%	22.09%	19.14%	12.76%	6.68%	2.79%	0.93%	0.25%	0.05%	0.01%	0.00%
18	1%	3%	9.6%	17.0%	21.30%	19.88%	14.36%	8.20%	3.76%	1.39%	0.42%	0.10%	0.02%	0.00%
19	0%	3%	8.0%	15.2%	20.23%	20.23%	15.74%	9.74%	4.87%	1.98%	0.66%	0.18%	0.04%	0.01%
20	0%	2%	6.7%	13.4%	18.97%	20.23%	16.86%	11.24%	6.09%	2.71%	0.99%	0.30%	0.08%	0.02%

We can then apply these numbers to our million families to estimate the number of htatei and ihatei, as well as the number of families without any male heirs:

Male Children

Children per Family	Families	Htatei	Ihatei	Families without Male Heirs
0	249,657	0	0	249,657
1	61,385	15,346	0	46,039
2	75,446	33,008	4,715	42,438
3	92,164	53,282	15,841	38,882
4	111,883	76,483	35,400	35,400
5	73,581	56,120	35,856	17,461
6	72,295	59,429	49,014	12,867
7	67,194	58,225	59,365	8,969
8	57,335	51,595	63,075	5,740
9	41,688	38,558	55,240	3,130
10	33,200	31,330	51,670	1,870
11	24,584	23,546	44,060	1,038
12	16,611	16,085	33,748	526
13	10,181	9,939	23,149	242
14	6,323	6,211	15,920	113
15	3,537	3,490	9,774	47
16	1,736	1,719	5,225	17
17	750	745	2,443	6
18	322	320	1,129	2
19	107	106	402	0
20	21	21	84	0
Total	1,000,000	535,558	506,110	464,444

In a pool of 1 million families, 535,558 male children (roughly 51.41% of males) are first-born htatei, and 506,110 (48.59%) are ihatei. If we assume that each htatei will take 2.5 females for wives, that translates into 1,338,895 marriageable females and 1,786,108 unmarried females. In this same pool of 1 million, 464,444 families (46%), have no male heirs.

In my next post, I’ll consider the interesting social and cultural implications of these numbers.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.

Aslan Clan Populations

Aslan society is organized into three distinct tiers. The atomic unit of Aslan society is the ekho, or family, which consists of a single patriarch plus 2 to 12 individuals. Several families combine into an ahriy, or pride, with one family dominant. And several prides combine into a huiha, or clan, the largest unit of organization in the Hierate.

Estimating Aslan Clan Size

So how big are clans? We have previously assumed that the Aslan Hierate constituted approximately 6,300 to 7,000 worlds and a total population of 10.7 to 11.97 trillion, based on an average world population of 1.71 billion.

We know that not all inhabitants of the Hierate belong to a clan: some might be biological non-Aslan sophonts who are unwilling or unable to assimilate to Aslan culture, while others might be biological Aslan outlaws or outcasts, and depending upon the source, ihatei might be technically considered clanless. For simplicity, let’s assume about 20% of the Hierate population are not members of a clan, leaving 9.1 trillion clan members in the Hierate. With 4,000 clans that works out to an average clan population of 2.27 billion.

This seems rather large to me, but what if clan populations exhibit a range of populations so extreme as to skew the median result—just like world populations. Consider the average Imperial, Solomani, or Hierate world: all three generate world populations using 2D-2, creating a range of 0 to 10. The mathematical mean and the median result are the same: 5. However, the population rating is exponential in scale: each increase in rating represents an increased population by a factor of 10. A population code of 0 is 10⁰, or 1. A population rating of 10 (A) is 10¹⁰, or 10 billion. This base population is then multiplied against a population multiplier ranging from 1 to 9, with an average of 5.

The following table shows the mean world population associated with each population rating as well as the percentage of worlds that would be expected to have that rating. The prorated population is simply the percent expected multiplied against the mean population.

Distribution of World Pop Codes

Pop Code	% Worlds	Mean Population	Prorated Popuation
0	2.77	5	0
1	5.55	50	3
2	8.33	500	42
3	11.11	5,000	556
4	13.88	50,000	6,940
5	16.66	500,000	83,300
6	13.88	5,000,000	694,000
7	11.11	50,000,000	5,555,000
8	8.33	500,000,000	41,650,000
9	5.55	5,000,000,000	277,500,000
10	2.77	50,000,000,000	1,385,000,000
Total	99.96	–	1,710,489,840

Add these prorated populations together and you get the mean population of a Traveller world: 1.71 billion, in contrast to the median population, which is 500,000. Although most worlds in a Traveller sector will have populations well below level A, because of the exponential progression just a handful of high population worlds skew the average result. As is often noted, in Traveller over 97% of a typical subsector population lives on less than 10% of the worlds.

For discussion purposes, let’s assume we can apply the world population ratings to Aslan clans. Note that an average clan population of 2.27 billion is the same order-of-magnitude as the average world population. What if Aslan clans follow a similar population distribution as Aslan worlds? This would suggest that the largest clans would have populations in the tens of billions, the equivalent of a world population rating of A. A very small number of Tlaukhu clans might reach populations in the low hundreds of billions. As this would be fairly rare¹, there’s probably no need to establish a population code of B—we can just assume that the Pop A code covers all populations of 10 billion or higher.

Here we need to consider how small the smallest possible clan could be. In theory, if the smallest Aslan family is 3 individuals, and we assume “several” means three or more, then three families of three individuals could constitute an entire pride, and three prides of three families could form a clan of 27 individuals, which seems a little ridiculous.

As there is no central government in the Hierate, a clan has to be large enough to provide basic services, to maintain a landholding, and to defend that holding against all comers. The smallest countries on 21st century Terra number in tens of thousands, excluding the Vatican City. I am inclined to think the smallest viable clan size would be the same, or Pop 4, though I could be persuaded by 3 or 5 ². But let’s work with Pop 4. By modifying our world population table to proportionally redistribute the Pop 0, 1, 2, and 3 results, we can get the following clan population table that lines up with our other estimates:

Distribution of Clan Pop Codes

Pop Code	% of Clans	Number of Clans	Mean Population	Prorated Population
4	19.23	773	50,000	9,615
5	23.08	928	500,000	115,406
6	19.23	773	5,000,000	961,485
7	15.39	619	50,000,000	7,696,038
8	11.54	464	500,000,000	57,702,965
9	7.69	309	5,000,000,000	384,455,528
A	3.84	154	50,000,000,000	1,918,814,076
Total	100.00	4,020	–	2,369,755,113

As we can see, with this distribution the median clan population is 50 million, but the mean population is 2.37 billion. By tweaking the average population multiplier slightly downward from 5 to 4.71 we could get this mean population to 2.27 billion.

It is certainly possible to create tables to randomly generate clan Population codes based on clan type—and I did so to test whether my overall math was working. And although I could make the numbers fit, the distribution of Population codes across different clan types felt rather arbitrary. A better way, I think, is to generate clan Population codes using the clan Holdings rating.

This is based on a couple of observations: first, because Population codes follow an exponential progression, a clan Population code is likely the same as the Population code of the highest population world directly controlled by that clan. Assume X is the highest world Population code controlled by a clan: that clan's Population code is also likely to be X, and can’t be less than X. Even if that clan controlled more than one world of population X, the total clan Population code might reach X+1, but would not be expected to reach X+2 or higher. So rather than attempting to count up the populations of all the worlds controlled by the clan, we need to instead focus on just identifying X, the Population code of the highest population world likely controlled by that clan.

Second, as a clan controls more and more worlds, X would be expected to increase in a predictable way, as Aslan world Populations codes are distributed across the familiar 2D curve. This allows us to calculate the odds of the highest population world based on the total number of worlds controlled. Only 2.77% of worlds have a Population code of A (tens of billions), so a clan that only controlled one world has only a 2.77% chance having a clan Population of A (tens of billions). A clan that controlled ten worlds, however, has a roughly 25% chance of having at least one Pop A world. A clan that controlled 20 worlds has a roughly 43% chance of having at least one Pop A world.

All Tlaukhu clans should be assumed to have Population A. A Single World clan would be normally have a Population code equal to the Population code of its homeworld. However, many worlds with the On-World Clan Control allegiance (AsWc) have Population codes of less than 4 (tens of thousands), which we had previously set as the likely minimum clan size. In such cases, the bulk of the clan's population must be found somewhere else: perhaps scattered on other On-World Clan worlds or Split Control worlds. In any case, there must be a good story why most of the clan doesn't actually live on the homeworld.

The following table can be used to randomly determine a clan Population code based on the clan’s Holdings code:

Random Clan Population Code by Holdings

2D	Holdings
	0–4	5	6	7	8	9	A
2	4	4	4	4	6	7	8
3	4	4	4	5	6	8	8
4	4	4	4	5	7	8	9
5	4	4	5	6	7	8	9
6	4	4	6	7	8	9	9
7	5	5	7	8	8	9	A
8	5	6	7	8	9	A	A
9	6	7	8	9	9	A	A
10	6	8	9	9	A	A	A
11	7	9	A	A	A	A	A
12	7	A	A	A	A	A	A

If more details about the clan’s population are desired, the following table can be used to randomly determine a clan’s population multiplier:

Random Clan Pop Multiplier

2D	Multiplier
2	1
3	9
4	3
5	5
6	8
7	7
8	8
9	6
10	4
11	9
12	2

For example, let’s say we wanted to determine the population of a clan with Holdings 7. Rolling 2D we get 8 for a Pop Code of 8, or hundreds of millions. Rolling 2D we get 9 for a population multiplier of 6, for a clan population of 600,000 million.

The following table summarizes typical populations for different Aslan clan types.

Summary of Aslan Clan Size

Sovereignty	Clan Type	Number	Pop Codes			Mean Population
			Min	Max	Median
Sovereign	Tlaukhu (AsTX)	29	A	A	A	62.5 billion
	Multiworld (AsMw)	76	4	A	8	21 billion
	Single World (AsWc)	930	4	A	6	2.2 billion
	Small	1,200	4	7	5	6.7 million
Vassal	Tlaukhu, Direct (AsTv)	102	4	A	7	5.6 billion
	Tlaukhu, Indirect (AsTv)	254	4	A	7	4.5 billion
	Vassal, Direct (AsVc)	190	4	A	7	3.4 billion
	Vassal, Indirect (AsVc)	380	4	A	7	3.4 billion
	Small Vassal	861	4	7	5	6.7 million

Footnotes

¹ The average Tlaukhu clan would be expected to directly control 36 worlds across the entire Hierate. Population A worlds occur at a rate of approximately 2.77%, so each Tlaukhu member would be expected to only have one such world. Given the vagaries of random worldgen, a Tlaukhu member might have more than one world, or—more likely—some Tlaukhu members might directly control no Pop A worlds.

² If one wished to have a Hierate with larger numbers of smaller clans, clans of smaller than size 4 could easily be added back in—they are just too small to be counted in the “more than 4,000 clans” estimate from CT Aslan. A million Pop 3 clans only amount to a population of 5 billion, barely a rounding error in the total population of Hierate.

Copyright Information

The illustration at the top of the blog is by William H. Keith from Travellers’ Digest 17 (1989).

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2022 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.