Conflict with Magyar subsector names

[Maladominus]

Hi all

I'm struggling to justify using the "correct set" of subsector names for the much-ignored frontier sector known as the Magyar, adjacent to Solomani Rim.

First, the facts:

GDW Supplement 10, The Solomani Rim, is considered the canonical BIBLE to any and all starmaps that pertains to the Solomani Rim, and also has some info on adjacent subsectors.

Fact, Supplement 10 clearly spells out the names of ALL SUBSECTORS that border the Solomani Rim.

On the Magyar border, it lists out the name of 4 Magyar border subsectors: Gadarur (Vilani-sounding name), Morency, Walpurgis, and Fugue.

Fact, several years later, Masters of MegaTraveller, the company known as DGP publishes a "sector map" of the Magyar in Travellers Digest #14. They give names to all 16 subsectors. And lo and behold, the 4 names (Gadarur, Morency, Walpurgis and Fugue) have been replaced by 4 different names (Anise, Kline, New Mars, and Cluster).

Sadly, we must also consider DGP data as "canonical" because GDW authorized and blessed them to publish just about everything related to the MegaTraveller period.

So now I find the Magyar sector to be a great place of adventure potential for my Solomani Rim campaign. The Magyar sector is a "backwater boondocks" sector, kinda like the Spinward Marches. It has lots of lower tech planets, many of them only pay lip service as 'members' of the Solomani Confederation. For the most part, its a frontier sector full of pirates, thugs, adventurers, petty dictators, Solomani-sponsored tyrants, pocket empires, mercenaries, etc. Perfect for adventure.

But which set of subsector names should I use?

 

[kafka47]

I would also use some names from current day Hungary to give it some authencity. Afterall, the name was coined by the second movement of the Magyar peoples. I have always postulated that region could be what a reformed Austro-Hungary would look like: the United States of Central Europe...following the logic of MITTLEUROPA of the enlightened members of the Hapsburgs.

 

[Maladominus]

Originally posted by kafka47:
I would also use some names from current day Hungary to give it some authencity. Afterall, the name was coined by the second movement of the Magyar peoples. I have always postulated that region could be what a reformed Austro-Hungary would look like: the United States of Central Europe...following the logic of MITTLEUROPA of the enlightened members of the Hapsburgs.

I'm already a couple steps ahead of you in thinking this.

Do remember that I'm already actively RUNNING a campaign taking place in the Magyar sector. And I already spent my obligatory months of research and creating adventures specifically for this sector and the Rim. And also involves my reading everything in Traveller CANON that pertains to the Magyar sector. And spending lots of dollars on eBay buying a truckload of expensive out of print items such as Solomani&Aslan, and all the Traveller's Digests that mention the rimward sectors.

The Hungarians play a part, but only a small part, according to canon. The sector was a popular "diaspora sector" during the defeat of the Vilani Imperium and the Rule of Man. The migrants from Terra were generally of Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Russian and "Central European" ancestry. So hence, that pretty much covers the peoples of Hungary (i.e. the Magyars). Of course, we can also assume that many of the sector's "Germanic sounding worlds" are really Austrian rather than Germany proper.

Spending hours looking at the named systems of the sector, I could only locate about 3 systems that had Hungarian sounding names: one of them was "Ungarn", which exactly means "Hungarian" in the German language. The majority of Terran-sounding worlds are mostly Germanic, Slavic, Russian, etc. A few Asian and Hindi world names here and there. And exactly ONE Vilani-named planet, the industrial vaccuum world Gadarur, which canon says served as the Vilani Imperium's "frontier capital" during their days trying to make entry into this sector.

The Vilani themselves called this sector "The Magaar", altho they never established any lasting colonies much beyond Gadarur subsector. My canon source, DGP's Vilani & Vargr, on the map at the back cover of that sourcebook. Canon. Official.

The Terrans/Solomani later renamed it the Magyar (obviously they would not retain a Vilani-sounding name), presumably after the Hungarians had some nice role in the settlement of the sector.

The fact that canon maps of the Magyar sector (and anything Traveller GDW or DGP printed about the Magyar sector) barely mentions any other Hungarian world names.... indicates to me that the Hungarian settler population of the sector was marginal at best. They were just a small minority, probably dwarfed by BILLIONS of larger colonist populations of Russians, Ukrainians, Slavs (Croats, Serbs, etc), Baltics, German-speakers, and Anglic-speakers.

From the Terra Incognita campaign, Ulaszlo von Uebelhor (legendary Rule of Man explorer) and the world of Uebelhor:

Uebelhor (Magyar sector, Solomani Confederation citizenship)

Uebelhor is the capital of the Magyar sector. Legend has it that in the early years of the Rule of Man, the Terran explorer Laszlo von Uebelhor (a Hungarian-born financier of German descent) led a colonial expedition into the sector spinward of the Solomani Rim. The original settlers that accompanied him were of German and Central European ancestry.

The efforts of this tireless explorer eventually resulted in over a dozen permanent Terran settlements being established in the Magyar sector during his lifetime. On his final voyage, von Uebelhor had fallen ill with a fatal disease then unknown to Terran medicine, most likely contracted from one of the numerous alien worlds during his travels. The source of this infection, called Uebelhor's Malaise, was never found. Today, many of the surviving colonies are descended from the original German, Hungarian, Slavonic, Baltic and Russian settlers that took part in von Uebelhor's expeditions. Solomani history books include him in the list of the most important figures of the Terran Diaspora.

The planet of Uebelhor itself is a bountiful world rich in precious metals and other resources. It has an atmosphere comparable to Earth's, and a slightly lower-than-normal gravity. The planet is currently a balkanized world consisting of several nationalistic enclaves, but a loose federation binds them together so as to avoid military conflict.

The planet is a member of the Solomani Confederation. A Solomani Confederation Naval Base is present in the system.

UPP A566877-C

 

[Maladominus]

Sorry Kafka, but I will not rename the subsectors into "Hungarian sounding names".

Let me tell you, I am a rabid CT canon-monger, not a canon-breaker.

My job is not to ignore and break canon. My job is to work with it, and ADD to it, and to enrich it, and to fill in the gaps.

For example, my invention of the legendary Terran explorer Ulaszlo von Uebelhor, is one way to make sense of the German and Hungarian roles in the Terran settlement of the sector. The sector capital is Uebelhor, and it pays tribute to this mythical Terran explorer who battled aliens, was founder of numerous Terran colonies, he personally captained many of the large Terran colony ships into the Magyar, battled space pirates to protect his convoys, etc. Hence, the sector capital is named after him.

By creating personalities like von Uebelhor, I have not broken canon. I just enriched it.

 

[Plankowner]

Just a suggestion, but could you use BOTH of the sub-sector names?

The Solomani could have given those sub-sectors different names than the Imperium.

Not a great solution, but it might be a way to handwave the conflicting data.

 

[Maladominus]

Originally posted by Plankowner:
Just a suggestion, but could you use BOTH of the sub-sector names?

The Solomani could have given those sub-sectors different names than the Imperium.

Not a great solution, but it might be a way to handwave the conflicting data.

Thank you. You've come up with the most brilliant solution so far! I didn't even think about that. The TWO conflicting sets of subsector names are from Imperial names versus SolomaniConfederation names.

In fact, it makes the best sense. The "original" GDW set of names had one subsector as a Vilani-named subsector. Hence, it makes sense that the original name set was the one used by Imperials.

The DGP set of subsector names had more Terran-flavored names like "New Mars". And therefore, it's logical that this is probably the Solomani Confederation's preferred name set. I'm happy with this. Thanks.

 

[Plankowner]

Originally posted by Maladominus:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Plankowner:
Just a suggestion, but could you use BOTH of the sub-sector names?

The Solomani could have given those sub-sectors different names than the Imperium.

Not a great solution, but it might be a way to handwave the conflicting data.

Thank you. You've come up with the most brilliant solution so far! I didn't even think about that. The TWO conflicting sets of subsector names are from Imperial names versus SolomaniConfederation names.

In fact, it makes the best sense. The "original" GDW set of names had one subsector as a Vilani-named subsector. Hence, it makes sense that the original name set was the one used by Imperials.

The DGP set of subsector names had more Terran-flavored names like "New Mars". And therefore, it's logical that this is probably the Solomani Confederation's preferred name set. I'm happy with this. Thanks. </font>[/QUOTE]Glad I could help.