Library Data: Rhylanor

[BwapTED]

I've read the wiki entry. That's the extent of my knowledge of Rhylanor. I'd love to know anything the community knows that might not be in the wiki, very much including your own musings.

My group (one ex-Army captain and two ex-Merchant service officers) just completed its first adventure: Research Station Gamma.
SPOILERS FOR RESEARCH STATION GAMMA FOLLOW

They succeeded in their mission and got offworld with a bunch of rescued beaker monkeys and 'teddy bears', and the 'mondomen' (as they nicknamed the psionic human mutant types).
This menagerie is bound for Rhylanor.

Thus, I'm asking for lore, any published scenarios, and your ideas about that world.

I imagine a noble's zoological garden might purchase the rescued animals, whose theft on Vanejen hasn't yet been reported yet, and certainly hasn't been communicated to anyone on Rhylanor, given the secretive and probably illegal nature of the research program there.

 

[Spinward Flow]

This menagerie is bound for Rhylanor.

Be hilarious if your group got arrested at the starport for transporting "illegal goods" ... which then get confiscated (who knew, right? ). However, it quickly becomes apparent that your group weren't trying to smuggle anything past customs and didn't do anything unforgivable (like damage property at Rhylanor). If the group is cooperative with the authorities, any charges can be dropped and the whole thing gets swept under the rug as one big misunderstanding, rather than premeditated malicious intent.

Which then begs the question ... WHY?

I mean, think about it ... as soon as the "evidence" of what was going on at Research Station Gamma got confiscated ... it's almost like the officials your group were interacting with were "going out of their way" to lend your group the benefit of the doubt, dismiss any charges of wrongdoing ... and shoo your group out the door.

Depending on how the group interprets that ... odd coincidence ... it might just form the necessary plot hook for taking them onto their next adventure.



"No good deed goes unpunished ... except when the results of that good deed need to be swept under the rug."

 

[Condottiere]

Cavity searches.

Why?

The illegal goods could be stealthed.

 

[whulorigan]

This menagerie is bound for Rhylanor.

Be hilarious if your group got arrested at the starport for transporting "illegal goods" ... which then get confiscated (who knew, right? ). However, it quickly becomes apparent that your group weren't trying to smuggle anything past customs and didn't do anything unforgivable (like damage property at Rhylanor). If the group is cooperative with the authorities, any charges can be dropped and the whole thing gets swept under the rug as one big misunderstanding, rather than premeditated malicious intent.

Which then begs the question ... WHY?

I mean, think about it ... as soon as the "evidence" of what was going on at Research Station Gamma got confiscated ... it's almost like the officials your group were interacting with were "going out of their way" to lend your group the benefit of the doubt, dismiss any charges of wrongdoing ... and shoo your group out the door.

Depending on how the group interprets that ... odd coincidence ... it might just form the necessary plot hook for taking them onto their next adventure.

"No good deed goes unpunished ... except when the results of that good deed need to be swept under the rug."

Well, <cough> we'll see what we can do . . . (See signature below).

I've read the wiki entry. That's the extent of my knowledge of Rhylanor. I'd love to know anything the community knows that might not be in the wiki, very much including your own musings.
. . .

Thus, I'm asking for lore, any published scenarios, and your ideas about that world.

I am actually responsible for much for the formatting and information on the Rhylanor page on the wiki, and I have included information from all of the sources that I am aware of, and drawn several extrapolations a well (and in-line cited those details as my own speculations in the footnotes). If you come across any additional information that is not already there, please point me to it and I will update the write-up.

Also remember to check-out the Discusssion Tab (i.e. "Talk:" Page) at the top, and also the metadata page, as there is useful out-of-game information there a well. Note that the system data is a harmonization of two contradictory non-canonical sources (the originals of both are on the metadata page).

Some background: When Rhylanor was first scouted and settled in the 300's, there was already a primitive colony of Llellewyloly (native to Junidy/Spinward Marches) living on the world. Since they are a minor race and did not have space travel prior to Imperial contact as far as is known (and had apparently been there for the entirety of their living memory), how they got there from out-system is a mystery. Today they represent a significant fraction of the overall sophont population of Rhylanor, but it is a "shadow population", in that the Llellewyloly are autotrophs and are naturally adapted to living in the normal atmospheric (Very Thin) and gravity conditions (~ 0.5g) of Rhylanor, and maintain a parallel but relatively separate technological society on the world out in the "open air" as opposed to the pressurized domes and hill and cliff-side bored-out settlements of Humaniti and other similar sophonts.

One of the points that seems to be missed by many (which I have tried to bring out in the write-up) is the frequency of names (both personal and corporate) of vaguely Welsh or other British/Celtic form that seem to appear at least in the times of the early settlement pattern of Rhylanor in the few sources that we have:

• Clan Severn - a shipbuilding concern
• Lord Rhys ap-Connor - paramour of Duchess Arbellatra in 622;
• Grand Admiral hault-Plankwell's personally raised covert ops organization - "Rhylanor Taoiseach";
• The form of the name "Rhylanor" itself;
• Its owned interstellar colony world Kegena (a name of Cornish form)
• One of the smaller (non-Canonical) city/arcology names: Fuirmidh

With over a billion people and its position as a Subsector Capital and the backbone of the Spinward Marches defenses, it is most certainly a highly cosmopolitan world - whether it still maintains pockets and remnants of that "Celtic" flavor in the modern era is unknown in light of many waves of succeeding settlement and generational growth.

The Zhodani also seem to have had a particular interest in Rhylanor as suggested by evidence from the Frontier Wars that seems to go beyond its simple strategic value.

Interestingly, the Imperial Civil War started and ended with an Emperor-candidate from Rhylanor:

1. Grand Admiral Baron Olav hault-Plankwell of Kharginir Arcology on Rhylanor (victor of the 1st Frontier War) started the Civil War by assassinating Empress Jaqueline I and assuming the Throne as Emperor Olav, 1st of the Emperors of the Flag;
2. Grand Admiral Duchess Arbellatra Alkhalikoi of Rhylanor (victor of the 2nd Frontier War) ended the Civil War by defeating Emperor Gustus in battle and holding the Iridium Throne in Regency until a suitable candidate could be found (and eventually the Throne was offered to her by the Moot, establishing a New Imperial Dynasty as Empress Arbellatra, 1st Empress of the Alkhalikoi Dynasty).

 

[whartung]

Cavity searches.

Why?

Well, where else are you going to find "teddy bears"?

 

[Dulinor]

• Its owned interstellar colony world Kegena (a name of Cornish form)

Wasn't Kegena colonized by Bevy?

 

[whulorigan]

Wasn't Kegena colonized by Bevy?

In prior published materials, that was stated to be an ongoing strife with the locals expanded upon by GT (but even those materials did not completely mesh with initial CT description of the collapse of the local government on-world being the source of tensions).

The T5SS (Traveller5 Second Survey) on which Traveller Map is based that was vetted by MWM & Co. under FFE assigns Kegena to Rhylanor based on the T5 World Builder formulas for both worlds.

In the Wiki write-up for all 3 worlds, I have harmonized the two accounts: Rhylanor owns Kegena; Bevey arranged an agreement with Rhylanor - Bevey is permitted to settle a colonial region and undertake the financial burden of developing Kegena and dealing with the fallout of the prior collapse of the local provisional government. In return Rhylanor will retain ownership and receive a portion of the projected proceeds from the revenues generated.

The locals have responded by largely putting aside their prior internal squabbles with each other and turned their mutual attention to the new external threat of interlopers encroaching on their territory and exploiting their world and it's resources, so that the current strife is worse than the former.

 

[BwapTED]

Very helpful, guys!


I think I will have the animals impounded (perhaps with a 'law' dice roll) and, if so, perhaps the port authority guys gives a tip to an associate, and along comes an offer from a buyer for the Ducal Zoological Gardens to purchase the lot and clear up 'paperwork' matters for these unregistered critters.
White beakers are the rare sort!
The party could pay the ship captain for all the fruit and other stuff their beasts gobbled and come out with enough profit to at least get hotel rooms, mass transit multipasses, and stuff like that.


Player characters trying to make pets out of beaker monkeys should get a roll, I think, given a couple of weeks aboard a starship.

The mondo men just seem like members of some MHR or mutants and probably won't draw that much attention.
Not initially.

 

[BwapTED]

It might also be framed as' 'If you donate these animals to the gardens, the government will settle your debt to the starship captain for their feeding and care on the voyage hither, and you will also receive a complimentary visitor's package: three-day bookings for hotel rooms, filter/compressor mask combos, nontransferable multipasses good for public transit and various venues--including the zoological gardens, and 100 electronic credits each. ''

The fits the players' stated intent of finding a home for the creatures.

And the PCs can always refuse that deal, eat the costs, and deal with maintenance of a bunch of critters if they prefer to travel with a zoo.

 

[King Midas]

Well, <cough> we'll see what we can do . . . (See signature below).



I am actually responsible for much for the formatting and information on the Rhylanor page on the wiki, and I have included information from all of the sources that I am aware of, and drawn several extrapolations a well (and in-line cited those details as my own speculations in the footnotes).

Well, I'll say a lot has been added since I flew through the Wiki a few years back.
Thread drift:
I am curious about the game "MegaTraveller 2: Quest for the Ancients". It's been 35 years and all I know is that the Travellers are touring Rylanor when an Ancient site activates. The task is to find out why and stop it.
Has whatever background written in the game been added to the general knowledge, or been discarded as no longer canon?

Edit: It is somewhat relative to the thread, since Rhylanor was/is/will be the location of a planet wide disaster.

​

 

[whulorigan]

Well, I'll say a lot has been added since I flew through the Wiki a few years back.
Thread drift:
I am curious about the game "MegaTraveller 2: Quest for the Ancients". It's been 35 years and all I know is that the Travellers are touring Rylanor when an Ancient site activates. The task is to find out why and stop it.
Has whatever background written in the game been added to the general knowledge, or been discarded as no longer canon?

Edit: It is somewhat relative to the thread, since Rhylanor was/is/will be the location of a planet wide disaster.

​

I never played the Computer Game. I do recall that the "disaster" in that game was the unleashing of a terraformative nanotech "grey goo" of some sort that rapidly began expanding across the planet.

I do not know if that particular event is considered canon. There are background elements from the accompanying game booklet that are in the Wiki write-up (the names of several cities, Lord Hollis on Duke Leonard's staff, etc.). It is not in the world-history timeline. If it were, it would go on the "Milieu 1130" tab along the top.