Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
Anyone have insights into the relationship between these two?
Our group always played it as Syleans were half terran/half vilani "new" rulers of the Galaxy. I am not sure why I am having trouble visualizing the true differences if any between the two peoples? Any Help?
Three words, Baron: "GURPS Traveller: Humaniti"
Everything you want explained is explained in that book, under the detailed chapter on Syleans.
It even includes the fact that after thousands of years, the Syleans STILL RESENT and despise the Vilani, because of all the heavy-handed oppression that the First Imperium brought into Sylea..... at one point, the Vilani rulers/conquistadors/masters-of-the-universe had nearly wiped out Sylean culture completely. It was only a small bit of luck that some renegade Syleans managed to hide from the Vilani conquerors who had captured and taken all the major cities and prime lands on Sylea itself.
THOSE Syleans are the ones that managed to hole themselves up on high remote mountains of Sylea, where the Vilani didn't want to waste effort to pursue them. In time, the "Syleans" that lived in the cities of Sylea were assimilated and Vilani-cized, and their traditions and culture completely wiped out and dominated by Vilani culture. Only the Syleans holed up in the mountain reservations are what remained of Old Sylean culture. Their descendants procreated, and eventually they came out of hiding once the Terran Rule of Man "liberated" them from the Nasty Evil Vilani Oppressors.
What happened next is that the Terran governors turned the Sylean "liberation" into a propaganda campaign. The Terran governors of Sylea threw back the wealth of Sylea (and yes, Sylea was a damn wealthy and resource-rich planet, which is the reason the Vilani wanted to colonize and exploit it, and turned it into an industrial powerhouse)... back to the Sylean minority. According to GURPS Humaniti, the Sylean inheritors became "immensely rich overnight". Yup, in a short period of time, they turned from an oppressed minority living in mountain reservations.... to become filthy rich millionaires who the Terrans now allowed to rule and co-govern many planets in the Sylean region of space. Of course, this was just another Terran way to kick the Vilani Losers when they're down. The Terran governors took some lands (and wealth) away from the defeated Vilani Empire, and handed them back to the (relatively) tiny population of Syleans.
This explains a couple things... chiefly it explains how the Syleans thrived economically and survived thru the Long Night. They had evolved a tough work ethic, and an ethic of "If we can outlast those goddam Vilani oppressors that nearly wiped us out, we can do anything! We can be a highly successful race!"
With that Can Do attittude, the Sylean Federation was a prime factor in helping to establish the Third Imperium. What I find kinda ironic is that Cleon himself was Solomani descent, but he used the Sylean Federation to his own advantage. oh well.
It also explains why in the Third Imperium, there is a high proportion of Syleans among the Imperial Nobility.
The Syleans are still a tiny human minority in the Imperium (even in their home sector, they are still a minority, where the Vilani and Solomani still outnumber them). But the few that they are, most Syleans of the Third Imperium are wealthy, very well educated, motivated, ambitious, racially proud, and tend to have high social standings in the Imperium. It also helps that the Syleans in GURPS Humaniti are portrayed as extremely handsome, genteel, tall, lean, and overall good physique (kinda like the tall and lean Zhodani).
Those of you who are saying that the Syleans are "just like the Vilani" obviously have not read the GURPS Humaniti chapter on Syleans. Like I said, the Syleans still resent and despise the Vilani. They in no way think of themselves as Vilani.
GURPS HUMANITI SAYS:
SYLEAN RACIAL DISADVANTAGE = INTOLERANCE TOWARDS VILANI
Then again, I do not use GURPS Traveller rules
(tho I read their sourcebooks for history and background), so these kinds of starting advantages and disadvantages are meaningless to my Traveller games.