T5 Sophont Review update

[Garnfellow]

One more from the Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society Online (April 1, 2003), "Shuanyun" by Paul Drye and Jon F. Zeigler: the Taureans, natives to Taurea (0532 Aldebaran). This would put it in subsector M, on the edge of Solomani space. That specific location doesn't match the Solomani and Aslan dotmap, though 0531 would.

Limited details on the homeworld, a rich world with "vast and interconnected forest canopies [in its] north temperate region."

Taureans are a very interesting minor race: small, semi-intelligent gadgeteers, "a common sight in the region of their original homeworld, both inside the Solomani Confederation and outside its official rimward border."

 

[Garnfellow]

Also found a very obscure one in Solomani and Aslan last weekend. In the Solomani section, there's a discussion of the various Seven Wonders of the Solomani Sphere, and a description of the lakes of Langere (presumably located in the eponymous sector) populated by geneered humans.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

This world does not appear to be canon according to T5SS.

*** Perhaps it was removed? Or never entered canon in the first place? ***

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Garnfellow]

This world does not appear to be canon according to T5SS.

*** Perhaps it was removed? ***

T5SS hasn't gotten to Aldebaran or Langere sectors, so other than a handful of worlds nothing in either place is canon.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

T5SS hasn't gotten to Aldebaran or Langere sectors, so other than a handful of worlds nothing in either place is canon.

Many of the sectors appear to be in that condition: no review for very long periods leaving them non-canon and not T5SS reviewed.

Although most of the central and most popular sectors appear to have had recent reviews.

Thanks for sharing.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Aramais]

The Solomani-done Uplifts are mentioned only in passing; no CGen has been done EXCEPT for T20. S&A, page 28, notes that only the Gibbons and Orangs were completed to full sentience and settled in colonies.

Ursa are unique to T20.
Orca are referenced in the T20 Ursa entry.

----
On to checking Traveller Hero...
"New Era Races" The following are all human minor/cultural templates for a bunch of RC worlds... Pages 72-75)
Spiri (HW Spiri)
Oriflame (HW: Nemyer aka Oriflame)
Luhtalans (HW: Luhtala: D474784-8 Ag M0 V)
Nimbans (HW: Hite aka Nike Nimbus)
Fijans (HW: Fija: D553754-A S Po K1 V Mo D)
Balduri (HW Hepling aka Baldur: CAAA756-9 S Fl Wa K4 V)
Aubani (HW: Vras aka Aubaine: A78A884-C S Wa Ri Cp G5 V)

I was given to understand that Ursa are also to be found in T5. This was actually a pleasant surprise, because one of the folks I corresponded with kept asking whether I would have bears in the circus...fella named Marc Miller.

Fortunately, Jim Kundert had the basics ready for me. He was kind enough to agree that two colonies somehow got to Corridor after the collapse of the Rule of Man.

There are two Ursa in Cirque, and one of them figures rather prominently in a "Prequel" novel in progress.

 

[DonM]

The first post has been updated.

 

[inexorabletash]

Questions about the summary, not the data...

...
1 uplifted major (geneered by the Ancients, developed jump independently and are active in 1105
...
1 dieback Human major (meaning they survived the Final War, developed jump independently but didn't survive to 1105)
...
1 uplifted major (but uplifted by the Ancients) with 5 subspecies
...

Just to confirm, that's Vargr, Yaskoydri, and Vargr (listed again for good measure) ?

Did the Yaskoydri develop jump independently, or just never lose it from the Ancient period?

 

[DonM]

Yes, the Vargr are listed twice, my cut-and-paste mistake.

And as to the Yaskoydri, their canonical status is unclear; their appearance is simply to note their presence for Marc to make a decision. If they are canonical, I suspect Marc will say they got jump from the Ancients, so they would move to minor Human status.

 

[Garnfellow]

Magyar Minor Races

I've never seen the HIWG "Alien Sentients of Magyar Sector," document, but I think the 11 minor races were all developed by Dakin Burdick, if he isn't credited. I would assume it's basically the same information found at http://zho.berka.com/data/CLASSIC/m...tion&sector=MAGYAR&menufile=MAGYAR/GEN/SECTOR

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of this source mostly because it does not reflect information from DGP's Solomani and Aslan. Given the date, I assume it was written before S&A was published.

My personal preference (and that's all it is) is to keep Magyar a barren sector for minor races, save the self-geneered Wuans. I wouldn't push to canonize any of those 11.

 

[DonM]

Sorry, but the task here is to document the existence for Marc, not consider personal issues.

I know, because in the past some inclusions or notes have infuriated people. That's not the task; the task is documentation.

Also, the T5SS clearly shows Magyar as being a big hole, and Magyar is not a referee's preserve (that's Foreven). So we document away.

And the Yaskoydri have been downgraded to dieback Human minor, which actually increases the likelihood of their being canon (as long as they were a major, that was low, as Marc has said numerous times, no additional majors).

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I had a question about a race found in GURPS: Interstellar Wars
Anakundu (pp. 80-81, 143)
Were they decanonized for some reason, omitted or died out?

They are native to a planet called Nuiya, in the Mikadira (Old Expanses) sector.

They a human (minor? /variant?) race that require less sleep as they age and like the night so they made good nighttime troops/spies against the Terrans. I could not find their world travellermap dot com but that could be the old Vilani name for the world. Could not find them in the remarks for that race in the T5SS data for the sector and there do not seem remarks with "(minor)" or some such either. I would think not died out as the text there indicated the Vilani found them at a Neolithic TL, which meant they adapted to their world long enough to make it to 2170AD, the default year for that book.

 

[GypsyComet]

I had a question about a race found in GURPS: Interstellar Wars
Anakundu (pp. 80-81, 143)
Were they decanonized for some reason, omitted or died out?

They are native to a planet called Nuiya, in the Mikadira (Old Expanses) sector.

They a human (minor? /variant?) race that require less sleep as they age and like the night so they made good nighttime troops/spies against the Terrans. I could not find their world travellermap dot com but that could be the old Vilani name for the world.

Don's spreadsheet (see the link in the first post of this topic) does have them listed.

Based on the older maps of the First Imperium's borders (since GTIW doesn't have one), only about a third of Old Expanses is available for a Vilani client. Since they apparently aren't mentioned in TNE, a good assumption would be to exclude them from Subsectors M and N (The RC core). That leaves A, half of E, or some part of I.

 

[DonM]

Don's spreadsheet (see the link in the first post of this topic) does have them listed.

Based on the older maps of the First Imperium's borders (since GTIW doesn't have one), only about a third of Old Expanses is available for a Vilani client. Since they apparently aren't mentioned in TNE, a good assumption would be to exclude them from Subsectors M and N (The RC core). That leaves A, half of E, or some part of I.

I just haven't found a place where they would be a good fit, but you do a good job of cutting the search area down to a reasonable one. Since the Old Expanses are an Imperial sector, tracking these guys down might be a good idea.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Oh, is there an updated spreadsheet?

Thanks for the reminder about TNE. Will check on that further.

There is some First Imperium references. If the DGP Vilani & Vargr dotmap "First Imperium At It's Height" in -3500 (p. 11) is taken into consideration, the homeworld is not in Subsectors D, H, L, and P as those subsectors have no worlds within the borders of the Ziru Siirka. Can't be a client race of the Vilani if you were not in the borders.

When they were found by the Vilani, they were more or less adapted to their world at TL 1 with a native population of 5. The sleeplessness is due to a genepool bottleneck (environmental?, "designed by the Ancients"?). From a GURPS rules perspective they have no G-Tolerance (like the Geonee) or other evironmental attributes.

Converting from GURPS to various Traveller, the UPP to best conform to both systems
Size: 56789
Atmo: 568
Hydro: 2-9
Pop: 5+
TL: 2+

A. .81G - 1.19 G tolerance range, IW diameter is between 4600-9200, density 0.8-1.4 based on generation tables
B.pressure and gas composition
C: Text says they have "continents". T5.09 could allow for two continents.
C.Vilani drugs alleviated the sleeplessness/insanity allowing for longer lives and population growth.
D.The text says they view they disdain their TL 1 past and fully, willingly, accepted Vilani culture).

I read this as they are not going to regress much with The Long Night as long as they can make that drug. Since as the Vilani see them as almost full partners holding high positions (yep read the text), they probably know how to make it themselves to survive.

 

[GypsyComet]

I read this as they are not going to regress much with The Long Night as long as they can make that drug. Since as the Vilani see them as almost full partners holding high positions (yep read the text), they probably know how to make it themselves to survive.

Or "knew" at least.
The text in GTIW suggests that the Terrans have their suspicions regarding the sleepless condition but can't get at the fiercely loyal Anakundu to test out the idea. Cue the RoM and efforts to bring them around now that their patrons are no longer in charge. Would some rogue effort attempt to correct their condition? Would they refuse until the Long Night makes a Solomani offer moot? Would they be able to keep up the tech to make the drugs themselves for 1700 years?
All boiling down to "What does the Third Imperium find there when they return?" Savages? Empty ruins? A thriving Vilani-favoring pocket?

I just haven't found a place where they would be a good fit, but you do a good job of cutting the search area down to a reasonable one.

The dot map in V&V gives a little more room, showing the First Imperium's border as encompassing the spinward half of the sector.

The timing of their discovery is relevant. There are parts of those subsectors that are nearly impossible for the J1 Vilani to get to (never mind the three+ year travel time each way), so despite the round numbers given in GTIW (4000 years before the IW) they may have been contacted early in the Consolidation Wars period as the Vilani explored the Geonee backfield instead of two thousand years prior to that in the J1 period. If they are a J1 period contact, that tends to eliminate most of Subsector A due to needing a lot of gulf hopping with no logistics tail.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I have a specific pattern in trying to reduce data to find answers. I try to find a solution that will leave most everyone happy.

It is the Mexican version of the Stone Soup story I read as a child.
In our version Grandma is making the soup, each family member comes by and says they love her soup,
BUT
each child, in-law and grandchild says "Grandma can you not put in name the ingedient?"
When she is done, all that is left is the stone, the water and the salt. Everyone is happy because the thing to complain about is absent.
SO
The OTU is the soup, the Anakundu are the stone, T5 is the salt and the other ingredients are the star systems.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

The timing of their discovery is relevant. There are parts of those subsectors that are nearly impossible for the J1 Vilani to get to (never mind the three+ year travel time each way), so despite the round numbers given in GTIW (4000 years before the IW) they may have been contacted early in the Consolidation Wars period as the Vilani explored the Geonee backfield instead of two thousand years prior to that in the J1 period. If they are a J1 period contact, that tends to eliminate most of Subsector A due to needing a lot of gulf hopping with no logistics tail.

Yes, there are inconsistencies in the writing. One thing to remember for the elements involved is when they were written. The DGP map is 1990, Path of Tears is mid '90s, GTIW is 2006. Perhaps the dating in GTIW is wrong. Perhaps the DGP dotmap inaccurate. TNE might be wrong because of Anakundu had not been written about yet.

Well that is part of Stone Soup. The process of eliminating the undesired ingredients to get the best soup, er, find the homeworld of the Anakundu.

All boiling down to "What does the Third Imperium find there when they return?" Savages? Empty ruins? A thriving Vilani-favoring pocket?

Well to address that point, we work with what makes most soup, er...sense. As part of the elimination process for example, I took the dotmap, "facts" about the Anakundu (racial environmental data from GTIW, and now your suggestion with Path of Tears. I eliminated planets which have people in subsectors I and J, keeping boneyards and eliminating inhabited worlds. TNE RC and Path of Tears is not changed with an Anakundu boneyard. The dotmap is not inaccurate. Hmm two out of three

IF and I say IF the Anakundu homeworld was in the RC, then it might have been on Slandow (Old Expanses 1126 C9D4685-8) as it meets the elimination process. It is in the area of the dotmap, it meets environmental (I forgot I to mention I kept atmospheres D and E), and they are a boneyard by TNE times.

Now I will take into account your suggestion of the J1/J2 issue. That also reminds me to review 1248 and see if there is anything to glean there.

 

[aramis]

Yes, the Vargr are listed twice, my cut-and-paste mistake.

And as to the Yaskoydri, their canonical status is unclear; their appearance is simply to note their presence for Marc to make a decision. If they are canonical, I suspect Marc will say they got jump from the Ancients, so they would move to minor Human status.

The aslan reverse engineered from a Terran ship.
The Vilani reverse engineered from relics.

Marc hasn't "revoked their major status"...

 

[GypsyComet]

The aslan reverse engineered from a Terran ship.
The Vilani reverse engineered from relics.

Marc hasn't "revoked their major status"...

The implication with the Yaskoydri is that they were set up by Grandfather and never lost jump tech. There was no discovery process.