Who are the Amindii?

[rancke]

Thomas just posted the revised 1105 UWPs for the Spinward Marches (and a lot of other sectors) on the Twiki. Apparently 20-29% of the population of Regina belong to a minor human race/minor non-human race/ethnic group called the Amindii. I've never heard of them before. Where are they documented? Anyone know anything about them?

(Anxiously wondering how much they're going to contradict all my work on Regina).


Hans

 

[robject]

There are two brief sources: Regina "Trading Card", a promo item Marc sent out back in the 2000s. The other source is a drawing in Best of JTAS #2, page 30, of the busy customs area of a starport. In the front are two luggage inspectors with vaguely reptilian heads and four arms. There are a couple more, acting as security, watching the sophonts coming and going.

There is a third, unpublished source: some emails that passed between Marc and I over the last couple years. Here are the outputs from those conversations:

The Amindii are vaguely arthropod-like… a thin scaly exterior on a skeletal structure. One arm group with 4 arms, and two pairs of legs. A beaked mouth. 4-fingered hands (one is an opposed thumb). Bilaterally symmetrical. The same sided legs march together, the knees tucking neatly into the ones in front. The Amindii are NOT green. Thin (110 kg, 2.2m tall). 4D Strength (quite strong).

The 4519th Lift Infantry Regiment (Regina's Own) is Amindii, with some Human officers.

(Draft) Sophont Profile

Environmental roll: +1 = Savannah walker
Ecological niche: -4 = Herbivore, 2+1 = Grazer
Characteristics:
STR = 4D
DEX 2+1 = 3D
END 1+1 = 3D
INT -3+1 = 2D
EDU = 2D
SOC = 2D

Sophont Size: 110 (and mass therefore is 110kg).



Genders: Egg Layer, Alpha, Beta, fixed at birth.
Alpha characteristic mods: STR+3 END+2 INT-2
Beta characteristic mods: STR-2, END+2, EDU+4

Life Stages: 1/2, 2132, 1412, 1

Senses:
24 Vision GBV
14 Hearing
18 Smell
08 Touch
18 Perception

Structure:
Bilateral, HBS-T-AA-LL-M (Or, alternately, LL-LL or AA-LN or LL-LN).

Body Features:
Skeleton, Hemolymph, Fine scales, Grippers.

Voice: Standard/Firm

Gender breakdown.
2 E
3 E
4 E
5 E
6 A
7 A
8 A
9 B
10 B
11 B
12 B

 

[Thoom]

Hey cool, thanks for sharing.

 

[rancke]

<Sigh>

Any historical details?


Hans

 

[Hemdian]

As robject said, one source was the promo 'tradind cards'. But if you are detailing Regina you should probably have the whole card:

Regina
A788899-C
Spinward Marches 1910
F7 V M8 D, +M6 V. 703
9930 ring/ray 62722
Ex: (4726) Cx: (8898) N: BcCeFH
Regina (S1). Dii (Rom). Dii (Zs).
----------
Overview: Satellite orbiting GG Assiniboia. Settled circa 75; joined Imperium 250. Trade hub. The seat of power of the politically connected Aledon family (Duke Norris).
----------
NIL: Amindii (=people of the forest). Herbivore grazers. Gender:EAB. Symmetry:2. Limb Groups:4. Vision:GBV. Enhanced Olefactory. Perception. SDEIES:432222. Size:2.3.

Population: Human 63%. Amindii 24%. Vargr 06%. Aslan 03%.
----------
Sources: Second Survey-1065.
also Spin-1099. GD-432.

There was also a list of trade codes down the margin: Ri Cp ... Tp Pa Nb Sb (and a symbol I can't quite make out but I think it's the symbol for Droyne).

 

[rancke]

As robject said, one source was the promo 'tradind cards'. But if you are detailing Regina you should probably have the whole card:

Thank you very much. There are some remarks I don't understand:

>Ex: (4726) Cx: (8898) N: BcCeFH
>Regina (S1). Dii (Rom). Dii (Zs).

What is Ex, Cx, and N? What does the numbers in parentheses mean? What does BcCeFH mean? What does S1, Dii, Rom, and Zs mean?

>NIL: Amindii (=people of the forest). Herbivore grazers. Gender:EAB. >Symmetry:2. Limb Groups:4. Vision:GBV.
>Enhanced Olefactory. Perception. SDEIES:432222. Size:2.3.

STR 4, DEX 3, END 2, INT 2, EDU 2, SOC 2?!? A quarter of Regina's population constitute a physically weak, stupid, uneducated underclass that are atomatically considered social outcasts?

EDIT: Oh wait! Are those the number of dice rolled for each attribute? That would work a lot better for me.

>Population: Human 63%. Amindii 24%. Vargr 06%. Aslan 03%.

<Sigh>. Changing the history and social details I've worked out for Regina to include 168 million non-humans and 21 million Aslans is going to be a bear. The Vargr I've always assumed, although the number I came up with was 3%, so that's not a big deal. But the Amindii and the Aslans...

I sure wish whoever was unable to resist the temptation to introduce Yet Another Minor Race in the Spinward Marches had chosen a more obscure world than Regina, about which quite a lot has been written over the years without a population group that constitute one in four of the inhabitants being mentioned by as much as a word. You'd think a minor non-human race would have rated at least a sentence somewhere.

A considerably smaller percentage would have been easier to handle.

I can always just ignore this new information completely, of course, but I still have this knee-jerk urge to stick as closely as I can to the OTU that has been my guiding principle when working on MTU for 20 years and more.


>Sources: Second Survey-1065.
>also Spin-1099. GD-432.

?

There was also a list of trade codes down the margin: Ri Cp ... Tp Pa Nb Sb

Ri, Rich; Cp, Subsector Capital; Tp, Terran-prime[*]; Pa, Nb, and Sb I don't know.

[*] Or Human-prime as the Scouts IMTU calls it.​

(and a symbol I can't quite make out but I think it's the symbol for Droyne).

Hopefully it's the symbol for Ancients remains, not Droyne.


Hans

 

[Jazzlvraz]

What is Ex, Cx, and N?

p.435 has the first two as Economic Extension and Cultural Extension, although the former needs a + or - before its fourth factor. p.436 has the third as Nobility, but I thought it would have only one character for the Ranking Noble.

 

[Bloo]

Pa is Pre-Agricultural. See p. 81/434.
Atmo: 4-9, Hydro: 4-8, Pop 4 or 8. (Ag if Pop 5-7). So, it's actually kind of "Post"-Ag.

Nb and Sb aren't in T5 core rules.

 

[rancke]

Pa is Pre-Agricultural. See p. 81/434.
Atmo: 4-9, Hydro: 4-8, Pop 4 or 8. (Ag if Pop 5-7). So, it's actually kind of "Post"-Ag.

I can't see any pages, unhappily, as I don't have the book. What is the effect of being Pre- or Post-agricultural?


Hans

 

[Bloo]

What is the effect of being Pre- or Post-agricultural?

Pre-Ag: Homeworld Skill: Trader.

 

[rancke]

Pre-Ag: Homeworld Skill: Trader.

Thank you.


Hans

 

[djwildstar]

Nb and Sb aren't in T5 core rules.

They probably mean "Navy Base" and "Scout Base", respectively - I'm pretty sure Regina has both, and they're not otherwise indicated on the card.

 

[Hemdian]

Regina (S1). Dii (Rom). Dii (Zs).

I'm guessing that 'Rom' stands for Rule of Man and 'S1' stands for First Survey (don't know about 'Zs') ... which suggests this world was called Dii until the human colonists turned up and renamed it. Perhaps Dii was the Amindii name. Also suggests that there could be Aboriginal rights issues in local politics.

Population: Human 63%. Amindii 24%. Vargr 06%. Aslan 03%.

Note these don't add up to 100% ... I'd guess a number of different races make up the remainder but none significant to list. Some Droyne, 'Dandylions', Virushi, etc.

I sure wish whoever was unable to resist the temptation to introduce Yet Another Minor Race in the Spinward Marches had chosen a more obscure world than Regina, about which quite a lot has been written over the years without a population group that constitute one in four of the inhabitants being mentioned by as much as a word. You'd think a minor non-human race would have rated at least a sentence somewhere.

I got the impression this was from an 'internal' campaign that never found its way into 'general release'. I've always thought there must be loads of snippets of information like this but whenever I asked before it's been denied.

I can always just ignore this new information completely, of course, but I still have this knee-jerk urge to stick as closely as I can to the OTU that has been my guiding principle when working on MTU for 20 years and more.

I understand (and sympathise).

Sources: Second Survey-1065.
also Spin-1099. GD-432.

?

Well the Second Survey was published in 1065, so I'd guess there were two other lesser surveys ... one in 432, the other in 1099.

 

[thalassogen]

(don't know about 'Zs')

Maybe Ziru Sirka.

 

[robject]

Maybe Ziru Sirka.

This.

Also:

The Amindii are Marc's creation. So, in a sense, he is sticking as closely as he can to the OTU.

 

[rancke]

This.

I take it this means the Amindii are native to Regina? Or, I suppose, transplanted by the Ancients.

Also:

The Amindii are Marc's creation. So, in a sense, he is sticking as closely as he can to the OTU.

Not really. None of the various writeups of the Spinward Marches mention them. The UWPs in Regency Sourcebook, in particular, does not have a remark about them in the remark column. As I said above, you'd think a major population group on one of the most prominent worlds in the Marches would have rated a mention. Introducing new minor races promiscuously was one of the things Behind the Claw was criticized for (quite justifiably). But if Marc knew, back when BtC was being written, that he wanted Regina to have a hitherto unmentioned minor race, he really should have made sure of informing Martin Dougherty about their existence. (The same goes for MgT's writeup of the Marches).

So is there anything else I should know about them? Their history, their interaction with the early settlers, their current role in Reginan society, where on Regina they live, that sort of thing? Does the fact that they get a remark in the remark column while the Vargr and the Aslan don't, indicate that they mostly live separately from the rest of the population?


Hans

 

[Hemdian]

Well there's the OTU, and there's what's been revealed to us about the OTU.

Cut to scene of courtroom. Senior military official on the stand declares, "You can't handle the truth!"

 

[rancke]

Well there's the OTU, and there's what's been revealed to us about the OTU.

I'm perfectly aware of that, as I've been at pains to make clear.

The old adage about absence of evidence not being evidence of absence is not actually true. It isn't proof of absence, but if something is not mentioned in situations where you'd expect it to be mentioned if it existed, it's most certainly evidence of absence. As I said before, a more obscure planet for their location would have been nice.

However, Since Marc wants to introduce them after 36 years, I assume he has done a lot of work about them and don't want that work to be wasted, which I can understand. But it does make me reluctant to begin fitting them into my history of Regina without knowing what else Marc has in mind for them.


Hans

 

[Hemdian]

I don't know why, but I have an image in my head of someone secretly scanning all Marc's old campaign notes from the past 35 years, every scrap of hand-written paper, and releasing it all on Wikileaks. I'm not sure the usual readers of that site would quite know what to make of it.

 

[DonM]

I don't know why, but I have an image in my head of someone secretly scanning all Marc's old campaign notes from the past 35 years, every scrap of hand-written paper, and releasing it all on Wikileaks. I'm not sure the usual readers of that site would quite know what to make of it.

Marc's hinted at letting me at some of those boxes... but there are some specific things I'm looking for already. Not sure if he'd let me scan it all in and then process it all over time. But I wouldn't do it in secret...