Your Fifth Imperium Milieu
(Sorry, I mean FIFTH Imperium, not FOURTH)... Even if it isn't a true "Imperium".
My vision:
Virus evolves, and the non-pathological ones which survive will have to find a way to integrate into interstellar society. What sorts of shapes that may take is an interesting thought problem. Another interesting thought problem is how, like Germanic barbarians becoming Romans, some Virus ally themselves with sophonts.
I think there are backward implications here as well. As we all know, Traveller has flirted with AI from the early years.
As Bill mentioned in another thread, Traveller assumes a kind of invisible pedestrian AI. The kind that cooks meals, keeps rooms clean, automates factories, constructs buildings, starships, and the like. And humans still manage to keep the same motivations (and share the same roles) that they've always had.
And so I think that Virus is just a barbarian AI that evolves into various ecological niches for the sake of long-term survival. And its ecology, unlike most creatures in Traveller, is technology.
Going beyond that, I'd retcon in the presence of various types of intelligent robots that predate Virus. I think that medical research is advanced enough to hook up a brain to a machine, so you've got "robots" even before stable AI. Those robots will be more like characters than equipment. They'll also be highly controversial with varying legal status from place to place -- a hotbed of plotlines served on a platter.
Mini Empires Form - The sectors Behind the Claw, ripped to pieces in 1248, morphs further, coalescing eventually into three major states and several pocket empires. Parts of Gvurrdon are incorporated into these states, and other parts become clients of a Trailing state in former Zhodani territory, but something different happens to the rest of the Vargr Extents this side of Windhorn.
Other states, generally spanning a dozen subsectors, coalesce in various ways throughout Known Space, but with generous buffer zones between them. So I wouldn't want to see an empire filling each old sector, with a hex of boundary around the edges, but rather something more random with significant gaps. Though, the gaps don't necessarily have obvious rhyme or reason, either. Just because a world is a powerhouse doesn't mean it will found an empire, and just because a world is bombed back to the stone age doesn't mean it won't be leading in the future.
For example:
Pretoria is TL9, Starport B in 1105, but now it is a TL17, Starport A garden world, and an independent state, with a large "wilderness" of barbaric worlds on one side, and a pocket empire on another. Shaddukan likewise manages to chart a course as a strong, independent Vilani system, from a very small technical post on a pitiful hellworld on the Xboat route in 1105 to a vast belt-oriented industrial and commercial powerhouse on the only economically viable route between Spiwnard and Trailing space.
Regina lost ground and gained ground, ending up with a state spanning six subsectors, including some Vargr territory.
Deneb Sector split along natural boundaries, with wilderness Vilanic territory to coreward, a pocket empire around Magash, and a larger one gerrymandering along the old rimward Xboat routes.
Hybrid, Cosmopolitan States - Border states arise which blend Humaniti with portions of the Vargr Extents, extending a principle that was foreshadowed in the Rebellion-era chaos -- as the Vargr move in to dominate regions, other sophont populations are not necessarily displaced. Deneb, Corridor, and Vland, overrun and plundered by Vargr warlords, becomes administered by client sophonts -- more often than not these are Vilani, who have vast experience in managing and organizing cosmopolitan peoples and places. The more or less successful results of this sort of mixing are the Border States. The most successful are one in Corridor/Provence, and one in Vland/Windhorn, both retaining Vilanic administrative forms with Vargrate strength.
The Proto-Imperium Forms - The Ziru Sirka fails to re-emerge, instead manifesting in the form of three empires ruled by one Bureau each. The three intersect uneasily in neutral territory in their midst, on Shaddukan, the only surviving low-jump link between the Sharurshid Commonwealth (most of Corridor and lower Provence sectors, capital Kaasu/Corridor 1209), the Naasirka Commonwealth (centered on Vland), and the Makhidkarun Commonwealth (coreward of the Naasirka worlds, capital on Gemid/Vland 1903). Somehow these three states are coordinated and managed, but retain autonomy... of a sort.
How Shaddukan managed to be just about the only way to cross from Corridor/Provence to Vland/Windhorn without stopping at a supported calibration point -- or how the other worlds lost nearly all their water and hydrogen resources -- is beyond anyone's guess. Scouts have managed to refuel in Oort clouds (but not the Kuiper belts, which were apparently also swept clean), and the military has its calibration points, so there are non-standard options, but there's only one reliable and economic option.
That yields a Proto-Imperium. It's the crossroads of commerce, politics, and culture, with a strong, modified Vilani influence.
1750. Adding 500 years to the timeline allows flexibility to set borders as desired. It allows old problems to take on new dimensions. It also allows a higher TL setting. Industry is strong in the old Domain of Deneb, but many states have largely caught up.
TL18 is the maximum technology, with many of these empires possessing it or trading in it. TL16 technology and ships are more commonplace than TL15 was during the Third Imperium. Typical local-range entry-level merchants and traders are TL13, but there's nothing stopping the wealthy character from having a TL18 ship built.
(Sorry, I mean FIFTH Imperium, not FOURTH)... Even if it isn't a true "Imperium".
My vision:
- Virus evolves
- Mini-empires form
- Hybrid, Cosmopolitan States
- Proto-Imperium forms
- 1750
Virus evolves, and the non-pathological ones which survive will have to find a way to integrate into interstellar society. What sorts of shapes that may take is an interesting thought problem. Another interesting thought problem is how, like Germanic barbarians becoming Romans, some Virus ally themselves with sophonts.
I think there are backward implications here as well. As we all know, Traveller has flirted with AI from the early years.
As Bill mentioned in another thread, Traveller assumes a kind of invisible pedestrian AI. The kind that cooks meals, keeps rooms clean, automates factories, constructs buildings, starships, and the like. And humans still manage to keep the same motivations (and share the same roles) that they've always had.
And so I think that Virus is just a barbarian AI that evolves into various ecological niches for the sake of long-term survival. And its ecology, unlike most creatures in Traveller, is technology.
Going beyond that, I'd retcon in the presence of various types of intelligent robots that predate Virus. I think that medical research is advanced enough to hook up a brain to a machine, so you've got "robots" even before stable AI. Those robots will be more like characters than equipment. They'll also be highly controversial with varying legal status from place to place -- a hotbed of plotlines served on a platter.
Mini Empires Form - The sectors Behind the Claw, ripped to pieces in 1248, morphs further, coalescing eventually into three major states and several pocket empires. Parts of Gvurrdon are incorporated into these states, and other parts become clients of a Trailing state in former Zhodani territory, but something different happens to the rest of the Vargr Extents this side of Windhorn.
Other states, generally spanning a dozen subsectors, coalesce in various ways throughout Known Space, but with generous buffer zones between them. So I wouldn't want to see an empire filling each old sector, with a hex of boundary around the edges, but rather something more random with significant gaps. Though, the gaps don't necessarily have obvious rhyme or reason, either. Just because a world is a powerhouse doesn't mean it will found an empire, and just because a world is bombed back to the stone age doesn't mean it won't be leading in the future.
For example:
Pretoria is TL9, Starport B in 1105, but now it is a TL17, Starport A garden world, and an independent state, with a large "wilderness" of barbaric worlds on one side, and a pocket empire on another. Shaddukan likewise manages to chart a course as a strong, independent Vilani system, from a very small technical post on a pitiful hellworld on the Xboat route in 1105 to a vast belt-oriented industrial and commercial powerhouse on the only economically viable route between Spiwnard and Trailing space.
Regina lost ground and gained ground, ending up with a state spanning six subsectors, including some Vargr territory.
Deneb Sector split along natural boundaries, with wilderness Vilanic territory to coreward, a pocket empire around Magash, and a larger one gerrymandering along the old rimward Xboat routes.
Hybrid, Cosmopolitan States - Border states arise which blend Humaniti with portions of the Vargr Extents, extending a principle that was foreshadowed in the Rebellion-era chaos -- as the Vargr move in to dominate regions, other sophont populations are not necessarily displaced. Deneb, Corridor, and Vland, overrun and plundered by Vargr warlords, becomes administered by client sophonts -- more often than not these are Vilani, who have vast experience in managing and organizing cosmopolitan peoples and places. The more or less successful results of this sort of mixing are the Border States. The most successful are one in Corridor/Provence, and one in Vland/Windhorn, both retaining Vilanic administrative forms with Vargrate strength.
The Proto-Imperium Forms - The Ziru Sirka fails to re-emerge, instead manifesting in the form of three empires ruled by one Bureau each. The three intersect uneasily in neutral territory in their midst, on Shaddukan, the only surviving low-jump link between the Sharurshid Commonwealth (most of Corridor and lower Provence sectors, capital Kaasu/Corridor 1209), the Naasirka Commonwealth (centered on Vland), and the Makhidkarun Commonwealth (coreward of the Naasirka worlds, capital on Gemid/Vland 1903). Somehow these three states are coordinated and managed, but retain autonomy... of a sort.
How Shaddukan managed to be just about the only way to cross from Corridor/Provence to Vland/Windhorn without stopping at a supported calibration point -- or how the other worlds lost nearly all their water and hydrogen resources -- is beyond anyone's guess. Scouts have managed to refuel in Oort clouds (but not the Kuiper belts, which were apparently also swept clean), and the military has its calibration points, so there are non-standard options, but there's only one reliable and economic option.
That yields a Proto-Imperium. It's the crossroads of commerce, politics, and culture, with a strong, modified Vilani influence.
1750. Adding 500 years to the timeline allows flexibility to set borders as desired. It allows old problems to take on new dimensions. It also allows a higher TL setting. Industry is strong in the old Domain of Deneb, but many states have largely caught up.
TL18 is the maximum technology, with many of these empires possessing it or trading in it. TL16 technology and ships are more commonplace than TL15 was during the Third Imperium. Typical local-range entry-level merchants and traders are TL13, but there's nothing stopping the wealthy character from having a TL18 ship built.
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