Polities of Reavers' Deep Part 1
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This article is the first in a four-part series on the polities of Reavers' Deep as of 1114. The first article is a general overview and history of the polities while the second article will be on the economies and trade of the polities. The third article of the series will focus on the military and foreign policies, and the final article will cover general ideologies, demographics and cultures.
The polities are divided into three categories; multi-sector, major and minor. Multi-sector polities are covered here only for completeness and will not be covered in the rest of the series. Major polities are those within Reavers' Deep that control ten or more worlds and may span multiple subsectors. Minor polities are those that control between two and nine worlds and are generally found within one subsector.
Some of the information in this article has been taken from the Traveller RPG Wiki and the Reavers' Deep Source Book and may be copyright.
Major Polities:
There are four polities in the Deep that qualify as major and they are listed here from largest to smallest.
Islaiat Dominate:
Allegiance Code:Id
The Islaiat Dominate controls 31 worlds; seven worlds in the Hryaroaa subsector, six worlds in the Keiar subsector and eighteen worlds in the Ealiyasiyw sector. The Islaiat Dominate is controlled by a minor non-human race native to Islaiat (Reavers' Deep 0221). They gained jump drive in -1227 from the Aslan early in the Hierate expansion and quickly founded their own empire.
Exploring out into the Deep from Islaiat they encountered the young and aggressive Reaver empires and so turned their expansion activities into the relatively empty Ehilao and Tulrakh subsectors of Ealiyasiyw sector. The ever expanding Aslan Hierate went around these subsectors to give the Dominate room as well as to comply with the Peace of Ftahalr. However there are few of these unclaimed worlds left between the Dominate and the Hierate and once again the Islaiat are looking to expand into the Deep.
Union of Harmony:
Allegiance Code:Uh
The Union of Harmony controls 21 worlds; ten worlds in the Uhtaa subsector, three worlds in the Eakoi subsector and eight worlds in the Earle subsector of the Dark Nebular sector. The Union is a human polity on the spinward side of Reavers' Deep. Formed in 856 from the scattered worlds of the old Celestial League which was originally settled by Solomani of Chinese ancestry. This heritage means the Union currently has strong ties to the Solomani Confederation and this has led to low levels of conflict with the Aslan Hierate over the last 160 years.
The Union has a strong central government based on Gustave (Reavers' Deep 0737) and directly governs most of the Union worlds from there. The Union is looking to start expanding into the Aotrei subsector and towards the Solomani Confederation. The Union of Harmony is sometimes mistakenly called the Ulane Hierate.
Carrillian Assembly:
Allegiance Code:Cb
The Carrillian Assembly controls 20 worlds; six worlds in the Drinsaar subsector, five worlds in the Urlaqqash subsector, five worlds in the Fahinar subsector and four worlds in the Drexilthar subsector. The Carrillian Assembly is the second largest human-dominated independent political state in the Reavers' Deep Sector. The Assembly has one client state, Yarhfahl, but it is not an active member or under direct control.
The Carrillian Assembly was formed in 519, when a number of worlds in the Drexilthar and Fahlnar subsectors fought wars which threatened to plunge the region into a general interstellar war. The Imperium, wishing to maintain this area as a buffer between themselves and the Aslan, stepped in and "suggested" they peacefully settle their differences.
A series of conferences held on an asteroid called Blair Rock in the quiet backwater Carrill system (Reavers' Deep 2330) led to an agreement to form a federation of systems for the regulation of trade, economic coordination and common defence. The Articles of Assembly were signed later that year and the Carillian Belt was designated the capital of the new federation. Blair Rock was renamed Capital and is the home of the Assembly government.
In the past 600 years, Carrill has grown from that sleepy backwater into one of the most populous and powerful systems of the Assembly.
The Assembly has been a stabilising influence on the trailing half of the Deep for over 500 years. Throughout most of that time it has concentrated on fostering trade and progress in the region, has seldom acted outside its borders, nor has it sought to greatly expand its sphere of influence.
In the 1090's the Progressive Party came under the control of a clique of young turks that began to agitate for the expansion of the Assembly into surrounding territories. An attempted coup by young naval officers in 1103 was suppressed, but only after President Collin had been assassinated. Temporary martial law was declared and Admiral Juzark took control of Capital.
During this crisis, a compromise agreement was worked out between the Navy, the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party whereby Admiral Juzark stepped down and High Justice Daldreem, Chief Justice of the Assembly Supreme Court, was put into power as Assembly President. It was expected that Daldreem would quickly take the Assembly back to a representative democracy, but that has not happened.
Daldreem has proven to be a charismatic but ruthless leader who, under various constitutional pretexts, has extended the state of martial law through to the present. He has embarked on a campaign of expansion, popular with the Progressive Party, and is centralising Assembly authority, popular with the Conservative Party. Today, Daldreem and his cronies dominate the Assembly government completely.
In 1109, a revolt against the Assembly began on Ildrissar (Reavers' Deep 2326) after the notorious Starport Massacre. Ildrissarians were protesting the enforcement of new Assembly tariffs on internal trade when a contingent of Assembly Marines opened fire on the demonstrators causing the deaths of 314. Daldreem used the protest and subsequent strikes, work stoppages and withholding of tariffs to mobilise the Assembly Navy and launch an invasion of Ildrissar. The situation on Ildrissar is still in flux, with Carrill controlling the starport and several cities and the Ildrissarian Patriotic Front controlling the rest of the planet.
In 1110, Halley Libidon (leader of the Liberal Party), called for a "Vote of Confidence" on Daldreem's rule by the Assembly Senate. A series of explosions and assassinations swept through Capital and Daldreem dissolved the Senate and sent the representatives home to "protect our leaders from Ildrissarian terrorists." Since 1110 Libidon has travelled throughout the region seeking support for the return of democracy to the Assembly.
Halley Libidon was charged with giving aid and comfort to Ildrissarian rebels, tried in absentia and convicted as a traitor in 1113. He continues to evade capture, but the bounty on his head has grown to 200,000 crimps.
The media was brought under control of the Office of Public Information in 1114. Two days after this event, all but three media outlets in the Carrillian Belt were officially shut down.
Principality of Caledon:
Allegiance Code:Ca
The Principality of Caledon controls 19 worlds; ten in the Scotian Deep subsector and nine in the Caledon subsector. The third largest independent, human-governed state in the Reavers' Deep sector, the Principality covers large portions of the Caledon and Scotian Deep subsectors. The Principality as such was established in -102 by Jamieson Dundas of Caledon (Reavers' Deep 1815) and has remained relatively stable, save for two periods of dynastic crisis and civil war (309-328; 1024-1025).
The area that is now the Principality was settled during the latter part of the period of the Interstellar wars between the Terran Confederation and the First Imperium. The settlers of the region, largely of Western European origins, were a group of political malcontents who rejected the growing Terran trend toward absorption of the Vilani Empire.
They maintained, rightly as it turned out, that Terra would be unable to support the burden which had already brought the Vilani into decline. Financed by a prominent banker, Charles Stuart Scott, these people assembled a colonising expedition in the interval between two of the interstellar wars, and travelled far from either Terran or Vilani space. Settlement on Caledon and the exploration of several adjacent systems followed.
A period of struggle against their new untamed environments resulted in the loss, for quite some time, of jump drive technology. Traders from one of the petty states that emerged during the Long Night restored the necessary technology, and the Principality arose shortly thereafter. Officially the Principality was the first state to check the piracy and lawlessness of the so-called "Reavers". However less charitable historians often refer to the Principality as the last and greatest of the Reaver Kingdoms.
The government of the Principality is a Constitutional Monarchy, headed by the Hereditary Prince of Caledon, and backed by a House of Lords, a House of Delegates, and a Grand Senate. Local rule within the Principality is left largely in the hands of individual worlds, while the Principality regulates interstellar relations, war, and trade. Often described as a commercial kingdom, Caledon is famous for the extent and wealth of its great trading houses.
Minor Polities:
Minor polities are listed here in alphabetical order.
Carter Technocracy:
Allegiance Code:Ct
The Carter Technocracy controls three worlds in the Drinsaar subsector. The Technocracy formed in 1027 when Griffin recovered the technology to build starships. Finding only Carter and its colony Jefferson within jump range the government of Griffin negotiated a technology and trade sharing agreement. Five years later both governments agreed to formalise these agreements under the banner of the Carter Technocracy.
It is currently lead by President Tomage who is considered the smartest man on all three worlds. The Technocracy maintains diplomatic ties with the Solomani Confederation, but only as far as sharing trade and technology. The Carter Technocracy currently has little interest in expanding beyond its borders.
Confederacy of Duncinae:
Allegiance Code:Cd
The Confederacy of Duncinae controls seven worlds in the Ea subsector. Duncinae was founded by refugees from the First Civil War (309 to 328) in the Principality of Caledon. It has since re-established close relations with the mother nation and enjoys cultural and economic ties that benefit both.
The Confederacy is ruled as a loose hegemony of states where individual freedoms are highly valued, where conditions permit, and local governments enjoy considerable independence.
The capital of the Confederacy is at Duncinae (Reavers' Deep 1624). The confederacy also maintains a prison for exiles on Coventry in the Drexilthar subsector, although Coventry is not officially a member world.
Currently tensions are running high between the Grand Duchy of Marlheim due to the MacBeth Affair.
Roger Vane, the former ambassador to Marlheim (Reavers' Deep 1230) is expected to win the election as President of the Confederacy Council. He is expected to take a much stronger stance with regard to relations with the Grand Duchy than the current administration.
Dienabach Gruppen:
Allegiance Code:Dg
The Dienabach Gruppen controls two worlds in the Nightrim subsector. Orkney is the home world of the extremely xenophobic Derfi'gassak and, with Maiden, forms the autonomously governed region of Dienbach Grÿpen. The two worlds are quarantined and monitored by the scout base on Khagish. The Derfi'gassak show little desire to expand beyond their two worlds or become members of the Imperium.
Domain of Oceanus:
Allegiance Code:Oc
The Domain of Oceanus controls two worlds in the rimward trailing corner of the Urlaggush subsector. Oceanus settled its colony on Mecca in 893 to supply agricultural products to its expanding population. In 1063 disaster struck when geological instability struck Oceanus, devastating the world and destroying most of its industrial bases. The Imperium stepped in with aid and has been working with both worlds to re-establish stability in the Domain.
Gralyn Assembly:
Allegiance Code:Ga
The Gralyn Assembly controls two worlds in the Drinsaar subsector. The Assembly is made up of Gralyn (Reavers' Deep 1735), its moon Askoapoy, Botany Bay (Reavers' Deep 1734) and one of the nations on Khtearie (Reavers' Deep 1733). The Assembly is also a member of the Aikhiy Development Trust, a company jointly owned with Venician interests, who run the agricultural world of Aikhiy.
Grayln established Botany Bay in 693 as a penal colony but after 300 years allowed settlers to move there to relieve population pressures on Gralyn. The Aikhiy Development Trust was formed in 1073 when land disputes between companies from Gralyn and Venice threatened to boil over into open conflict. The governments of both worlds stepped in to settle the disputes and the trust was formed.
Grand Duchy of Douglass:
Allegiance Code:Do
The Grand Duchy controls three worlds in the Scotian Deep subsector. Douglass (Reavers' Deep 1617) and the two neighbouring systems Pentland (Reavers' Deep 1616) and Lanark (Reavers' Deep 1518) constitute the semi-independent Grand Duchy. The Grand Duchy of Douglass maintains close hereditary, political and economic ties with the Principality of Caledon. However it exercises a fair degree of independence, much more so than systems directly under Principality control.
Grand Duchy of Marlheim:
Allegiance Code:Mh
The Grand Duchy controls eight worlds; six in the Ea subsector and two in the Eakoi subsector. The Grand Duchy is a tightly controlled expansionist totalitarian state that traces its origins to one of the last successful Reaver Warlords in the Ea subsector. Its capital is at Marlheim (Reavers' Deep 1230). Tensions have been high between the Grand Duchy and the Confederacy of Duncinae for some time since the MacBeth Affair in late 1113 on Mirak (Reavers' Deep 1127) and the Duchy has since closed its borders to all shipping from the Confederacy.
Khan World League:
Allegiance Code:Gk
The Khan World League controls four worlds in the Hryaroaa subsector. The League is a tightly controlled group of worlds all ruled from Khan (Reavers' Deep 0817), one of the last Reaver states established. Yedidah (Reavers' Deep 0616) was formerly a part of the League until they revolted in 1031. The League is monitored by the Imperial scout base on Hernne.
Kolan Hegemony:
Allegiance Code:Ok
The Kolan Hegemony controls three worlds in the Caledon subsector. The Kolan Hegemony today consists of Kurat (Reavers' Deep 2315), Rock (Reavers' Deep 2214) and the capital of Kolath (Reavers' Deep 2313). The Hegemony is considered a part of the Imperium, but is administered independently from the Imperial authority in the neighbouring Nightrim subsector, which governs other Imperial territories in this area.
This local autonomy is a long-standing arrangement dating back to the latter part of the Aslan Border Wars in 200 to 380, when the Imperium was just beginning to expand into Reavers' Deep in the face of oppositions from various Aslan clans. Kolath at that time was a late Reaver Kingdom, encompassing its present area plus Gash (Reavers' Deep 2116), Gerim (Reavers' Deep 2416), and Mer (Reavers' Deep 2414).
With the kingdom already organised, the region served as an excellent springboard for an Imperial presence in the area. Treaties were signed binding Kolath to the Imperium but with a grant of local autonomy. As time went on Gash pulled out of the Hegemony as well as the Imperium, and the Imperium found it expedient to detach Gerim and Mer and make them full member worlds. Current trends hint that Rock will be the next to go.
Kolath still remains set in its insistence on internal autonomy and rules its possessions in accordance with tradition. It has been some time since the Imperium permitted Kolath to maintain a sizable interstellar fleet, but recruitment for Imperial armed forces is high on Kolath. This is especially true for Navy and Marines forces and their personnel have a justifiably famous reputation as superb fighters.
Lanyard Colonies:
Allegiance Code:Ly
The Lanyard Colonies controls four worlds in the Drinsaar subsector. The Colonies are a tight cluster of systems settled in 995 by Solomani citizens. They have enjoyed Solomani support due to its good agricultural and aquacultural exports. The worlds of the polity are so named for the first four governors of each main world.
The Solomani Confederation left the worlds pretty much to themselves until 1008, when they started to take more interest in the cluster as a forward point in the Reavers' Deep. This heavy interest peaked in 1096 and dropped gradually since then to the present time where the Confederation has only a token presence in the Colonies.
Purity Union:
Allegiance Code:Pu
The Purity Union controls four worlds in the Drinsaar subsector. Purity (Reavers' Deep 2440) was settled in 827 by Solomani citizens of the strict religious group Order of Purity who felt they were being persecuted by Solomani authorities in the nearby Akuusir subsector.
Originally called Tarasys the colonists renamed the world after their faith. In 883 a dispute over points of faith resulted in the leaders of Purity sending the dissidents into exile on the nearby frozen world of Arakastus (Reavers' Deep 2239). In keeping with their faith the leaders renamed the world Purgatory, and used the threat of exile to the world as a method to keep the population 'faithful'.
Tlyetrai Assembly:
Allegiance Code:Ta
The Tlyetrai Assembly controls two worlds in the Farift subsector. Luiwaiwuah (Reavers' Deep 0209) and Turin (Reavers' Deep 0409) were settled by a minor non-human race from Hoa (Reavers' Deep 0310) in -75 by sublight generation ships and for centuries all contact was via these sublight ships.
Several decades ago, Hoa acquired a jump capable starship and proceeded to conquer their colony on Luiwaiwuah. It is through their possession of this single ship that they hold the Assembly together, but that ship is beginning to break down.
Multi-sector Polities:
There are three multi-sector polities with a presence within Reavers' Deep. They are the Aslan Hierate, who control seven worlds in the Keiar subsector and eleven worlds in the Uhtaa subsector, the Solomani Confederation, who control nine worlds in the Fahinar subsector, and the Third Imperium who control 57 worlds across six subsectors of Reavers' Deep.
Aslan Hierate:
Allegiance Code:As
The Aslan Hierate is the interstellar, multi-sector government of the many Aslan clans. Aslan society centres on the clan. Within the Hierate, the family structure of the Aslan and the governmental structure are the same. A council of twenty-nine clan leaders chosen from amongst the most powerful clans performs the highest governmental functions.
The 29 meet continuously on the Aslan homeworld, Kusyu (Dark Nebula 1919) to adjudicate inter-clan disputes and decide matters of group policy. No member of the 29 speaks for the Hierate as a whole, nor does the whole 29.
There are no Hierate military forces with each clan maintaining its own, and they rarely act in concert with those of other clans. The Hierate itself can call upon military forces only insofar as the clans themselves agree to provide such forces. Even the minor forces conveying the 29's decisions are actually under the control of individual clan leaders.
Hierate is an Galanglic word derived from a Terran word for sacred, the early Terrans mistaking the Aslan code of honour for a religion. The Aslan term for their empire is Htoifteirlakht, translated as "the bountiful lands ruled by the lords of honour".
Third Imperium:
Allegiance Code:Im
The Imperium is a gigantic, human controlled interstellar empire, encompassing almost 28 sectors and about eleven thousand worlds. It is the third such empire to encompass that part of space. The first empire was variously called the Pax Vilanica, Ziru Sirka, or First Imperium and was ruled by the Vilani. The Second Imperium, sometimes called the Rule of Man or the Ramshackle Empire, was ruled by Solomani after they had conquered the Vilani.
The Third Imperium arose from the ashes of the first two about 1800 years after the Second Imperium collapsed into the Long Night. It is governed by a loose feudal society, with the Emperor ruling through nobles throughout the Imperium from Barons to Dukes and Archdukes. The Imperium is essentially a trade protectorate that controls the space between the stars and allows most worlds to govern themselves.
Solomani Confederation:
Allegiance Code:So
In 871, the government of the Solomani Autonomous Region reorganised itself as the Solomani Confederation, in an attempt to strengthen its claims to the heritage of the old Terran Confederation. Although tantamount to a declaration of independence, the reorganisation was officially ignored by the government of the Imperium, until the increasingly belligerent and extremist policies of the Solomani caused many of the border worlds under Solomani rule to petition the Imperium for redress.
The branches of the Solomani Confederation's government took the names of the government of the Terran Confederation, but the present institutions have little resemblance to those of the past. The chief governing body of the Solomani Confederation is the Secretariat. The Secretariat is presided over by the Secretary General, who is elected from its membership. The Secretary General is the chief administrative officer of the Solomani government, and while the office holds great power, it is fully accountable to the Secretariat.
Representatives to the Secretariat are appointed by the governments of the individual districts. The number of representatives each district may appoint is determined according to that districts' contribution to the Solomani economy. A district typically consists of a single world, but low population worlds or depressed areas are combined into multi-world districts. In the case of a district such as this, an election is held to determine the representative from that district. These, however, are not elections in the normal sense as the governments vote rather than the populace. Each government of such a district is allocated votes according to its economic importance which are then used to elect a representative for that district.