The Beyond Subsector D: Marrakesh

Draft: The Beyond (D,H,L,P)

The Beyond Sector lies entirely outside the Third Imperium and Zhodani Consulate and at the edge of Aslan expansion behind the claw. With the exception of the Corellan League, a confederation founded by dissidents fleeing the Sindalian Empire 2,500 years ago, the sector was  nearly unpopulated prior to the expansion of the Aslan beginning in the millennium prior to the formation of the Third Imperium. The Floriani, a minor human race,  acquired jump drive technology from a wrecked Aslan ship in -225 and began expansion into the region around the founding of the Third Imperium, settling a few worlds and establishing tentative relations with the League and the Sred*Ni, a native sophont race that had acquired FTL technology, likely from Corellan traders.

Imperial scouts first explored the region during the second and third centuries, contacting the League in 203, but settlers from Imperial space did not begin arriving until the early fifth century. Settlement continued sporadically in waves, surging during the Civil War era of the early seventh century, reaching the far corners of the sector by the early eighth.

Marrakesh Subsector (D)

This region of The Beyond is closest to the Third Imperium, which rules most of the Five Sisters subsector of the Spinward Marches. No interstellar states exist in this region and Imperial Navy patrols often sweep the subsector on training or piracy suppression missions out of the small naval base at Iniidez. The Islamic Republic of Marrakesh gives the subsector its name and is its most populous world. Trade mission to this world are often plagued by piracy emanating from one of the only Vargr-dominated worlds in The Beyond, Thoznaen, which was settled in pre-imperial times and is home to a number of corsair bands that squabbling local governments often ignore or surreptitiously support.

Traders and adventurers in Marrakesh are more successful when travelling in armed vessels or convoys with armed escorts. Some more adventurous Travellers cross Marrakesh to reach smaller states to Spinward or the Corellan League to Spin-rimward or the Florian League to rimward, but in general Marrakesh Subsector is more a barrier than conduit of trade.

Aueaiai (3007 E894325-2)

A small enclave of Aslan has existed on Aueaiai for more than a thousand years. While its origins are lost in myth, the local community espouses a radical Aslan belief in collective decision-making. All adult Aslan vote in assembly that meets once per local year of 180 standard days and emergency measures are decided by referenda with votes collected by runners from scattered villages who meet in a central shrine to tabulate and report the results. Technology is limited to wind and water mills and weaponry to spears and bows used mainly for hunting. While duels of honor persist, most disputes are handled by arbitration at the village level. The Aueaiai Aslan are not welcoming of outsiders, and though the world is not officially considered an Amber Zone, attempts to land and trade or study the local society are regularly met by spears and arrows.

Marrakesh (2608 B8769D9-8)

The world of Marrakesh is mostly habitable, though chains of volcanic mountains and dust storms from the deserts in the interior of the massive supercontinent can make breathing difficult at times. Settled as a Sufi Moslem sanctuary world in 540, the world's four billion inhabitants account for 80% of the subsector's population and more than 95% of it's humans, thus lending its name to the region. Marrakeshi society is know for its colorful though conservative dress and many festivals but does expect all visitors to adhere to local customs. Usually, failure to comply results in expulsion of foreigners, but in more remote regions, Travellers have been known to languish for years in jails unless they repent and convert to the local religion.  Trade with Marrakesh, for artistically crafted mid-tech goods and local exotic spices, accounts for most of the economic activity within the subsector.

Pritchard (3003 DA866AB-3)

According to legend, the founder of Pritchard was Pritchard I, Duke of Salif, who lost a power struggle against the Sindalian Emperor in -1520. Fleeing with a small retinue, the Duke settled on the world he named after himself with the intent to build an army of super soldiers raised on a world whose gravity was 1.3 standard. Unfortunately, his starship's jump drive failed during the early decades of settlement and technology eventually collapsed to an agrarian level. The current ruler, Emperor Pritchard XCIX, the 99th of the name and rather inbred, rules over a land of rugged hills and fertile river land from a stone castle atop a weathered crag. His Royal Guard, armored only in leathers, as metal is too heavy on this world, control the production of gunpowder and crush any dissent against his arbitrary rule.

Thoznaen (2706 A876874-C)

The origin of the settlement of Thoznoen by Vargr is lost in contradictory myth, but likely occurred during the Long Night, as the use of Gvegh dialects points to settlement after -900. As common with Vargr worlds, the planet has gone through many governments and names over its two thousand year history, once rising to control three neighboring worlds in a pocket empire, but lately collapsing into dozens of squabbling states. Imperial intervention against state-sponsored piracy crushed the nascent Thoznaen Empire in 735 and no government has managed to control more than a quarter of the population since the meson gun annihilation of the old capital at Kozrizgi.  While no current government openly support corsair activity, numerous corsair bands occupy the planetoid belts, gas giant moons and iceballs that surround the system's two widely spaced yellow stars.

Florian Subsector (H)

The Spinward frontier of the Florian League dominates the subsector named for this polity. The regions beyond Florian space consist of a lightly populated corridor to Spinward abutting Sred*Ni space and providing trade routes to the Corellan League, Stormhaven Republic, and to the Imperial outpost of Delta base at Delta Cephei to Rimward. The rimward edge of the subsector marks the coreward advance of the Aslan Hierate, whose ihatei encroach into independent and lightly populated systems beyond its borders.

Aacheon (2720 X410000-0)

This moon of the only surviving gas giant in orbit around an orange giant star bears the scars of recent bombardment. Recent in planetological terms is relative and the fresh craters date to 290,000 years ago, during the later Ancient period. Only a few looted ruins remain on the surface. An underground complex of half-collapsed tunnels draws the occasional artifact seeker, but no finds have been reported. The gutted remains of a crashed Aslan Sakhai-class assault transport marks the failure of one expedition to find fortune on this desolate world.

Lod (2511 A7668C9-B)

The world of Lod is a paradise orbiting a stable Sol-like stars with two moons and a distant red dwarf companion star gracing the night. Settled immediately after the civil war by a consortium of Imperial nobles, the world remains independent and shows no interest in applying for citizenship. The ruling noble families elect a monarch from among them and dominate the oversized, ostentatious, but only marginally capable Royal Lod Space Force. In 844, a group of nobles colonized the nearby garden world of Amsigiiga, which remains a fief of the Monarch of Lod, normally granted to the runner-up in the vote for monarch, who rules at the Monarch's pleasure as the Viceroy of Amsigiiga. Lod society is a very elitist. Nobles rule with impunity, subject only to the arbitrary authority of the Monarch. A small class of technocrats enjoys some privilege, but the masses, generally referred to as Proles, live like serfs. Colonists on Amsigiiga enjoy greater privilege and "exile" to the Viceroy's world for troublemakers is a useful social safety valve.

Peopus (3114 A874936-D)

The industrial world of Peopus orbits beyond the outer edge of the habitable zone of its red dwarf sun. The Floriani settled the world shortly after the dawn of the Imperial era as a mining colony and dug deep tunnels to extra rare metals such as lanthanum and hafnium. An effort to terraform the world resulted in temperatures that barely approached the melting point of water at the equator and a concentration of carbon dioxide that only modified Feskels are fit to breathe.

Shikhyuryatre (3220 CC6A458-A)

The super-earth world of Shikhyuryatre is covered in a world ocean. With gravity exceeding 1.6 standard and a constant cyclone surrounding the locked planet's bright pole, the world is a tourist destination for those Aslan eager to test themselves in fishing expeditions for the hundred-meter-long Iliisupashkashgek. That these whale-like swimmers are filter-feeders matter little, since braving the sea in hunting catamarans is most of the challenge. Imperial scout observers suspect that these giant creatures may be intelligent, but the publishing of a preliminary report alluding to this caused the expulsion of all humans from the world, though exceptions are made for those with a valid hunting permit.

Web Edge (2514 B211210-C)

The gas giant moon base operated by the Web Edge Consortium is the only non-Corellan trading post authorized to trade with the Sred*Ni and within their territory. A small Sred*Ni Heptad embassy within the complex authorizes trading visas and purchases good directly. The consortium is comprised of corporations from the Imperium, Hierate and Monarchy of Lod. Recently, the shares of the Faer Godaedgivaezklae Corporation out of Thoznoen were confiscated after associated vessels were suspected of piracy. An appeal is pending and the Consortium is concerned that an unfavorable ruling may result in more corsair activity. Aslan and Lod destroyer-class vessels remain in orbit to protect the base from possible retribution.

Delta Cephei Subsector (L)

The Delta Cephei subsector is named after the famed prototype Cepheid variable star. The IISS base in orbit around that star is the only Imperial presence in this region of space, dominated by the frontier of the Aslan Hierate. The Aslan first settled the region before the establishment of the Imperium, and slow expansion has continued throughout the centuries, occupying all the usable real estate and pushing towards the human-dominated worlds of the Storm subsector to Spinward. Beyond Delta Station, the Imperium maintains no permanent presence, only scout and diplomatic missions, occasionally accompanied by a small task force of Imperial Naval ships to "show the flag" and discourage wanton Aslan ihatei expansion.

Delta Base (2922 B000327-D)

The shielded asteroid installation at Delta Cephei was established by the IISS in 304 and maintained with varying degrees of enthusiasm ever since. Almost abandoned in the seventh century it remains in place as much to watch the Aslan Hierate as a variable star that is mostly known for its regularity. Delta Base is a sprawling complex of observatories and tunnels burrowed into a thirty kilometer-wide irregular metallic asteroid. The base can easily accommodate a hundred thousand people and ships of up to 200,000 tons displacement. Rumors that it houses a secret naval base are likely unfounded, but large areas of the base are off-limits to visitors and guarded by intimidating security robots.

Mefebit (2624 C5556AB-7)

The Droyne of Mefebit have maintained a self-imposed interdiction since abruptly expelling a scout service survey team in 794. Though the local technology base does not appear to be high, a large orbiting battle station armed with nuclear missiles and lasers enforces the quarantine. Visitors receive no warning. Ships approaching within 50,000 kilometers are fired up by large missile volleys. The Droyne themselves seem to have access to higher technology than that evident on the surface or by the orbital station. Droyne starships, some identifiable as from Andor occasional visit the world, unmolested by the interdiction station.

Ka'aheakh (3128 C876672-B)

The natives of this world are called Ktiauao by the Aslan; their name for themselves is no longer known. The Ktiauao are symbiotic organisms, descended from arboreal hunters whose nervous system is intertwined with a fungus-like growth called the 'Kti', a Trokh slang term for slime. The earliest Aslan rulers of Ka'aheakh were the Tokouea’we, who leveled the mid-tech cities of the Ktiauao and attempted to enslave the survivors. When these slaves prove too difficult to control, the Tokouea’we developed a biological weapon that killed the Kti, reducing the Ktiauao to animal-level intelligence. This action disguised other Aslan clans and the Syoisuis retaliated by creating a bioweapon that infected the Tokouea’we with a variant of the Kti fungus that caused delirium and insanity among its victims. After the Tokouea’we withdrew behind the borders of their shrinking Glorious Empire, the Syoisuis restored the Ktiauao to sentience, but their culture was lost and the race is now little more than a vassal of the Aslan clan.

Teiykiea (3125 A575875-B)

Three centuries ago inter-clan warfare resulted in a nuclear conflagration on Teiykiea, a conflict whose radioactive scars are still evident. Since that time, the dozen minor clans vying for control of the world have opted to continue their conflict for dominance of the world via a series of tehlaicho, or strictly limited war. Conflicts occur with prearranged limits to force strength and field of operations with victory conditions set in advanced and adjudicated by neutral parties. The unfortunate result of this limited warfare is its never-ending nature, with battle after battle neither resulting in total victory or defeat for any party.

Aslani Subsector (P)

The Aslani subsector is the Imperium's name for the core of what the Aslan refer to as 'Eaytyehasoi' or 'Inconstant Star Domain', which extends to Delta Cephei. This long-settled region is home to nearly 100 billion Aslan. It is the industrial heartland of the region, with the high-tech worlds of Layeaukhtyei  and Htoleakh producing high quality good for export across the Aslan colonies behind the claw. Settled for more than a millennium it is known for sprawling cities, some long decayed, and intrigue and infighting, not the wide vistas appealing to new generations of ihatei.

Flykalear (3132 D655975-A)

Nine small continents form chains near the tropical zones of Flykalear, rendering most of the land surface a hot humid jungle of soaring triple canopy vegetation. Scattered cities blend into the teal and turquoise flora, housing many of the world's four billion inhabitants. The bulk of the planet remains wilderness, run by clans as hunting reserves, with restrictions on technology and overflights giving the illusion of a world of virgin jungle. Native and imported species provide sport for visitors, but entering often poorly delineated territory without permission may result in the hunters becoming the hunted.

Htoleakh (3232 A675979-D)

The best shipyards in the subsector orbit Htoleakh. Shipwrights from dozens of clans and corporations produce everything from Hraye and Ihateisho scout ships to heavy cruiser capital ships. Orbital space around the planet is heavily patrolled and traffic is well regulated, ensuring that conflict does not risk the shipyards themselves. No combat but duels with dewclaws is permitted in any yard and attempts by one clan to sabotage the docked or under construction ships of another are met with a total ban on access to the shipyards.

Layeaukhtyei (2937 A975A75-D)

More than 70 billion Aslan occupy Layeaukhtyei, a name that best translates as "Labyrinth Without End". The exact population is difficult to determine as hundreds of clans occupy the cavern-riddled planet. Millions of years ago, microorganisms pulled all of the carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere, causing global glaciation and a buildup of vast sheets of limestone across the massive supercontinent.  The first settlers occupied natural caverns and grottos, and ice tunnels carved by volcanic activity. Their descendants, rather than strike out for new land among the stars, literally carved out new territories beneath the frozen surface. Thus, the population exploded, driven by natural increase and a flux of ihatei who found that the only weapon needed to gain territory was a pickaxe. Efforts to warm the planet are complicated by thousands of cubic kilometers of ice caverns claimed as territories and adjacent limestone grottos that would flood if the ice melted. Instead, the clans spend significant resources to keep the surface temperature far below freezing and the building of vast undergrown territories continues. Most off-world Aslan consider digging for territory to be shameful, but how many among them can claim lands as vast as those that can be carved from half a billion cubic kilometers of ice and rock?

Khteiaueaou (3034 A8449B5-C)

The Waisyauiai clan, a vassal of the Ikhtealyo, controls Khteiaueaou. The Waisyauiaiko is old, nearly 70, and his sons are all dead. While known for his cunning in his youth, the clan leader's mind and stamina have left him. He holds on to power by reputation along, unable to influence the sons of his brothers who compete in ever more violent ways to gain control of the clan. When the old Aslan dies, Khteiaueaou will likely erupt into a full-scale war for succession.

Khyuryate (2739 B874978-B)

Khyuryate is a huge moon of a large gas giant orbiting red dwarf star. Strong magnetic fields drive aurorae and ozone down to the badland-scared surface of the ancient world, rendering much of the surface barely habitable. The gas giant-facing side of the moon is noticeably warmer than the far side, with temperatures approaching the boiling point during the long day and much of the world's water is tied up in the glaciers covering the mountains of the far side. A day on Khyuryate is ninety-two hours as measured by the orbit around the planet and a year is only twelve and a half local days long. Khyuryate was once the manufacturing center of the region, but a lack of investment over the centuries had led to a failing obsolete industrial base and a generally grim political environment with clans and corporations squabbling over the remains of once great cities instead of building something new. The ambitious among the clans have left for wider horizons around brighter stars.