The Beyond Subsector I: Zydar

The Beyond Subsector I: Zydar

System Data

Hex  Name                 UWP       Remarks                  {Ix}   (Ex)    [Cx]   N B  Z PBG W  A    Stellar                

---- -------------------- --------- ------------------------ ------ ------- ------ - -- - --- -- ---- ----------

0121 Besulla              D500110-8 Lo Va Sa                 { -3 } (901-1) [1173] - -  - 504 9  CoLg M6 V                   

0122 Rabanitas            A869446-B Ni                       { 1 }  (934-2) [254E] - -  - 422 7  CoLg F9 V                   

0125 Thynca               C558621-7 Ag Ni                    { -1 } (A53+1) [7549] - -  - 412 6  CoLg K5 V                   

0127 Lyheric              A445834-D Ht Ph Pi Pa              { 3 }  (A7A+2) [9B5B] - KM - 611 12 CoLg M1 V M6 V              

0128 Destrada             C511233-8 Lo Ic Ho Tz              { -2 } (611+1) [3175] - -  - 502 8  CoLg M1 V D                 

0130 Dizuro               B000227-B As Lo Va                 { 1 }  (A11+2) [534C] - -  - 301 6  NaHu M3 V M4 V              

0226 Phoenix              C666559-9 Ag Ni Ga Pr              { 0 }  (A45-4) [15AC] - -  - 713 13 CoLg G1 V                   

0328 Keshto               C645644-6 Ag Ni                    { -1 } (551-4) [6526] - -  - 324 11 NaHu M0 V                   

0329 Indaraliggu          B57A557-B Ni Wa Co Sa              { 1 }  (D46+2) [4647] - -  - 423 14 CoLg M0 V BD                

0422 Farhaven             D552325-3 Lo Po Lt                 { -3 } (521+4) [1121] - -  - 733 17 CoLg K4 V                   

0423 Nowhere              E67A000-0 Ba Wa Fz Sa              { -3 } (300-4) [0000] - -  - 023 11 CoLg M1 V M2 V              

0430 Nestor               B684216-C Lo Ht Ho Tr              { 1 }  (B11+2) [136F] - -  - 323 12 NaHu K2 V                   

0522 Dawn                 E583783-3 Ri Lt Ho                 { -1 } (86B+2) [8655] - -  - 523 16 CoLg K4 V                   

0528 Ouisahed             B576643-9 Ag Ni                    { 1 }  (B55-2) [3726] - -  - 503 9  CoLg K0 V                   

0623 Healer               E689422-5 Ni Lt Ho                 { -3 } (631+3) [3122] - -  - 523 12 CoLg G3 V K3 V              

0625 Asimov               D555695-B Ag Ni                    { 0 }  (752+3) [862D] - -  - 614 11 CoLg K3 V                   

0626 Virtue               E571345-B Lo Ho He                 { -1 } (921+1) [125C] - -  - 822 11 CoLg F7 V                   

0630 Zydar                A9669D9-A Hi Cx Pr Pz              { 3 }  (D8D+4) [AC6B] - K  A 820 10 ZyCo G2 V                   

0723 Atlantis             B86A657-C Ni Ri Wa                 { 2 }  (955+2) [786A] - K  - 534 11 CoLg G2 V                   

0724 Kermanshah           C412456-A Ni Ic Co Tz              { 0 }  (633+1) [5487] - -  - 912 7  CoLg M9 V                   

0821 Farquhar             E967541-3 Ag Ni Lt Ho Tr Pr        { -2 } (444-1) [5316] - -  - 523 13 CoLg G7 V                   

0825 Abchandler           C869674-6 Ni Ri Co Tz              { -1 } (551-1) [A577] - -  - 613 11 CoLg M3 V M9 V              

0828 Backside             E331000-0 Ba Po Co Sa              { -3 } (600-5) [0000] - -  - 023 10 NaHu M4 V                   

The Zydar subsector consists of 23 systems and 8.680 billion sophonts, of which eight billion reside on Zydar. Eighteen systems and nearly the entire remaining population reside within the Corellan League, with Keshto being the only unaligned world with any significant population. Keshto was settled by Sindalian refugees in -1400 and has maintained its independence ever since, while the rest of the subsector has been settled by Corellan colonists or refugees fleeing Aslan expansion over the course of two millennia. With the exception of Lyheric and Atlantis, the Zydar subsector, known previously as the Tirost subsector before that world changed its name to Zydar, is a backwater of the League, difficult to traverse without the longer ranged starships produced by the yards at Lyheric.

Worlds

Atlantis (0723 B86A657-C)

As its name implies, Atlantis is a water world with almost no landmass. Most of its crust is under six to ten kilometers of water. Only a single subcontinental shelf approaches sea level and other than a few volcanic peaks and atolls, only one significant body of land, a 30,000 square kilometer island also named Atlantis, rises above the oceans. That island holds nearly the entire population of five million.

Atlantis was settled from Valhalla in 335 and granted independence by its rulers in 735 in an attempt to shore up support for the doomed Federal Constitution. At that time, the Atlantian-run Cariba Consortium bought rights to the Valhalla's struggling Emptor colony, and after Cariba's bankruptcy in 864, the Atlantian government assumed control of the rather unpleasant frigid world of Emptor.

Atlantians enjoy a high standard of living, supported by a large robotic and clone workforce. The island itself is located at the southern extreme of its sunken subcontinent, but the small islands in the tropical zone to the north support a number of luxury resorts catering to the local elite and offworld tourists.

Keshto (0328 C645644-6)

Keshto was settled in approximately -1400 by Sindalian refugees. The records of the early years of colonization faded into mythology when the world's inadequate infrastructure collapsed. The settlement fell back into an agrarian society on a world only kept temperate by near-continuous volcanic activity and a high concentration of carbon dioxide. According to Corellan records, Keshto was first contacted in -1137, but Keshtonese mythology describes two earlier visits that ended with violence and exploitation. As a result, the Keshtonese have rejected overtures to join the League and have remained distrustful of offworlders and their technology. In recent years, homegrown technology has brought the Keshtonese back into the industrial age and their distrust of the League has subsided. They have built a starport capable of offering limited service to starships, but retain high tariffs and strict visa requirements for those travelling outside the Keshto Startown Economic Zone surrounding the landing fields and hangers. A League embassy opened in 1099 but preliminary discussions on membership have stalled.

Lyheric (0127 A445834-D)

Occupying the rimward and spinward flank of the Corellan League, Lyheric is one of the leading worlds of the League in industry and technology. Its culture is in many ways a twin of Corella, and it provides stability to this isolated region of the League.

Physical Characteristics

Orbiting the brighter of a widely separated pair of red dwarf stars, Lyheric was saved from tidal lock with its sun by becoming tidally locked to its large moon Osric (A200664-D). The collision that formed what is essentially a double planet system also churned heavy metals and rare earths to the surface of both worlds, contributing to the mining boom that brought people and industry to this far corner of the League. The 63 hour day of the twin worlds is broken up by the noontime eclipse which brings a "short night" to the surface, but still stretches the daily cycle of Lyheric life beyond 31 hours. Occasional superflares have depleted the ozone layer of the world and heavy volcanism contributes to a foul atmosphere. This confines most of the population, now focused on manufacturing and service industry jobs far removed from the automated mines, into large arcologies.

History

After the failed attempt to liberate Halifax in the First Expedition against the Aslan, a small group of refugees from that lost world settled Lyheric in -594. What started as a mining settlement on a harsh world expanded during the centuries as careful investment by Corellan Great Houses and Consortia built up local industry to supply this distant region of the League. Lyheric has always been an independent member of the League and was a major proponent of the Federal Constitution, with many ties to Corrella that persist to this day in the form of junior branches of the Great Houses that have evolved into associated but independent Houses on Lyheric.

Since the secession of the Kajanni Triumvirate in 705 and the ascension and withdrawal of Zydar in 930, Lyheric has increasingly become the focus of the League's power to rimward and spinward. With a focus on quality manufacturing and generous research budgets, the world remains the leader in producing high technology and high quality goods.

Social Characteristics

The Lyheric Great Houses and Consortia, which are heavily intertwined, dominate Lyheric's political and economic life. The government is led by the House of Notables, which includes representatives from both of these groups and who appoint a Chancellor and Cabinet of Ministers. Government services follow the Corellan model of providing a basic income, free health care, education, and entertainment to the masses, leading to a general sense of freedom and low social unrest. A meritocracy within the lower and middle levels of industry and government provides limited mobility for those who are not among the elite. As with Corella, the lowest classes and heavier laborers are robots and force-grown genetically engineered clones whose harsh existences provides prosperity to the Human population.

Zydar (0630 A9669D9-A)

Settled as Tirost in -573 by refugees from worlds overrun by Aslan ihatei, the world was renamed Zydar when the Duality Prophet Zydar seized control in 930. Capital of the Zydar Codominium, the world is the center of power for the Zydarian Star Legion, a source of instability across the non-Corellan regions of the Gamma Quadrant of The Beyond.

Physical Characteristics

Zydar is a fairly dense world with a surface gravity of 1.21 standard. It resides in the habitable zone of its G2 V star and experiences temperate conditions over a large portion of two of its three large continental land masses. The third continent, Hyborea covers the northern polar regions down to the 30th parallel and is cold and arid across much of its interior. With an axial tilt of 31 degrees, Zydar experiences significant seasonal variation, but large areas of the planet are suitable for agriculture. Native life was not well advanced prior to colonization and invasive species have overtaken local organisms in many of the ecological niches on land.

History

Far from the settled regions of the Corellan League and away from the original trailing-rimward refugee settlements dating to the fall of the Sindalian Empire, the world once known as Tirost was reasonably habitable and remained available until -573 when it became a refuge those who had fled Halifax and Oberon in the previous centuries.

Tirost was an agricultural world for its first millennium after colonization, exporting a variety of delicacies to Lyheric and beyond. Population growth and an influx of settlers from the Imperium in the seventh and eighth centuries changed the nature of the society. The decentralized government fragmented across the three continents, then fragmented again, leading to the First Tirost World War of 804-816. The conflict ended with the establishment of seven independent nations who maintained an uneasy truce that broke down in the Second Triost World War of 894-899 and then the Third in 926-930.

The Third Triost World War ended not in military victory or a compromise treaty, but in a popular revolution led by the former Zymiron Argabenton, known as the Duality Prophet Zydar, who led his followers to demand peace by popular nonviolent protests across all seven warring states.

Zydar declared the Zydar Codominium, based on his claimed possession of both a Human and Ancient soul, and his followers quickly seized control of the world's faltering governments. He renamed the world Zydar after himself and withdrew from the Corellan League, which he asserted had done nothing to prevent the suffering of the wars. After the Great Realignment of 931-935, which caused as much suffering and dislocation as the last two World Wars, the world of Zydar experienced a period of stability that led most of the population to at least passively support the new theocratic rule of Zydar and his Disciples.

Zydar, seen by outside observers and part prophet, part pirate, and part con man allegedly still lives, but has not made a personal appearance since his 200th birthday celebration in 1065.

Social Characteristics

After the declaration of the Codominium, the population of Zydar began to grow rapidly, reaching one billion by 980 and stabilizing at eight billion by the end of the eleventh century. The Codominium is a theocracy, with Zydar's Disciples ruling a bureaucratic state that organizes tithes and controls most aspects of daily lives. Economic activity is based on free enterprise principles, but the Codominium is a 10% shareholder or "tithe holder" of all enterprises and is guaranteed a seat on every corporate board.

The people of Zydar spend one day of six in worship and one in rest, but labor the other four days of the week, often for 14 hours of the world's 28 hour days. To the surprise of outside observers, the economy functions with great efficiency, and the technological level of the world, which had lagged seriously during the age of the Triostian World Wars is beginning to catch up to Corellan League levels, with Zydar producing its own fleet of starships.

Visitors are welcome, though expected to observe reverence for Zydar and constantly encouraged to convert to his worship.

Articles

Zydarian Codominium

The Zydar Codominium was proclaimed by the Duality Prophet Zydar in 930 as a breakaway state from the Corellan League after the end of the Third Tirost World War. Zydar, who claims to be a reincarnated Ancient with special knowledge, changed the name of his homeworld and established a religious dictatorship based on the "Codominium" of his Human and Ancient souls. His Star Legion, considered little better than pirates by the League, extracts "tithes" from followers and unbelievers alike, hampering interstellar trade in the region.

History

The Zydar Codominium is the direct result of the efforts of Zydar, born Zymiron Argabenton, and his band of Disciples to end the Third World War on Triost. The forced end of the fighting in 930 was followed by a declaration of independence and the establishment of a theocrat government on Triost, which was renamed Zydar in honor of the prophet. A purge of leadership and reorganization of society known as the Great Realignment of cemented Zydar's control of the world by 935 and spread his control to the outpost of Oquir, renamed Zydoquir, by 936. Oquir had been under control of the former Triostian nation of Kanbarre, and for the next few decades was Zydar's only claim to interstellar statehood.

The establishment of the Star Legion of the Codominium in 962 was followed by its occupation and "voluntary" conversion of Danaria, renamed Zydanar, and Exanos, renamed Zydexnar in 963. The Corellan League reacted poorly to these occupations, but war was averted after Zydar declared his expansion to be complete and signed the Treaty of Nestor in 964, guaranteeing the independence of that Gateway Consortium-controlled system, which remains the main trade conduit to Zydar.

During the course of the eleventh century, the Star Legion, though composed mainly of secondhand converted freighters and natively-constructed jump-1 capable corvette and frigate-sized ships, has caused disruption to trade and traffic in the sparsely traveled Spinward Drift and Ghost Rift subsectors and even into the frontier regions of the Vanguard Reaches and  Touchstone sectors.

A confrontation with the Nakris Confederation, the Zydar-Nakris War of 1032-34, ended with a Nakris Star Force siege of Zydar. The treaty signed by Zydar himself promised permanent withdrawal of Star Legion ships from the Nakris subsector and an end to missionary activity within the Nakris Confederation. Missionary activities in the Corellan League and Hefrin Colony continue, but the conversion rate remains very low.

In 1065 Zydar celebrated his 200th birthday in a Codominium-wide Jubilee. Since that celebration, the Duality Prophet has not been seen in public and his decrees have been announced by his Apostles.

Essentially piratical "tithing" by the Codominium Star Legion led to the withdrawal of the Corellan League Ambassador in 1102 and to skirmishes with the Jarnac Pashalic that may soon lead to war. Zydar has not responded to demands for a curtailment of the Star Legion's activities.

Structure

Zydar is a well-run organized state religion. The Disciples of Zydar, essentially priests, maintain a hierarchical structure of Bishops, Archbishops, and Cardinals, who rule cities, dioceses, and provinces. The Apostles command the central government ministries and form a council which implements the teachings and decrees of Zydar himself, who has remained out of sight since his 200th birthday Jubilee celebrations in 1065.

All citizens are members of the Zydar Codominium faith and contribute a 10% tithe to the church. All businesses have a Disciple as a board member and contribute 10% of their earnings as a tithe. Local taxes and fees are another source of government income, but tax collection and the provision of government services is remarkably efficient, especially given the contradictory and obtuse tenets of Zydar. In contrast, chaotic foreign policy and the seemingly undisciplined actions of the Star Legion lend to an appearance of disarray to outside observers.

Military

The Zydar Codominium's internal security is the purview of local Bishops and Archbishops, who ensure public order with paramilitary Guardians and an extensive public surveillance system. The external security service is the Star Legion, which most observers consider little better than a conglomeration of corsair bands with little standardization in equipment and a loose command structure that is under the theoretical control of the Apostle of the Armada. Star Legion ships range from converted freighters in the 200-5000 ton range to locally built TL 10, jump-1 capable ships in the 100-2000 ton range. Most Star Legion ships are capable of multiple jumps with internal space either permanently allocated as fuel tankage or employing collapsible fuel bladders or fuel/cargo containers. These ships, often deployed in groups of 2-5, enforce "tithes" on commercial vessels travelling far outside the Codominium's borders. Failure to pay results in the seizure of the vessel until payment, plus "storage fees" are paid, essentially holding the vessel and crew for ransom. This has discouraged commerce and development in the region around Zydar for the past several decades and has led to discussions within the Corellan League of launching a "punitive expedition" much as Nakris effectively accomplished during the Zydar-Nakris War.

Relations

Zydar does not have good relationships with its neighbors, mostly as a result of the actions of its Star Legion and the failure of diplomatic efforts to address the problem. The Corellan League has withdrawn its ambassador to Zydar and the Jarnac Pashalic has threatened retaliatory action against Star Legion tithing in the Spinward Drift and Jarnac subsectors. Relations with the Nakris Confederation have been stable since the conclusion of the Zydar-Nakris War, but while Nakris acts as the intermediary between Zydar and the Corellan League in current diplomatic discussions, it is not sympathetic to the Codominium's policies, or lack of policy, in regard to the Star Legion. Zydar has not had formal relations with the Hefrin Colony since a 1036 "tithe collection" at Kuuna led to the Colony signing a protection treaty with the Jarnac Pashalic in the following year. Relations with the Aslan Hierate are nothing more than skirmishes with ihatei to rimward.

Pearl-class Passenger Liner

Kraken Heavy Industries Consortium (KHI) of Lyheric is a major starship manufacturer with a reputation for solid and practical engineering. KHI designs and engine components are famous throughout the Corellan League and provide the basis for much of the advanced starship technology produced on Lyheric and Corella.

The Pearl-class passenger liner is Kraken's answer to the need to provide jump-3 transit between the remote Lyheric Cluster and the remainder of the Corellan League. Based on a 25-meter spherical hull, the Pearl uses advanced KHI-engineered drives and battery technology to optimize performance and is capable of wilderness refueling to pass through such undeveloped systems as Nowhere, Dawn, Healer, and Virtue. The Pearl is also employed by the Gateway Consortium to ease transit across its refueling stations and on to Stormhaven, Nakris and even Zydar.

Favorably comparable in price and performance to the Third Imperium's standard Subsidized Liner design and with the ability to add armament against pirate and ihatei activity, the Pearl-class liner is a common starship within and around the Corellan League. It often carries additional stewards and support personnel on long or luxury voyages, but is capable of supporting up to 24 passengers in relative comfort and transporting an additional 10 in low berths along with more than 100 tons of cargo.

In the decades since its introduction, the Pearl-class has spawned a number of variants, most notable the Marble-class freighter capable of hauling more than 256 tons of cargo, various luxury yacht conversions, and a number of jump-2 capable liners and freighters which sacrifice range for decreased cost and increased revenue-generating capacity.

As it allows for a standardization of shipyard construction berths, the basic 25-meter 600-ton hull shape is common to a number of KHI ship designs for commercial, government, and military use, including the Morningstar-class Assault Corvette.

Morningstar-class Assault Corvette

Based on its standard 25-meter spherical 600-ton hull, the Morningstar-class Assault Corvette is Kraken Heavy Industries' direct answer to the Third Imperium's standard 800-ton Broadsword-class Mercenary Cruiser design. Though it uses 30-ton ship's boats instead of large modular cutters as subordinate craft and packs troops in tighter quarter barracks, the Morningstar matches performance and provides the same basic capabilities as the Broadsword for a lower cost.

While the Corellan League Star Force operates numerous Morningstars, the majority of the vessels are in non-military service as security vehicles for Consortia and Great Houses. Additionally, the Morningstar's advanced sensor capability allows it to act a command vessel for minor League members with limited or no shipbuilding capability, though in many of these cases the more heavily armored jump-2 Mace-class variant is employed.