Biter (world)

Biter/Sword Worlds (Spinward Marches 1526) Milieu 1116 B354623-A Starport B Good: Spacecraft Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 3 Small (4,800 km, 0.24g - 0.34g) Atmosphere 5 Thin Hydrographics 4 Wet World 40% Population 6 Moderate (3 million) Government 2 Participating Democracy Law 3 Low Law (no automatic weapons) Tech Level A Early Stellar (jump drive)
See also	UWP
style="width: 220px; height: 250px;" Jump map from Travellermap.com
System Details
Primary	G7 V M1 V
Worlds	8
Gas Giants	1
Planetoid Belts	0
Cultural Details
Government	Participating democracy
Law Level	Low
Cultural Extension	3927
Army Size (BEs)	15
Economic Details
Technology Level	10
Economic Extension	957+1 Resources 9 Moderate Labor 5 Moderate (300 thousand) Infrastructure 7 Generally available Efficiency +1 Average
Importance Extension	3
Resource Units	315
GWP (BCr)	10
World Trade Number	4
Trade Volume (MCr/year)	2,013
Starport Details
Classification	Class-B
Port Size	4
Building Capacity (Tons)	3,000
Port employees	185
Port passengers (annual)	14,000

Biter is an agricultural world with an ideal environment for producing food from plants, animals, or other forms. The system has a population between 100,000 and 10 million sophonts. It is a member of Sword Worlds Confederation in the Sword Worlds Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector and in the Sword Worlds. This world supports a Sword Worlds Military Base and the system supports a Sword Worlds Naval Base.

Astrography & Planetology

Biter is a member of the Spinward Main.

Biter orbits its primary, Thorin, at a distance of 0.84 AU. Thorin has a companion star named Gondolin.

Binary Solar System

Biter Binary Star System

Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Thorin G7 V	Primary	Main Sequence		0.95	5480 - 5550	0.83567
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0043	0.0758	0.88 - 1.56	0.43	4.3
	Orbit #	*	*	3	1	6
Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Gondolin M1 V	Secondary	Main Sequence		0.5	3620 - 3660	0.08839
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0023	0.0247	0.31 - 0.59	0.23	2.3
	Orbit #	*	*	1	0	5

Mainworld Conditions

Biter was terraformed by the Ancients but was too small to permanently retain its thin atmosphere. As such, the water level is also reducing. At present, Biter has about 40% surface water but it is shallow, surrounded by mineral flats created by evaporation. The air in these low-lying areas is thicker than elsewhere.

Mainworld Topography and Geography

Biter's capital city of Ifningholm is located near the equator on the western edge of the continent of Trakismark, on the shores of the Afnarhav Ocean.

History & Background (Dossier)

383-403 saw a guerrilla war on Biter between the forces of Hofud and the exiled government of Sting.

Biter was once a thriving planet with more than 20 million citizens, but another war with Hofud (Spinward Marches 1524) in 419-439 resulted in depopulation and the destruction of its environment.

Prior to the Fifth Frontier War Biter was a member of the Sword Worlds Confederation. Despite this alliance the Biter system actually contained an Imperial Scout Base supporting the xboat link to the Five Sisters Subsector.

Following the war Biter was occupied and became part of the Imperial Client state known as the Border Worlds Confederation.

Starport (1105)

Biter's starport is small but well run. Unusually, both highport and downport are operated by outside contractors, who pay a proportion of revenue into Biter's coffers. The port is the only major source of income for the government. There is a respectable surplus each year, occasionally used to fund projects around the capital and port.

The people of Biter being tolerant and easygoing compared to most Sword Worlders, in combination with the high proportion of offworld contractors operating the port, means that many Imperial visitors got a misleading impression of the Sword Worlds as a welcoming place when they come through Biter.

Military (1105)

Biter's navy is small, and more than half its personnel are drawn from other worlds. It is little more than a patrol force for local security, although it's augmented by ships assigned by the Sword Worlds Confederation to defend and secure the region.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), 16-17.
• Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches Campaign (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 18-19.
• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 94-100. (UWP only)
• Rob Caswell. "Domain of Deneb: Sector Data." MegaTraveller Journal 3 (1992): 47-58. (UWP only)
• Dave Nilsen. The Regency Sourcebook (Game Designers Workshop, 1995), 44-45. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Behind the Claw (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 72.
• Paul Drye, Hans Rancke-Madsen, Robert Prior. Sword Worlds (Steve Jackson Games, 2004), 64-66.
• Mike West. The Spinward States (Avenger Enterprises, 2008), 109. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty. The Spinward Marches (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
• Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 89-92,96-97. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty. Sword Worlds (Mongoose Publishing, 2020), .