Pequan (SM 1210) (world)
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| See also | UWP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jump map from Travellermap.com [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary | K5 V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Worlds | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gas Giants | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Planetoid Belts | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cultural Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Non-charismatic dictatorship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Law Level | High | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cultural Extension | 7565 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Army Size (BEs) | 100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Economic Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology Level | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Economic Extension | 853+1
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| Importance Extension | -1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resource Units | 120 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GWP (BCr) | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Trade Number | 2.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trade Volume (MCr/year) | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Starport Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Class-E | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Port Size | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Building Capacity (Tons) | 7,700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Port employees | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Port passengers (annual) | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pequan is a rich and agricultural production world with a shirt-sleeve atmosphere and a balance of available surface water. The system supports a population in the millions of sophonts, lacking the industrial base to be completely self-supporting. This world is designated an Amber Zone with an environment, laws, customs, life forms, or other conditions make it dangerous to visitors. It is a Human dominated Non-Aligned world in the Jewell Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector.
Astrography & Planetology[edit]
Pequan is a member of the Spinward Main.
Monostellar System[edit]
Pequan (SM 1210) Monostellar System Star Name Hierarchy Category Mass (Sol) Temp (K) Luminosity (Sol) Pequan (SM 1210) K5 V
Primary Main Sequence 0.7 4300 - 4440 0.28697 Unit Diameter Min Distance Hab Zone Jump Shadow M-Drive Limit AU 0.0033 0.0444 0.56 - 1.01 0.33 3.3 Orbit # * * 2 1 5 Remarks None
IISS GURPS Astrographics Survey[edit]
1210 Pequan (Federation of Arden)
Starport: Class I.
Diameter: 4,868 miles (7,800 km).
Atmosphere: Standard oxygen-nitrogen.
Hydrographics: 48%.
Climate: Normal.
Population: 7.653 million.
Government: Dictatorship (unpopular).
Control Level: 5.
Tech Level: 5.
World Trade Number: 2.5.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
The system lies in the neutral space between the Third Imperium and the Zhodani Consulate, but is itself Non-Aligned.
History & Culture[edit]
Beyond the Imperial/Regency border, Pequan lies at the rimward edge of the Jewell Subsector. Pequan's major interest to the outside universe is its status as the primary supplier of agricultural products in the Federation of Arden, and the site of a rather ugly insurgency against the ruling government.
Pequan was believed to have been initially settled by Daryen colonists travelling in sublight starships circa -1800. The colony failed sometime afterwards, for reasons that have never been determined. The only remaining legacies of Daryen settlement are the colony ruins in the southern hemisphere, and the Daryen nomenclature of system contents in some charts.
The next wave of settlement took place around 100, when a group of agrarian colonists from the Massila Sector established a colony on the Armament Islands. The colony has never been a member of the Imperium, and was largely bypassed by the ebb and flow of events in the Spinward Marches. The Zhodani Consulate attempted to subvert the world into its sphere of influence before the Third Frontier War, but these overtures were subsequently rejected. Pequan did not assume any importance on the galactic stage until after the Fifth Frontier War. During the peace talks that concluded the war, Pequan's government refused to become a part of the Federation of Arden.
Pequan's ruling council of landowners was overthrown after a civil war in 1124. The new rulers nationalised all major land and industrial holdings, and set out to build their version of the worker's state. The unseated rulers fought back, initially without success. They enlisted aid from the Federation of Arden, and after much bloody fighting, toppled the Pequan Worker's Party in 1130. The Federation annexed Pequan, but reinstated the landowners as the ruling class on the world. They continue to rule today, despite a continued guerilla and terrorist campaign by the PWP aimed at their overthrow. Local military forces are re-inforced by Arden Army and mercenary units.
An automated beacon provides navigational information for starships jumping into the Pequan system. This is one of the few concessions to space travel provided by the Pequani, starport facilities are primitive. The Arden Federal Navy conducts irregular sweeps of the system, but travellers are advised to look to their own defenses - piracy is not unheard of, and the Arden Navy is rather inneffectual.
Pequan Starport (...a facility hardly deserving of the title) is located on Black Powder island, on the southernmost tip of the Armament Archipelago. There are no repair or refueling facilities at the starport - refueling is performed by skimming fuel from the adjacent ocean. The landing pad consists of two hectares of cleared and packed dirt. A customs and administration building provides the government representation. The other buildings include representative offices for merchant concerns, barracks for the starport security contingent and a small bar (the 'Pequan Down'). Starport security is handled by government troops armed for the most part with indigenous TL–4 weaponry. On landing, the starport security personnel will conduct a search of arriving starships, aimed primarily at heading off the steady inflow of arms sold to the PWP rebels.
Travellers should note that the Regency Credit is not legal tender on Pequan. The local currency is the Ardeni Scrip, officially valued at 0.32 Cr. The black market exchange rate is more accurate: one Regency Credit will currently buy 6 Scrip. Dealing in Regency scrip outside the starport compound is illegal, and punishable by a lengthy prison term. Nonetheless, the Credit is popular with the locals. The carriage of any form of weaponry outside the compound is also illegal - and can be punishable by death.
Merchants seeking to do business on Pequan really don't need to leave the starport area. The co-operative offices routinely arrange the sale and transshipment of cargo, and are easier to deal with than most government officials, who have a dislike of foreigners.
The Pequan Air Transport Corporation maintains a weekly air service between the starport and the capital city on Six Pounder Island (400 km northeast of Black Powder Island). The aircraft lands and departs from a grassed airstrip at the edge of the starport compound. The ride takes about 100 minutes, and costs AS500 (Cr 160). Travellers are advised to swallow their pride and take the airplane - local authorities have an intense dislike for privately operated grav vehicles, mainly due to their risk to local security. Local and Arden military patrols have been known to 'confiscate' vehicles.
As the aircraft descends towards Pequan City Commercial Airfield, one can't help but notice the generally decrepit state of the city. Pequan City (pop. 115,000) is the capital and administrative centre of Pequan, and is also a centre for what manufacturing industries exist on this non-industrialized world. On most days, a dirty haze hangs over the city, pollution caused mainly by coal burning and the exhaust from petroleum-fuelled ground cars. The city still bears the scars of the civil wars that swept then toppled the PWP, many buildings are only roughly patched or repaired. A rail service links the airfield to the city centre, some 8 kilometers distant.
Don't expect to be welcomed with open arms. The locals are wary of outsiders, an attitude enforced by officialdom. In the cities especially, the government keeps a close eye on its subjects, and an even closer eye on offworlders. Before you leave the airfield, you will have picked up a 'tail' - an operative from the Bureau of Internal Affairs assigned to keep watch on your movements. Despite the Federation's reputation as 'neutral ground' for offworlders, the local rulers have a deep distrust of offworlders, especially those from the Regency.
The local law level is harsh, banning weapons outside the home, and all firearms and energy weapons. An active paramilitary police force patrols the streets of every major town. Its members are armed (with TL–4 equipment), if not particularly well trained. The police have wide reaching powers, including the ability to arbitrarily arrest individuals and hold them without trial indefinitely. These powers are exercised regularly in the face of continued acts of sabotage and terrorism by the PWP. Corruption in the legal and judicial system is endemic.
The government's control of the countryside is less secure, and some 'outback' areas are effectively controlled by the rebels. Irregular sweeps are made by government security forces, backed by offworld aircraft and heavy weaponry when possible - these sweeps generally do little more than further embitter an already impoverished peasantry, although they are occasionally ambushed by rebel irregular forces. Offworlders are advised to stay away from the countryside - hostage taking by rebel forces is not unknown. If it were a member if the Regency, Pequan would probably be occupied by Regency peacekeepers, or at the very least declared an Amber Zone.
Still, Pequan does offer some opportunity - gun running to the rebels can be a lucrative, if risky trade. In the authors opinion, the potential for loss outweighs that for profit, and there are many less potentially fatal ways for a traveller to make a quick credit.
History-Era: Rebellion[edit]
Following the Fifth Frontier War Pequan was absorbed by the expansionist Federation of Arden.
History-Era: Milieu 1120[edit]
Between the end of the Fifth Frontier War and 1120, Pequan was claimed the Federation of Arden. Federation agents are suspected to have engineered the decline in popularity of the planetary government.
References[edit]
- Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), 12-13.
- 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), 37. (UWP only)
- Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Behind the Claw (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 59.
- Mike West. The Spinward States (Avenger Enterprises, 2008), 99. (UWP only)
- Martin Dougherty. The Spinward Marches (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
- Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 32. (UWP only)
- Martin Dougherty. Showing the Sunburst (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 10.
- Michael Bailey - Rice Paper SM-1006
- ↑ "Jump Map API" and map location from Travellermap.com