Sapphyre (world)

Sapphyre/Sapphyre (Dagudashaag 2137) Milieu 1116 A977200-D Starport A Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 9 Large (14,400 km, 1.03g - 1.33g) Atmosphere 7 Standard (tainted) Hydrographics 7 Wet World 70% Population 2 Low (800) Government 0 No Government structure Law 0 No Law Tech Level D Average Stellar (holo data)
See also	UWP
style="width: 220px; height: 250px;" Jump map from Travellermap.com
System Details
Primary	M3 V K0 V
Worlds	15
Gas Giants	4
Planetoid Belts	0
Cultural Details
Government	No government
Law Level	No law
Cultural Extension	1318
Army Size (BEs)	0
Economic Details
Technology Level	13
Economic Extension	811-3 Resources 8 Moderate Labor 1 Low (80) Infrastructure 1 Extremely limited Efficiency -3 Poor
Importance Extension	1
Resource Units	6
GWP (BCr)	0
World Trade Number	3
Trade Volume (MCr/year)	0
Starport Details
Classification	Class-A
Port Size	0
Building Capacity (Tons)	0
Port employees	0
Port passengers (annual)	0

Sapphyre supports a population of fewer than 10,000 sophonts. This is a high technology world with available technology over the standards for Charted Space. It is a member of Third Imperium in the Sapphyre Subsector of Dagudashaag Sector and in the Domain of Vland. Sapphyre, as a member world of the Third Imperium, holds the estate of an Imperial knight, a member of the Imperial Nobility charged with overseeing the world. During the Long Night this world was named Admii.

Astrography and planetology

Sapphyre is a member of the Dagudashaag Main.

The name of the world is truly descriptive, native micro-organisms in the oceans metabolize copper salts dissolved in the water, producing an intense blue color which is beautiful to behold. The metal salt saturated water droplets in the air trigger crippling allergic reactions within a matter of minutes.

Binary Solar System

Sapphyre Binary Star System

Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Sapphyre M3 V	Primary	Main Sequence		0.37	3270 - 3430	0.03081
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0017	0.0146	0.18 - 0.35	0.17	1.7
	Orbit #	*	*	0	0	4
Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Sapphyre K0 V	Secondary	Main Sequence		0.88	5170 - 5270	0.63928
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0038	0.0663	0.78 - 1.4	0.38	3.8
	Orbit #	*	*	3	1	5

Native Lifeforms

Though Sapphyre has a chemistry which is profoundly non-Terran, it is still home to a wide variety of complex lifeforms which have evolved to cope with Sapphyre's metal saturated environment. Some secrete metal compounds into their carapaces which are shed at intervals, while others incorporate metals directly into their skeletal or other body structures.

The most surprising example of this was discovered in the early years of the Third Imperium. Some classes of Sapphyrian fauna have nervous systems consisting of pure metallic fibers carrying modulated electrical signals.

Described by Scout Service biologists as 'organometallic robots,' such life forms are almost unique in Imperial space, and Sapphyrian life is the subject of intense study.

History and background

Sapphyre's small population (around 800) consists entirely of female humans, who own and lease portions of the world for mining. The locals are both immensely wealthy and extremely isolationist. A small group of Imperial officials and a number of Sternmetal Horizons employees serve as the planetary liaisons.

World Starport (St)

Sapphyre has a Class A Starport, an excellent quality installation which includes all the expected amenities including refined fuel for starships, brokerage services for passengers and cargo, and a variety of ship provisions. There is a shipyard capable of doing annual maintenance, overhauls and other kinds of repair, and construction of both starships and non-starships. Most ports of this classification have both a Highport and a Downport.

World Technology Level (T)

Sapphyre possesses a Technology Level of TL–13 or TL-D in Hexadecimal Notation.

• Common Communication technologies for this TL include: Holovideo recorders.
• Common Power Generation technologies for this TL include: Miniature super-batteries, prototype collectors, advanced fusion plants.
• Common Transportation technologies for this TL include:
  • Land, Water & Air: Personal G-Tubes and advanced gravcraft.
  • Space: Advanced interplanetary spacecraft (System Craft).
  • FTL: Jump Drive-4.

World Government (G)

Sapphyre has no central government for the world, an Anarchy. The largest governmental structure would be a family, tribe, or single clan. The largest group will be between 50 and 100 individuals, and there may be dozens to hundreds of them. This governmental structure can be stable over long periods of time if the population remains small or geographically separated.

Historical Data

An all female group of ex-Medurma Pact military personnel, led by Vice-Admiral Madelaine Takachiho of the Pact Space Force, settled the world around -550. She was, apparently, an extreme feminist who resented the 'male domination' of the Pact government and military. She fermented an uprising against the Vlisrikaa family and ruling hierarchy. She, and at least two dozen of her senior staff were sentenced to death for their crimes. They managed to escape in commandeered Space Force auxiliary vehicles. Talachiho's attempted coup is referred to as the "Sapphic Betrayal" and the Vice-Admiral is a figure of hatred among native Medurmans.

The details of the events after Talachiho's flight from Medurma remain unclear, but Pact and Aakhri Empire archives suggest her band took up piracy to survive. They managed to capture cyrogenic gamete storage systems from an Aakhri colonization vessel, which gave them the means to have children. As commerce trading was becoming too dangerous, Talachiho decided to establish a settlement on Sapphyre, well away from patrol routes.

Through a combination of sperm genoselection and infanticide the 'Takans' have managed to maintain an all-female population to the present day. Since the discovery of Sapphyre's immense heavy metal resources in the early 300s, and the world's designation as the duchy capital in 498, the Takans have become immensely wealthy through grants of land to Sternmetal Horizons and the Imperial government. Though most have left Sapphyre for more comfortable and pleasant worlds, perhaps a hundred Takans still make their homes on the world, living in complete seclusion on private estates and only dealing with outsiders through comlinks or S'mrii-designed robots.

Visitors to Sapphyre should note the terms of the Takan land grants prohibit anyone except from representatives of the Imperial Government from permanent residence on world. Imperial corporations usually rotate their work force on and off planet on a six to twelve month cycle. Sapphyrian habitation complexes tend to be as modular as possible so they may be rearranged to suit the tastes of the new arrivals with little fuss.

References and contributors

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.

• Jae Campbell. "Library Data: Sapphyre." Signal-GK 07 (1993): 16-17.
• Marc Miller. First Survey (Imperium Games, 1996), 84.
• Jae Campbell. Encyclopaedia Dagudashaag (Signal-GK, 2017), 303-304.