Motmos (world)

Motmos/District 268 (Spinward Marches 1340)

B68468B-5

Starport	B	Good: Spacecraft Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel
Size	6	Medium (9,600 km, 0.60g - 0.81g)
Atmosphere	8	Dense
Hydrographics	4	Wet World 40%
Population	6	Moderate (7 million)
Government	8	Civil Service Bureaucracy
Law	B	Extreme Law (control of movement)
Tech Level	5	Industrial (mass production)

Era: New Era

Motmos has an ideal environment for producing agricultural goods and an balanced population between 10 and 100 million. It is a client state of Regency of Deneb in the Plankwell Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector. This world has a nearby Naval Base, capable of handling warships.

Description (Astrography & Planetology)

No information yet available.

Binary Solar System

Motmos Binary Star System
Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Motmos M2 V	Primary	Main Sequence		0.44	3470 - 3560	0.0565
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0021	0.0197	0.25 - 0.48	0.21	2.1
	Orbit #	*	*	1	0	4
Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Motmos M2 V	Secondary	Main Sequence		0.44	3470 - 3560	0.0565
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0021	0.0197	0.25 - 0.48	0.21	2.1
	Orbit #	*	*	1	0	4

World Data

Motmos stands at the very edge of known space on the border between the Spinward Marches and the unexplored vastness of the Trojan Reaches Sector. It is a resource-rich world that huddles precariously in the narrow habitable zone of the cool red primary star, and would be notably less hospitable if its average temperature was not boosted ever so slightly by the system’s secondary star (a red dwarf). Thus, against the odds, Motmos enjoys a temperate climate that, together with the dense atmosphere, make it a prime agricultural planet. Motmos is also a world of striking beauty with towering mountain ranges, lush valleys, colorful deserts, and a network of small seas and lakes.

History & Background (Dossier)

Motmos was colonized just 14 years after the first full IISS survey of the system was completed in 502. The original 400-plus settlers all belonged to a tiny “back-to-basics” social movement known as the ‘Separatists’ that had recently emerged in the Mora Subsector. Separatist philosophy, which valued the preservation of natural ecosystems above all else, taught that sophonts should live ‘on the land’, raise their own food, and limit industrial and technological development to the minimum necessary to sustain a “modern” civilization. The colonists accordingly created a society based on self-sufficient farming communities, and deliberately “froze” their technology at TL-5 (pre-nuclear, pre-computer, pre-spacefaring), with a strong bias in favor of ‘environmentally friendly’ technologies. They also enacted strict environmental protection laws, prohibited virtually all weapons, and placed severe limits on further immigration.

Today there are about 7 million sophonts on Motmos, the bulk of whom are descendants of the original colonists. Most reside in small farming communities scattered across the principal landmass. The capital, Kinnipac, with a population of approximately 130,000, is the only true city on the planet. It is situated within a few kilometers of the sole starport, which was constructed and is operated by an offworld corporation.

Motmos’ economy revolves around agriculture, and it exports a wide variety of foodstuffs throughout District 268. All manner of crops and livestock flourish on the shores of the lakes and seas in the in the equatorial zone, though inland regions tend to be rocky deserts that blend back into craggy mountains. However, some of the best cereal crops are grown in the temperate zones, where the heavily-forested mountain foothills yield excellent lumber. The planet possesses all of the mineral resources required for the development of an industrial economy, but the inhabitants have deliberately chosen not to exploit them. Moreover, in keeping with Separatist philosophy, primitive telephone and telegraph networks provide the only means of long-distance communication, and transport technology is limited to electric-powered trains and automobiles, sailing vessels with auxiliary steam propulsion, and a handful of propeller-driven aircraft.

The planet is governed by a civil service bureaucracy whose members are selected by competitive examinations that test both their technical skills and their knowledge of Separatist principles. In order to uphold those principles, the government strictly regulates almost every aspect of daily life. Whether its aim is to prevent environmental damage, halt the introduction of prohibited technologies, control population growth, or merely to ensure that Motmos’ exacting agricultural quality control standards are met, the bureaucracy rigidly and inflexibly enforces thousands of pages of highly-detailed rules and regulations. This necessitates a pervasive system of administration and law enforcement that employs large numbers of police and junior bureaucrats distributed in even the smallest settlements. Since many agencies have responsibilities that overlap in confusing and unpredictable ways, navigating one’s way through Motmos’ labyrinthine bureaucracy can be a tedious and highly frustrating experience. The inhabitants do not find this oppressive because they have been inculcated in the doctrines of Separatism since birth.

In 780, Motmos, Tarsus, and Tarkine formed the Ag Worlds Combine, a loose cartel that was designed to halt a spiral of mutually-destructive price competition in the lucrative agricultural export markets of Forine and Collace. It supplies food to much of District 268, which includes many systems (Trexalon, Singer, etc.) whose inhospitable and/or degraded environments made it difficult for them to feed their populations. The Ag Worlds Combine’s headquarters is located on Motmos just outside of Kinnipac.

After Dallia briefly seized control of Tarkine in 840 in order to resolve its food supply problems, the Agworld Ag Worlds Combine became focused on presenting a common front against any future aggression. Since all three members were greatly inferior to any potential aggressor in both population and technology, they resolved to use their control of much of the subsector’s food as a weapon. The Combine accordingly made it known that if one of its members was threatened or invaded, the others would embargo all food exports to the offending system(s). Although the Ag Worlds Combine still technically exists, it was seriously undermined when the Imperium invaded Tarkine in 960 and forcibly replaced its government - which had been covertly backing corsair activity.

Tacking swiftly to catch the shifting winds, Motmos then sought the Imperium’s protection against its more powerful, but food-poor, neighbors. In 963 it officially became a client state and allowed the establishment of an Imperial navy base in the system four years later. The naval base includes a dirtside facility that is located directly adjacent to Kinnipac Starport, a large orbital repair yard/fuel refinery, and smaller facilities (training sites, supply and ammunition depots, early warning stations, etc.) located on half a dozen other lunar and planetary surfaces throughout the Motmos system. The Motmosians themselves are committed pacifists and maintain no armed forces of any kind.

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 Campaign (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), .
Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Tarsus (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), .
Dave Nilsen. The Regency Sourcebook (Game Designers Workshop, 1995), 49.
Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 76.Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Behind the Claw (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 76.
Author & Contributor: Vendarth

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