Serk (world)

Serk/Khouth (Corridor 0304)
Milieu 0	B89AA99-9 Starport B Good: Spacecraft Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 8 Large (12,800 km, 0.80g - 1.08g) Atmosphere 9 Dense (tainted) Hydrographics A Water World 100% Population A High (60 billion) Government 9 Impersonal Bureaucracy Law 9 High Law (no weapons out of home) Tech Level 9 Early Stellar (fusion)
Classic Era (1116)	B89A866-C Starport B Good: Spacecraft Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 8 Large (12,800 km, 0.80g - 1.08g) Atmosphere 9 Dense (tainted) Hydrographics A Water World 100% Population 8 Moderate (700 million) Government 6 Captive Government/Colony Law 6 Moderate Law (no firearms except shotguns) Tech Level C Average Stellar (robots)
New Era (1200)	X89A851-4 Starport X No Starport Size 8 Large (12,800 km, 0.80g - 1.08g) Atmosphere 9 Dense (tainted) Hydrographics A Water World 100% Population 8 Moderate (500 million) Government 5 Feudal Technocracy Law 1 Low Law (no explosives, poison gas) Tech Level 4 Industrial (combustion)
See also	UWP
System Details
Primary	M2 V
Planetoid Belts	2
Gas Giants	3

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Serk is a preindustrial, moderate population water world with over a hundred million, but not yet at a billion sophonts in population size.

• Its surface is 90% or more covered in an ocean of water.
• The inhabitants of this world live on the roughly 10% of exposed land mass, in underwater colonies, on city ships, or similar arrangements.
• As a preindustrial world, this planet cannot yet manufacture enough high-technology resources to support a modern, star-faring society. Having to import most manufactured and high tech goods drives the price up for these items at this world.
• This world toils under the control of a military government with conditions reflecting that situation including curtailed civil rights and limited freedoms.
• It is a member of the Third Imperium in the Khouth Subsector of Corridor Sector in the Domain of Vland.
• This world has a nearby Imperial Naval Base, capable of handling warships.

Description (Planetology)

No information yet available.

Starport

Imperial

This planet has a Highport

Post-Imperial

The Highport was destroyed by Virus in 1138

History & Background (Dossier)

History

Pre-Imperial

During the Long Night this world was named Gase A and was one of the largest populations found in Corridor Sector by the imperium.

Early-Imperial

Serk is a rare case of interspecies mixing, though not an encouraging one of harmony. The world is evenly populated by both human and Vargr, the latter a holdover community from the ancient Vargr Campaigns. Serk was taken in a brutal orbital assault by the Imperial Marines in 379, and their not so tender occupation tactics killed millions of civilians. Vargr resentment was denied easy Imperial government targets for reprisal, and the survivors had to content themselves with atrocities committed against newly arrived Imperial colonists. After the Imperial government pulled out in 480, civil war was just barely averted, and the subsector government imposed a new colonial government funded by the worlds extensive mineral resources.

To its credit the planetary governor was generally evenhanded in its treatment of both sides. "A left hook for the monkeys, and a right haymaker for the puppies," the locals liked to say. Selective suppression of local extremists on both sides improved the local peace enough for the world to reenter the interstellar community, but this deepened the sense of separation between each side. The human population prized education in hopes of succeeding in Imperial commerce, and eventually the minority came to dominate the world economically. The Vargr continued to outbreed the humans, but were content to stick to themselves, though migration fluctuations meant that a number of mixed population mining domes were built.

Rebellion

When the Dzarrgh Federate took the world in 1117, they were welcomed jubilantly by the local Vargr, but discovered that their comrades mattered little in the local economy. After some face-saving measures were taken by the new Federate planetary governor, the economy and all of its attendant power was left in the hands of the human business community. The low amount of damage inflicted upon the local military by the invaders gave the humans disproportionate firepower over their rivals, and Corridor was witness to the bizarre case of the human dominated Domain of Deneb providing material support to Vargr resistance fighters against a Pro-Vargr human government. Extensive infiltration attempts by the Denebians led to the creation of a first rate planetary defence shield consisting of high tech long range sensors, PADs and a pair of TL14 deep meson guns.

New Era

Unlike most worlds of the Federate, the locals took the Denebian's warnings of Virus very seriously. When the local government learned that the Denebians were pulling out of the subsector as fast as they could, they reached a quid pro quo with the resistance groups, and began preparing for the eventuality of Vampire attack. Supplies were stockpiled, and some of the citizenry were evacuated to the Regency as an additional precaution. The Federate was too busy elsewhere to notice that their control over the world had been abrogated, or that their ships were being restricted from landing or refueling on the surface. Virus hit in 1138 in the form of a large Vampire fleet from trailing, and the worlds extensive defences were able to limit the damage they inflicted.

Repeated attacks have slowly worn down the world's ability to defend itself, but the world has fared better than most of its neighbours. The various human and Vargr communities have fragmented into feuding nations built around surviving and overcrowded domes. The worlds remaining defences have been centralized, however, under the auspices of an organization known as the Skyguard, who have managed to keep the worlds sensors and deep sites operational enough to deter large scale attacks from trailing or core. Sine the 1180s some contact has been maintained by the Skyguard with Regency affiliated free traders, the latter being able to supply essential spare parts for the meson guns.

With the exception of the Skyguard, however, the world has fallen into near anarchy, with constant struggle between the local nations for control over food supplies and surviving power plants. The Skyguard has heard of the impending reopening of the Regency Frontier, and has contacted interested mercenary groups in hope of putting together a force that will allow for reunification of the world.

Local Nobility

Serk, as a member world of the Third Imperium, holds the estates of three members of the Imperial Nobility, who are charged with overseeing the world.

• It holds the estate of an Imperial knight.
• It holds the fiefdom of an Imperial marquis.
• It holds the fiefdom of an Imperial viscount.

Culture

Gase A was the original home for the martial art of Khi Aalik.

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.

• T4 First Survey
• Peter Gray - TNE RCES