Solomani Preserve
The Solomani Preserve is a mostly Solomani enclave in, and dominating, Zhiaqrqiats Sector.
- It is an isolated polity and interstellar government.
Description (Specifications)
Society & Culture: While the Preserve does not have nobility like the Third Imperium, it has more informal high society like any polity. Social mobility is somewhat easier.
Widespread availability of natural anagathics from Anagathica is the most notable difference. While not everyone can (or wishes to) take advantage, many do; for the poor, accumulating enough income to afford this is a common lifelong goal. Pensions (most commonly in the form of managed investments) are the most common way to pay for anagathics. Non-age-related reasons are the top causes of mortality. As of 1105, the oldest known citizen is 547 years old, though there are rumors of older people who have shed former identities - with name, face, and sometimes further changes - in order to distance themselves from past misdeeds. A popular legend is of a dedicated government servant, who was among the original crew of the Phoenix 2800, who "dies" every few centuries in order to absorb and resolve public anger at this or that necessary government action.
A typical life path is 18-22 years of education, 20-40 years of initial career, a retirement of typically no more than 4 years (if any significant time at all), then a series of 4-40 year additional careers. These extra careers turn out to be medically necessary: while the products of Anagathica can keep a body from aging, an idle mind eventually rots (not to mention the social isolation of doing nothing all day every day); if not corrected, this eventually causes body shutdown: the individual falls asleep as usual, but instead of the expected sleep cycle, neural activity reduces below a critical threshold and the heart stops. That said, with pensions paying for anagathics and other basic needs, these additional careers often take forms other than standard employment; the main "pay" is the life-sustaining mental stimulus of challenge and learning, and those individuals with the discipline to maintain these without employment find other options available.
Many governments in the Preserve take advantage of this by not paying elected officials. which effectively locks out most people under 60 from running for office. It is considered rude to point out that the resulting cultural stagnation mirrors the First Imperium far more closely than anything the Third Imperium ever imposed on Terra, though few in the Preserve have enough information about the Third Imperium to do so.
History & Background (Dossier)
Flight of the Phoenix 2800: The 5 year voyage of the Phoenix 2800, and the ships it acquired for its fleet, is a well known Galaxiad sequence. As the Second Imperium lay dying, some Solomani grew fearful that the Vilani would seek to re-establish the First Imperium (which technically happened by means of the Third Imperium, though only after the Long Night, and rather than the Vilani-dominant culture envisioned, would see a thorough blend of Vilani and Solomani inheritances, both culturally and biologically). In response, they hatched an ultimately successful plan to establish a colony on the far side of the Vargr Extents, using them as a shield to keep the Solomani and their descendants safe from conquest. (They knew there had been previous Solomani expeditions rimward, and feared the Vilani would start seeking them out. Coreward, they trusted the Vargr Extents to stop such actions - and planned to add some distance to shield them from the Vargr Extents to boot; given the Vargr Pillaging, they suspected that most vargr expansion would be into territory the Imperiums contested. Spinward there were more colonies, and trailing were the even less trustworthy hivers and k'kree.) Starting with just a single ship and several thousand people, they traded, hauled passengers and freight, and went on several adventures to keep themselves in maintenance and, more importantly, grow their fleet. While exact census records fell by the wayside, it is estimated their fleet had grown to over a hundred thousand people by the time they founded Havensmith.
That they were able to get a few thousand colonists and a single ship to start out was a small miracle of fortuitous timing: their voyage started in -1690, when the Rim Province was forced to decommission most of their already trimmed fleet due to severe budget shortfalls. Among the decommissioned ships were the Phoenix 2800, a mobile manufacturing ship that the colonists would spend much of the early part of the voyage fitting out with low berths and equipment for their new colony, the Surfing Lighthouse, an observatory ship that would prove critical to safe navigation, and the Secure Rapid Arrival (usually just called S.R.A.), an armed cargo ship. As with all ventures of this size and nature, it had less of a true start date than a slow agglomeration of resources over time: by the time the Rim Province formally released these three ships to the colonists, negotiations had been taking place for over a year, ever since it became apparent that the Rim Province would soon need to release part of its fleet. The deal was mostly verbal, and not recorded other than the final formal release of ships, but early captain's logs state that the terms were, "Promise to make good use of these ships and take care of their maintenance, and you can have them." That said, the formal start is almost always designated as the launch of the Phoenix 2800 from Terra with its colonists in late -1690; while the other two ships were waiting at Flanders, legends note that the fleet had but a single ship for its first few jumps, since title transfer for the other two ships did not happen (and thus, the other two ships were technically not yet colonist property) until the colonists reached Flanders.
While many who have barely heard of the Phoenix 2800 concentrate their attentions on the many dangerous jumps through the Vargr Extents during (technically just after) the Vargr Pillaging, in truth that is less than half of the trip, and in some ways the more boring part. By the time they hit vargr space, they had already spent over two years powering through from nearly the rimward extent of the Second Imperium to the coreward side, then Corridor and Deneb sectors to boot. They could and did speak and trade with human populations; with the vargr, exposure risked being shot on sight, so much effort went into avoiding interaction.
Still, the entire trip was a heroic adventure, so it is no surprise to see mostly-accurate representations in the Galaxiad. The most glaring difference, according to historians, usually lies in what happened during the jumps and at most systems, where no specific adventures occurred (whether in human or vargr space). This, by definition, accounts for the vast majority of the time the colonists spent. The Galaxiad depictions tend to gloss over this: wilderness refueling is wilderness refueling, and the fleet just knew which way to go. Historical accounts lay bare that lie.
During most jumps in the Vargr Extents (between Taekhoengsegzo and Thaethouvu), the command ship Surfing Lighthouse (having been given command from the Phoenix 2800 at Taekhoengsegzo, and surrendering it back when it stayed behind to work on Voidbridge 1) was abuzz with sophontologists, astrogators, and other specialists wringing every possible clue from what deep space data they got during their last refueling stop in order to detect lack of gas giants, likely fortifications or high volume of patrols, and other conditions that would make jumping into a given system extremely dangerous. The other ships entrusted their astrogation - and with it, their very lives - to these people; there are many recorded instances of captains of these other ships leading actual prayer sessions directed at the command ship's astrogators. Even in human space, many of the jumps were into systems with low or no population, to avoid attention - especially in the immediate aftermath of the "raid" on Vland, when the colony fleet incorrectly thought they would soon be pursued by warships bent on recapturing the rescued solomani prisoners (who had merely been exiled from Vland, and were waiting for the bureaucracy to decide where to exile them to).
Refueling, too, was a buzz of activity. The first actions were to make sure everyone made it (fortunately, only one misjump happened during the entire migration - commonly known as Phi's Betrayal - and that only after leaving the Vargr Extents), then to see if they were detected (they almost never were; the few exceptions are well known and documented) as they set up in stationary orbit on the dark side of the gas giant they had targeted, then for any ship that could to gather unrefined fuel and deliver it for processing. This processing was largely automated but took the bulk of their time between jumps. While this processing happened, fleet communications were opened up (always tightbeam), crew transfers happened as needed, and occasionally nearby asteroids were surveyed, with any mineral-rich ones swallowed whole for processing during the next jump. All this time, sensor crews across the fleet would scramble to gobble up every bit of data about systems on their projected path (and alternate paths, just in case).
Very rarely do Galaxiad representations detail any of this. Many presume psychic navigators who just knew what the safest routes were, and if they detail the refueling at all, most often show it as a kind of party (to be fair, there was a celebratory aspect each time the fleet broke out of jumpspace and could once more see each other). To be clear, while none of the navigators had been tested for psychic potential, none were historically noted to have displayed it, and in any case interstellar range clairvoyance was unknown in Charted Space at the time.
Route of the Phoenix 2800
World | Sector/Hex | Notes |
Terra | Solomani Rim 1827 | started with one underpopulated colony ship, the Phoenix 2800 |
Agidda | Solomani Rim 1824 | acquired colonists, near-filling low berth capacity, started making more low berths |
Apishal | Solomani Rim 1622 | |
Tyudhuar | Solomani Rim 1619 | |
Flanders | Solomani Rim 1517 | acquired Surfing Lighthouse and Secure Rapid Arrival w/some colonists |
Hieronymus | Solomani Rim 1316 | uninhabited at the time |
Boskone | Solomani Rim 1214 | |
Alphanor | Solomani Rim 0914 | acquired colonists |
Anacreon | Solomani Rim 0912 | |
Quaver | Solomani Rim 1110 | uninhabited at the time |
Ascalon | Solomani Rim 1207 | acquired colonists, transported some families to Biggles |
Biggles | Solomani Rim 1205 | arriving families bought fuel as payment for transport; acquired colonists, near-filling current fleet capacity |
Sase | Solomani Rim 1202 | |
Dawns | Diaspora 1340 | |
Usheriima | Diaspora 1138 | |
Cole | Diaspora 1035 | |
Frey | Diaspora 1133 | acquired empty colony ships from migrants to Frey, transitioned from 3 ships to substantial fleet |
Chicago | Diaspora 1331 | |
Hammett | Diaspora 1328 | |
Iusea | Diaspora 1325 | acquired colonists |
Wellun | Diaspora 1124 | |
Gegaasha | Diaspora 1021 | |
Millo | Diaspora 0819 | recorded drill of "just passing through" w/no interaction with locals |
Vaasa | Diaspora 0617 | |
Gai | Diaspora 0515 | |
Ferry | Diaspora 0512 | acquired colony ships w/colonists |
Vita Levu | Diaspora 0410 | |
Soyuz | Diaspora 0209 | acquired colonists, refitted manufacturing equipment |
Isaasakhur | Diaspora 0407 | |
Jae Mona | Diaspora 0306 | |
Jumar | Diaspora 0303 | |
Sarabin | Massilia 0240 | |
Ermi | Zarushagar 3139 | acquired colonists; some Darmine were accepted |
Kees | Zarushagar 3037 | acquired colony ships w/colonists; voted to stop acquiring more ships for a while |
Cold Heart | Zarushagar 2935 | |
Qisoy | Zarushagar 2832 | |
Irap | Zarushagar 2630 | acquired colonists; some Darmine were accepted |
Pora | Zarushagar 2528 | |
Hentier | Zarushagar 2426 | |
Reunder | Zarushagar 2225 | |
Clavert | Zarushagar 2222 | |
Cesall | Zarushagar 2321 | |
Serenity | Zarushagar 2119 | |
Port Artemus | Zarushagar 2216 | |
Nahsora | Zarushagar 2115 | |
Birmingham | Zarushagar 2112 | |
Westminster | Zarushagar 2009 | |
Compunccioun | Zarushagar 1907 | |
Al Mansur | Zarushagar 1904 | |
Wilson's World | Zarushagar 2001 | |
Uki | Dagudashaag 1839 | |
Irrii | Dagudashaag 1737 | |
Sh'si | Dagudashaag 1635 | maintenance overhaul; learned of a large group of prisoners on Vland awaiting some unclear fate; decided to "recruit" said prisoners as colonists |
Miir | Dagudashaag 1534 | |
Gaesh | Dagudashaag 1631 | |
Vipac | Dagudashaag 1930 | |
Junivaar | Dagudashaag 1927 | bought fuel |
Zukalis | Dagudashaag 1625 | unoccupied at the time |
Omegindus | Dagudashaag 1424 | |
Khiishpur | Dagudashaag 1323 | |
Nakharpii | Dagudashaag 1420 | unoccupied at the time |
Nafud | Dagudashaag 1418 | |
Adele | Dagudashaag 1516 | |
Nguma | Dagudashaag 1613 | |
Cimmeria | Dagudashaag 1511 | |
Imgaa | Dagudashaag 1409 | |
Bastion | Dagudashaag 1507 | bought fuel; offloaded some colonists |
Liikirba | Dagudashaag 1705 | |
Kemnagii | Dagudashaag 1904 | |
Imga | Dagudashaag 1901 | irony of mainworld names noted |
Zolo | Vland 2139 | |
Gaarid | Vland 2236 | |
Segikin | Vland 2233 | forced to accept colonists |
Zaakkusham | Vland 2332 | |
Irgar | Vland 2429 | |
Zikurag | Vland 2227 | |
Shib | Vland 2125 | bought fuel; gained intel on Vland |
Karfir | Vland 1825 | recruited ships & troops to help with plans for Vland |
Kalimgar | Vland 1725 | further recruitment, with blessings from Karfir |
Asanik | Vland 1722 | |
Sazisi | Vland 1719 | |
Vland | Vland 1717 | "rescued" prisoners awaiting exile/recruited colonists |
Luunbu | Vland 1515 | bought fuel so as to jump again quickly; arrivals start being on alert, in case word from Vland caught up (they did not know Vland had not sent pursuit) |
Karka | Vland 1412 | |
Gagzoe | Vland 1211 | |
Suragginsu | Vland 1109 | |
Kunumi | Vland 0807 | |
Arfaan | Vland 0508 | |
Lankhi | Vland 0208 | |
Gerbetord | Corridor 3207 | to pass base, claimed to be a colonization fleet heading to unspecified spinward destination, promised to check in at Treedisk |
Twophur | Corridor 2908 | |
Brytsee | Corridor 2710 | |
Treedisk | Corridor 2409 | presented documentation of claim from Gerbetord; non-alert arrivals resumed |
Amwaz | Corridor 2109 | purchased fuel |
Munhofen | Corridor 1810 | |
Veu Belle | Corridor 1609 | |
Xinox | Corridor 1408 | |
Shushaka | Corridor 1109 | requested to assist Antra evacuation |
Bersha | Corridor 0807 | acquired partial charts of Gvurrdon and Tuglikki from droyne ship |
Aka Gee | Corridor 0605 | |
Sigma 7 | Corridor 0407 | |
Pergzitt | Corridor 0209 | |
Olokono | Deneb 3110 | |
Tensas | Deneb 2810 | |
Niven | Deneb 2512 | |
Mazirbe | Deneb 2210 | uninhabited at the time |
Bangwe | Deneb 2109 | |
Antra | Deneb 1808 | evacuated several colonists and ships; system would fall to vargr within a few decades |
Yef | Deneb 1606 | |
Lome | Deneb 1306 | |
Kamisaraki | Deneb 1006 | checked in to let off any evacuees not wishing to continue; almost all stayed with the fleet |
Jode | Deneb 0805 | last purchased fuel; dumped all remaining Second Imperium currency to buy parts and supplies |
Carmel | Deneb 0604 | |
Spectre | Deneb 0503 | last human world |
Marz | Deneb 0201 | uninhabited at the time |
Rugbird | Spinward Marches 3102 | uninhabited at the time; last non-alert arrival, save for known uninhabited systems, until after Thaethouvu |
Rruthaekuksu | Gvurrdon 2840 | |
Ksunekso | Gvurrdon 2540 | |
Torrknungazarr | Gvurrdon 2537 | uninhabited at the time; resupply |
Vakunggvoruego | Gvurrdon 2634 | |
Oegaeldu | Gvurrdon 2832 | |
Taekhoengsegzo | Gvurrdon 2830 | uninhabited at the time; resupply, consider staying, realize they need to go all the way; transitioned command from Phoenix 2800 to Surfing Lighthouse |
Ungrughz | Gvurrdon 3029 | |
Ogzang | Tuglikki 0128 | |
Az Outs | Tuglikki 0226 | |
Aengin | Tuglikki 0424 | |
Oersung | Tuglikki 0522 | |
Kugoerr | Tuglikki 0419 | |
Uel Dathkoeng | Tuglikki 0617 | |
Khoergh | Tuglikki 0516 | |
Alldhouzae | Tuglikki 0414 | |
Aeg Gzou | Tuglikki 0212 | |
Odhonandon | Tuglikki 0210 | |
Fa Gegdha | Tuglikki 0109 | |
Ozago | Gvurrdon 3107 | |
Ukokhuvoen | Gvurrdon 2806 | |
Uerkfadzigue | Gvurrdon 2507 | |
Gaengour | Gvurrdon 2404 | |
Karrksinarka | Gvurrdon 2302 | |
Vorroeng | Gvurrdon 2101 | |
Saenrae | Knoellighz 2038 | |
Dhognodozelldzours | Knoellighz 2036 | |
Errkhe | Knoellighz 1834 | |
Rriuerak | Knoellighz 1831 | |
Ksoo | Knoellighz 1829 | built collapsable drop tanks |
Nouon | Knoellighz 1927 | |
Ghokhougaks | Knoellighz 1924 | |
Ghurrakhalorr | Knoellighz 2222 | used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
Knoellighz 2219 | arrived with full fuel tanks, jumped soon after arrival | |
Odaefidae | Knoellighz 2216 | |
Guigzdhaell | Knoellighz 1916 | |
Oor | Knoellighz 1714 | |
Ngokhirraang | Knoellighz 1811 | |
Rarrllundazrruz | Knoellighz 1910 | |
Tsoggandzous | Knoellighz 1708 | |
Llaerrghorr | Knoellighz 1705 | |
Oaezogzueks | Knoellighz 1504 | |
Aaghzkhagzarrsoukh | Knoellighz 1702 | |
Knarzuenfong | Knoellighz 1901 | |
Easououdhue | Ghoekhnael 2039 | |
Kfoangthuell | Ghoekhnael 2338 | |
Angaegoeng | Ghoekhnael 2436 | |
Aeragzgvoun | Ghoekhnael 2534 | |
Nguearrgor | Ghoekhnael 2834 | |
Ovae | Ghoekhnael 2932 | |
Thaekhver | Ghoekhnael 3130 | |
Ghoudoukeng | Ghoekhnael 3228 | |
Ghuergnogzu | Ksinanirz 0227 | |
Kheduzksuzuk | Ksinanirz 0330 | |
Tuedukhsaghz | Ksinanirz 0631 | |
Thaethouvu | Ksinanirz 0829 | contacted by Gvegh, directed to Kechk; resumed non-alert arrivals |
Kasakhe | Ksinanirz 0928 | |
Ghueaae | Ksinanirz 1126 | built and used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
Ksinanirz 1123 | arrived with full fuel tanks, jumped soon after arrival | |
Thoudzanang | Ksinanirz 1121 | |
Ksauelloeae | Ksinanirz 1319 | |
Roeagha | Ksinanirz 1517 | made contact w/Kechk, directed to Aedzaue |
Kaethoukue | Ksinanirz 1514 | |
Aekfuezarr | Ksinanirz 1511 | |
Rrozuetsae | Ksinanirz 1508 | |
Aedzaue | Ksinanirz 1406 | extensive contact, helped spawn Kechk Reversion |
Tsoeghours | Ksinanirz 1506 | running away, resuming alert arrivals; faked a claim of heading to Gnughenangi/Ksinanirz 1707 |
Aeghaedhi | Ksinanirz 1806 | |
Thouirru | Ksinanirz 1803 | |
Irtaek | Ksinanirz 1703 | |
Oukegaeguerr | Ksinanirz 1501 | built and used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
Kiden | Zhiaqrqiats 1739 | hopped in just long enough to say goodbye to Vargr space |
Zhiaqrqiats 1736 | back to non-alert arrivals, after confirmation there were no more vargr ahead | |
Zhiaqrqiats 1934 | ||
Zhiaqrqiats 1932 | water refuelling finally allowed; Phi misjumped leaving this system | |
Zhiaqrqiats 2130 | ||
Zhiaqrqiats 2127 | ||
Zhiaqrqiats 2124 | ||
Zhiaqrqiats 2323 | ||
Zhiaqrqiats 2321 | built and used drop tanks to initiate double-jump | |
Voidbridge 1 | Zhiaqrqiats 2318 | Surfing Lighthouse stayed behind to begin work on experimental jump bridge, in case anyone wanted to come back; command transferred back to Phoenix 2800 |
Havensmith | Zhiaqrqiats 2315 | founded Havensmith |
Grand Survey of the Preserve
Upon arrival in -1685, almost all of the colonists were quite happy to swear off further jump travel for life. They had endured for years (even if the majority had done so in cold sleep), and had finally reached the rough paradise they had hoped for. The early years on Havensmith are familiar to anyone who has watched documentaries on colony setup, save for the lack of interstellar trade.
That said, some small part of the crew had adapted to a life in flight. The break started just before the fleet reached Havensmith: the crew of the Surfing Lighthouse elected to stay behind for a couple of weeks, ostensibly to survey the empty parsec (but actually to deploy and test a jump bridge seed they had been working on, see below). Once it arrived at Havensmith, the Surfing Lighthouse was pressed into work surveying the planet, but it was not really made for such a task. Colony management struck a deal with those who wished to fly on: once initial survey was complete and a basic starport set up, the colony would provide fuel and supplies for the science ship to survey nearby stars, ostensibly with a primary mission of making certain the colony really was all alone or to return with information about the neighbors.
Nobody was expecting to find natural anagathics two parsecs away. "Hold the jump", a common Preserve expression, stems from a science officer's exclamation upon finishing his initial analysis of interesting flora on Anagathica as the Surfing Lighthouse was heading toward the 100 diameter limit to jump out.
Jubliation and concern greeted their return with the news. Nobody seriously questioned the sudden need to colonize and develop the newly-christened Anagathica, but this was the first step toward becoming an interstellar polity. Further, there were already calls to set up a trading route back to the Vargr Extents, which the crew of the Surfing Lighthouse had anticipated, and revealed that they had deployed the seed for an automated jump bridge, which would refuel any ship with the right codes (and destroy any approaching ship that did not transmit said codes). The seed needed a few years to set up fully, but a quick back-and-forth pair of jumps confirmed that everything was proceeding as planned.
Setting up a jump bridge was cheating and treason to the very point of the Preserve. On the other hand, had they not surveyed, Anagathica would have remained unknown for many centuries - and the colony was already proving unable to keep up a TL 12 manufacturing base, so the jump bridge to allow trading with the vargr was looking to become a necessity. In the end, the crew was "sentenced" to their original mission, with an addition: establish defensible borders. They took this seriously, deploying further jump bridge seeds and surveying for colonizable spots in every system they felt worth claiming. They noted how the space they surveyed resembled a bird, and recommended names for the four subsectors that the Solomani Preserve adopted long before breaking out of the "egg" of Havensmith, Anagathica, and Vapor.
Once VoidBridge 1 was fully operational, occasional Jump-3 traders would follow the newly christened Cheaters' Route back to the Vargr Extents, taking precautions to make sure no vargrs were able to trace their route back - but they need not have bothered. Relations grew frequent and friendly over time, until in -1648, the first vargr trader was allowed to reach Havensmith (with human astrogators and engineers, who kept the codes for VoidBridge 1 off of the vargr ships' computers, though this precaution was relaxed at some point in the -1500s).
The Hatching
It would take over nine centuries before serious colonization of Preserve space beyond Havensmith, Anagathica, and Vapor began. Entire anagathic-boosted generations lived and died knowing the systems of the Grand Survey might someday belong to their descendants - but not them, they had lifetimes of work to do in preparation. This was mainly due to a lack of population: Havensmith only had a few hundred thousand people at first, and was hard pressed just to maintain what few colony ships (generally TL 12) were not scrapped for parts, starting out with an effective TL 10 despite knowing TL 12 science. It took about 500 years to grow to millions of people and support TL 11, then another roughly 400 to grow to tens of millions and be able to manufacture TL 12 once more (though they still felt their industry was insufficient, as by then science had progressed to TL 13). This acceleration was enabled by the decision to start accepting vargr immigrants; by the time the new wave of colonization began, there were enough that there was a popular proposal to set aside Bath mostly for the vargrs.
Colonization of these systems - called the "Hatching", in reference to the Surfing Lighthouse report terming the Preserve's first three worlds the "egg" - was slow: taming new worlds is difficult and dangerous, and as in most of Charted Space, most people preferred to remain at home. It was not until 1 - ironically, just months after the Third Imperium was formally established, not that anyone knew it at the time - that the Preserve finally made contact with Bridgeholm, which the Surfing Lighthouse (in its final report to Havensmith) had requested no other Preserve ship visit until all the other worlds it had designated were settled, then took off to set up their own colony there. It was a mixture of honor and luck that saw every Preserve ship traveling near Bridgeholm honor that request for over 1,600 years. However, the embargo lasted about 300 more years than necessary: a widespread misperception had arisen that Bridgeholm was to be left alone forever, until a historian in 0 examined the preserved logs of the final report. Only then did the Preserve discover the Surfing Lighthouse had withheld information about the Preserve's neighbors.
Meeting the Yaskoydri
The Surfing Lighthouse had indeed stuck to its mission, surveying system after system and setting up jump bridge seeds to make an artificial main out of the whole thing (anticipating that cheap Jump-1 ships might be desired by certain merchants, and wanting to not let that cut off parts of the Preserve from each other), and had come to the conclusion that they really were alone when they had two systems - Talienda and Bridgeholm (not yet named at the time) - left to survey. The captain had just made this resigned pronunciation in his log when they broke out over Talienda and nearly crashed into a scout from the Yaskoydri Technocracy, which had been en route to Rzakki sector for a near-ritual 100-year check on some survey beacons.
Fortunately, both ships' highest priorities were to establish communication, and both ships had Gvegh speakers - the Surfing Lighthouse from its earlier travels, the Yaskoydri ship from the Technocracy having monitored and decoded centuries-old radio broadcasts from rimward. After sorting out dialect differences, they began a frank and open exchange of information, the kind that give security-minded politicians and military officials nightmares.
This gave the scout confirmation of something the Technocracy had wrestled with for over 5,000 years: there was no sign of Yaskoydray, and while Droyne were known in Charted Space, the civilization the Yaskoydri had come to recontact was no longer extant. The treasure trove of information on legendary Terra, which the Ancients had told the Yaskoydri they were from, was quite appreciated as well. In exchange, the scout gave the Surfing Lighthouse technology and equipment to set up a colony despite their small population, and a promise that the scout's descendants would aid the Solomani Preserve once the Preserve was large enough to make use of said aid. The next year, after the crew of the Surfing Lighthouse had completed their survey and were setting up their colony on [[Bridgeholm], the Technocracy sent a follow-up expedition to help them set up and exchange further information.
Records of these contacts were left in the preserved hulk of the Surfing Lighthouse, in orbit around Bridgeholm. Of the colony itself there was little trace: cleared areas, agriculture abandoned centuries ago, and relics going up the technology level scale, the youngest that could be dated placed at around -590. As far as could be determined, Bridgeholm hit the Singularity and left with all sophontic life, as well as almost all its infrastructure. The cleansing appeared to be deliberate, the few remaining relics having been merely overlooked, leaving the Surfing Lighthouse to allow fulfillment of the ancestral promise but nothing further. After establishing a small archaeological colony to explore the planet for any further signs of the previous colony, the Preserve set up an expedition to the Yaskoydri Technocracy, commanded by a refurbished Surfing Lighthouse.
They were expected, their colonization progress having been monitored. Relations were amicable, and the Technocracy generally agreed with the plan of hiding beyond a "break" of uninhabited worlds. The Pirians had a representative at the meeting, and agreed to help implement the breaks before anyone asked. Thus began a 3-way cultural and technological exchange that would benefit all three polities, and their neighbors, for just over 1,000 years. Colonization of the "empty" systems between the three was encouraged, and accounted for most emigrants from the polities during this time; in particular, no Preserve emigrants are known to have gone trailing or coreward, and the only rimward emigrants went all the way over the break to the Vargr Extents.
Empress Wave and Reconstruction
Peace and prosperity were finally broken in 1043 when the Empress Wave arrived at Talienda. At first it was not clear what was going on: ships jumping in simply never returned. Eventually the Wave passed; ships were able to arrive, observe the lingering insanity, and leave with word of it.
Word spread quickly, and it was soon determined to be a psychic phenomenon. At first it was assumed to be a one-off event, until Aethrie and Summergust experienced the same in 1044, and word came that the Technocracy was having the same problem. Analysis of the affected words across a sector-plus-wide baseline revealed the nature of a traveling wave; by setting probes in Rzakki and Datsatl sectors, scientists were able to triangulate the source to somewhere around the ancient Yaskoydri homeworld near the galactic core. That was about as far as their analysis got; surviving the Wave was a far higher priority.
Many citizens were temporarily evacuated to rimward or coreward colonies on large ark ships while the Wave passed. Many more elected to wait in large vaults of low berths; unfortunately, these were often breached and the helpless inhabitants massacred by those who refused such measures, whether out of denial or due to fear sparked by heavy handed coercion to convince citizens to take to the vaults.
When the Wave finally passed, most of the Preserve's colonies were no longer viable - if anyone still remained at all. The ancient capital of Havensmith, with by far the highest population, also had the longest to prepare and observe what did not work, by lucky virtue of being the most rimward world in the Preserve. Aid had started being dispatched to affected worlds even before the Wave fully passed. The Cheaters' Route was suspended when the Wave passed over some part of it, but Voidbridge 1 only had simple robots and the other links did not have even that, so the Wave left no further lingering problems until it hit the Vargr Extents, the closest of which were well warned by Preserve traders. Unfortunately, word did not spread far from Kiden; if it had, much of the devastation could have been prevented.
Now all that remained was to rebuild, and so rebuild they did. Colonies that needed imports of technology or supplies were abandoned, their survivors relocated - with the exception of Anagathica, its crop too vital not to harvest, even though large swathes had been altered and were now useless. The Preserve refused to give up any worlds within its grip, and still officially claims the abandoned colonies, even if it imposes restrictions on visitors - generally recognized as equivalent to amber zones - to prevent looting and preserve the worlds for eventual recolonization.
This was the state of the Preserve when an Imperial scout with connections to the Travellers' Aid Society, following up on rumors, reached Kiden, followed the Cheaters' Route, and stumbled onto Havensmith. In the chaos of reconstruction, the scout managed to dock at the highport, obtain a complete sector map and historical database, and make it almost to the 100 planetary diameter jump limit before traffic control realized this was the long-feared recontact from Imperial space. No one was able to stop the scout from jumping with its prize, but when challenged, the scout at least sent back a historical database and sector maps showing the Preserve was in no danger of imminent invasion from the Third Imperium.
Reconstruction was still occurring when word of Virus reached the Preserve (fortunately not on an infected ship, and well ahead of the first vampire fleets). The Cheaters' Route proved a blessing, tripping up Virus ships that had learned of this means to cross the rift; Voidbrige 1 was turned into a fortress, quarantining communications from incoming ships until a canary detected no threat of infection. Thus was the Preserve spared the worst of the Collapse, though the Wave had done enough damage. Havensmith would subsequently be counted as a strong world, anchoring the renewed Preserve.
Major historical events timeline
- (-1690): Start of colony flight
- (-1685): End of colony flight, Havensmith established, Voidbridge 1 seeded
- (-1683): Anagatica and its natural anagathics discovered
- (-1682): Grand Survey, remaining Voidbridges seeded, Yaskoydri Technocracy contacted in secret, Bridgeholm colonized
- (-777-205): colonization of Grand Survey systems
- (1): Bridgeholm recontacted, formal contact with Yaskoydri Technocracy
- (1043): Empress Wave passes over Talienda
- (1057): Empress Wave passes over Havensmith
- (1103): IISS scout reaches Havensmith and gets away with maps
- (1134): Word of Virus reaches Preserve, Voidbridge 1 converted to fortress
Politics and diplomacy: 1105
Government and politics
Most laws are specific to a system or significant division thereof (such as a major city), but there are a number of Preserve-wide laws on subjects such as taxation and travel. Starship-related laws in particular tend to be Preserve-wide, for uniformity and to enforce Preserve authority. This has roughly the same effect as the Third Imperium's starport extraterritoriality policy: starships and their crews are largely exempt from local regulations so long as they stay near the starports and stick to approved traffic paths. Making sure cargo is locally legal is the job of those taking it out of the starport.
Preserve-wide governance is handled by a Senate of elected representatives, one per world. In some matters they have equal votes; in others they have votes based on their population, which effectively means the senator from Havensmith dominates, though by tradition this senator abstains from voting on matters of no importance to Havensmith. Worlds other than Havensmith sometimes chafe at its primacy, but the simple truth is that at any given time since the founding of Havensmith, it has had the vast majority of the Preserve's population. This is more true in the wake of the Empress Wave, with fewer senators to vote on things; the empty chairs of the abandoned colonies' missing senators is an oft-cited symbol of the damage the Wave left, and of the Preserve's resolve to someday reclaim those worlds.
As of 1105, the primary political division is whether to focus on rebuilding the surviving colonies, or to re-establish the infrastructure needed to support the abandoned colonies first. The former group has a majority of votes in the Senate even when Havensmith's senator abstains, to the despair of the substantial number of displaced citizens of abandoned worlds who fear they might never go home again. A secondary issue is the difficulty of keeping the surviving colonies loyal to the Preserve, which not infrequently amounts to bribes and exports from Havensmith to the rest of the Preserve in exchange for loyalty and the few useful resources not native to Havensmith (such as lanthanum for jump drives); see the primary issue, and the surviving colonies now have less competitors to divide this among.
Military and intelligence
As there are no other nearby polities, the Solomani Preserve does not maintain a strong military. It has 100-ton scouts perform occasional patrols of Zhiaqrqiats, in particular the "break" worlds that it insists remain uninhabited; any colonies it does find are ordered to leave, or razed via orbital bombardment if they fail to comply. It neither has nor sees need for capital ships; even commercial ships over a few thousand tons are rare.
Most government ships are police, or privately owned construction or cargo ships on a government contract. The Preserve does maintain bases for its scouts, and two bases (at Havensmith and Dredgelund) to maintain and organize its police ships.
Anagathica hosts the closest the Preserve has to an organized ground military. The entire world is run and ruled for the benefit of the Preserve.
In 1134, Voidbridge 1 is converted into a fortress to screen incoming Virus ships, but this is a static defense with little effect on the rest of the Preserve.
Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)
This polity can be primarily found in the following areas:
Capital: 1105
The capital of this polity is Havensmith.
World Listing: 1105
The following systems and worlds can be found within this polity:
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References & Contributors (Sources)
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- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: User: Atymes
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science