Avastan (world)

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Alien Moon 276d-0 Small.jpg
Avastan/District 268 (Spinward Marches 1037)
Classic Era (1116)
C433520-A
StarportC Routine: No Construction, Major Repair, Unrefined fuel
Size4 Small (6,400 km, 0.32g - 0.46g)
Atmosphere3 Vacuum (very thin)
Hydrographics3 Wet World 30%
Population5 Moderate (700 thousand)
Government2 Participating Democracy
Law0 No Law
Tech LevelA Early Stellar (jump drive)
See also UWP
System Details
Primary M3 V
Planetoid Belts 2
Gas Giants 4
style="width: 220px; height: 250px;"
Jump map from Travellermap.com [1]

Avastan is a poor, nonindustrial world.

  • As a nonindustrial world, it requires extensive imports of outside technology to maintain a modern, star-faring society. The need to import most manufactured and high technology goods drives the price of these goods up in the open market.
  • This world has few prospects for economic development.
  • It is a Non-Aligned world dominated by human sophonts located in the District 268 Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector.

Astrography & Planetology[edit]

Stellar Data[edit]

Avastan has a solitary primary star.

  • It is a red main sequence named Zend.
Avastan has a solitary primary star.
Zend
Solitary M Type.jpg Type Category Mass (Sol) Temperature (K) Luminosity
M3 V Main Sequence (Dwarf) 0.37 3270 - 3430 0.03081
Unit Diameter Safe Distance Habitable Zone Jump Shadow M-Drive Limit
AU 0.0034 0.0146 0.18 - 0.35 0.34 3.4
Orbit #  *  * 0 1 5
Remarks

System[edit]

The worlds of the system have been surveyed. They consist of:

Mainworld Data[edit]

Avastan is a small, poor planet with a very thin atmosphere and little water, and was therefore among the last habitable systems in District 268 to be colonized. However, it does occupy a strategic position on the J-1 main between the Five Sisters and Glisten subsectors.

Mainworld Size (S)[edit]

Avastan is a Meso World between 5,600km and 7,200km in diameter. The world has low gravity between 0.32G and 0.46G. The horizon will appear about 3.6km away.

Mainworld Atmosphere (A)[edit]

Avastan has a pressure of 0.10 to 0.42 atmospheres. The very thin pressures require a respirator or Oxygen Mask. TL–5 or more advanced survival gear is required to settle this world.

Mainworld Hydrosphere (H)[edit]

Avastan has 25-35% of its surface covered by liquid water. It has a few small seas. Wilderness refueling is possible. Water for the inhabitants will be recycled.

Water World Shore Type 8j.jpg

Mainworld Geography and Topography[edit]

The Great Northern Sea sits within the Northern Basin, an ancient 3,500-kilometre-wide crater sinking nearly five kilometres below mean surface altitude. This provides a relatively warm region where some agriculture is possible and where Humans can breathe unaided for a limited period of time.

The thin cold air and few bodies of open water limit precipitation outside the Northern Basin. Most of the world is a rugged frozen desert ranging from tan to brown to red in colour.

Locations:

  • Atharsis Highlands (equatorial)
  • Great Northern Sea (northern pole)
  • Lake District (equatorial)

No centrally held map of the world exists within AAB Library Data records.

Blank World Map Arid.png
(Blank map, predominantly dry world.)

Native Lifeforms[edit]

Approximately five million years ago, lifeforms bearing the biological signature of Tarsus appeared on Avastan. Tarsus' star was less than a quarter parsec distant at the time, and the single published article on the subject concluded that the transfer of life was likely an example of panspermia -- not just of unicellular organisms but of spores and seeds as well. Specifically, the Avastan fog flower and the Tarsus fog flower -- polar-adapted flowering plants with a long dormancy cycle -- are clearly genetically related, as are the ice moss species of both worlds.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

Comp-Prog-Dav-R-Deitrick-Starter-Trav-Page-16 16-July-2018a.jpg

In the early 1000s, a group of entrepreneurs from Collace founded Avastan Portways, Inc. (API) for the purpose of building a C-class starport on Avastan as a speculative venture. Their investment quickly paid off, since the new starport, which offered the only repair yards on a five-parsec stretch of the main, soon became a favorite stopping place for free traders and other merchant vessels.

There was originally no downport since the planet was unpopulated -- and bitterly cold. And, although API laid claim to the planetary surface, the company was loath to finance its colonization, since several decades at least would have to pass before it saw any return on the investment. Nevertheless, when small groups of squatters began settling on Avastan, API's initial response was to try to eject them, but wiser heads soon prevailed. What logic was there in removing settlers when the company had no intention of exploiting the planet itself? Indeed, didn't API actually stand to benefit if the planet was colonized and developed by others without it having to invest any funds in the effort?

Accordingly, in 1024, the company renounced its claim to Avastan and turned control over to the squatters on the sole condition that they place no restrictions on further immigration and charge nothing for land. When word got out that Avastan was open to unrestricted colonization, it attracted a few adventuresome souls from Collace, but many more of the new colonists were dissidents from other systems in District 268 that had oppressive and/or exclusive political regimes (e.g., Tarkine, Kuai Qing, Motmos, etc.). This made for a highly-diverse population that is generally welcoming towards new immigrants.

As part of their ongoing "cold war", Trexalon (Spinward Marches 1339) has accused Collace (Spinward Marches 1037) of guilt by association with the API and its tolerance for corsair activity. Collace responded by canceling API's corporate charter, but a new one was soon granted by the "government" of Avastan. The Trexalon Technical Consortium has also implied that the contrast between the Imperium's decisive action against Tarkine (which was caught supporting corsairs in 960) and its failure to clamp down on Avastan, reflects the influence of pro-Imperial Collace. The official Imperial position is that, in the case of Avastan, extreme measures are not warranted because the API merely turns a blind eye to corsair activity rather than actively supporting it. However, it could well be that the real reason for the Imperium’s forbearance is indeed a desire to avoid antagonizing opinion on Collace.

Avastan is part of the Kaharoht Run, a Mewey trade route that forms part of the Collace Arm of the Spinward Main.

World Starport (St)[edit]

Avastan has a Class C Starport, an average quality installation which features amenities including unrefined fuel for starships, some brokerage services for passengers and cargo, and a variety of ship provisions. There is a shipyard capable of doing maintenance and other kinds of repair. Ports of this classification generally have only a downport, unless this is a trade port or system with an hostile environment mainworld.

Avastan Portways, Inc. operates the starport facilities.

Starport authorities are not scrupulous when it comes to checking ships' papers and manifests, and Avastan has gained a reputation as the kind of port where corsairs and smugglers can sell their "merchandise" at little risk. More than one merchant crew has found its stolen cargo for sale at a local brokerage or encountered crew members of the corsair that stole it in one of the local taverns. Not surprisingly, Avastan Starport is also notorious for its unruliness and violence. API's Security Division (a light infantry battalion equivalent) concerns itself almost exclusively with protecting company property and places of business that operate concessions within the starport. It generally will not intervene to deal with other forms of unlawful behavior unless it gets completely out of hand.

World Population (P)[edit]

Avastan has a population of 700,000 sophonts (hundreds of thousands).

  • This is a Nonindustrial World, too small to support the complete chain of production of most goods from start to finish.

Most of the 700,000 inhabitants live in the vicinity of Avastan Downport (established in 1027), where they engage in small-scale agricultural and resource extraction enterprises that sell their products to API for use in the starport. Others are scattered across the planet in small, self-sufficient communities. The Avastans are jealous of their autonomy and freedoms (including unrestricted weapons ownership) and tolerate no intrusion in their lives by any external authorities. There are no law enforcement agencies per se, so order is maintained by local posses. Local judicial and governmental decisions are made in open 'town meetings' by the direct vote of all participating adults. On those rare occasions when decisions must be made that impact the planet as a whole, all adults participate directly in the political process by casting their votes on a secure, planet-wide satellite data network.

A camp of Aslan ihatei, around 3,000 strong, has been established on the outskirts of the primary settlement. The ihatei camp sometimes trades in goods or services; many of the ihatei dream of scratching together enough money for passage offworld or to buy a plot in the city; others hope to be recruited by a passing mercenary company.

World Technology Level (T)[edit]

Avastan possesses a Technology Level of TL–10 or TL-A in Hexadecimal Notation.

World Government (G)[edit]

Avastan is governed by a Participatory Democracy where eligible voters determine laws and policy. What determines an eligible voter varies. There may be smaller councils or regional bodies to draft the policies voted upon. Leadership of the government and all members of the bureaucracy are determined by the voting population.

World Law (L)[edit]

Avastan has no law in practice. It is an Anarchy. On many worlds, this by itself justifies an Amber Zone advisory. There are few laws, covering only important areas. There may be few or no law enforcement officers, the expectation is citizens will bring law breakers to the attention of the Judicial system. Legal proceedings will be fast, with few people involved. For interactions outside of the framework of the laws, cultural norms dominate.

Despite their minimal governmental and law enforcement institutions, Avastans hardly live in a state of anarchy. Like any frontier planet, Avastan experiences its share of lawlessness and violence - including of the vigilante variety - but it is far from being a high-crime world. Indeed, offworld visitors are often surprised to learn that it is considered extremely impolite to openly carry weapons outside of the starport boundaries unless one is traveling in wilderness areas.

Trade Data[edit]

  • Importance: 0 (unimportant)

World Economy[edit]

  • Resources: D (very abundant)
  • Labor: 4 (tens of thousands)
  • Infrastructure: 4 (very limited)
  • Efficiency: -4 (very poor)

World Culture[edit]

  • Heterogenity: 1 (monolithic)
  • Acceptance: 5 (very aloof)
  • Strangeness: 1 (very typical)
  • Symbols: 5 (concrete)

World Timeline[edit]

Major events that have affected this world and the wider region that it lies within:

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

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 Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
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