Gram Rift

Milieu 1116 

The Gram Rift is an astrographic feature lying within the Spinward Marches.

• It is a rift area of low stellar density.
• It is not widely known of, except by astrographers and local starship captains.

Description (Specifications)

(Chart sourced from Traveller Map)

The Gram Rift is a region of lower stellar density lying within the spinward-rimward quadrant of the Spinward Marches. It is sandwiched between the Gram Arm and the Narsil Arm of the Spinward Main. It and the Narsil Rift are together known as the Sword Rifts.

• The region measures an average of around 5 parsecs spinward-trailing by about 3 parsecs coreward-rimward.
• It is a significant obstacle to interstellar trade and commerce, restricting the movement of lower jump-rated vessels.

It lies within the Sword Worlds.

A simple chart of the Gram Rift and Narsil Rift regions (the so-called Sword Rifts), showing a broadly accepted definition of their borders, right:

Boundaries

Note that the exact borders of the Rift have never been precisely defined. Charts depicting the Rift should be considered an "educated guess" at best, with most conforming to the personal taste of the chief astrographer overseeing the project.

Seasoned astrographers continue to squabble over its precise physical dimensions and properties, quoting figures and values relating to the average density of the interstellar medium, emissions from within the region it covers, and a dozen other considerations. Despite years of heated debate a consensus has not yet been reached and different astrographic survey agencies consistently give the feature different boundaries.

History & Background (Dossier)

Rogue worlds may be found here.

High cargo capacity, low jump rating vessels move along the Mains and Clusters of the sector, carrying vast amounts of goods and commodities between their member worlds. Jump-2 and Jump-3 feeder routes work their ways around the various voids and rifts that dot the region, linking the trade routes.

The Rift is an important part of Sword Worlds defense strategies, serving to channel prospective attackers towards defensive "hardpoints".

The Rift contains no stars or stellar scale bodies.

• It is likely to contain a number of dark, frozen, starless rogue worlds and wandering icy planetoids within its depths, but none have ever been officially charted or catalogued.

Jump Bridges

Some have suggested that one or more Sword Worlds-controlled Jump Bridges may lie within the Rift.

Jump Bridges are locations within empty hexes that contain caches of fuel and supplies. They allow lower jump rating vessels to bridge gaps between distant worlds by providing a halfway point. The hexes these caches lie within are truly vast, and without exact coordinates to jump to within them a vessel could end up with empty tanks in empty wilderness, perhaps light-years away from any hope of rescue.

Where they do exist, Jump Bridges are heavily guarded and access is not generally granted to those without the correct credentials.

• No jump bridges are known to exist within the rift.

Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)

Rift Regions, Spinward Marches

This astrographic feature is found in the following areas:

Charted Space – Sword Worlds:

Spinward Marches

• Darrian Subsector
• Sword Worlds Subsector

World Listing

Comprehensive Second Survey data for all worlds associated with the Gram Rift is available.

• The primary source material for all data is Traveller Map.
• Other sources may differ: some elements of the data may be contradictory or incorrect.
• Data is occasionally updated as new information becomes available.

AAB library archives contain expanded data about the following systems:

No world articles for Gram Rift

Note that some Second Survey data, though only 40 years old, may already be out of date.

• Scouting missions gathering reliable, verified data can receive substantial payment.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

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.

• Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), pages 3-40.
• Jim Cunningham, John Harshman, J. Andrew Keith, Marc W. Miller, Gordon Sheridan. Atlas of the Imperium (Game Designers Workshop, 1984), page 4.
• Rob Caswell. "Domain of Deneb: Sector Data." MegaTraveller Journal 3 (1992): pages 47-58. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty. The Spinward Marches (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
• Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), pages 10-25.
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS