Horosho (world)

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Alien Moon 198b-0 Small.jpg
Horosho/Glisten (Spinward Marches 2138)
Classic Era (1116)
C4378A6-A
StarportC Routine: No Construction, Major Repair, Unrefined fuel
Size4 Small (6,400 km, 0.32g - 0.46g)
Atmosphere3 Vacuum (very thin)
Hydrographics7 Wet World 70%
Population8 Moderate (00 million)
GovernmentA Charismatic Dictator
Law6 Moderate Law (no firearms except shotguns)
Tech LevelA Early Stellar (jump drive)
See also UWP
System Details
Primary F4 V
Planetoid Belts 0
Gas Giants 2
style="width: 220px; height: 250px;"
Jump map from Travellermap.com [1]

Horosho is a moderate population world with over a hundred million, but not yet a billion sophonts in population size.

Description (Astrography & Planetology)[edit]

Stellar Data[edit]

Horosho has a solitary primary star.

  • It is a white main sequence.
Horosho has a solitary primary star.
Primary
Solitary F Type.jpg Type Category Mass (Sol) Temperature (K) Luminosity
F4 V Main Sequence (Dwarf) 1.38 6550 - 6670 3.08729
Unit Diameter Safe Distance Habitable Zone Jump Shadow M-Drive Limit
AU 0.0143 0.1457 1.58 - 2.75 1.43 14.3
Orbit #  * 0 4 4 7
Remarks None

System Data[edit]

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

Mainworld Data[edit]

Mainworld Size (S)[edit]

Horosho 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]

Horosho 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]

Horosho has 65-75% of its surface covered by liquid water. It has significant large liquid bodies. Wilderness refueling is possible.

Water World Shore 03b.jpg

Mainworld Geography and Topography[edit]

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

Blank World Map Watery.png
(Blank map, predominantly watery world.)

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

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

World Starport (St)[edit]

Horosho 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.

World Population (P)[edit]

Horosho has a population of 900,000,000 sophonts (hundreds of millions).

Point of Interest: Horosho Arcologies[edit]

Horosho has a very high population for its size, most of whom live in four main Arcology complexes with populations in excess of 100 million each. These arcologies, and about ten smaller 5 million person complexes, are pretty much self sufficient. The technology level is sufficient to support abundant fusion power, and the low local gravity and gravitic controls allows complexes to be extremely large. Since there is no life native to Horosho, all food is either completely synthetic or grown in hydroponic gardens, greenhouses or vats. Processed algae cakes and genetically engineered single cell protein are staples of the local diet.

Linguistic Topography[edit]

The following languages are most commonly heard:

World Technology Level (T)[edit]

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

World Government (G)[edit]

Horosho is governed by a Charismatic Dictatorship. Charismatic governments justify their ability to rule by simply asserting their right to rule. Charismatic dictatorships are typically young governments, coming as a recent change, and rely on the leader(s) to supply head of government.

World Law (L)[edit]

Horosho has a moderate level with laws covering many areas of government and interaction. These laws are simple enough that most people can act as their own advocate, though for serious issues a professional is recommended. Law enforcement officials will be present, but not in great numbers. All firearms except shotguns, and anything more destructive, are typically regulated or prohibited.

Imperial Landed Nobility[edit]

Horosho, as a member world of the Third Imperium, holds the estate of an Imperial Landed Knight who acts as an Imperial representative to the world, and the fiefdom of a member of the Imperial Landed Nobility, who oversees affairs regarding the world at an Interstellar and Imperial level.

Trade Data[edit]

  • Importance: 1 (ordinary)

World Economy[edit]

  • Resources: C (very abundant)
  • Labor: 7 (tens of millions)
  • Infrastructure: A (extensive)
  • Efficiency: +1 (average)

World Culture[edit]

  • Heterogenity: 7 (discordant)
  • Acceptance: 9 (friendly)
  • Strangeness: 4 (somewhat distinct)
  • Symbols: 9 (somewhat abstract)

World Timeline[edit]

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

Other Data[edit]

Horosho is a proto-industrial world, and will eventually become one when the population expands sufficiently. Due to the pressures of the superurban lifestyle, families tend to be very small, which impedes growth. Much of Horosho's substantial industrial capacity is taken up by arcology maintenance, and there is therefore little in the way of goods that can be exported at a profit. Because of the high population density, personal courtesy is considered by inhabitants to be very important. A code duello involving blade combat provides a "safety valve."

Another facet of the average lifestyle is the availability of abundant leisure time. Many Horoshans turn to artistic pursuits of one sort or another, and a notable amount of the planetary foreign exchange capability comes from export of this art. Horoshan literature revolves around the comedy of manners (in the novel), "pastoral" music, and extremely rigid and stylized poetry. Tiny exquisitely crafted verses about rain of dubious quality abound. The visual arts are presently leaning toward a very spare impressionism, using a palette of limited colors. Interior decorators are a highly respected professional group on the planet.

The four macroarcologies and the ten smaller 'satellite' arcs have each developed their own distinctive flavors in the usual arts. Non-residents often have a difficult time distinguishing between these 'flavors', a problem which the natives find a little incomprehensible. The smallest arcologies tend to be less self-sufficient both materially and socially, and often center around learning institutions or resource extraction facilities. There is a strong feeling among Horoshans that people should live with their work, which leads to the arcs being set up in thoroughly mixed commercial/residential sections. The resource collection cities are sort of an extreme case of this, since this drive results in the establishment of a complete city to support the workers of each new project as it is started. Once established, an arc-city can remain mostly self-sufficient even after the resources run out, so there is little pressure to close these settlements.

Offworlders joke about the 500,000 person resource extraction facilities: How many Horoshans does it take to change a light bulb? An entire city... The physical conditions on Horosho are unusual. With the broad central band of oceans subject to boiling during the day, and with cold rain constantly falling in the night zones, atmospheric travel with grav vehicles is considered to be too hazardous to bother with. Transport between cities is by surface vehicles, and since roads are difficult to maintain, all intercity transports are either legged or tracked. Large tracked crawlers of starship displacements engage in scheduled travel between cities on the same land mass. Travel between the northern and southern hemisphere cities is by trans-atmospheric grav craft, which is not economically competitive over the shorter intracontinental runs.

Some institutions are carrying on research on terraforming. Limited success has been achieved so far in seeding the oceans with genetically tailored algaes and other single cell life forms. The original colony was set up in 678 by a dissident group from Trin. Little trace of their original philosophy remains, except for an introspective bent that keeps people expanding the arcs rather than emigrating to some more desirable planet.

The current ruler is Admiral Bolton Gannivar, who was voted into power in the planetary general elections in 1103. The major thrust of his foreign policy has been to acquire or sponsor offworld colonization projects. (See below).

His domestic policy centers around the need to expand industrial capacity sufficiently to allow manufacture of an exportable surplus. No export of food is permitted. Offworld visitors must post a Cr10,000 departure bond before leaving the star- port.

Colonization Project--The prime effort has been a preliminary survey of Dawnworld in District 268. Dawnworld has remained uncolo- nized to the present due to a cluster of related ecological factors. On a microlevel, most humans experience an allergic reaction to common Dawnworld pollens. In addition, in some regions, airborne spores exist that will sprout in human lungs. Most plants use L-rotary sugars and are nutritionally useless. The fauna in the planet's current epoch runs to dinosaur-like creatures, the largest of which pose a threat to humans from sheer size. In many of the smaller animal niches, cold blooded creatures predominate, allowing for a much higher carnivore population that would otherwise be the case. Perversely, while humans are poisonous to native creatures, they also smell tasty.

Early History and Settlement[edit]

First settled in 565, no one believed that Horosho would ever amount to much as a world. Only marginally habitable to begin with, Lubeck & Co Mining, a small, family-owned belter company, established the first outpost as a dirt-side 'rest-stop' for 'cabin-fevered' belters working the systems' two planetoid belts.

Over time, drifters, burnouts and various other ne'er-do-wells washed up on the planet. Using decommisioned starship hulls and other low-quality shelters, the tiny settlement began to grow.

Population Explosion[edit]

Things continued this way on Horosho until 803, when three things happened. First, the IISS decided to open an X-Boat Way Station on the world. This would later expand into the present Scout Base.

Second, a small group of minor imperial nobles (of the fifth- and sixth-sons type) began investing enough money in the world to draw the interest of both Tukera Lines and Ling-Standard Products, both of whom established way stations and minor repair yards on the world. The two megacorps also financed the expansion of the port to its current Class 'C' rating.

Last, although given little notice at the time, was the arrival on-planet of the bulk of the Ecclesia Stella Catholica, a heretical off-shoot of the Church of the Stellar Divinity. The ESC espoused a pseudo-mystical/hedonistic dogma whose ultimate aim was to populate the universe with as many sentient beings as possible...and consequently forbade virtually all forms of reproductive regulation. The loose, free-wheeling society of Horosho took to the new religion like a nail to a magnet. Horosho's population began to expand at a frightening rate, outstripping domestic food production within thirty years.

The Mailed Fist[edit]

With the spectre of famine looming, drastic action was needed--and was taken. The commander of Drake's Demon's, the mercenary infantry battalion LSP had hired as the garrison for the starport, seized power in a lightning coup-d'etat on 166-830, arresting both the government (the 'Steering Committee'), and the High Synod of the ESC. Colonel Silas Drake quickly proferred charges (possibly trumped-up) of embezzlement, extortion, racketeering and "moral decrepitude" against most of the members of both groups, the bulk of whom were soon exiled under Imperial protection.

Martial law was declared, food rationing imposed, "food hoarding" was made a capital crime (several 'offenders' were actually 'spaced' as examples on planet-wide newsfeed), and the Colonel managed to quickly secure a loan from Hortalez et Cie to purchase several huge food shipments from Overnale. Although many questioned the ability of a "mere mercenary" to carry off such a complex operation, an investigation by the Imperial Ministry of Justice was unable to return charges against either Col. Drake, or any corporate official. Still, questions remain. On 167-831, Silas Drake chaired the first session of the Presidium of the People, becoming the first Chancellor of Horosho.

Corruption and Rejuvenation[edit]

After the coup, Horosho stabilized, becoming a remarkably sedate stop in Glisten; only the occasional Vargr or Sword Worlder raid during the Frontier Wars disturbed Horosho's relative tranquility. Large families remained the rule, not the exception.

This began to change in 1080. Slowly at first, then more quickly, factional politics began to polarize the Presidium. A series of weak Chancellors only exacerbated the situation. Matters came to a head in 1097, when Chancellor Jaime Svoboda died before appointing a successor (by Horoshan law, no sitting Chancellor may appoint as their successor any family member related closer than second cousin, by blood or marriage).

The Presidium screeched to a halt, completely unable to choose a new Chancellor. Into this morass stepped Imperial Navy Lieutenant Liisha'an 'Lish' Dervan. In transit to her new posting in Trojan Reach Sector, Lt. Dervan's transport misjumped into Horosho, and had to remain until repairs could be made.

According to Horosho's official history of the chain of events, Lt. Dervan, while dining at a restaurant outside the starport, intervened between the leaders of two factions before they could come to blows. Impressed by both her magnanimity and diplomacy, the leaders first convinced, then sponsored, her as the alternative candidate with no partisan connection to any side. Her election was greeted with relief by most Horoshan's as a welcome change from the distressing partisan politics they had become frustrated with. The detention and later expulsion of several Imperial nobles was dismissed as "...spoiled brats angry at not getting their way."

The actual chain of events, as puzzled out by the MoJ (and, reportedly, Imperial Naval Intelligence), is rather different. [Editor's note: the following version of events is vehemently denied by the Chancellor's Office of Public Comment] Lieutenant Dervan's vessel was suspiciously easy to fix, implying that the ship 'misjumped' intentionally. While the exact circumstances of her 'restaurant recruitment' remain murky, the upwelling of popular support for her among Horoshans was definitely the result of extensive, not to mention expensive, 'spin doctoring' financed by the shadowy figure of Venkata Vyza, CEO of Vyza Ltd., a shipping line bridging the gap into Trojan Reach. How extensive Lt. Dervan's support was among members of the Presidium is open to question, considering that after she was confirmed in her position she immediately exercised her prerogative as Chancellor to enact the 'Ultimate Decree' and suspend the Presidium "...until such time as the people of this blessed world heal themselves of the cancer of divisivness."

Whatever the truth of the backroom dealings that placed Lish Dervan in power on Horosho, she is firmly in the Chancellor’s chair, with the broad support of the population. Official recognition of her Chancellorship by the Imperium is believed to be forthcoming shortly, although concerns exist over Chancellor Dervan's expansionistic tendencies (see the entry for Wurzburg).

Current Events[edit]

Lish Dervan has succeeded in constructing a solid state based upon the principle of "fascism with a kind face". It appears that no real opposition to her rule exists on-planet.

With the rapid 'capitol-industrial' development now taking place, Horosho is poised to become an economic power in Glisten, as the 'Gateway to the Trojan Reach'. The primary engine driving this development is Vyza Ltd.

Headquartered on Horosho, Vyza Ltd. is the creation of, and wholly-owned by, the mysterious figure of Venkata Vyza. Little is known of this person, beyond a few references to an origin somewhere in Foreven Sector. Vyza Ltd. operates a fleet of 'East Indiaman' Type M 'Armed Merchants' (see the Megatraveller product 'Vigilante'), and Vyza Ltd's own design, the 'Privateer'-class vessel copied from the Vargr corsair. Vyza Ltd. is financing the expansion of Horosho's port facility to Class 'B'. It is believed that he has even larger plans for Horosho--namely,of turning it into a Class 'A' starport.

IISS GURPS Astrographics Survey[edit]

2138 Horosho (Imperial)

Starport: Class III - Scout.

Diameter: 3,008 miles (4,800 km).
Atmosphere: Very thin oxygen-nitrogen.
Hydrographics: 72%.
Climate: Normal.
Population: 900 million.
Government: Dictatorship.
Control Level: 2.
Tech Level: 9.
World Trade Number: 4.5.

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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