Llyrnian

Starport	C	Routine: No Construction, Major Repair, Unrefined fuel
Size	4	Small (6,400 km, 0.32g - 0.46g)
Atmosphere	3	Vacuum (very thin)
Hydrographics	3	Wet World 30%
Population	A	High (50 billion)
Government	A	Charismatic Dictator
Law	C	Extreme Law (no privacy)
Tech Level	D	Average Stellar (holo data)

Primary Star

F8 V

Atmosphere

Very Thin

Off-world presence

Yes

Zoetic individuals

Yes

Source

Reference

Humaniti 70.

Canon

Yes

Also see

Supreme Delverate

The Llyrnians of Llyrn (Massilia 0931) are a Minor Non-Human Race with a Non-humanoid appearance. They are technologically advanced sophonts.

Description (Specifications)[edit]

The Llyrnians are members of the Duchy of Shiwonee. By tradition the Llyrnians serve as security troops on Geonee and Imperial ships.

This alien race plays an important role in the Geonee Confederation. Its homeworld, Llyrn (0931 D333AA7-A Na Po HiPop 933 F8 VI) is a cold world, a satellite of a gas giant orbiting a small star. Its upper crust is full of huge natural caves. Life appeared in these caves around geothermal energy sources, and most of the native life forms are subterranean, cave-bound or tunnel-dwellers.

Physiology & Environment (Ecology)[edit]

The Llyrnians are troglodyte (tunnel dwellers) with a trilateral symmetry. They have three arms ending in tough claws, and bodies covered with an even harder natural armor.

Life processes are mostly based on sulfur consumption for energy production, leaving sulfur-rich waste products. Like most higher lifeforms on Llyrn, Llyrnians have in addition a secondary metabolism which uses oxygen from the atmosphere to convert the waste products back to organosilicates and sulfur. This latter process produces SO2.

Anatomy[edit]

The Llyrnians are based on a trilateral symmetry, with three "legs" on the bottom part of a cylindrical "body" from which three "arms" spread. Three "mouths" open under the arms for feeding purposes. The body is covered by a tough external coat made of organosilicates, and the arms end in tough claws. The Llyrnians dig their tunnels "upwards" using all three claws. They are able to make their arms and claws vibrate in order to loosen the rocks.

Their main sensorial organs are three "ears" built into the arms. These give Llyrnians a broad vibration-perception which makes them able to sense both vibrations within the rocks in which their tunnels are drilled, and the faint noises that are transmitted by Llyrn's very thin atmosphere. Also, three vibrating membranes on the upper part of the body give them a limited "sonar" capability.

The body ends in a "head" which holds the secondary sensorial organs, basically three breathing orifices which also function as smelling "noses" and are able to produce noises for communication, and a visual band which circles the whole head. The vision centers on the infrared part of the spectrum.

The Llyrnian biology is based on a triploid genetic system. They have three sexes, usually referred to as "Warrior", "Delver", and "Feeder". Feeders give birth to one or two newborns (almost always of the same sex) after a gestation period of 112 standard days.

The average weight of a Llyrnian is 60 kilograms for Warriors and Delvers and 80 for Feeders. The average height is 1.5 meters for all three sexes.

Psychology & Philosophy (Mindset)[edit]

The Llyrnians are tunnel-dwellers whose main sense is a broad-range vibration perception. Of their three sexes (Feeders, Delvers, and Warriors), the Warriors have traditionally been contracted by other races (especially the Geonee) as ship troops or marines. Used to low-G and with a vision that centers in the infrared part of the spectrum, the Llyrnians are fearsome in ship boarding actions.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

The Llyrnians were first contacted in -9070 by the neighboring Geonee. Llyrn was then at TL–3, but the population had already exceeded the one thousand million figure.

The Geonee contacted Llyrn sporadically and helped the Llyrnians to upgrade their technology, introducing heavy machinery which allowed the Delvers to build larger and deeper tunnels. Over the following centuries, the Delvers acquired more and more technical knowledge, and a population explosion occurred.

In -4900, the Geonee were defeated by the Vilani and incorporated into the Ziru Sirka. The Llyrnians, then at TL-7 in environment control and heavy machinery, experienced a technological regression. Although they were formally also incorporated into the Ziru Sirka, the few Vilani who ever ventured into the tunnels never came back, and Llyrn was, for all practical purposes, interdicted. Geonee historians speculate with the possibility that some Geonee refugees may have spent their entire lives in Llyrn as technical advisors.

In -2235, the Nth Interstellar War between the Solomani and the Vilani gave the Geonee opportunity to revolt against Vilani rule. During the war, thousands of Llyrnians were used by the Geonee as starship troopers, thanks to an agreement with the Supreme Delver, in exchange for heavy machinery. The effectiveness of the Llyrnians in boarding operations and infiltration operations was fearsome. Adapted to low gravity and relying on vibration perception, infrared vision, and sonar, the Llyrnian Warriors easily beat Humans in a fight within the corridors of a boarded starship, when the light went off and the artificial gravity failed. In addition, the Llyrnians' vibrating claws easily drilled holes through vacc suits, and had some possibility of breaking even combat armor. The Geonee were able to capture hundreds of Vilani starships thanks to Llyrnian troops. The Nth War started a tradition of using Llyrnian Warriors as Marines aboard Geonee ships.

In -2200, the Rule of Man created the Geonee Autonomous Region, which included the Geonee worlds and Llyrn. Llyrn reached TL–8 and a population of dozens of billions.

In -1776, the Long Night started. Llyrn fell to TL–5 within a few centuries, but although most tunnels had to be abandoned when the environmental controls failed, the planet managed to retain a population of over ten billion.

In -177, Llyrn was recontacted by the recently founded Second Geonee Confederation. Geonee technical advisors and heavy machinery were once again exchanged for Llyrnian Warriors.

A century later, the Geonee Confederation offered membership to Llyrn, but the Supreme Delver declined the offer. Nevertheless, in -81, a full Confederation Embassy was established at Llyrn, and, in year -73, a detailed commercial treaty was signed. Llyrn slowly became a Client State of the Geonee Confederation.

In Year Zero, Llyrn retained, from the commercial point of view, a heavy dependence on the Geonee Confederation. At TL–10 and with an incredible population in excess of ninety billion, the planet was an excellent market for machinery and agroproducts. On the other hand, Llyrnian Warriors could be found not only in Geonee service, but also working for other planets or corporations -- and not only as starship troopers, but also doing ground work on Low Gravity worlds, for example in Kiimda. Llyrnian Delvers also worked in several worlds with underground environments, for example the Geonee world of Dreva.

The commercial balance of Llyrn is only equilibrated thanks to the long-term contracts of Warriors and Delvers out of Llyrn, all of which have to be negotiated through the Supreme Delver or its representatives.

Major Historical Events Timeline: 1105[edit]

These are some of the more important historical events that have affected this race:

(-9070): First contact between Llyrnians and Geonee
(-4900): Geonee defeated by Vilani and absorbed into Ziru Sirka
(-2235): During the late Interstellar Wars, Geonee revolt against Vilani
(-2200): Rule of Man creates Geonee Autonomous Region
(-1776): Llyrnian technological degradation during Long Night
(-177): Llyrnians re-contacted by Second Geonee Confederation
(-77): Supreme Delverate turns down Geonee Confederation membership
(-73): Commercial Treaty ratified between Llyrnians and Geonee
(0): Llyrnians are an effective client state of the Geonee Confederation

Culture & Society (Ethnology)[edit]

The Llyrnian society is built upon the community, a group ranging between a few hundreds and ten thousand individuals of all three sexes. The community leader, always a Delver, has almost absolute powers. The members of the community instinctively accept its authority.

The measure of the power of a community is the extent of the tunnels and caves it controls. So, Delvers are constantly planning new tunnels while taking care of the stability of already settled ones, while Warriors perpetually try to capture those belonging to rival communities, while defending their own settlements. The "tunnel fights" are ruthless battles fought in narrow, dark tunnels. The Warriors rely heavily on their vibration perception, infrared vision and their sonar sense during these fights.

Social Organization: 1105[edit]

Llyrnian society is divided into three, distinct castes:

Dwellers
Feeders
Warriors

Genders serve as the basis for the Llyrnian caste system and are specialized. Warriors defend the community, Delvers build the tunnels, and Feeders take care of the children.

Government & Politics (Leadership)[edit]

The planet Llyrn has been ruled as a whole by a central authority, known as the Supreme Delverate, for as long as historical records exist. This central government takes the form of a Charismatic Dictatorship in the person of the Supreme Delver, which is designated by the previous individual to hold the office from among the leaders of the most influential communities. Succession takes place when the Supreme Delver reaches an advanced age.

The Supreme Delver does not usually interfere with the fights between the communities, as long as they do not evolve into large-scale wars through alliances and coalitions of communities.

New Era[edit]

When the Virus struck, most of the deep tunnels were abandoned, due to failure of the environmental controls upon which their habitability depended. Roughly 25% of the tunnels, though, were habitable without any environmental control. Unfortunately, most of the major food production centers were located in the deepest tunnels, and thousands of millions of survivors quickly died from starvation. Adding insult to injury, the survivors of the Llyrnian race had to fight an epic battle against the uncountable numbers of heavy robotized machines which helped the Delvers to maintain the old tunnels and drill new ones.

Government Structure: 1105[edit]

Please see Supreme Delverate for more information.

Astrography[edit]

This race is primarily located in the following areas:

Massilia Sector
- Shokee Subsector

Homeworld[edit]

The homeworld of this race is:

Llyrn (Massilia 0931)

World Listing[edit]

Significant communities of this race are known to exist within the following systems and worlds:

2 of 2 World articles in Llyrnian

Dreva • Llyrn •

startbacknext(2 listed)

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.

Loren Wiseman, Jon F. Zeigler. Humaniti (Steve Jackson Games, 2003), 70.
EXTERNAL LINK: BARD PAPER: CARI9001 by Author: Carlos Alos-Ferrer
EXTERNAL LINK: BARD PAPER: OPAL5005 by Author: Carlos Alos-Ferrer
Mongoose 2nd: Aliens of Charted Space: Volume 3