Lydia (world)

Lydia/Glisten (Spinward Marches 1733)
Classic Era (1116)	E310430-7 Starport E Frontier - no facilities Size 3 Small (4,800 km, 0.24g - 0.34g) Atmosphere 1 Vacuum (trace) Hydrographics 0 Desert World 0% Population 4 Moderate (90 thousand) Government 3 Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy Law 0 No Law Tech Level 7 Pre-Stellar (electronics)
See also	UWP
System Details
Primary	M4 III M0 V
Planetoid Belts	0
Gas Giants	2

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Jump map from Travellermap.com

Lydia is a nonindustrial world, that requires extensive imports of outside technology to maintain a modern, star-faring society.

• In a technological universe, societies without industrial capability generally suffer as nearly all manufactured and high tech goods must be brought in at significant cost.
• 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.
• It is a member of the Third Imperium in the Glisten Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector in the Domain of Deneb.
• Lydia is a member of the Spinward Main.
• It lies on the Collace Arm

Description (Astrography & Planetology)

Stars

Lydia is a binary star system.

• The primary is a turbulent red giant.
• The secondary is a red main sequence.

Binary Solar System

Lydia Binary Star System

Primary
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	M4 III	Giant		7.18	2100 - 3000	1918
	Unit	Diameter	Safe Distance	Habitable Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	1.81446	3.63253	34.82 - 56.75	181.446	1814.46
	Orbit #	4	5	9	11	14
	Remarks		None
Companion
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	M0 V	Main Sequence		0.57	3770 - 3850	0.13982
	Unit	Diameter	Safe Distance	Habitable Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0055	0.031	0.39 - 0.74	0.55	5.5
	Orbit #	*	*	2	1	6
	Remarks		None

System Data

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

• The mainworld.
• x8 secondary rocky worlds.
• x2 gas giants.

Mainworld Data

Mainworld Size (S)

Lydia is a Small World between 4,000km and 5,600km in diameter. The world has low gravity between 0.24G and 0.34G. The horizon will appear about 3km away.

Mainworld Atmosphere (A)

Lydia has a pressure of less than 0.1 atmospheres which requires the use of a Vacc Suit. TL–8 or more advanced survival gear is required to settle this world.

Mainworld Hydrosphere (H)

Lydia has no free-standing water or ice on the surface. Wilderness refueling isn't possible on this world. Water for the inhabitants needs to be imported and extensively recycled. These worlds are classified Desert World or a Hell World depending on their atmosphere.

Mainworld Geography and Topography

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

(Blank map, vacuum world.)

Native Lifeforms

The largest living thing on the surface is the Akenplant, a cactus like growth surviving on the surface. The roots of the Akenplant can split rocks to enable the plant to survive in unlikely places, and its byproducts are exploited by the locals.

History & Background (Dossier)

Formerly a mining colony founded to exploit massive quantities of silver, it has been on the decline since the silver gave out around 1020. ConTech closed the starport in 1035, and most of the population emigrated. The remainder are expert garbage pickers--a fair amount of useful salvage at TL–12 remains from the mining operation, enough that free traders occasionally call to pick up the junk.

Trivia

Lydia is at the very top end of a "Population 4" planet, just barely below having 100,000 sophonts.

World Starport (St)

Lydia has a Class E Starport, a frontier quality installation with few expected amenities. There is unrefined fuel for starships and a limited variety of ship provisions. There is no shipyard of any kind, but there may be parts and technical support for doing minor services and repair. Ports of this classification generally consist of a downport.

World Population (P)

Lydia has a population of 90,000 sophonts (tens of thousands).

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

Urbanization

The whole population of Lydia live in a single enclave, carved out of a natural cavern system. The Lydians are known for creating archaic yet surprisingly reliable life support systems at TL–6. These machines are barely sufficient to maintain the colony's trace atmosphere, but may utilize divergent technology, like one may expect from a culture surviving in such a niche.

Linguistic Topography

The following languages are most commonly heard:

• Anglic, one of the two official languages of the Imperium.
• Vilani, one of the two official languages of the Imperium.

World Technology Level (T)

Lydia possesses a Technology Level of TL–7.

• Common Communication technologies for this TL include: Early video and early satellite communication networks.
• Common Power Generation technologies for this TL include: Early fuel cells, solar energy, and geothermal power sources.
• Common Transportation technologies for this TL include:
  • Land: Improved automobiles, hovercraft, and bullet trains.
  • Water: Hydrofoils and early triphibians.
  • Air: Hang gliders and supersonic jets.
  • Space: Deep space probes and interplanetary spacecraft (System Craft).

World Government (G)

Lydia 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 write the policies voted on. Leadership of the government and all members of the bureaucracy are determined by voting population.

World Law (L)

Lydia 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.

Imperial Landed Nobility

Lydia, as a member world of the Third Imperium has a member of the Imperial Nobility overseeing the world.

• It holds the estate of an Imperial knight.

Trade Data

• Importance: -3 (very unimportant)

World Economy

• Resources: 6 (few)
• Labor: 3 (thousands)
• Infrastructure: 1 (extremely limited)
• Efficiency: +1 (average)

World Culture

• Heterogenity: 1 (monolithic)
• Acceptance: 1 (extremely xenophobic)
• Strangeness: 1 (very typical)
• Symbols: 2 (very concrete)

World Timeline

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

• The Year 0: the Third Imperium is founded.
• 300-420: the Imperial First Survey charts the system.
• 589-604: First Frontier War.
• 604-622: the Civil War.
• 615-620: Second Frontier War.
• 624: the Express Boat Network is established.
• 979-986: Third Frontier War.
• 995-1065: the Imperial Second Survey charts the system.
• 1065: the Second Survey is published. Information about the system becomes widely available.
• 1082-1084: Fourth Frontier War, also known as the False War.
• 1107-1110: Fifth Frontier War.

---

IISS GURPS Astrographics Survey

1733 Lydia (Imperial)

Starport: Class I.

Diameter: 963 miles (1,500 km).
Atmosphere: None.
Hydrographics: None.
Climate: Cold.
Population: 9,300.
Government: Dictatorship.
Control Level: 0.
Tech Level: 6.
World Trade Number: 2.5.

References & Contributors (Sources)

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), 26-27.
• Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches Campaign (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 18-19.
• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 94-100. (UWP only)
• Rob Caswell. "Domain of Deneb: Sector Data." MegaTraveller Journal 3 (1992): 47-58. (UWP only)
• Dave Nilsen. The Regency Sourcebook (Game Designers Workshop, 1995), 50-51. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Behind the Claw (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 95.
• Hans Rancke-Madsen. "The Outrim Frontier" JTAS Online (June 19, 2007)
• Mike West. The Spinward States (Avenger Enterprises, 2008), 114. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty. The Spinward Marches (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
• Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 128-132. (UWP only)
• Rob Dean - The Zhodani Base