Ritos Cluster
The Ritos Cluster is a group of stars that forms part of the Demon Cluster.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
The Ritos Cluster is named for the yellow subgiant primary star of the Ritos system. It straddles the border between Xelan and Nisor Subsectors in Far Home Sector. Its worlds are accessible by conventional jump-1 vessels and it links to the Star Lane network through the New Border Star Lane. The Cluster has been inhabited for millennia and has a rich and complex history and many ancient traditions.
Physical Astrography[edit]
Other Clusters & Traces[edit]
Other Astrographic Features[edit]
Nebula[edit]
- The Cauldron Nebula, lying within Cauldron Sector, some 86 parsecs to coreward-trailing, can be seen as a star-studded luminous region in night-time skies from all of the worlds of the Cluster.
Bright Stars[edit]
- Basilisk's Eye (1723 Tarchon Sector). The extremely luminous white supergiant star, lying around 122 parsecs to coreward-trailing, can be clearly seen from all of the worlds of the Cluster.
- Demon's Eye (1621 Far Home Sector). The intensely luminous blue supergiant star lying approximately 13 parsec to spinward-rimward at its closest point, can be clearly seen from all of the worlds of the Cluster even in daylight.
Star Lanes[edit]
World Listing[edit]
The following systems and worlds are a part of the Ritos Cluster:
| startbacknext(9 listed) |
Subsector Listing[edit]
The Ritos Cluster lies within the following Subsectors:
Political Astrography[edit]
Demographics[edit]
Population: 6.281 billion Sophonts.
- Humaniti (Human races)
- Solomani (Major Race): 5.959 billion (94.87% of the population), descended from human refugees who fled the Destruction of Terra. They refer to themselves as Terrans.
- Other Non-Human Races:
- Hoppers: an estimated 322.222 million "Distant" Hoppers (5.13% of the population), typically within established human communities. Most have never visited Fedan, their ancestral homeworld, and many have developed unique customs and habits.
- Temelik: approximately 200,000, found throughout human-controlled space.
Native Sophonts[edit]
No native sophonts are known to have originated within the Ritos Cluster.
Linguistic Topography[edit]
The following languages are the most commonly spoken within the Cluster:
- Anglish The language of the Firstworlds. A direct descendant of Fleet Anglic, widely spoken throughout the Distant Fringe. Most people know a few words and phrases of Anglish.
- Orometi. The language of the Protectorate of Leset and the Worlds of The Leader, the language the defunct Empire and a common language throughout the coreward-spinward quadrant of Far Home Sector. It is derived from Bengali and other south asian languages of old Terra.
Polities[edit]
The Ritos Cluster forms the territory of the Protectorate of Leset, a monolithic impersonal bureaucracy headed by the Protector. The Protectorate is a Mantlerist state – the first to emerge in the Distant Fringe – and is relatively politically isolated. It sees itself as a society of equals striving to bring equality and liberty to the downtrodden masses. However, some are far more equal than others – those in positions of power and influence enjoy advantages that the general population do not. The state is repressive and paranoid. A brutal pro-Mantlerist purge is underway and those deemed to be dissidents may suffer arrest, interrogation and incarceration for activities "against the interests of the State and the Citizens".
Interstellar Relations[edit]
The barbaric and imperialist Worlds of The Leader, a direct threat on the spinward border, is despised. The Worlds have a tiny foothold within the Cluster: they occupy the Ordin Subsystem, centered on the far companion star in the Solitude system. Much of the military might of the Protectorate is concentrated on the spinward border of the Cluster.
The corrupt Firstworlds is disliked, though soon its downtrodden and exploited Gens will rise up and throw off the yoke of Fives elitism.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
The Cluster was largely unpopulated until the Renaissance period, when it became a part of the territory of the Empire. When that state fell in the 55th century the Cluster became the Protectorate of Leset.
- A strong social divide exists between wealthy and aristocratic Fives, descended from the original settlers and crew of the Last Armada, and Gens, individuals whose ancestors were grown in GenPods and raised by Hoppers. Those of Fives ancestry are uniformly despised. They are regarded as parasites and leeches at best and may suffer persecution and abuse.
Major Historical Events Timeline[edit]
Some of the more important historical events that have affected this area include:
- 2255AD: The Last Armada arrives in the Demon Cluster.
- 2500AD: The monolithic and anti-expansionist Second Confederation is founded. The Urida system was the site of a listening station watching for any signs of a Vilani approach.
- 3359AD: 1st Civil War begins. Refugees from the conflict seek shelter within the Cluster.
- 3398AD: 8th Civil War begins.
- 3400AD: The Vilani Scare. Fall of the Second Confederation. End of the Civil Wars. The Dissolution period.
- 3440AD: Third Confederation established. Some limited settlement and development within the Cluster.
- 3730AD: Voyagers arrive and devastate the region. The Dark Age begins.
- 4549AD: The Voyagers depart and the Dark Age ends. The Renaissance sees the first steps back into space.
- ca 4900AD: Golden Age. Space travel becomes relatively commonplace.
- 4910AD: Tal Varisan Development begins very sporadic commercial exploration of the region.
- ca 4980AD: Formation of New Frontiers Development Organization.
- 5050AD: Emergence of the Empire.
- ca 5050AD: The ANMaN Worlds see sporadic settlement.
- ca 5100AD: New Frontiers interests in the region bring it into conflict with the Empire.
- ca 5200AD: Tal Varisan Development merges with the worlds of the Risa Cluster to form the Firstworlds.
- ca 5300AD: New Frontiers ceases to exist as an entity: its former territories gain independence.
- 5344AD: Scybrian Wars begin.
- 5476AD: Revolution within the Empire.
- 5477AD: Collapse of the Empire. Formation of the League of Krayal.
- 5479AD: Formation of the Protectorate of Leset.
- 5489AD: Scybrian Wars come to an end.
- 5517AD: Fall of the League of Krayal. Formation of the Worlds of The Leader.
- ca5580AD: The Client States ally with the Protectorate.
- 5594AD: The Worlds of The Leader seizes the Occupied Territories.
- 5600AD: Data for the Ritos Cluster is published in the DSP Listing.
References & Contributors / Sources[edit]
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science