Sokal (world)

Sokal/Carcosa (Aldebaran 1229)
Classic Era (1116)	D641884–6 Starport D Poor: No Construction, Minor Repair, Unrefined fuel Size 6 Medium (9,600 km, 0.60g - 0.81g) Atmosphere 4 Thin (tainted) Hydrographics 1 Dry World 10% Population 8 Moderate (500 million) Government 8 Civil Service Bureaucracy Law 4 Moderate Law (no light assault weapons) Tech Level 6 Pre-Stellar (nuclear)
See also	UWP
System Details
Primary	G9 V M0 V
Planetoid Belts	0
Gas Giants	4

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Jump map from Travellermap.com

Sokal is a poor, moderate population pre-industrial hellworld, with over a hundred million but not yet a billion sophonts struggling to survive in an inhospitable environment.

• Hellworlds often offer daily, and sometimes even hourly, life-threatening situations to their inhabitants. Survivors often develop intense survival skills and tend to be grim realists.
• This world would like to become a major industrial powerhouse in the subsector, but lacks the population and resources to build an adequate workforce and industrial business sector.
• It is a member of the Solomani Confederation in the Carcosa Subsector of Aldebaran Sector.

• This is a cold world with an overall climate that is at the lower temperature range of human-congruous sophont endurance.

Description (Astrography & Planetology)

Stellar Data

Sokal is a binary star system.

• The primary is a yellow main sequence.
• The secondary is a red main sequence.

Sokal has two stars in the star system.

Primary
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	G9 V	Main Sequence (Dwarf)		0.9	5270 - 5380	0.69159
	Unit	Diameter	Safe Distance	Habitable Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0079	0.069	0.81 - 1.44	0.79	7.9
	Orbit #	*	*	3	2	7
	Remarks
Secondary
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	M0 V	Main Sequence (Dwarf)		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

System Data

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

• The mainworld.
• x10 secondary rocky worlds.
• x4 gas giants.

Mainworld Data

Mainworld Size (S)

Sokal is a Meso World between 8,800km and 10,400km in diameter. The world has a standard gravity between 0.6G and 0.8G. The horizon will appear about 4.4km away.

Mainworld Atmosphere (A)

Sokal has a pressure of 0.43 to 0.70 atmospheres. While the thin atmosphere does not require survival gear this atmosphere also contains an unusual taint such as disease, a hazardous gas mix, pollutants, or sulfur compounds which requires the use of a Filter Mask. Some taints may require more protective equipment. TL–3 or more advanced survival gear is required to settle this world.

• It experiences low temperatures.

The world has an abiotic oxygen atmosphere.

• Oxygen is produced by photocatalytic conversion of surface materials by stellar energy.
• Fresh surface material is constantly exposed through processes such as seismic activity, volcanism, or erosion.
• The oxygen rapidly depletes from the atmosphere through oxidization with surface materials: a rough equilibrium between production and depletion exists.
• The world has a low oxygen taint: the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere varies according to the density of global cloud cover. It is also tainted with industrial chemicals.

Mainworld Hydrosphere (H)

Sokal has 05-15% of its surface covered by liquid water or ice. Wilderness refueling will be difficult. Water for the inhabitants needs to be imported and extensively recycled. These worlds are Hell Worlds or Poor Worlds depending on their atmosphere.

Mainworld Geography and Topography

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

Sokal has small polar ice caps. The majority of the surface is a collection of variously sized impact craters, and numerous abandoned open-pit mines.

(Blank map, predominantly dry world.)

Native Lifeforms

No native life.

History & Background (Dossier)

Sokal is a post-exploitation world. It was one of the original mining projects supported by the Confederation, and it aided various enterprises in moving people and material to Sokal to take advantage of its immense resources. After two centuries, the companies hit a financial wall where it cost more to extract the resources than they could be shipped and sold for. Since then, the population has been extracting the resources using cheaper techniques and using the gains to try and leave the planet. In the process, the thin atmosphere has been badly polluted with chemical smogs.

The government is attempting to prevent catastrophic collapse, and throttle the outflow of their best and brightest, all the while begging the Confederation for aid.

World Starport (St)

Sokal has a Class D Starport, a poor quality installation which has few of the 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 only a downport, unless this is a trade port or system with an hostile environment mainworld.

Sokal downport was built as a Class-C star port, but has degraded to a Class-D.

World Population (P)

Sokal has a population of 500,000,000 sophonts (hundreds of millions).

• The population almost entirely consists of Solomani humans.

Urbanization

Sokal, the capitol, lies about 20 km from the downport. There are four additional heavily populated cities in the general area of the northern ice pack.

There are at least 22 abandoned urban centers on the surface near various exhausted mining, processing, and manufacturing sites. These mining sites have been emptied of feasibly accessible materials. The power reactors there have been shut down and stripped for fissile fuel and parts.

Linguistic Topography

The most commonly heard languages are:

• Rim Anglic, a dialect of Anglic and the principal language of the Confederation.

World Technology Level (T)

Sokal possesses a Technology Level of TL–6.

• Common Communication technologies for this TL include: Telephone, radio, and television.
• Common Power Generation technologies for this TL include: Early fission power generation, advanced water and wind generation of electricity.
• Common Transportation technologies for this TL include:
  • Land: Improved automobiles, early ATV's, and dedicated AFV's.
  • Water: Amphibious vehicles, improved submersibles, and early SCUBA gear.
  • Air: Early jet aircraft and rotorcraft VTOL's.
  • Space: Early unmanned rocket delivery systems and early manned orbital rockets.

World Government (G)

Sokal is governed by a Civil Service Bureaucracy. The leadership of the government takes another form (democracy, dictatorship, oligarchy), but the bureaucracy leadership influences policy. The government leadership may select the bureaucracy leadership, but not its membership. Usually the governmental leadership is divided, or incapable of setting policy, and the bureaucracy provides a stabilizing influence. This ruling bureaucracy may be the full government bureaucractic apparatus or a section with limited jurisdiction but considerable influence, like the military.

World Law (L)

Sokal has a moderate law 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. Light assault weapons, and anything more destructive, are typically regulated or prohibited.

Trade Data

• Importance: -2 (very unimportant)

World Economy

The economy is based around mining, resource processing, and manufacturing. Principal exports include metals, phosphorus compounds, and radioactives.

• Resources: 4 (scarce)
• Labor: 7 (tens of millions)
• Infrastructure: 7 (generally available)
• Efficiency: +1 (average)

World Culture

Meta-post apocalyptic. Human life is cheap on Sokal, and everyone treats it that way. Violence, substance abuse, and risk-taking are common issues.

• Heterogenity: 5 (harmonious)
• Acceptance: 6 (aloof)
• Strangeness: 7 (confusing)
• Symbols: 6 (somewhat concrete)

World Timeline

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

• -9235: far to coreward, the Vilani discover jump drive technology. Over the centuries pioneers and settlers gradually spread across Charted Space.
• -4045 to -2204: the Ziru Sirka controls vast territories.
• -2431: Terrans discover jump drive technology.
• -2404 to -2215: the Interstellar Wars.
• -2204 to -1776: the Rule of Man administers the former Ziru Sirka.
• -1776 to 0: the Long Night.
• The Year 0: to coreward, the Third Imperium is founded.
• 300-420: the Imperial First Survey charts the system.
• 604-622: the Imperial Civil War.
• 624: the Imperial Express Boat Network is established.
• 704: the Solomani Autonomous Region is formed.
• 800-820: the Psionics Suppressions.
• 871: the Solomani Confederation is founded.
• 940: the Solomani Autonomous Region is dissolved.
• 990-1002: the Solomani Rim War.
• 995-1065: the Imperial Second Survey includes data for the system.
• 1065: the Second Survey is published. Information about the system becomes widely available.

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.

• John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Classic Traveller Supplement 8 Library Data (A-M), (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), various pages. (Library data entries)
• John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Classic Traveller Supplement 11 Library Data (N-Z), (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), various pages. (Library data entries)
• John Harshman, Marc Miller. Solomani (Game Designers Workshop, 1986), IFC, pages 3, 28. (sector named, background for the sector)
• Peter G. Celella, James Holden. Solomani & Aslan (Digest Group Publications, 1991), pages 8-11, various others. (dot map locating the worlds of the sector, background for the sector)
• Steven Eric Schwartz. MegaTraveller Periodical Imperiallines 2, 1991, page 5. (Bootean Federation, background for the sector)
• Michael Taylor. Fighting Ships of the Solomani (QuikLink Interactive, 2009), page 5. (background for the sector)
• David L. Pulver. Solomani (Mongoose Publishing, 2012), pages 50, 118, 119, various others. (background for the sector)
• Martin J. Dougherty. The Order of Prometheus (Mongoose Publishing, 2023), various pages. (scenarios and background for the sector)
• Zho Berka's Maps (Classic Era UWP Data for the world)
• CORE Data Site (UWP Data for the world)
• Author & Contributor: Garnfellow (development of the sector)
• Author & Contributor: Leroy W.L. Guatney of the Federation Development Agency (FDA) (development of the sector)
• Author & Contributor: Dochsavage