Empire of Thrax

The Empire of Thrax is the name given to a mythical alien domain that lies far to spinward of the Distant Fringe.

Description / Specifications

A mythical or fictional state that supposedly lies far to spinward, within the Centrum Cluster, around the Maw of The Rift, far beyond even the fabled realm of the Slavers. It is said to lie at the point where the river without suns meets the ocean with no stars, upon infinitys shore, at that place where the stars end. The quote, the opening monologue of the popular sci-fi show "Infinitys Shore", has become the accepted location of the Empire.

Astrographic charting has located the positions and types of all the stars within Centrum Cluster, the greater grouping of stars that the Empire of Thrax lies within. The region identified as the Empire of Thrax contains an unusually high number of Received Signal Sources, further fuelling the debate over whether there is a kernel of truth to the tales.

History & Background / Dossier

The heart of the Empire of Thrax myth is that Sophont aliens recovered Slaver artefacts on their homeworld. They were able to reverse-engineer and utilise these artefacts, granting them incredibly high levels of technology. They spread to the stars, forming an interstellar empire, and ultimately meeting (and conflicting with) Lon Beon.

Popular Culture

The Empire of Thrax is a popular element for sci-fi tropes within the Distant Fringe:

• The Thrax are descended from wormlike Sophonts who have enhanced themselves with cybernetic additions. They are few in number but are extremely powerful, able to construct and utilise bizarre fantastical technologies.
  • A second Sophont species, small symbiotes that require a host body, serve as the willing allies of the Thrax. They exist in relatively large numbers but are helpless without an appropriate host organism. In return for their obedience, loyalty and servitude, the Thrax provide them with a supply of viable hosts. In many stories the Thrax villain threatens to put their symbiote sidekick "into an organism without manipulators" as punishment for their failings.
• Within the various stories, the machinations of the Empire of Thrax are opposed by the doughty and plucky humans of Lon Beon. The humans have a comparable degree of technology to the Empire and invariably foil their nefarious plans.
  • The Empire of Thrax and Lon Beon are reckoned to lie somewhere between TL18 to TL23, depending on the writer of the story and the nature of the deus ex machina required to conclude the tale.
  • The technology of both the Empire of Thrax and Lon Beon relies on the Centrum Device, located in the Centrum system, a trinary star system centered on a pair of white dwarf stars. The Device has varying abilities and functions depending on the story, but primarily allows ships to travel tens of parsecs with a single jump. The Centrum Device has occasionally served as an ansible. The Device also serves as a jump inhibitor, precipitating vessels out of jumpspace within a parsec of the system.

The Empire of Thrax is ruled by the Lord of the Light, a cyborg Sophont of horrifying appearance.

Artefacts and Devices

A number of devices are known to be employed by the Empire of Thrax:

• Berserker Parasite: a biomechanical device that attaches to the neck of a host and is able to alter their behaviour. The parasites contain communications equipment.
• Specialist Suit: a biomechanical exoskeleton that dramatically improves the strength and endurance of the operator. It penetrates the flesh of the operator at key locations on the body and connects directly with their musculoskeletal and nervous systems. The suit must be fed at regular intervals. When it separates from the user it leaves attachment scars.
• Operator's Couch: a structure resembling a large chair that gives control of a specific system or device. The couch sends out a mass of bio-organic filaments that penetrate the operators braincase and link their neurons directly to the equipment.

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.

• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
• Author & Contributor: Tom Chlebus
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science