Manipulation

Manipulation (capitalised) is a uniquely Hiver phenomenon and the primary way for Hivers to modify, or change, not only their own society but those of other sophonts as well.

• The act of Manipulation is an accepted activity within Hiver society, which accords great respect and admiration from the population in general to a successful manipulator.
• Manipulation success is the primary way for individuals to achieve a lasting fame in Hiver society.

Description (Specifications)

Manipulation is one of the primary means by which high achievement and success are attained in Hiver communities.

The Gurvin word for Manipulation (distinct from manipulation as a broad concept) is Iigoh.

Manipulator Title

The title "Manipulator" is given to those select individuals who attempt to alter the course of society and history by changing or redirecting events toward a goal of their own choosing. Manipulators are important figures in Hiver culture; they are respected and powerful, but constrained by certain basic cultural values. Successful manipulators often use the prefix M. (for "Manipulator").

Components of Manipulation

Manipulation is rigidly defined by the Hivers to include four components: the deed, the manipulator, the consequences, and the claim of credit. Each component has been carefully refined and defined, and its requirements must be carefully met for it to be accepted.

1. Manipulator

The manipulator is the person who performs the deed. A manipulator may be open and direct, or may work behind the scenes. In all cases, a true manipulation calls for the manipulator to be a single person, working alone and totally responsible for the act. If more than one person performs the deed, the act is not a true manipulation.

2. Deed

The deed itself is the stimulus which sets the manipulation into motion. The deed must be premeditated, and it must be the minimum deed necessary. As such, the deed must be carefully recorded (originally in writing; currently, manipulators maintain elaborate explanatory video and graphic records) in order to support a later claim of credit. Premeditation of the deed also includes a prediction of the consequences and their effects. The finesse of the manipulator is judged by the degree and complexity of the deed; great finesse is assumed when the deed is small and innocuous, and lesser finesse is assumed if the deed is more direct or complex.

3. Consequences

The consequences of the deed are the results of the initial act. There are obvious results of any deed, and evaluation of any manipulation ignores them; the unobvious effects are the true effects of manipulation. The manipulator must predict them correctly.

4. Claim of Credit

The claim of credit is the final step in a successful manipulation. The manipulator must reveal the manipulation and present its evidence of responsibility and its prediction of the consequences. Upon evaluation, the event is then acknowledged as a manipulation (or not) and proper records are made. Acknowledged manipulators are accorded a courtesy title of Manipulator (abbreviated M.) in respect for their deeds.

History & Background (Dossier)

The First Manipulation: The first manipulation in Hiver society was also one of the first recorded deeds in Hiver history.

1. Manipulation (Background) The First Manipulator

About 10,000 years ago, M. Primus (the Anglic translation of the manipulator's name) was a nest leader in one of ten city-states on a mountainous peninsula of Guaran, the Hiver homeworld. All of the city-states were struggling to build and maintain their economies, but were constrained by the mountains; instead all viable trade took the long route by sea around the peninsula.

2. Manipulation (History) M. Primus' Deed

Primus proposed to a meeting of city leaders that a road be built across the peninsula, complete with tunnels through the impassable mountains, to connect all of the city-states. Primus emphasized the commercial and trade benefits that could be expected. The idea became popular and was implemented.

3. Manipulation (History) The Consequences

Within ten years, all ten city-states were connected by a road that greatly shortened travel time between them. Within fifteen years, several of the previously inaccessible mountain valleys in the peninsula interior were settled by newly formed nests. Primus' city-state became a trade center for these new settlements; with trade came power and importance. As the years passed, the city-states found that their interests were more common than separate, and within thirty years, the ten city-states had united into a new nation-state -- the first to be established on Guaran.

4. Manipulation (History) Claim of Credit

At a celebration of the founding of the nation-state, Primus climaxed the festivities by revealing its manipulation. Everyone in attendance immediately acknowledged Primus' deed, and it has since been recorded as the first true manipulation.

At this point, the record becomes semi-mythical:

• One ending has Primus being elevated to leader of the new nation state.
• The other has Primus banished as too dangerous to the community.

To quote the Ithklur known only as the Blissful Warrior:

"Fascinating. We are asked to believe that sea transport -- the most efficient form of planetary cargo transportation -- was insufficient to keep the economies of these city-states going, and that the mountains were forbidding enough to prevent all overland trade, but that these city-states had the wherewithal to blast tunnels through these mountains to link all of the cities in only 70 years? How were these city-states founded if they were not port cities to begin with? Hivers must be phenomenally bad sailors. This story also ends with the classic Hiver ambivalence about manipulation itself. We celebrate this as the first manipulation, and yet we're really not sure if manipulations are a good idea after all."

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.

• Classic Traveller Alien Module 7 - Hivers
• GURPS Traveller Alien Races 3 (Hivers and Droyne)
• TNE - Aliens of the Rim
• John Griffiths, Richard Hazlewood, Nik Kraakenes. Career Book 2 (Spica Publishing, 2009), TBD.
• Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), TBD.