Pagaton (world)
| Pagaton/District 268 (Spinward Marches 1634) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classic Era (1116) | C769873-4
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| See also | UWP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary | F0 V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Planetoid Belts | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gas Giants | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pagaton is a rich world with a moderate population of over a hundred million, but not yet a billion sophonts in size.
- This world has high-grade living conditions with a good climate and a non-harmful environment. As such, this world is much sought after with large queues for immigration here.
- This world has a prosperous and thriving world economy.
- Most observers think that the planet's economy and population will prosper further in the near future barring outside forces.
- It is a Non-Aligned world dominated by human sophonts located in the District 268 Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector.
- This is a cold world with an overall climate that is at the lower temperature range of human-congruous sophont endurance.
- This is a "low technology" world with technology competencies well below standard for Charted Space.
- Pagaton is a member of the Spinward Main.
- A common variant of the name is Pegaton.
Astrography & Planetology
Stellar Data
Pagaton has a solitary primary star.
- It is a white main sequence.
System Data
The worlds of the system have been surveyed. They consist of:
- The mainworld.
- x6 secondary rocky worlds.
- x1 planetoid belt.
- x3 gas giants.
Mainworld Data
Pagaton orbits within its star's habitable zone.
- It receives moderate levels of stellar energy.
Mainworld Size (S)
Pagaton is a Meso World between 10,400km and 12,000km in diameter. The world has a standard gravity between 0.7G and 0.9G. The horizon will appear about 4.7km away.
Mainworld Atmosphere (A)
Pagaton has a pressure of 0.71 to 1.49 atmospheres. A Standard Atmosphere does not require survival gear and will likely be easy for most sophonts to breathe.
- The world is sliding into a global Ice Age.
- It experiences low temperatures.
Mainworld Hydrosphere (H)
Pagaton has 85-95% of its surface covered by liquid water with a few small continents, and a number of islands and archipelagos. Dry land is limited. Wilderness refueling is possible.
- The world's oceans are littered with icebergs and pack ice.
Mainworld Geography and Topography
A map of Pagaton, the nominated mainworld of the system, showing the world-ocean, major landmasses, islands and archipelagos, and the large polar icecaps. Icebergs and pack ice occur in the oceans from the poles to the mid latitudes (marked by paler blue oceans) and can present a significant hazard to commercial shipping. Shallower coastal waters surround landmasses (also shown in pale blue). On land, highland and mountainous regions are indicated in brown, lowland regions are shown in green, and equatorial forests are depicted in dark green. Landmasses closer to the poles have tundra climates (shown in pale blue-green) and are experiencing increasing levels of glaciation. Only the equator remains ice- and frost-free throughout the local year.[2]
- Far more detailed maps are available locally.
Pagaton ca.1100, in the early centuries of an Ice Age.
Native Lifeforms
Abundant native life occupying every available ecological niche. Its metabolic functions drive the process of atmospheric renewal.
- Ecosystems on the world are adjusting or disappearing as the new ice age deepens.
- Many native land creatures have thick fur or dense pelts.
Life has existed on the world for hundreds of millions of years, long enough for the remains of primordial species of plant to have transformed into seams of coal.
History & Background (Dossier)
Officially, Pagaton was originally settled fairly early in the Imperial Era by a consortium of diverse groups from Mora, Trin, and planets within Deneb Sector. At the time, it enjoyed a temperate climate, and the various self-sufficient colony groups did not interact much since they were placed on separate large landmasses. It seems likely that the world had a population prior to the 400s: some historians suspect that they were refugees from the Sindalian Empire, while others argue that they were secretive Imperial immigrants, likely hiding from the authorities.
About 600, the planet began sliding into a global Ice Age. Trade with other worlds had always been marginal due to the disadvantageous position of Pagaton, off the main run of the Spinward Main, and as more and more of the world's resources were channeled into survival-related activities exports fell off. This in turn caused fewer traders to arrive and created a vicious cycle which did not end until the planetary tech level dropped to around TL–4.
Some trade has resumed since the reopening of the starport in the neighboring Binges system in 1057 drew traders through the little cluster, but the main export, furs, does not generate enough foreign exchange credits to engage in any sort of large scale rebuilding effort.
The large number of competing governments exacerbate the situation, since they tend to use what foreign exchange they have to equip their armed forces in an effort to seize or influence the distribution of vital resources (such things as ice free ports and easily recoverable iron and coal deposits). Since the best the planet could hope for is to become an agricultural world, the interest of offworld powers is extremely limited. Small groups of low tech mercenaries, from planets such as Aki or Tarkine, will occasionally hire themselves out on Pagaton for 'real life' training.
A small but self-sufficient offworld enclave known as The Island, constructed to around TL–12 standards and protected by private security and mercenary personnel, lies close to the northern icecap. It is part of a relatively barren archipelago under the soverignty of the nation of Eukay, the world's dominant power. The current population is estimated to be around 1500, though exact data is not available: its government is considered to be a Self-perpetuating Oligarchy. The Island was purchased in perpetuity from Eukay and enjoys cordial relations with most of Patagon's nations.[3]
World Starport (St)
Pagaton has a Class C Starport, an average quality installation which features amenities including unrefined fuel for starships, some brokerage services for passengers and cargo, and a variety of ship provisions. There is a shipyard capable of doing maintenance and other kinds of repair. Ports of this classification generally have only a downport, unless this is a trade port or system with an hostile environment mainworld.
World Population (P)
Pagaton has a population of 900,000,000 sophonts (hundreds of millions).
Urbanization
The lands which are fortunate enough to lie in the pleasant but narrow equatorial zone are fairly crowded, adding to the pressures of the inhabitants. The presence of edible native vegetation, which will grow in the world's harsh, chilly mid latitude environments, and the extensive use of sea life for sustenance, allows the continuation of human life on the planet.
Linguistic Topography
The most commonly heard languages are:
- Riftian, the major regional dialect of Anglic, the principal language of the Imperium. Each of the world's nations and ethnic groups speaks their own characteristic sub-dialect of Riftian, generally distinctive enough to be almost incomprehensible to non-locals.
World Technology Level (T)
Pagaton possesses a Technology Level of TL–4.
- Common Communication technologies for this TL include: Telephone and telegraphs, widespread printing.
- Common Power Generation technologies for this TL include: Early electricity, hydrocarbon internal combustion.
- Common Transportation technologies for this TL include:
- Land: Trains and early automobiles.
- Water: Clippers and steam ships.
- Air: Dirigibles, balloons, very basic rockets.
World Government (G)
Pagaton has a Balkanized Government. There is no central world government. The world has several governments competing for control of the world. These may be allies, cooperating, competitors, or at war with each other.
There are five major powers on the world:[4]
- Eukay is a Kingdom with a ruling hereditory aristocracy and a deeply entrenched class system. It has the most powerful navy on the planet, the largest merchant fleet, and is considered to be on the point of reaching TL–5. It is Pagaton's industrial powerhouse, with rich native sources of coal and iron, and is dotted with crowded, grimy, factory-filled cities and crossed by railroad networks. It is the world's dominant power: the nation of Uasay, a former colony, is both its closest ally and its greatest rival.
The Kingdom has a population of approximately 100 million in its homelands and a further 150 million subject peoples across its many scattered territories. Many of these subject peoples yearn for independence. Some of the nation's southern colonies have become almost uninhabitable due to the deepening Ice Age. - Rusha, a former hereditory Kingdom, suffered a humiliating defeat in a recent war against Tchiner – a war funded by the sale of territory to Uasay – and a violent revolution subsequently overthrew the government. It is now controlled by a chaotic Impersonal Bureaucracy headed by an ineffective Interim Council, and seems likely to collapse into civil war in the near future. It is solidly TL–4. It should be considered an Amber Zone for travel purposes.
It has a population of approximately 200 million, many of whom follow political factions with very different ideologies, led by local strongmen and supported by militias or military units. Some of its northern provinces have become almost uninhabitable due to the deepening Ice Age. - Tchiner is a centralized Impersonal Bureaucracy and is extremely traditionalist. It has the largest army, with good training and discipline, but even the best units are barely equipped to TL–4 standards. It recently withstood a large-scale invasion by Rusha: emboldened by these military successes, warhawks in Tchiner's administration are looking towards the Eukay holdings in the south of "their" continent.
The state has a population of approximately 350 million made up of distinct ethnic groups, widely spread across its vast territories and largely engaged in agricultural work. It is struggling to cope with the changing climate due to the deepening Ice Age: parts of its northern territories have become uninhabitable. - The Theocracy is an isolationist, reclusive religious dictatorship known to use slaves. Its degree of technological advancement remains undetermined.
It has a population of approximately 15 million, although the proportion of enslaved people is unknown. - Uasay is a wealthy Representative Democracy that violently broke away from Eukay dominance centuries ago, though it currently enjoys good relations with its former overlord. It has some of the most fertile land on the world and has almost reached TL–5. Uasay purchased a small archipelago in the far north of the world from the Rushan royal family, in order to provide a permanent base for its polar fishing fleets. Rushan revolutionaries, having deposed their monarchy, clamor for the islands to be liberated and returned to the Motherland – by force if necessary.
The nation has a population of approximately 90 million. Citizens inhabiting its great metropolises enjoy the highest standard of living on the world.
Although each nation claims soverignty over enormous territories and huge swathes of ocean, their control over these regions is often only nominal. Each state includes within it vast wildernesses, agricultural lands, urban areas, and large cities. The nations are not monolithic entities, instead consisting of powerful internal districts that jockey for power with one another, autonomous regions, privately controlled estates, insular or isolated communities that often regard themselves as independent, and distinctive cultural territories aligned or protected by treaty or controlled by conquest. Although there is some degree of patriotic fervor, particularly within the more advanced states, the nations are tied together more by their inhabitants' shared language, heritage, and culture than a strong loyalty to the named ruling authority.
World Law (L)
Pagaton has a low law level. 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. Machine guns, other automatic weapons, portable energy weapons, and other military weapons, body pistols, explosives, and poison gas are typically regulated or prohibited.
Trade Data
- Importance: 0 (unimportant)
The worlds chief sources of revenue are aquaculture, fossil fuels, mineral extraction, and animal furs.
World Economy
- Resources: A (abundant)
- Labor: 7 (tens of millions)
- Infrastructure: 6 (limited)
- Efficiency: -3 (poor)
Railroad networks, using increasingly powerful designs of coal-powered locomotive, are spreading across the world's continents.
World Culture
- Heterogenity: 5 (harmonious)
- Acceptance: 8 (friendly)
- Strangeness: 2 (typical)
- Symbols: 1 (extremely 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.
References & Contributors (Sources)
- Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), 18-19.
- 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), 48-49. (UWP only)
- Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Behind the Claw (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 78.
- Hans Rancke-Madsen, "The Outrim Frontier." JTAS Online (June 19, 2007)
- Mike West. The Spinward States (Avenger Enterprises, 2008), 110. (UWP only)
- Martin Dougherty. The Spinward Marches (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
- Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 123-127. (UWP only)
- Contributor: Vendarth
- ↑ "Jump Map API" and map location from Travellermap.com
- ↑ Maps sourced from Matt Montjot's ongoing Tulia's Windfall campaign.
- ↑ Enclave data drawn from Matt Montjot's ongoing Tulia's Windfall campaign.
- ↑ Political data drawn from Matt Montjot's ongoing Tulia's Windfall campaign.
