Distant Fringe
The Distant Fringe is a region of space about 600 parsecs spinward-rimward of Terra, officially settled in 2255AD by humans fleeing the destruction of Terra at the hands of the Vilani Imperium. It is part of a vast region of largely unexplored space called the Empty Stars.
Metadata
What if the Vilani had won the Interstellar Wars and there was no Rule of Man? And the losing Terrans had fled rimward in a great caravan of starships, a Last Armada.
- That is the premise that veteran Traveller writer Alegoric tackled when he created his Distant Fringe setting.
Description (Specifications)
The rimward border of the Distant Fringe forms the edge of the Great Void, a huge interstellar rift, and is surrounded on its spinward, coreward and trailing sides by areas of low stellar density called the Moat Rifts. Beyond the Moat Rifts are the Empty Stars, a truly vast wilderness.
- The larger Distant Fringe region includes 12 sectors, and contains in excess of 1360 star systems.
- The Distant Fringe proper is the Demon Cluster, a large grouping of stars within the rimward part of the Empty Stars. It covers the whole of both Halcyon Sector and Far Home Sector, and parts of Divide Sector, Gulf Sector, Shadow Rift Sector, Course Sector, and Bourne Sector.
The Demon's Eye, an intensely luminous blue supergiant star, lies at the center of Far Home Sector and can be clearly seen from every world across both the Distant Fringe and the Empty Stars. Why the Terrans, seeking to hide from their supposed Vilani pursuers, should choose to settle a region with such a bright beacon at its center is something of a mystery. Some hold that it proves that the Last Armada was at the very limit of its endurance and was forced to halt, while others contend that the location was deliberately chosen in order to give stragglers somewhere to aim towards.
History & Background (Dossier)
The term "Fringian" is often applied to terms, equipment and events specific to the Distant Fringe.
Demographics
The total population of the Distant Fringe is around 127.1 billion sophonts: there are approximately 91.2 billion humans descended from Terran refugees who fled the Destruction of Terra at the hands of the Vilani Imperium, and approximately 35.9 billion members of native sophont species.
Native Sophonts
Trade and Commerce
Interstellar trade and commerce is the life-blood of the Distant Fringe and many large companies and businesses exist within the region. Full details and a comprehensive commercial directory can be found under Business Sectors.
Technology Overview
The Distant Fringe has a general maximum technological level of TL-12.
- It is more advanced in some areas (specifically computers and robotics) but is more backward in others (such as Space Tech).
- Jump Technology: Jump drive technology within the Distant Fringe is limited to Jump-2, utilising the DeVoss Drive.
- Representative examples of starships and spacecraft used within the region can be found at Ships of the Distant Fringe.
Worlds & Sectors / Astrography
This broad Astrographic region contains the following sectors (the "Distant Fringe proper"):
Distant Fringe:
- Abyss Sector
- Bourne Sector
- Chasm Sector
- Course Sector
- Deep Sector
- Divide Sector
- Extent Sector
- Fallow Sector
- Far Home Sector
- Gulf Sector
- Halcyon Sector
- Shadow Rift Sector
World Listing
The following systems and worlds are associated with this area:
References & Contributors (Sources)
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
- Author & Contributor: Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis), Captain, and Lead Naval Architect Ronald B. Kline, Jr. of the Imperial Navy
- Author & Contributor: Tom Chlebus
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science