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Academic Awards
Droyne
Imperial Awards
Fourth Frontier War
Knighthoods
Language
Nemmiri
Peerage
Travellers' Aid Society (TAS)
Vargr

Knighthoods are a recognised mark of social standing in the Third Imperium and their award is confirmation of this status.
In order of precedence...

• K.E.G - Knight of the Honourable Order of the Emperor's Guard.
  • Founded 52
  • Not Heritable.
  • By Emperor's Personal Gift only.
• K.S.C - Knight of the Order of Starship and Crown
  • Founded 17
• K.D.M - Knight of the Order of Distinguished Merit
  • From recommendations by the Imperial Diplomatic Service
• K.B - Knight of the Ancient Order of Vland (Titled in Vilani as Kiduunuuzii Balandin). Gender is undistinguished in the order.
  • Founded 0; Reorganised 76.
• K.S.M - Knight of the Spinward Marches
  • Founded 60 with the creation of the Duchy of Mora.

Military Awards
S.E.H - Starburst for Extreme Heroism: Awarded for Extreme Heroism. Attended by a small Stipend for Life. Holders are saluted by Regimental Officers.
M.C.G - Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry: Awarded for Conspicuous Gallantry.
M.C.U.F - Meritorious Conduct Under Fire: Awarded for Notable Bravery under fire.

Military Service Awards
Combat Ribbons: Gained by combat arms for service specific combat actions.
Command Bar: Added to Combat Ribbons by Officers that served in specific combat actions.
Campaign Ribbons: Gained for service under military orders in a war.
e.g. Fourth Frontier War (1082-1084) Campaign Ribbon.

Military Long Service Distinction
Long Service Stripe: Awarded to those serving 20 years in the Army, Navy or Marines. Attended by a Pension for life.

Wound Badge
Purple Heart: Awarded to military/naval personnel injured in combat

Meritorious Performance of Duties Badge
M.P.O.D - Meritorious Performance of Duties: A badge awarded for excellence in performing general duties.

Service Citations
Awarded in non-military personnel for acts of exemplary or heroic service. Generally accompanied by a one-off gratuity.

Undergraduate Degree
Denotes that the individual attended university and graduated successfully.
Doctorate
Denotes that the individual has been examined and awarded a doctorate in a specific academic subject.

Professorial Tenure
Denotes that the individual has achieved Professorial Rank in an academic institution.

Academic Publication
Denotes successful submission of an academic paper to an Academic Journal. Each subject has its own Journal.
e.g. Imperial Journal of Archaeological Research

Academic Prizes
A published paper has been recognised by the awards committee as eligible for the named prize. Some prizes attract a one-off benefit or stipend.
e.g. Antiama Shiishugina prize for Ancients Research

Academic Fellowships
e.g. F.I.C.S - Fellow of the Imperial College of Surgeons

The Third Imperium Peerage is a mess caused by trying to get too many things that weren't thought of into too few bands - and by the mixing up of Counts and Marquises in the precedence hierarchy. Add to that the Version changes it drives me mad.So I'm revising it by dictat!

The Peerage are responsible for representing Planets or Groups of Planets to the Emperor via the Imperial Moot

Emperor
This guy sits at the top of the tree. He writes the rules.

The Emperor is advised by the Moot. He can ignore their advice.

Grand Duke
Groups of Four(ish) sectors are grouped into Domains nominally commanded by Grand Duke. These guys got (historically) quite powerful and so they have been left Vacant for some time - except that the current Emperor is appointing new Grand Dukes!

Sector Dukes have 6 votes in the imperial Moot.

The Spinward Marches are in the Domain of Deneb and there is no currently incumbent Grand Duke.

Sector Duke
The Spinward Marches is a Sector and the Duchess of Mora is de facto Sector Duke, but is not so de jure.

Sector Dukes have 5 votes in the imperial Moot.

Subsector Duke
The Sectors are divided, rigidly, into 16 Sub-Sectors (Historically called Districts when outside the empire's borders). In the Spinward Marches, there are currently 6 (of 8 created). There have never been more than 6 at once.

• Mora
• Rhylanor
• Lunion
• Trin
• Regina
• Chronor (Until Extinguished due to War)
• Arden (Until Extinguished due to War)
• Glisten (previously known as Bellion)
• Iderati (a.k.a. Five Sisters)

The Dukes are generally bickering about defence and trade policies (primarily)

Sub-Sector Dukes have 4 votes in the imperial Moot.

Marquis
When a Sub-Sector is not suitable for management under a Sub-Sector Duke, all or part may be placed in the hands of a Marquis. These exercise most of the prerogatives of a Sub-Sector Duke, but not all.
There are two Marquisates in the Spinward Marches: Aramis and Frenzie.
n.b. Lanth Subsector is neither a Duchy nor a Marquisate.

Marquises have 3 votes in the Imperial Moot.

Count
A Count is an intermediate between a Duke and a Baron. They look after a group of worlds. That group may be one world if the world is powerful in its own right and isolated or squeezed between other Counties.
The Duchy of Regina has:

• County of Efate
• County of Jewell
• County of Keng
• County of Louzy
• County of Menorb
• County of Regina
• County of Rethe
• County of Roup
• County of Vilis

Counts have 2 votes in the Imperial Moot.

Baron
A Baron is responsible for representing a world. Some worlds have no Baron. The latter of these worlds have a Governor or Protector instead.

Barons have 1 votes in the Imperial Moot

There are a just over two hundred planetary barons in the Spinward Marches

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The below are not Peers. They may have responsibilities and some power, but are not admitted to the Moot by virtue of their office.

Baronets and Knights

Baronets and Knights have none of the planet-level responsibilites of the ranks above,
These ranks are generally awarded to high-flying members of the Armed Forces - especially the Navy, if they aren't already peers.
These ranks allow rewards to be assigned without expanding the Moot's Representation.

There are only a few thousand knights in the whole of the Spinward Marches, mostly found in the Ducal Centres of Power.

Governor
Where a world is directly ruled by the Imperium, a Governor is appointed.

• Imperial Prison/Exile/Penal Planets
• Imperial Reserves
• Conquered Worlds
• Occupied/Pacified Worlds

The Governor may never have visited the planet - or may be required to live there in person. They may need substantial security to ensure the Imperium's interests are upheld.

Protectors
Where a world is interdicted, the sponsor of the interdiction is responsible for the protection of the world. Typically, this is the Imperial Navy or Imperial Interstellar Scout Service - but other protectors exist, e.g. the Ministry of Colonisation, The Office of Imperial Concerns, etc. Actual security is typically the duty of the Imperial Navy.

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The Rest
Well...

A zero-G handball popular in the 830s but recently almost extinct.

Originating in the Corridor Sector, the game was the fitness craze of the Wealthy for nearly 30 years - but it was replaced by other, less undignified, sports in the 850s.

The game is still played in micro-gravity situations in impromptu courts - but few planet-bound courts remain.

TAS Life Membership gives you:

1. Membership of the Travellers' Aid Society (A Social Club for Travelers mainly Nobles and Naval and Marine personnel)
2. A place to get a moderately priced bed in most Class C+ Starports (the facilities at Efate are currently closed)
3. An Income of 1 high class interstellar travel ticket every 8 weeks (worth 10,000Cr).
4. Access to the TAS Membership Committee and other Members as potential Contacts
5. Access to the TAS Library, Dining and Meeting Rooms

Life Membership is just Cr1,000,000

In any case, the TAS (and it's commercial subsidiaries) provide to the public:

• A News Channel
• A Jobs Board for Starship Crews, Positions in companies based at the Starport and Odd Jobs

The Traveller Background has many, many languages. Those that are of relevance to this corner of the empire are:

Galanglic
The everyday speech of the Imperium. It's a horrible mess when compared to current English as it has borrowed from all sorts of other places but its pretty universal.

Sagamaal
The everyday speech of the Sword Worlds. This is a derivative of Icelandic and arrived with the Terran colonists during the Long Night.

Te Zlodh
The Darrians were transported from Terra about 300,000 years ago and developed several languages. These gradually got subsumed by Te Zlodh which was their main colonial language. Then they blew up their star (an event known as the Maghiz) and it was the only one of their languages left.

Zdant
The Zhodani are another Terran transplant from 300,000 years ago. They seem to have been genetically engineered for Psionics! They got into space and formed an empire - the edges of which have reached the Imperium (almost).

Oynprith
In the Five Sisters is a scarily high-tech world full of Droyne. They have a language (mostly written) called Oynprith. There are Droyne elsewhere throughout the nearby sectors and they ALL have Oynprith as their written language - though they interact rarely. Droyne are a group that appear off their own worlds rarely - and when they do are worthy of note.

Vilani
The Vilani Empire was built by another group of humans that had been transplanted about 300,000 years ago. This was taken over/destroyed by marauding Vargr and Terran Humans 1700 years ago. The language remains in the areas of that old empire. There is little of it this far into the Spinward Marches as they never ruled here - but several Vilani groups fled or were exiled here after the Imperium was established 1100 years ago.

Gvegh
The Vargr were genetically engineered (the Vargr say Perfected) from Terran dogs 300,000 years ago and spread into space a couple of thousand years ago. They brought down the Vilani Empire as they did so. Those that have arrived in this region mostly come from the Gvegh culture.

Trokh
The Aslan are an independently evolved race that have visual similarities to Terran Lions (hence the name), but aren't really Lions at all. The Terrans found the Aslan in the Dark Nebula. This prevented their expansion in that direction and so each has been expanding, in parallel to fill the gaps. Some Aslan have reached here, settling Mire and even Regina.

Other Langauges
There are many other languages. e.g. The much overlooked natives of Regina speak Amindii.

Other forms of communication
The Droyne and Zhodani use obvious forms of telepathy. This makes the imperium very wary of representatives from both given the Imperium's love of secrets.
Many cultures (including all of the above) use body-languages. One major culture (the Hivers from the far side of the imperium) primarily use a body-language supplemented by chromatophore signalling.

See also Traveller Wiki

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The years 1082 to 1084 fall within the memory of all of the characters (other than Seca), and the Fourth Frontier War was a bit of a shock to everyone. Seca because he was born as it rumbled on; others because they were in service while it occurred (even if not in the front-line) or because they still recall the practice exercises for "What to do if the Zhodani Attack".

The war, as a whole involved almost no set-piece battles - instead it was very limited border raids. Narval was levered out of the Imperium. Esalin was invaded, but not captured. Vargr raided more intensively than normal. The Naval Base at Quar (the Casus-Belli) steadfastly remained Imperial. And the new Emperor took credit for ending the war (despite the Imperial Command arriving after the peace treaty was signed, a fact conveniently whitewashed from the Imperial version of the history).

The Imperial Navy found it's strategy of forward-defence with Battle Rider Squadrons was flawed; The Zhodani gained influence, credibility and territory. Both Sides claimed Victory. The Vargr gained Loot.

The Scouts saw multiple projects inconvenienced as a result of shipping diversions. But it also saw new opportunities for promotion as some senior positions became vacant earlier than anticipated and budgets expanded. Not all of these new opportunities lasted.

Compared to the Third Frontier War, the Fourth was little more than a skirmish. The fact that the Sword Worlds was involved is down-played within the Imperial part of the Marches. Their grudges got lost in the paperwork and assigned to another concurrent Sword-Worlds Vs Darrian conflict (Lost by the Darrian Confederation) known as the Entropic Wars.

One outcome from the Fourth Frontier War is that the border between the Vargr Extents and Imperium became much softer and trade across it became less of a gamble. Several new Vargr polities opened up in the border region within a decade of the relaxation of Imperial Suppression in the region.

See also Traveller Wiki

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Physical

The Droyne are a physical species with 7 separate branches: -

• Child
• Drone
• Leader
• Sport
• Technician
• Warrior
• Worker

All Droyne start as Children and then transform into one of the 6 other castes via a "Casting Ceremony". How this works is much studied but unclear.

Droyne visual acuity is attuned to a class F star. Their general physiology works best in a relatively low gravity and high density, standard atmosphere.

Chirpers
Chirpers are also found across known space, and genetic studies have concluded that they are closely related to Droyne - perhaps in the same way that Apes are closely related to Humans.

Cultural
The Droyne have one culture. Certain Oytrip emphasize different aspects of this culture, but only one culture now exists. How this is maintained across the vast distances between the various Droyne Settlements is unclear. They have an astonishing variety of spoken languages, but a single ritual language across all their settlements.

The Droyne were central to many Ancient sites, but the exact relationship between the Droyne and the Ancients is enigmatic. Unlike the Vargr and Humaniti, the origin of the Droyne remains undiscovered. That the Ancients drove their dispersal across known space is assumed. The Pre-Ancient period is a blank to Archaeologists. There is some evidence that there were multiple Droyne Cultures during the Ancient era, and as a result of the Final War of the Ancient Period. The survivors somehow coalesced around a single culture over the next 100,000 years.

Droyne Culture is generally expressed at about TL-10 and in a manner that emphasizes small-scale, community based, rural living. Having said this, they also inhabit a number of worlds that are large-scale, urban and utilising technologies that, as far as the Imperium is concerned, may as well be Magic. (e.g. Andor, Candory)

Rarely, Droyne will be exiled from their groups. These Droyne may congregate on a particular world (e.g. Bersha, mix into other cultures or live isolated existences.

Even more rarely, non-Droyne will be admitted to Droyne communities. These individuals are generally taking a Sport-surrogate role acting as "Ambassadors" between that Droyne Community and the non-Droyne culture from which they hale. The original cultures will often find the individual "strange".

Political
The Droyne Worlds are considered part of the Political Empires that encompass them, but are recognised as separate and linked - Literally "Alien". The command of technology of immense power has always both frightened and enticed those political groups - including the Imperium. Fortunately, the Droyne have (generally) not used that power - they continue (mostly) unperturbed by the changes going on around them!
That said, several political powers have pressed sub-groups of Droyne at various times - and those Droyne groups have proved that they will respond with deadly force to preserve their way of life.

As a result of various experiences, the Imperium generally assumes that a softly-talking Droyne is backed by a very big stick - and an angry one is best placated. The good news is that they are rarely angry. The bad news is that the Imperium's "Droyne Seers" are as notoriously bad at predicting the future as their olden-times namesakes.

Droyne Studies
Study of the Droyne is a minor and much overlooked part of the Academic Sphere.

Physical
Vargr are descended from Terran Canines genetically engineered by the Ancients and then left to evolve on Lair.


Cultural
The Vargr discovered the Jump-Drive in -3810 and contacted the Zhodani Consulate by -2500 and the Vilani Empire (Ziru Siirka) by -2400. There were Vargr trading bases in the Spinward Marches up until the -1600s, but the collapse of the Gvurrdon Pact caused by the rise of the Gvegh Vargr saw these colonies collapse or revert to pre-stellar technologies.

The predominant Vargr culture in the Spinward Marches and Gvurrdon Sectors is Gvegh. Some pre-Gvegh (Arrghoun) colonies survived the long-night, but have since been subsumed into other settlements. The Regina Subsector was a cross-roads for Vargr trade until the -900s, but was too remote for continued settlement during this period.

The Sector had a renewed role as a trade cross-roads after the settlement in the Regina Subsector in the 70s. Thereafter there was limited movement of Gvegh Vargr back into the Subsector with the traders (and for raiding the traders) but the Imperial-Aekhu Vargr Pacification Campaigns in the Corridor and Deneb Sectors made Imperial-Gvegh relations particularly difficult.

Political
The Sector had a renewed role as a trade cross-roads after the settlement in the Regina Subsector in the 70s. Thereafter there was limited movement of Gvegh Vargr back into the Subsector with the traders (and for raiding the traders) but the Imperial-Aekhu Vargr Pacification Campaigns in the Corridor and Deneb Sectors made Imperial-Gvegh relations particularly difficult.

There was a period of peace between the Pacification Campaigns and the First Frontier War - but the Imperium's exclusive territorial and trade policies goaded the Gvegh into supporting the Zhodani when they lost patience and fought the Imperium. The Imperial-Vargr border was unstable from the start of the first frontier war until the end of the third frontier war, stabilised for a considerable period, but has been unstable for the last 100 years. During that period, the Vargr Governments along the border have re-structured (including the vehemently anti-imperial 40th Squadron) and the ad-hoc piracy has become more organised - with the Kforuzeng taking the lead.

Kforuzeng Pirate Tag

Despite this, the Imperial Colonials (especially Oberlindes Lines) have managed to open successful trade into the Gvurrdon Sector in cooperation with local Vargr partners.

Vargr Studies
Within Imperial Space, the study of the Vargr is biased by the vision of the whole of the Vargr as unstable, untrustworthy and violent. The Universities on Regina have a less prejudiced view, and several groups there advise Oberlindes lines.

Physical
No one knows what the Ancients look like. That they enslaved Droyne, Humans and Vargr is well known. That they built Robots is too. That they could build to last is evident from the fact that those on Vland lasted a quarter of a million years before they finally broke-down.

Cultural
The Ancients had no common culture. Every site is totally unique and usually hand-crafted.

Cultural Impact
The Ancients created the cultures of the Zhodani, Vilani, Daryen and over 100 other known human varieties of Humans as well as several varieties of Vargr. They distributed Droyne and their relatives across space at the same time. Their technology has allowed some of those societies to progress quickly while preventing others from doing so. Worlds have been transformed, bio-spheres established and left to thrive or die out. Planets have been moved, bombarded and destroyed.

At a small scale, ruins have been discovered - mostly destroyed by their final war. Some worlds have survived intact. These have been sequestered by the Imperium at great expense.

Political
The politics of the Ancients were probably harmonious for about 30-50,000 years before, suddenly, a catastrophic internecine war broke out and all the settlements were destroyed or abandoned. Those that remain house their slaves not their masters.

Ancient Studies
Ancient sites are rare. Finding new ones attracts great rewards.

Small artifacts may NOT be traded within the Imperium unless registered. That registration process includes a period of study. Some artifacts will be studied for years. As a result, there is a vigorous trade in unregistered artifacts. The register is maintained by the Ancients Foundation.

Within the Regina Subsector, the University of Regina and the Imperial University of Regina both have Departments of Ancients. The University of Regina runs two ancient sites: they are on Yori and Becks World. The Imperial University of Regina provides researchers to the IISS. The University of Regina does the same with the Imperial Navy.