Sector GAMMA HYDRALIS-15932

[Rusvul]

   I'm starting a Stars Without Number campaign with some IRL friends soon. Should be loads of fun. But since I'm the Dungeon Master, I have to set up a region of space for my players to play in. Hence Gamma Hydralis. I'm posting a topic here because, while I have a basic idea of the sector history and major governments, I'm still left with five or ten planets and stations that aren't part of an overarching society. I'll post some notes on what I've established, and I'd appreciate ideas on what I might establish next. (I recommend reading the chapter 'The History of Space,' in this pdf as well as my post here before posting suggestions, suggestions would make more sense and be easier for me to incorporate.)

   Six hundred years ago, the Tlazan Empire (Now called the Paleotlazan Empire, to make it distinct from the Neotlazan Empire) attacked the ECC, or European Cultural Coalition, the other major power in the sector. The Tlazans wanted prisoners of war to sacrifice to the Centzonmimixcoa, their gods, as well as to tear down their biggest rival. The ECC was, in that time, more militaristic than they are now, with a reasonably sized military and more restrictive laws. Over fourty-eight years, the ECC tore down the Tlazan Empire, and being a society against needless death, imprisoned the worst war criminals of the now-broken Tlazan Empire on a planet called Torrilas, in a penal colony known simply as Torrilas-1. These prisoners lived in chaos for a hundred or so years, but eventually came together and founded the People's Republic, two hundred years ago. Since then, the People's Republic has become the most prominent organization in the sector, and the only major one without a Terran culture in prominence.


   Neotlazan Empire- After the defeat of their forefathers, the Tlazan empire was scattered and broken. Under the rule of a strong warlord, however, they were banded together only seventy three years ago. Using a facade of brokenness and ruin, a machiavellian soceity has arisen, with some of the customs of the Paleotlazan Empire but much more controlling and suspicious. Totalitarian and monarchic in nature, the Neotlazan Empire seeks to absorb the People's Republic, conquer smaller independent planets, and eventually destroy the ECC, who they are taught to hate from birth. They have become bitter and driven towards destruction and power, and until they are ready to strike they remain hidden.

   People's Republic- Once war criminals, these people have grown to become some of the most morally righteous people in the sector, valuing truth, liberty, freedom, and equality beyond all else. This, along with the fact that they are entirely democratic, has led to very open laws, which is largely beneficial but causes problems. Most kinds of weaponry, recreational drugs, dangerous substances, and the like are entirely legal, which sometimes means bad things. Their crime rates are only as low as they are because so little is considered criminal. One's security is considered to be their own business, so theft and other petty crimes are not punished by officials, but it is absolutely legal to defend oneself from such intruders. That said, violent crime is heavily discouraged and the PR's police force is fairly effective at apprehending dangerous criminals. What system of law there is is just, trials are fare, sentences are reasonable. The PR embraces trade and offworlders, offering an environment where many corporations and individuals can flourish.

   European Cultural Coalition- Elegant and refined, the mercantile in nature ECC desires prosperity and technological advancement. They are the center of scientific and psionic development in the sector, and while they exert little military control, their influence is vast. They look down upon independent planets and the rough-around-the-edges People's Republic, but they are polite about it. They are something of a merging of most pre-Scream European cultures. They are the closest to a utopian society that exists in the sector, though crime and famine do exist, internally there is no war or conflict. They seek to avoid external conflict as well. Their oligarchic government is rarely tumultuous, and their people enjoy some of the most peaceful and prosperous lives of anyone in the sector.


   There are legends of a planet known as Stella Cognito that somehow shielded itself from the Scream, and retained miraculous technology, as well as the 'Warship of Ill Omens,' the 'Onyx Destroyer,' or the 'Warship of Death,' a mysterious starship unlike anything anyone has ever seen. Black and sleek, with glowing red and violet markings, it is the largest starship anyone could imagine, miles high and more than six times its height long. The only sightings are signals sent by frantic merchant frigates just before they are torn to pieces by the multitude of fighters and frigates the ship carries. It is speculated that the Onyx Destroyer is inhabited by unbraked artificial intelligence, some kind of alien life form, genetically altered superhumans, or perhaps that it is a starship belonging to the inhabitants of Stella Cognito.

[Izeroth]

 What about two planets named Castor and Pollux? Castor could be a medium-sized, largely undeveloped planet with small groups of primitive humans roaming the surface, and perhaps even an insane physic or two. Pollux could be an arid planet not capable of supporting life, but with rich mineral resources, and a few daring miners willing to brave its harsh dust storms.

[Rusvul]

I have my sector filled out at the current time, with planet names at least.  Drennis, Astel, Axaya, Xialzi, Freedom, Teldrek, Twofire, Truth, Fael, Asharda, Virtue, Feld, Liberty, Raelis, New Sol VII, Mas Cercena, Len Doto, and Estrella Aburrido, along with the possibility of Stella Cognito. However a lostworld with TL 0 humanity (Stone age tech) and mad torcher psychics is a likely idea, for Astel, maybe, which is an out-of-the-way planet which would likely end up as a lostworld, and a planet with an inert (unbreathable, but not otherwise harmful) atmosphere but mineral reserves would be likely for... Feld, maybe? It's off in a corner of the PR's sphere of influence.

[Izeroth]

 Feld would be a good name for a planet with mineral reserves, considering that feldspar is a mineral..

[Lady Ashenwyte]

Virtue could be a planet entirely inhabited by a militaristic order of space knights (Think Salamandastron and The Long Patrol.)  who are bastions of justice.

[Wylder Treejumper]

Space knights? YES!

I like paladins...

[Jetthebinturong]

...Who are not just

[Wylder Treejumper]

 

[Jetthebinturong]

Paladins are pompous, self-righteous and genocidal, they are not just, they are stupid

[Wylder Treejumper]

Not another one of these people...

I don't know what paladins you refer to, but I've never met a paladin like that. (Because I've never met a paladin at all!)

Seriously though, I don't agree with the above statement.

[Izeroth]

 While many paladins may abuse their privileges, some paladins actually do uphold their oaths and moral standards. Assuming that all paladins are jerks is like assuming that all lesser thiefs steal for good reasons.

[Rusvul]

   Actually, it's not possible for a Paladin to be a horrible person. A jerk, yes, but a self-serving murderous evil person? Nope. If a Paladin commits a single act of evil, they lose their paladin powers and become a fallen paladin. So at least in D&D, bad paladins do not exist.