So a little metagame background on the Aslan Client States. I believe the only reference to them in all of Classic Traveller comes from the poster map of the Third Imperium, which applies this label to three largish polities just rimward of the Hierate border in Uistilrao and Ustral Quadrant sectors.
That’s it. No mention of these things in the CT Alien module, though the three polities are shown in the “Sectors of the Aslan Hierate and Environs” map.
Atlas of the Imperium doesn’t cover those two sectors either.
At this point, it’s not really clear what “Aslan Client States” even means. Are these client states to the Aslan, or are they client states composed of Aslan populations? Both? Neither?
The next reference appears in MT
Solomani and Aslan, which mentions in a couple of places that Ustral Quadrant is “a sector among the Aslan Client States.” The map key for the Hierate Map names the three polities as Tealou Arlaoh, Iyeaao'fte, and Oleaiy'fte. And that’s about it.
Mike Mikesh, in his unpublished “Grand Explorations” manuscript for DGP, holds that the Aslan Client States were Imperial client states composed of Aslan. They became client states during the Aslan Mission, which occurred after the Peace of Ftahalr. Mike’s idea was that Imperial aid was sufficient to make these three polities beholden to the Third Imperium. You see this idea pop up occasionally in subsequent HIWG discussion.
Douglas G. Snyder, who did the initial design of Ustral Quadrant, certainly followed this idea: “
The three client-states of the Imperium [emphasis added] are Iyeaao'fte, Oleaiy'fte, and Tealou Arlaoh.”
But that was just about everything written about the Aslan Client States in canon and semi-canon.
Initially, I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of making the three polities client states of the Imperium, as they were all well outside of Imperial space. It seemed like a real stretch of logic and logistics, and potentially offensive to Hierate clans.
Given that the origin of this idea was an unpublished DGP manuscript, I certainly didn't feel like I was beholden to Mike’s idea. But what was the alternative? The polities were client states of the Aslan Hierate? How would that work, since the Hierate isn’t really a distinct entity? Client states of specific Aslan clans? At least one of these polities is easily as strong as any Tlaukhu clan. Why aren’t these polities just part of the Hierate, like all the other Hierate islands in the rimward sectors.
The more I thought about it, making the Aslan Client States Imperial client states seemed like a less plausible but also much more interesting choice. It also created a compelling reason for the Imperium to send ships back and forth through the Hierate, and created a rimward toehold for the Imperium and Imperial Travellers.
travellermap.com
