Imperial Regional Cultures and Books Detailing Them: Continuation Thread

Not to mention, an organism has to be very lucky (er, unlucky in a very lucky way?) to become a fossil in the first place. It's not reaching to hypothesize hominids we don't know about.
Fossil evidence is no where near as comprehensive as many a layman think. I didn't realise this until someone asked me a simple equation, how many dinosaurs live over the 300 million or so years. How many fossils have we found...
 
Especially if most of the population was removed by the Ancients.
Sadly the evidence we have for a sapiens population bottleneck doesn't mesh with the Ancient timeline.

But enough of the thread derailment, this is supposed to be about cultural regions of the Imperium.

Vilani, Sueratt, Sylean, Geonee are the only four I can name off the top of my head.

Sueratt were genetically modified - so erectus or naledi could have been their precursors

Geonee have to be floresiensis don't they?

Vilani I am tempted to go with denisovan/neanderthal hybrids or pure sapiens uplifted from those hybrids.
 
Sadly the evidence we have for a sapiens population bottleneck doesn't mesh with the Ancient timeline.

But enough of the thread derailment, this is supposed to be about cultural regions of the Imperium.

Vilani, Sueratt, Sylean, Geonee are the only four I can name off the top of my head.

Sueratt were genetically modified - so erectus or naledi could have been their precursors

Geonee have to be floresiensis don't they?

Vilani I am tempted to go with denisovan/neanderthal hybrids or pure sapiens uplifted from those hybrids.
Suerrat were linked to Neanderthal in Aliens of Charted Space 4 -- I'm guessing the red hair was part of the reasoning there.
 
Where about the Luriani? .I knew was that they were genetically modified by the ancients to be semi aquatic and that they had a book in the previous edition about their cultural region in the Imperium.
 
Suerrat were linked to Neanderthal in Aliens of Charted Space 4 -- I'm guessing the red hair was part of the reasoning there.
So variant human races taken from Terra is canon now - good to know despite it re-writing years of canon...

I wonder if the author of ACS-4 knew that there are at least 7 "species" of humans to pick from. The illustrations of Suerrat I have seen remind me more of erectus than neanderthal.
 
GURPS Humanity lists the Acheron, Answerin, Azhanti, Darrians, Dynchia, Floriani, Geonee, Iltharans, Irhadre, Kargols, Luriani, Nexxies, Qtrai, Syleans, and Yileans. All of these are marked as 'Canon' in the Wiki.
 
I wonder if the author of ACS-4 knew that there are at least 7 "species" of humans to pick from. The illustrations of Suerrat I have seen remind me more of erectus than neanderthal.

Looking at the book now, it says that they have considerably more Neanderthal genetic traits than modern Solomani (60 percent or so, to my paltry 4). So they have a lot of Neanderthal in them, for whatever that's worth. It cites skull shape and, yes, hair colour (I remembered correctly) as clues to that heritage.

Anyone playing through Secrets of the Ancients, make sure to take the time to ask Grandfather about all this. See if you can get him to sit down for a minute and clarify hominid prehistory.
 
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GURPS Humanity lists the Acheron, Answerin, Azhanti, Darrians, Dynchia, Floriani, Geonee, Iltharans, Irhadre, Kargols, Luriani, Nexxies, Qtrai, Syleans, and Yileans. All of these are marked as 'Canon' in the Wiki.
Acheron are a Variant Human Race, not a Minor Human Race (they were created by the Solomani, not the Ancients). It appears the Solomani aren't as good at the whole process, since the Acheron aren't a happy lot, on the whole.

Answerin could be anything really. Note that they share some blood types with the Vilani, which I suppose makes sense, as they're in Vland Sector (there's some overlap with Thaggeshi too, who are also in Vland. Presumably the local Ancients were working with similar base stock in all three cases, at least to some degree)

Azhanti are extensively modified to the point that it might be difficult to tell what the original template was. I imagine they selected equatorial populations as a base, though. Note that they have some overlap in blood types to Irhadre -- who are from an arid environment -- and Zhodani (Zhdant is rather arid, no? No idea if this means anything; do these blood types hint at descent from a particular species or subspecies judged suitable for heat and aridity?)

Darrians can interbreed with Homo sapiens, even if the young inherit either promelanin or melanin (you can be a gold half-elf or a brown half-elf; I guess the latter can often pass as standard Imperial Man). Apparently a lot of the Darrian traits are traced to retroviral agents on their world. No idea what the base stock was, but presumably there was a lot of Homo sapiens or something closely related in it.

Dynchia are heavily modified to the degree that their base psychology has been significantly altered (the common denominator appears to be the removal of a territorial-protective impulse). So, much like the Azhanti, I imagine it's difficult to pin their origins down.

Floriani are fake Humans created by the Ancients wholescale from Human DNA. As I like to note, they took Human DNA and used it to create a Human. This is both utterly brilliant and the most unimaginative thing ever, and so is completely suited to the Floriani. :LOL: Given the name "Florian", the Solomani obviously have the old Indonesian species in mind, given the Barnai's diminutive size, though whether they're on to something there I couldn't say.

Geonee, could be anything? We know a lot about them, but not their ancestry (maybe because they keep listing "Ancient" on the census). Incidentally, Geonee are one of the gaps on the Human Blood Groups page I've been maintaining on the wiki.

Iltharans are apparently adapted from populations in colder climes than most, and are relatively infertile. (As an aside, Iltharans are one of the Human races crying out for some further exploration, they have quite the interesting history).

Irhadre, no idea, but presumably whichever human species or subspecies was best suited to desert conditions was used as a base. As noted, blood types overlap with Azhanti and Zhodani, which might be relevant? One wonders where the Jonkeereen adaptation treatments came from when the Imperials decided to "perfect" the process of desert humans.

Kargols are explicitly of largely Neanderthal heritage. The question is, can they breed with Suerrat or Ziadd? Volunteers for these experiments please contact the For Traveller Science Institute, we can promise discretion.

Luriani are now a distinct species, Homo luriani, but which stock was used initially I have no idea.

Nexxies and Otrai are also Variants, not Ancient-descended. Otrai have Solomani stock. Nexxies are Imperial Man stock.

Syleans are given to albinism, so that might be a clue?

Yileans are adapted to high UV -- skin is blue-black -- so I imagine they might have originated with a species or subspecies suited for that?

EDIT: The Blood Types page -- https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Human_Blood_Types. I need to update the references, but it's all taken from other sources, no speculation on my part here.
 
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I looked through some books and found some comments about Vilani culture.

From Rim of Fire
  • Conservative
  • Cooperative
  • Emphasizes group over individual
  • Prefers stability to progress
  • Stoically accepting
  • Vilani react as united group
  • Well-ordered
  • Community spirit
  • Industrious

From Third Imperium
  • Conservative
  • Cautious resource management
  • Traditional preferable to innovation
  • Ancient and highly structured in the past.
  • Brutal efficiency in war (described as typical Vilani fashion)
  • Vilani are ubiquitous in the Imperium
  • “When in possession of superior forces, the Vilani tendency was to annihilate an opponent, scouring worlds of all life if necessary.”

They sound like perfect slaves for an authoritarian government. No wonder the Solomani rode roughshod over them for centuries. How did these people reach TL15 before the Solomani? Because the Imperium is the main character of the setting, that's how. What a bunch of bugmen. The Ziru Sirka must have been horrible.

And we still don't know what Vilani values are.
  • What do they admire?
  • Which qualities do they respect?
  • Justice?
  • Ambition?
  • Compassion?
  • Corruption?
  • Honesty?
  • Charity?
  • Does social control work by shame (external, enforced by community) or guilt (internal, enforced within by the individual)?

What is the Vilani ethical system?
  • Virtue ethics? What are Vilani virtues?
  • Is it rule/law focused?
  • Is it all about if you get caught or not?


Family relationships. Monogamy? Polygamy? Temporary relationships? Transactional relationships? Single motherhood, with children being raised in state facilities? Do they value marital fidelity?

The Vilani are an immensely important part of the Imperium, and we should really have a sourcebook for them.


EDIT: Now we know why there are so many non-viable settlements on worlds no one would ever want to colonize. The uncaring authorities of the Ziru Sirka simply moved people to these dead-end colonies whether they liked it or not to gain a trivial improvement on their megacorporate balance sheets.
 
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I looked through some books and found some comments about Vilani culture.

From Rim of Fire
  • Conservative
  • Cooperative
  • Emphasizes group over individual
  • Prefers stability to progress
  • Stoically accepting
  • Vilani react as united group
  • Well-ordered
  • Community spirit
  • Industrious

From Third Imperium
  • Conservative
  • Cautious resource management
  • Traditional preferable to innovation
  • Ancient and highly structured in the past.
  • Brutal efficiency in war (described as typical Vilani fashion)
  • Vilani are ubiquitous in the Imperium
  • “When in possession of superior forces, the Vilani tendency was to annihilate an opponent, scouring worlds of all life if necessary.”

They sound like perfect slaves for an authoritarian government. No wonder the Solomani rode roughshod over them for centuries. How did these people reach TL15 before the Solomani? Because the Imperium is the main character of the setting, that's how. What a bunch of bugmen. The Ziru Sirka must have been horrible.

And we still don't know what Vilani values are.
  • What do they admire?
  • Which qualities do they respect?
  • Justice?
  • Ambition?
  • Compassion?
  • Corruption?
  • Honesty?
  • Charity?
  • Does social control work by shame (external, enforced by community) or guilt (internal, enforced within by the individual)?

What is the Vilani ethical system?
  • Virtue ethics? What are Vilani virtues?
  • Is it rule/law focused?
  • Is it all about if you get caught or not?


Family relationships. Monogamy? Polygamy? Temporary relationships? Transactional relationships? Single motherhood, with children being raised in state facilities? Do they value marital fidelity?

The Vilani are an immensely important part of the Imperium, and we should really have a sourcebook for them.


EDIT: Now we know why there are so many non-viable settlements on worlds no one would ever want to colonize. The uncaring authorities of the Ziru Sirka simply moved people to these dead-end colonies whether they liked it or not to gain a trivial improvement on their megacorporate balance sheets.
Maybe it’s my memory, but I don’t think they did get to TL15 before the Solomani descended humans. I’d have to look back at the timeline, but weren’t they at jump 2 when they were run over?
 
Maybe it’s my memory, but I don’t think they did get to TL15 before the Solomani descended humans. I’d have to look back at the timeline, but weren’t they at jump 2 when they were run over?
They were, and they had the same blind spot in their understanding of jump as the Terrans which made it nearly impossible for them to jump into empty hexes - which had big strategic implications during the Interstellar Wars.
 
The Vilani and Solomani were TL 10-12 range. Traveller 4 suggests that some experimental TL15 stuff was starting to show up before the Second Imperium fell. But I think it's accurate to say that they were 13-14 with prototypes of better.
 
Maybe it’s my memory, but I don’t think they did get to TL15 before the Solomani descended humans. I’d have to look back at the timeline, but weren’t they at jump 2 when they were run over?

In Third Imperium, it states that the Imperium, the Hivers, some states in the Vargr Extents, and the K'Kree of all people have reached TL15, and a few worlds in the Imperium have reached TL16. The Solomani, the Zhodani, and the Aslan are lagging behind at TL14.

So this means there is either the absurdity of the traditional, cautious, innovation-averse Vilani exceeding all other human empires in technological advancement, or this advancement was made possible by the Solomani minority in the Imperium, which only proves the Solomani Movement right.

It's not a matter of having a larger empire, because no states in the Vargr Extents are as large as the Solomani Confederation, yet several of them have reached TL15.

There's no plausible reason why the Solomani, who the book describes as "...more aggressive, uninhibited in their advancement of science and technology" should be not only behind the majority-Vilani Imperium, but also behind 4 out of 7 of the empires.


EDIT: I personally think it would've made for a more dramatic conflict between the Imperium and the Solomani for the Solomani to be smaller and more technologically advanced, and the Imperium to be at TL14 and relying on its massive industrial base. For the Solomani to have 5 sectors to the Imperium's 15, and be a TL below Imperial standard, and still exist as a sovereign empire, it's not particularly plausible. A smaller Solomani Confederation with enough of a tech advantage to survive the full might of the massive fleets of the Imperial Navy, that's more interesting. It makes the Confederation a threat to be taken seriously instead of a nuisance to be crushed when the Imperium can spare the fleets.
 
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In Third Imperium, it states that the Imperium, the Hivers, some states in the Vargr Extents, and the K'Kree of all people have reached TL15, and a few worlds in the Imperium have reached TL16. The Solomani, the Zhodani, and the Aslan are lagging behind at TL14.

So this means there is either the absurdity of the traditional, cautious, innovation-averse Vilani exceeding all other human empires in technological advancement, or this advancement was made possible by the Solomani minority in the Imperium, which only proves the Solomani Movement right.

It's not a matter of having a larger empire, because no states in the Vargr Extents are as large as the Solomani Confederation, yet several of them have reached TL15.

There's no plausible reason why the Solomani, who the book describes as "...more aggressive, uninhibited in their advancement of science and technology" should be not only behind the majority-Vilani Imperium, but also behind 4 out of 7 of the empires.


EDIT: I personally think it would've made for a more dramatic conflict between the Imperium and the Solomani for the Solomani to be smaller and more technologically advanced, and the Imperium to be at TL14 and relying on its massive industrial base. For the Solomani to have 5 sectors to the Imperium's 15, and be a TL below Imperial standard, and still exist as a sovereign empire, it's not particularly plausible. A smaller Solomani Confederation with enough of a tech advantage to survive the full might of the massive fleets of the Imperial Navy, that's more interesting. It makes the Confederation a threat to be taken seriously instead of a nuisance to be crushed when the Imperium can spare the fleets.
I don’t know about it proving the Solomani movement right, but I believe their influence did push the Imperium to where it is. Or at least the Viliani not being the driving factor of the tech advancement.
 
There are two possibilities:

1. It takes a lot of money to establish a technological level fifteen industrial base.

2. Someone finally cracked the Stargate code.
 
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