Freelance Traveller

Jump Destination: Telerine, Paryan System, Dole Moving Group

by Ken Pick

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2016 issue.

The Dole Moving Group (DMG) is a remnant of a star cluster, a set of stars with a common origin, age, and Galactic orbit. At an age of just over 2 Gyr, these stars are Type F through M main-sequence stars whose smaller members have not yet stabilized completely; many of its orange and red dwarf members (late K through M) are flare stars and/or BY Draconis-type variables.

Due to the group’s young/intermediate age, many of the worlds are life-bearing, but usually nothing more complex than single-celled organisms—prokaryotic bacteria, single-celled plankton, and colony organisms such as algae mats (Life Scale 3bis, maximum). Though limited to such primitive organisms, evolution has progressed far enough so those single-celled organisms are aerobic, “pre-Terraforming” the more earthlike worlds with not only an oxidizing but oxygenated atmosphere.

Because of this, many of the DMG worlds have been terraformed and settled.

Paryan System (DMG 11)

Also known as “Telerine” after its main world, Paryan System is a dominant system in the DMG, a K1V main-sequence “orange dwarf” star with eight planets. Center of its own pocket empire, it holds the neighboring Virtchok and Hamilton’s Star systems as colonies.

For such a young system (2Gyr), it is almost barren of asteroids and remaining planetisimals; current theory is the interaction between the three gas giants threw most of the asteroids into the planets, into the sun, or out of system.

Planet I, Phelstar (X410000-0, Orbit 0) is a well-cratered rockball in a torch orbit, a Mars-sized Mercury with a trace atmosphere of metal vapors. From Telerine, it is usually lost in the sun’s glare.

Planet II, Melthias (E430216-9, Orbit 1) is another hot cratered rockball, similar to Phelstar but with a slightly-thicker atmosphere and two small moons, appearing in Telerine’s sky as a morning/evening star. A small corporate outpost near the North Pole maintains a permanent population of around 700.

Planet III, Telerine (AA99744-B, Orbit 2), a large near-waterworld with a narrow ring and one small moon, is the system main world with a population of just over 65 million. Its moon Paryra (AS00465-A) just outside the ring houses the highport elements of the starport and several micro-gee industries.

Planet IV, Thelara (XB8A000-0, Orbit 3) is a large frozen waterworld with two moons, its surface crinkled with tidal ridges like some super-Europa. From Telerine, it appears as a pale orange planet flanked by its ruddy moons, brightening suddenly in the “Thelaran Flash” as Ceres-like reflective areas on its surface catch the sun just right.

Planet V, Pelandus (SGG, 60 T-mass, Orbit 4), a small gas giant with three regular moons, is the main fuel-skim site for the system. The ideal mass for fuel-skimming, Pelandus’ surface gravity of only ¾G allows even 1-G ships to skim and boost clear.

From Telerine, Pelandus appears as a bright yellow planet with two naked-eye moons; close-up, the gas giant resembles a more placid Jupiter; a population of some 30,000 staff various cryo-extraction industries on the three largest moons.

Beyond Pelandus there are no permanent settlements; the outer system offers nothing that wouldn’t be on Pelandus’ moons.

Planet VI, Zoras (LGG, 400 T-mass, Orbit 5) is the main gas giant in the system, with a magnificent ring system and six regular moons. A third again the mass of Jupiter (which it resembles except for its Saturnian rings), Zoras has too high a surface gravity and too strong a magnetosphere to be suitable for fuel skimming.

Due to atmospheric haze, Zoras is barely visible in Telerine’s night sky as a fainter Pelandus; its rings and moons are visible through binoculars.

Planet VII, Handorus (LGG, 200 T-mass, Orbit 6) is another large gas giant, a ringless Saturn with greenish-blue clouds and five regular moons.

From Telerine, Handorus is at the limit of naked-eye visibility, almost lost in the haze.

At the edge of the system is the double iceball of Planet VIII, Sthenles (X840000-0, Orbit 7-8) and its moon Aparthenos (X410000-0), shepherding the inner edge of Paryan’s Kuiper Belt. Though almost as large as Telerine, Sthenles/Aparthenos is a borderline “dwarf planet” as it has only partially cleared its orbit; some of the local KBOs have perihelions within its orbital distance.

Beyond Sthenles lies only a moderate-density Kuiper Belt of small iceballs and comets.

Telerine

Telerine (Paryan III) AA99744-B Ag
Eaglestone Trade Index 2

From afar, Telerine appears as peach-tinted white clouds both forming into gas giant-syle cloud bands along the equator and swirling over a purplish surface blurred by the thick hazy atmosphere, circled by a thin bronze ring with a “beads on a string” clumping effect. A single small moon orbits just outside the ring, shepherding its outer edge.

The Ag trade classification is for the main world of Telerine itself; much of the industry is located offworld and does not show up in the trade class; if it were, it would push the trade classification from Ag to general. Agricultural exports come from Telerine itself, raw material and industrial ones from the moons of Telerine, Thelara, and Pelandus.

Planetary Geography

Over 90% of Telerine’s surface is covered by oceans stained the color of dark red wine by native plankton. Except for the limited land area (under half that of Earth), it fits most of the criteria for a “superhabitable” world. Dry land is distributed irregularly in islands scattered over its surface; the largest of these islands are the size of Great Britain.

The majority of these islands are volcanic, active enough that a lot of their surface is uneroded fresh lava. This further restricts the arable and inhabitable land area, as do the mega-storm conditions characteristic of waterworlds.

Surface Conditions/Sky Picture

The day is 18 hours long, with a year of 320 local days. Greenhouse effect evens temperatures over the entire globe into a uniformly warm, wet climate throughout the year. The only indicator of the seasons is the path of the sun through the sky.

The first thing a visitor will notice is the atmosphere—twice as dense as Standard, thick enough to feel flowing through the nostrils and into the lungs, filled with the organic odor of the plankton that tints the seas wine-red. Dense enough to be on the edge of nitrogen narcosis, thick enough to double the force of any winds.

The next is the gravity—1.2G, 20% over standard. Then the sky, pale blue shading into white at the horizon, always speckled with clouds, often overcast, usually several levels of cloud decks obscuring the horizon.

The sky becomes more cloudy the closer you get to the equator; on rapidly-spinning waterworlds, the majority of clouds tend to hug the equator in a mostly-continuous band.

The sun appears 40% larger than normal, slightly blurred by atmospheric haze and with a distinct orange-yellow tint. Between the thick atmosphere and the spectrum of the K-class sun, little UV makes it to the surface.

The K-class sunlight causes a spectrum shift, moving all colors slightly down the spectrum for a sepia-tone effect; artificial lights appear unusually bluish in contrast.

The narrow ring appears as a bronze arch beyond the clouds, with a “beads on a string” clumping effect especially visible at night when it shares the sky with the single moon Paryra, barely large enough to show a disk. On the equator, the ring is seen edge-on through gaps in the equatorial cloud band, a knotted bronze chain bisecting the sky amid a continuous meteor shower from ring debris.

A typical Telerine holocard scene is looking out from a town of yellowish-stuccoed walls and red/brown tile roofs over a wine-dark sea beneath a too-pale sky filled with clouds backed by the bronze arch of the ring, the horizon between sea and sky blurred by haze.

Peculiarities

As a near-waterworld dotted with islands and archipelagoes, no point on land is more than about 200km from the ocean, and most are less.

The dense atmosphere doubles the force of any winds, and the unlimited “fetch” of the world ocean allows storms to grow to the point they wouldn’t be out-of-place on a small gas giant. The only trees on Telerine grow in wind-sheltered valleys in the interior of the largest islands or in urban areas whose buildings provide a windbreak; otherwise, the densest vegetation is low scrub at most the height of a man. The major exception to this are deliberately-cultivated orchards of fruit and olive trees, most of them dwarf varieties; though the low gnarled olive can grow in the Telerine winds, orchards of full-size trees require artificial windbreaks.

Because of this, most local architecture is masonry-based, made of either bare lava rock or stuccoed/plastered in various colors within and without. Tile roofs are common.

Telerine is very volcanically-active; the majority of dry land is volcanic. Though after Terraforming the volcanic soil is very fertile, such arable land is scarce; this is the reason a world with ⅓ the land area of Earth has such a low population. Not enough good real estate has been terraformed; once all the islands are, Telerine could support maybe three times its current population.

Telerine boats and ships (including starships and small craft) traditionally have two stylized “eyes” painted on their bows/noses.

Telerine cuisine is typically “Mediterranean”, heavy on flatbreads, olive oil, olives, grapes, and wines. Dairy products are also universal, in various forms of cheese, runny yogurts, and yogurt-based sauces. The main meats are various forms of lamb and mutton instead of the usual rabbit and pork; seafood is also available but stained the color of Telerine’s ocean.

Alcoholic drinks are based on wines, flavored with various plant oils and/or tree resins; Telerine wines are an acquired taste, and take some getting used to. The strongest-flavored have to be mixed with water to be drinkable.

Hard liquors are represented by Tsipouro (grape brandy, 60-100 proof) and Ouzo (clear distilled liquor, 100-160 proof, a.k.a. “Absinthe without the wormwood”), both heavily flavored with anise oil.

Ouzo has one peculiarity—straight Ouzo is clear, but when diluted with water to below 100 proof, it turns a milky white as the anise precipitates out. It is normally served in specialist bars called Ouzeroi, café-like establishments which serve appetizers along with the alcohol, usually diluting their Ouzo to the patron’s taste to be sipped, not chugged.

Native Life

None of the DMG habitable mainworlds have a high Life Score; most life-bearing worlds never get beyond bacteria, and these are no exceptions. Especially for young systems such as those of the DMG.

Telerine is actually near the top with a Life Score of 4bis—almost all single-celled sea life, with some multicellular vegetation starting to invade the land. Most of the “multicellular” sea life are colony creatures of single-celled eukaryotes, including the plankton/algae blooms which tint the oceans. The only native life which has made the jump to land are the equivalent of slime molds, “land algae” in the littoral zones, and multicolored lichens. The oceans have very little tides but high waves; these littoral zones are actually wave-swept areas instead of true intertidal zones.

Land life and land ecosystem was entirely imported during terraforming, which was carried out island-by-island and is still incomplete. This gives three distinct looks:

• Long-settled islands have a familiar biosphere like Earth’s eastern Mediterranean overlaid on a terrain similar to Italy or Japan.
• Unsettled islands being terraformed are stark barren Outback, broken only by feral terraforming plants (low weeds) spreading along the watercourses, adapting the soil for the imported biota. Except for recent volcanic fields which comprise a lot of the island terrain; there not even the terraforming weeds break the jagged badlands of the lifeless lava beds.
• Unformed areas are lifeless except for native lichen along the shore in the wave-swept storm-surge zone.

Terran sea life – primarily coastal fish and seafood species – was also seeded during Terraforming, genetically modified to thrive on Telerine plankton without residual toxicity. However, the pigment in the plankton stains their flesh (and all seafood) the color of dark red wine.

Cautions and Hazards

Landing on or taking off from the surface requires at least 2G Maneuver Drives. All 1G ships must put in at Paryra Highport; free-floating space station highports are not practical due to the planet’s ring.

Because of major smuggling problems (Korvan cocaine), any ship arriving from Korvo will be thoroughly searched.

Sea-level atmospheric pressure is twice that of a standard atmosphere (or that of a scuba diver at 10m depth); water boils at 120 C (instead of 100 C) and all winds blow with twice the force of a standard atmosphere. Anything cooked by boiling acts as if in a pressure cooker and water can get to what would normally be boiling without showing any steam or bubbling.

Though breathable, the thick atmosphere is tainted by excess nitrogen; the partial pressure of nitrogen at sea level is right on the border of nitrogen narcosis. Telerine natives are used to it (and have learned to breathe to minimize the danger), but offworlders are not. Any diving below sea-level requires special diving gas mixtures such as trimix and heliox, reducing or eliminating the nitrogen.

The high concentration of nitrogen also doubles the effect of alcohol; one drink in Telerine’s atmosphere equals two in Standard atmosphere.

At elevations of 3km above sea level, the atmospheric density and pressure drops to around a standard atmosphere, but the taint switches from too-high nitrogen to too-low oxygen; supplemental oxygen masks are required over 2000m elevation for Telerines, 3000m for standard-atmosphere offworlders.

One hazard that is absent is sunburn; between the thick atmosphere and spectrum of the K-class sun, little UV makes it to surface. UV/sunburn does not become a problem until an altitude of 5-6km, well above the breathable atmosphere and the highest mountains.

As a near-waterworld, there is no land to interrupt the “fetch” of storms and waves. Seas can go 50 meters in storms, and 300+kph hypercanes with tsunami-like storm surges are the most common natural disaster, with the occasional tsunami from a seismic quake or volcanic eruption a distant second. Remember all wind forces are twice normal; even conventional storms can blow like what would be a hurricane anywhere else.

Native sea life is not toxic per se, but does contain some allergens which will trip allergies in some humans. This applies to Telerine seafood, which concentrates some of the allergens while eliminating others. Most Telerines know if they are allergic; offworld Barbaroi usually don’t.

Another hazard has to do with the local hard liquors, Tsipouro and Ouzo. Both are flavored with anise oil, which besides being an acquired taste camouflages the alcohol. There is a reason both are always served with food whenever possible (sweet fruits for Tsipouro and appetizers for Ouzo) and Ouzo is additionally mixed with water. With the synergistic effect of borderline nitrogen narcosis, drinking either on an empty stomach (especially chugging full-strength Ouzo) is called “Drinking the Dry Hammer” for a reason. (This has potential with non-Telerine PCs and NPCs, either accidentally getting dry-hammered or deliberately “dropping the dry hammer” on someone else.)

History and Population

Telerine appears to have been terraformed and settled right at the beginning of the Long Night. As the planet already had a natural oxidizing atmosphere on the edge of breathability, terraforming was done through biological spot-seeding, island by island—a process still incomplete when the Long Night intervened.

Other than losing all offworld contact, Telerine weathered the Long Night fairly well; though the Tech Level dropped to around TL7 or 8 and resources (especially metals) were tight, they never fell to the point where they couldn’t recycle materials and bootstrap their technology. Most important, the fusion plants kept operating, supplying electricity to the now-on-their-own colony; if they had failed, there were no fossil fuel deposits to fall back on (which would have crashed the Tech Level down to the Tech 3 Plateau, without any hope of recovery).

Upon recontact with the new interstellar community, Telerine quickly recovered offworld capability and started expanding and exploiting their system resources to prevent what almost happened. As they became more prosperous, one nation-state (the Helleanan Republic) became dominant, a single superpower in all but name which started expanding beyond the system into the neighboring systems of Virtchok (Korvo) and Hamilton’s Star (Wasphome), planting a secondary colony of their own in the latter.

The planetary population is 65 million (near-pure Solomani human), with a single planetary ethnic type influenced by the gravity and atmosphere—generally muscular builds and higher muscle/bone density, with light olive-toned skin, normally-curly black hair, and a generally “Eastern Mediterranean” appearance.

Raised since the Long Night in Dense-atmosphere conditions, Telerines can breathe Standard atmospheres but are in some danger of altitude sickness; this danger rises to near-certainty in Thin atmospheres. (Compressor masks or supplemental oxygen may be required in Standard atmosphere and will be required in Thin.) Even if they suffer no actual ill effects, they will feel short of breath in any atmosphere that is not Dense.

Telerines will normally not live or work in thin-atmosphere conditions; for thin-atmosphere work, they import metikoi labor from their outsystem colony of Korvo, as Korvan natives are adapted to those conditions.

In Classic Traveller, Telerine characters are +1 Str and +1 Dex, but -1 on all physical aging rolls (Str, Dex, End). This is due to their high-gee adaptations.

When in Standard atmospheres, a Telerine must roll his/her End or less to avoid altitude sickness. In Thin atmospheres, a Telerine will automatically have altitude sickness.

Most people suffering from altitude sickness will adapt to the thin air over time; some never do. A compressor mask or supplemental oxygen mask will counter most of the symptoms, and returning to a Telerine-dense atmosphere will solve the problem.

Language

Telerines have their own planetary language, represented by Greek (Classical, Koine, Modern, or any combination of the three), written with miniscule capital letters instead of true lowercase. With TL11 mass communications and infonets, regional dialects have homogenized into a Standard Telerine. (Remaining dialects can be represented by use of Classical, Koine, and modern Greek).

Like the legendary French of old, Telerines are very proud of their unique language, and will insist on speaking it in lieu of Galanglic (or campaign equivalent) whenever possible, insisting that offworlders/Barbaroi speak Telerine instead.

They will cut offworlders some slack if said Barbaroi at least make an attempt to speak Telerine.

Telerine names are Greek in origin, Classical Greek-sounding personal names mixed with Modern Greek surnames. The higher the Social Status, the more likely they are to use the Classical spellings and pronounciations.

Central City/downtown is always called the “Akropolis”.

Offworlders/non-Telerines are always “Barbarians” except for offworlders from the Republic’s colonial possessions; Korvan humans and Chitin A “Wasps” are always Metikoi, not Barbaroi.

For the names of Telerine islands and cities, use the more obscure names from a list of old Greek city-states. Major cities often are named after their island or region with the suffix “-polis”.

Being one of the ancestors of Galanglic (or whatever the campaign common tongue is), many Telerine words are similar but with different meanings. Galanglic scientific/technical terms can have very mundane meanings in Telerine. For example, “Metafor” can mean cargo-handling or freight-transport equipment; “Stasis” can mean “stop” (as in bus stop), “Apocalypse” (“revealing of what was hidden”) leaking secrets or declassification of classified information, not “World-wrecking disaster”. And a “Cenobite” (“He who is set apart”) is a monk or nun, not a demonic movie monster.

Because of this, even good cybertranslation will be no more than 90% accurate and there will always be opportunities for misunderstanding.

Economy and Trade

Trade Class:

Agricultural (main world), general (rest of system)

Eaglestone Trade Index:

2 (over 1500 passengers and 6000 dtons freight/week; 70-80% of that between Telerine and Korvo)

Exports:

Wool, Wines, some Cheese (main world), chemicals and alloys (rest of system), seed loam (to Geolan)

Imports:

Anything above TL11, Korvan hardwoods

Services:

Shipbuilding, servicing of through-traffic ships (Class A Port)

The Trade Index translates to around 6000 dtons of ship(s) arriving/departing every Telerine day.

One of Telerine’s major agricultural exports is wines and Tsipouro brandy. Another, smaller export is various cheeses; not enough to be a major export but enough to fill leftover spaces in holds as spec-trade goods.

“Seed loam” is a concentrated soil amendment/soil fungus/seed culture used in terraforming. Currently used by Strigon and Geolan, regular bulk-freighter-sized shipments can make the difference between a 500-1000 year terraforming project and a 100-200 year one.

Starports and Cities

The Class A Starport rating applies to Paryra Highport (on the small moon just outside the ring) and Helleanopolis Downport. Shipyard facilities are limited to 4000-dton hulls though they can maintain and service larger ships (such as 6-12kt naval vessels) Military and civilian traffic route through separate highport facilities.

Other downports are Class C to E, usually one for each of the larger islands which double as airports for suborbital air routes.

Helleanopolis is the capital of the world’s dominant nation (The Helleanan Republic), largest city on the planet at 8 million, and the location of the Class A Downport.

The string of large islands making up the Republic also have the majority of large cities, four of them with populations over a million, each with its own Class D downport.

Tech Level Notes

Telerine is a uniform Tech Level 11 (two generations beyond Y2K), a Tech Level where many civilized worlds plateau/stagnate into Cyberpunk Syndrome—GPS, planetary Web/ Internet, full-function smartphones, online libraries and entertainment, pretty much all the trappings of the mid-21st Century. Vehicles and houses are all-electric; GPS is accurate to within a couple meters, and broadband/cell coverage is everywhere (with its side effect of Net Addiction, a cyberpsychosis where the “smartphone zombie” never unjacks from Social Media).

Other than high-tech imports, the only Tech Level anomaly is battery technology; Telerine batteries are TL12-13, thanks to Ransdell Metals from Khorlu/Bronson’s Star.

Telerine itself is primarily agricultural and could feed itself if cut off from space, but would lose most of its high-tech non-Ag economy, which is based off-world.

Because of the dense atmosphere, Telerines prefer air-cushion (hover) vehicles to grav vehicles, taking advantage of a hovercraft’s dense-atmosphere efficiency and amphibious capability. The major exception is “aircraft”, where grav vehicles are preferred; the field envelope minimizes air resistance/friction and a depressed ballistic trajectory spends minimum time in the denser layers of the atmosphere. True ballistic trajectories are never used near the equator, because of the danger from ring debris; all equator-crossing has to be done within the upper atmosphere.

Because of the increased windload and superstorm/hypercane danger, all vehicles are streamlined and most buildings are low (under 10 stories above grade).

Telerine is a large world with high gravity; most of the heavy metals are concentrated inaccessibly at its core, making the world metal-poor. The only easily-exploitable mineral resources are from rare fossil-impact deposits, most of those underwater. This is the main reason Telerine is still an Ag world, and why the Telerines have most of their industry offworld, exploiting the rest of their system plus the two neighboring systems of their pocket empire.

High-tech ceramics and ceramets are commonly used in lieu of metals, reserving metals for applications that actually require them.

Because of the dense atmosphere and winds, trees larger than dwarf varieties can only be grown in wind-sheltered valleys, farmed like any other agricultural crop, making the world wood-poor. Except for scrap and slash, wood is expensive—too expensive to use in general construction. Fireplaces are a prestige item, and imported hardwoods can name their price.

Like the other worlds in the DMG, Telerine is too young and with a Life Score too low to have accumulated deposits of oil or coal, making the world fuel-poor. Various forms of alcohol and plant-based oils take their place. Fortunately, a Tech 11 world runs mostly on fusion- or solar-generated electricity. This lack of fossil fuel was the great danger during the Long Night; if the fusion plants failed, there could be no recovery from the resulting technology crash.

Government and Society

The dominant nation is the Helleanan Republic (almost 55 million), a planetary superpower occupying the largest concentration of dry land near the equator and controlling the major starports and insystem access. This concentration contains four of the largest non-volcanic islands, around a dozen medium-sized islands, and several archipelagos extending over 3000km from east to west. The larger islands are arranged around three sheltered seas which allow surface sea travel over the entire Republic and aquaculture and dredge-mining in their shallower parts. The Republic’s capital of Helleanopolis is centrally-located on the largest of these islands and hosts the largest Class A downport.

The Republic is a European-style parliamentary republic (Gov 4, Law 4); only Helleanan Citizens may vote or hold elected office. After an election, the Archon (President) and Cabinet are chosen by lot from a slate of party-selected candidates, not automatically going to the largest party; the lottery is weighted proportionally by each party’s number of seats in the Vouli (Parliament).

Politics and elections tend to be pretty lively; many of the Republic’s islands have a very strong regional identity, and bickering and infighting in the Vouli rivals soccer as a national spectator sport.

This infighting often spills over into the streets of the capital, with lots of flash-mob “street actions”. Especially when factoring in one minority party, the Telerine Communists. A joker in the deck of Republic politics, these are not Marxists, but a Utopian movement popular among academics, young Idealists, and Metikoi. They advocate an extreme Utopian society, citing the successful Communistic systems of Orthodox monasteries and Chitin A “Wasps” as examples and inspirations. Both their examples—Church and Wasp emissaries—think these guys are full of skubalon. The Church because the communal life of their monasteries does not scale up very well beyond the human troop-size limit of 100-150; the Wasps because humans are not as eusocial as themselves.

The judicial system has a separate “Administrative Court System” which specializes in judging disputes between Helleanans and the Government.

Though the proper name of the Republic is the “Helleanan Republic of Telerine”, in practice “Helleanan” and “Telerine” are used interchangeably, especially offworld, where “Telerine Republic” or just “Telerine” is much more common. (Republic officialdom can be very touchy about using the proper name.)

The flag is a blue field with a silver phoenix centered between four gold starburst en saltire. Many of the regions replace the phoenix with local symbols – an octopus, a gorgon’s head, an owl’s mask, a winged horse.

Monetary unit is the Drachma; the (fixed) exchange rate is 100 drachmae to one Credit. There are no fractional units in circulation except for some older 50-lepta (half-drachma) coins; the lepton (1/100 drachma) is used only for online calculations of extreme precision.

The Republic has a two-tier social system:

Citizens:

Helleanan citizens can vote and hold office; they are eligible for Citizen’s cradle-to-grave social welfare system and its benefits—pensions, medical insurance, and the like. The social safety net is so extensive, a running joke is “I’ll be entering the family business—Retirement.” They have a tradition of violent “street action” when it comes to taxes and/or service fee hikes. Especially when communications networking (smartphone cascade) allows flash mobs to form trivially.

Metikoi

(resident non-Citizens): Metikoi have none of the above benefits; a metikos cannot vote, hold elected office (they can hold appointed office, primarily in the Interior Ministry’s Department of Metic Affairs), or qualify for the social safety net. (Though private insurance and pension plans do exist, they cost drachmae.) They are also subject to a special head tax. Though definitely on the short end of the stick, the Republic cannot squeeze them too much as they also have adopted the local tradition of “street action”.

Becoming a naturalized Helleanan Citizen is difficult; the candidate for Citizenship must first be a Metikos, be sponsored by a Citizen, and successfully navigate the bureaucracy.

All that social safety net and its bureaucratic overhead is expensive, and the money has to come from somewhere. Because of the local custom of “street action” regarding the subject (and the ease of forming flash mobs on the Net), said money has to come from outside the Republic. Hence…

Telerine’s Pocket Empire

The Republic dominates two adjacent systems, both within Jump-1: the late-G yellow dwarf of Virtchok System (main world Korvo) and the K-class binary orange dwarf of Hamilton’s Star (main worlds “Wasphome” and Geolan). Both appear as yellow-orange 1st Magnitude stars in Telerine’s night sky.

Telerine actively exploits both these systems’ resources (and passively exploits their native populations) to maintain its own citizens’ lifestyle.

Korvo (B544764-7, Ag, Eaglestone Index 2, Virtchok System) is an arid world with a similar population to Telerine but three Tech Levels lower, whose native human inhabitants are optimized for Korvo’s thin atmosphere. Their Telerine overlords don’t treat them or their world all that badly; the real colonial exploitation is offworld, stripping resources from the other worlds and asteroids of the system. Grunt labor is provided by hired Korvans, but the Telerines call the shots.

Though this situation is stable in the short term, there is friction. Korvan Independence movements occasionally get violent, and a generation ago started an illicit cocaine trade. Originally an attempt to stick it to the Telerines, the drachmae in “Korvan Marching Powder” soon overpowered The Cause and these groups morphed into organized crime families. To this day, organized crime in Republic cities has been strongly Korvan.

As a result, ethnic Korvans gained a reputation for organized crime, which hasn’t helped Telerine attitudes towards these Metikoi.

“Wasphome” (C798877-7, Red-zoned, Hamilton’s Star) is a small world with a dense atmosphere unbreathable by humans, homeworld of the Ch’tik’tik or “Chitin A”, a pseudo-insectoid minor race usually called “Wasps” after their appearance.

Telerine has red-zoned the world to all but Telerine access after a disaster where introduced Wasphome fauna broke containment and overran one of the smaller island of Eliki in a “Chamax Plague” situation. While the Telerines were able to evacuate Eliki and halt the infestation through use of nuclear and chemical weapons, the resulting devastation cut into the Republic’s arable land and caused trillions of drachmae in property damage, effectively reversing the terraforming in the infested area. (Current estimates are 20-30 years until the island is once more habitable and developed.)

After the Eliki Disaster, the Republic red-zoned and blockaded Wasphome; “Wasps” who are not of the Breeder Caste are still allowed offworld, but the Republic does not want to risk a highly-invasive species around any human-habitable real estate.

Geolan (B5F2568-9, Poor/NonInd, Naval Base, Hamilton’s Star), a Telerine colony, orbits the other component of Hamilton’s Star. A small world with a “phaidonic” (thin/low) atmosphere, Geolan serves as Telerine’s control point for all access to the system. All traffic to and from Wasphome goes through Geolan, enforcing the Red Zone.

In addition, the Republic maintains holdings on the carbonaceous cthonian cryoworld of Zandisill Prime, where 300,000 personnel—Telerines, Korvans, and Chitin A “Wasps”—work cryogenic extraction from Zandisill’s atmosphere and organic-soup oceans, similar to the 30,000 on the moons of Pelandus. The “Wasps” have their own dedicated colony domes due to differing environmental needs.

Armed Forces

Armed forces total 12 Taxii (brigades) equipped to TL10-11, almost all belonging to the Republic; two half-brigade Marine Regiments and two independent Tagmoi (battalions) are available for offworld use. (These Marine Regiments are the only ones equipped with grav vehicles; the other units use hover-vehicles in the thick atmosphere.)

Vehicles, aircraft, and ships of the Republic are marked with a rondel depicting a silver heraldic phoenix on a blue disc; ships additionally have stylized “eye” markings on each side of their noses.

Some ships from outlying island regions use the badge of their region (octopus, gorgon head, winged horse, etc) instead of the Republic phoenix to further confuse the issue.

With two out-of-system colonies, the Republic also maintains its own Jump-capable planetary navy, headquartered on the moon Paryra.

The ruling Tech Level is TL11, with first-line ships limited to Jump-2, Computer mod/5, and basic ship weaponry. First-line ships have some TL12 components (Mod/6, nuclear dampers) bought from higher-tech systems outside the cluster.

Naval design philosophy emphasizes armor or other forms of protection (even to the point of sacrificing Maneuver Drive) with emphasis on multi-purpose ships; since both out-of-system colonies are only Jump-1 distant, higher jump capability is not needed. Maneuver drives usually vary around 4-G.

Major fleet units

Salamis: 12000 dton, TL11, Jump-2 Armored Cruiser; fleet flagship. Six laser bays, four missile bays, 20 BSB point defense turrets, offworld Mod/6+ avionics, nuclear dampers, and other TL12 components.

Lemnos and Kilkis: 6000 dton, TL11, Jump-2 Armored Frigates; two laser bays, three missile bays, ten BSB turrets. Fleet workhorses built to the same standards as Salamis.

Hydra, Spetsai, and Psara: 4000 dton, TL10, Jump-1 multi-purpose ships. Computers upgraded to Mod/5. These are older general-purpose ships, carrying fighters and ground troops as well as naval weaponry. With their replacement by the above three larger and newer ships, they have been refitted to carry rescue equipment and utility ground/air vehicles for secondary non-combat intervention roles.

The remaining ships are mostly the equivalent of 400 dton Patrol Corvettes with a couple 1000-1200 dton Destroyer Escorts. Older ships are TL10/Jump-1, newer ships are TL11/Jump-2 matching the “Big Three”. There may also be a couple SDB tenders built on dispersed-structure merchant hulls.

System defenses total 4000 dtons, evenly divided between SDBs and fighters. Assuming 300 dton Torpilleur SDBs and 15 dton Medium Fighters, this comes out to 6-8 SDBs and 10-12 squadrons of fighters, augmented by whatever deep-space naval units are insystem.

In addition, Telerine’s ring is filled with “shore batteries”, encapsulated-missile minefields and drone lasersats. Minefields are distributed evenly through the ring and fire as TL11-12 turret or bay missiles; lasersats are hidden in the thicker ring “clumps” and fire as triple beam lasers with TL11 fire control and EW assets. Lasersats are built into ring-clump moonlets; this gives them “planetoid hulls” with natural Armor-3 to 6.

Other Telerine Nations

The other nations are small separatist enclaves of various government types and law levels, rarely extending over more than one large island or string of small islands.

One of the larger of these, the Kingdom of Lakonia (3 million, Gov 3), exports mercenaries as a specialty. Lakonia’s ruling oligarchy, the Gerousia, is composed of mercenary colonels (called Ephorae in their ruling capacity), and the entire nation is geared towards its greatest export. Lakonian mercenary units (TL8-10, from Lochas (company) to Taxias (brigade) in size) hire out all over the Cluster, including to the Republic; if the offworld mercs were counted, Lakonia would have armed forces second only to the Republic.

Lakonian units are marked with a rondel displaying a lambda (Greek letter “L”, looking like an upside-down “V”) in contrasting color to the background (usually silver for high-contrast or black for low-contrast).

Lakonia also has a two-tier class system, except the dividing line is between soldier and civilian instead of Citizen and Metikos. Soldiering brings Citizenship, like a cross between Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers.

And to Lakoniki, even other Telerines are Barbarians.

Philosophy and Religion

The major religion is monotheistic, represented by Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The Telerine Orthodox Church is known for pomp, elaborate liturgy, strict fasting, and extremely strict monastic traditions. Their domed churches are everywhere and their long-haired, bearded, black-robed priests are a common sight. (The majority of low-level Telerine priests are married, though higher levels of the hierarchy such as Bishops must be single.) The Church permeates Telerine culture; even atheists describe themselves as “Telerine Orthodox Atheists”.

Though one of several branches of a widespread cluster religion, they know they are the only true faith and all the other denominations are not. Despite this, they do not send out missionaries, preferring to stay at home. The only offworld Telerine Orthodox clergy and parishes serve ethnic Telerines outsystem.

One characteristic of Telerine Orthodoxy is the use of “Icons”. The main imagery of the faith, icons are highly-stylized sacred paintings in a rigid traditional style. Traditionally, icons are considered windows into the supernatural realm and are often used for contemplative meditation. Believers will hang icons on their wall as a shrine or kiss the icon for a blessing; even “Telerine Orthodox Atheists” might do this—after all, they were raised Telerine.

A common folk belief (not discouraged by the Church) is that God preserved the fusion plants and technology during the Long Night. Because of this, Telerines will often have items of technology (like ships and their powerplants) formally blessed by a Telerine Orthodox priest, incense, icons, and all. (This can get exciting in the tight quarters of a Free Trader’s engine room…)

The Church has an extensive and strict monastic tradition. Monastics of both sexes are called “Cenobites” (“Those who are set apart”) and are usually ascetics and always under Vows of Celibacy. Cenobites can form communities in a monastery or convent or isolate themselves as Hermits living alone and sharing islands or wasteland with terraforming weeds and not much else. Hermits have a reputation for being eccentric “holy fools”.

A common way for a layman to flake out with religion is to adapt all the trappings of an ascetic Hermit Cenobite – long hair and beard, black cassock robe, round-the-clock devotions, even hair shirts, whips, and/or other extremes—without actually taking vows or placing oneself under the actual authority of a Bishop or Abbot (very hard if there’s a spouse in the mix). Usually such “Monk-a-bees” can be recognized by their unkempt “wild man” beard and hair; actual monks are much more well-groomed.

In the Republic, the Telerine Orthodox Church is not only the major religion but the Official Religion and very much likes it that way, to the point of banning and prosecuting foreign missionaries. Church properties (including some entire small islands) are special autonomous regions where the island’s Bishop or Abbot are the legal authorities.

There is no single “Pope”, though the Archbishop Metropolitan and Patriarch of Helleanopolis is considered first among equals. (A “Metropolitan” is an Archbishop of an urban area/major city.)

Psionics

Telerine attitude towards psionics is generally negative, due to association with a widespread folk belief in vaskania—the “Evil Eye”, a curse cast by a glance or stare, manifesting in non-specific illness symptoms. For protection against this, Telerines often wear a mataki—an amulet of blue glass in the shape of an eye. (Or they wear it out of tradition or fashion, you never can tell.)

Blue eyes (rare among Telerines) are traditionally a sign of the Evil Eye; this could cause problems with blue-eyed offworlders.

The main exception to this attitude is the Telerine Orthodox Church, with its traditions and legends of miracle-working holy men. During the Long Night, monasteries and convents offered sanctuary to psis, a tradition continuing to this day. Because of this…

You can find psis on Telerine—black-robed bearded monks and/or black-habited nuns, in monasteries, convents, and isolated hermitages. That priest or chaplain at the right hand of an official or bishop could be a psi. Or the bishop himself; bishops are usually promoted from Cenobite Archimandrites.

And you can find somewhat-open Psionic Insitutes on Telerine—in certain monasteries/convents. However, psi training is completely wrapped up in their monastic tradition—the trainee must first be Telerine Orthodox, and enter the monastery/convent as a Novice.

Telerine’s Moon: Parya

Telerine has one small moon, Paryra (AS00465-A, Non-Ag, Non-Ind, Vacuum, Poor) shepherding the outer edge of the ring. With a population of some 50,000 staffing various highport facilities (both military and civilian) and engaging in micro-gee industry, Paryra is also the HQ and main Naval Base for the Telerine Republic Navy.

From afar, Paryra is clearly elliptical, stretched by tidal forces with its long axis pointing directly towards Telerine. From Telerine, Paryra appears as the biggest clump in the ring.

Just outside the ring, Paryra has a sidereal “month” of just under 20 hours, almost geosynch with Telerine’s 18-hour day. From Telerine, the small moon seems to rise slowly in the west, cross the sky from west to east over the course of five local days, and set slowly in the east, to disappear for five days before rising again in the west.

Paryra’s A port serves as both Telerine Highport and Republic Naval HQ, a “space station made of rock” with separate civilian and military facilities and shipyards.

Thelara (Paryan IV)

Thelara (XB8A000-0) is a large snowball world with a surface temperature low enough to freeze CO2 into dry ice, an ice-surfaced ocean planet similar to a giant Europa. There is no true land anywhere on the planet, only ice (wet and dry). Tidal stress from the two moons cracks the surface, bringing up liquid water which immediately freezes. These upwellings also bring up various reflective salts which precipitate out into highly-reflective areas similar to Ceres.

Thelara snowballed eons ago, when native microplankton used up the CO2 in the atmosphere and killed the greenhouse effect that until then was keeping the ocean planet liquid. The world ocean is too deep for volcanoes to break the surface and re-introduce CO2 into the atmosphere; the planet is too cold for CO2 to remain in the atmosphere—if introduced, it immediately freezes out as dry-ice snow.

Beneath the ice surface lies a global ocean in eternal darkness, dozens of kilometers deep at its shallowest point and bottomed out by a uniform layer of hot pressure-frozen Ice VII at its deepest. What lies below has only been sonar-mapped—at least until it hits the flat bottom of the Ice VII.

From Telerine, Thelara is a brilliant white planet, tinted a pale peach color by the K-class sunlight, flanked by the second ruddy star of its larger moon. (The smaller moon is not visible to the naked eye.) Occasionally Thelara brightens in the “Thelaran Flash” as the highly-reflective areas catch the sun just right. The brightest of these flashes come from a large iced-over fossil crater on the equator.

There are no permanent settlements on Thelara—not even outposts. There’s nothing there worth settling.

Thelara’s moons: Strigon and Tyton

Thelara itself is uninhabited and unsettled. The real action is on its two moons. Smaller than Telerine or Thelara, these moons have much richer surface mineral deposits than Telerine, and were settled and industrialized during the recovery after the Long Night.

Strigon (C440464-A Non-Ag, Non-Ind, Mining, Desert, Poor) is almost a twin of Mars with a slightly thicker atmosphere, a much longer day (276 hours), larger asymmetrical “icecaps” (actually mostly frost) and a permanent population of some 65,000 in various domed and dug-in mining and smelting mill towns scattered all over the moon.

Only a third the size of Thelara and less than half the size of Telerine, Strigon is much less differentiated, with much more mineral and ore deposits in its crust—once you get below the permafrost. Because of this, it is the major prospecting, mining, and processing location of the system, taking the place of asteroid belts in systems that have them.

Local gravity is 0.5G; the Thin atmosphere is unbreathable, double-tainted with low oxygen and abrasive blowsand. Think “Mars”, except tidally-locked in a 276-hour (15⅓ Telerine-day, 11½ Standard day) orbit. The day/night cycle is so long that conditions are similar to a tidally-locked world, with a bright face, night side, and violent winds constantly cycling the atmosphere between bright and dark sides, precipitating out all volatiles (including atmosphere) on the dark side.

The difference from a full solar tidal lock is that bright and dark sides move around the moon every 15 Telerine days (about a week and a half); there is no chance for the atmosphere to actually freeze out, only the moisture and CO2. This has the visible effect of “stretching the icecaps” almost down to the equator on the dark side and along the morning terminator, receding as the bright side warms. Baseline average temperature is -52C, varying from 30C in the hottest part of the day (sunset) to -120C in the coldest part of the night (just before sunrise), with winds and dust storms blowing near-constantly from dark side to bright face.

Terraforming is underway, using engineered extremophile microbes which go through their life cycle in one Strigonese day—growing during the day as crater lakes melt along with some of the permafrost, dying off as the night temperature drops and everything re-freezes, leaving spores to sprout the next day, like an ephemeral glade on a regular schedule.

The first goal of terraforming Strigon is to get atmospheric oxygen up to the point the atmosphere is breathable; best estimates are 30 to 50 years. The next step is to thicken the atmosphere through comet diversions and increase the greenhouse effect to even out the temperature (100 to 300-year timeframe).

Until then, the only time anyone goes Outside is during the three-day-long “afternoon”, in cold-weather gear and oxygen mask. At sunset, everything seals down for the week-long freezing night; anyone Outside will be in a pressurized vehicle or heated vacc suit as the temperature drops to dry ice levels, stripping the dark side of any atmospheric CO2.

Other than that, Strigon is like Mars—cold, dry, and dusty—with the addition of night-frozen ponds in the craters and lowlands, terraforming microbe colonies dark green against the rust-colored sands, and Thelara in the sky, a peach-tinted iceworld eight times the apparent diameter of Earth’s moon, reflective areas (especially the one equatorial fossil crater) doubling the brightness in Thelaran Flashes.

The C port is at Strigonopolis, a “city” of 25,000 and the nucleus of the largest mining and industrial area on the moon (with a small Highport space station of its own). Other ports are E-class with the occasional D, used for shipping out refined metals and shipping in supplies to the clusters of settlements. The domes and dug-ins are pretty much self-sufficient, growing their own staple foods in surface greenhouses.

Much of the population are Metikoi—ethnic Korvans, better adapted to thin-atmosphere conditions (though for the next 40 years, even Korvans need supplemental oxygen when Outside).

Tyton (D200322-9 Non-Ag, Non-Ind, Vacuum, Poor) is a typical cratered airless rockball, half the size of Strigon and almost twice as far out, with a day/month of 468 hours/26 Telerine days/20 Standard days. The only settlements are small outposts totaling around 400 population.

The Moons of Pelandus (Paryan V)

Innermost of Paryan’s three gas giants, Pelandus is the main fuel-skim site, with chemical/fuel lighters dipping into its atmosphere several times a day. All three of its regular moons—an Io, a Titan, and a Europa—are settled for industrial reasons, with a total permanent population of some 35,000.

Think of the movie Outland, stretching over Titan and Europa as well as Io. Compounded by the Telerine use of Chitin A “Wasp” Metic labor in these extraction/industrial outposts, as the pseudo-insectoids handle such spam-in-a-can outpost crowding much better than humans.

Pelandus Alpha (D330466-A Non-Ind, Mining) is the innermost regular moon, orbiting barely outside its primary’s Van Allen belts with an orbital period/tidal lock day of only 32 hours, the yellow cloud bands of Pelandus filling a third of the sky. A twin of Io with a thicker sulfur-tainted atmosphere, it is the most seismically- and volcanically-active body in the system, constantly turning itself inside-out from tidal stress.

Alpha is a major industrial source of chemicals and minerals for the system, refining in-place and shipping out the finished product. A permanent population of some 22,000 works these chemical and cryo-mineral extraction industries from dug-in underground habitats; only the industrial plants and shipping spaceports break the surface.

Pelandus Beta (D3A1465-A Non-Ind, Mining) is the next out, a twin of Titan with a thick hazy nitrogen atmosphere where the rocks are made of water, the lakes are filled with liquid methane, and the haze in the air is hydrocarbon smog. Twice as far out as Alpha, its orbital period/day is 89 hours (just under 5 Telerine days) with Pelandus a blur through the haze filling only a sixth of the sky and lighting up the landscape in an endless day on Nearside.

Beta is the source of all petrochemicals and commercial hydrocarbons in-system, extracted from the atmosphere and “hydrosphere”. A permanent population of 12,000 in various domes and dug-ins work these refineries.

Beta is also the control center for the fuel/chemical lighters skimming Pelandus.

Pelandus Gamma (E200334-9 Non-Ind, Vacuum) is a nondescript iceball similar to Ceres or Europa in an orbit like Iapetus, with a leisurely month/day of 35 Telerine days. A single outpost of just over 1,000 work some ice prospecting and Belter support under a co-op arrangement.

Pelandus Delta through Pelandus Upsilon are the irregular moons, none larger than Size 1, in any and every orbit imaginable. These captured asteroids and those at Pelandus’ Trojan points are the only (small-scale) Belter activity in the system.

Adventure Nuggets

A TL11 surface-habitable civilized world with a Class A port, Telerine would make a good home base world. However, player-characters would have the handicap of being Barbaroi (at best, Metikoi) in Telerine eyes, and such non-Citizens are charged higher fees for pretty much everything. Perhaps partnership with or patronage of a Telerine Citizen who (at least on paper) is the legal owner? With all the possibilities for friction and conflict-of-interest that would entail?

Complications: Regional pride and rivalry even within the Republic can add complication to standard business on-world or off. A Patron from one region (and those working for them—like player-characters) could easily trigger hostility and opposition in other regions. Even those outposts on Strigon or Pelandus’ moons which are sponsored, run, or manned by a single Telerine region. Even naval ships are not immune to this. Tread lightly.

Casablanca with Ouzo: Most travellers from offworld don’t get out much beyond the Downport and Akropolis of the main starport city—in this case, Helleanopolis. And Helleanopolis can be a hotbed of action and intrigue beneath its picturesque cityscape around the domes of Hagia Sophia Cathedral. Flash-mob street actions, political infighting spillover, Church involvement, Metic Rights movements, Korvan Independence types (shading into organized crime), and the open secret of Wasp Emissaries doing espionage on the side for their Hives. It’s enough to start forwarding your mail to the local Ouzeroi and dropping the dry hammer on yourself, if not taking up Korvan Marching Powder.

Cenobite Rescue: One of Telerine’s hypercanes is threatening an archipelago of Church-controlled islands heavily salted with monasteries and individual hermitages; local and Church authorities do not have the resources on hand to evacuate all the smaller hermitages (concentrating on the large monasteries), so they press-gang the PCs to assist. Search-and-rescue in approaching hurricane conditions (thick atmosphere doubling the destructive effects) with an added complication that Hermit Cenobites not only tend to be highly eccentric in their isolated devotions, they often deliberately keep themselves out of communication and hard to find. Oh, and some will be psionic as well.

Designer’s Notes

Like all systems in the Dole Moving Group, Paryan System is based on an ACCRETE run from 40-year-old planetary-formation simulations by an R.L.Dole published in Scientific American in the 1960s and referenced in Carl Sagan’s The Cosmic Connection. ACCRETE gave only planetary orbital distances and masses; the orbits were translated into Traveller notation and the planets detailed according to both Traveller world generation rolls and known planetology.

ACCRETE runs all assumed a G-class gravity well. Paryan System’s sun was dropped from G to K to reduce the number of G-class stars in the DMG; all planets were moved one Traveller orbit inwards to maintain the same illumination and habitability.

System nomenclature was taken from a para-Greco-Roman pantheon in Wayne Shaw’s “Mageworld” D&D campaign of the late 1990s, shifting the names to the closest parallel in the actual Roman pantheon used to name Sol System. Rough equivalents:

• Paryan: Helios (Apollo [sun god])
• Phelstar: Hephasteos (Vulcan)
• Melthias: Hermes (Mercury)
• Telerine: Hera (Juno [earth goddess])
• Paryra: Artemis (Diana [moon goddess])
• Thelara: Athena (Minerva [hat tip to A World of Difference by Harry Turtledove])
• Strigon and Tyton: “owls” (traditional animal companions of Athena)
• Pelandus: Poseidon (Neptune [smallest of the system’s gas giants])
• Zoras: Zeus (Jupiter [largest gas giant in system])
• Handorus: Hades (Pluto [outermost world])
• Sthenles/Apartheneos: Echnida/Nemesis

Since the nomenclature was pseudo-Greek, Telerine culture was given Greek roots, on a world of small landmasses scattered over a wine-dark sea. Referees are encouraged to use Greek names for Telerine characters and places and local color.

Though balkanized, Telerine rolled up as having one dominant nation, a Republic. The Kingdom of Lakonia was introduced as a Sparta to the Republic’s Athens and to provide a source of medium-tech mercenaries for the subsector.

Appendices

Typical Telerine Republic Hoplite Tagma (Heavy Batallion) TO&E (TL10-11)

• A Telerine Tagma (Battalion) has three Lochagoi (Companies) plus a dedicated three-tube artillery battery (massdrivers) and Air/Artillery Defense units (laser); a Hoplite Battalion has two Hoplite (heavy/mech infantry) companies and one Prodromos (light armored cavalry) company.
• A company has three platoons plus one three-tube RAM mortar platoon; each line platoon is built on the “four-plus-two” model, with four vehicles plus two direct-fire support vehicles.
  • The Hoplite/infantry platoon has four Medium hover-APCs and two Medium hovertanks. Each APC carries a LRF Gaussgun and twelve dismounts: a squad of two fire teams plus an attached heavy weapons team (either an AutoRAM-GL or GMS/L tac missile).
  • Tanks mount a heavy laser or gyrolauncher/missile turret and LRF Gaussgun cupola.
    • Infantry is equipped with ACRs, ALMG-10s, and either TL10 Combat Environment Suits or TL11 Combat Armor.
    • Protected Forces are issued gyrojet small arms (10mm ARLs and ARL-LMGs, 20mm Gyrocannon HMGs) and TL11 Combat Armor for zero-G/vacuum deployments.
• The Prodromos/cavalry platoon has four light hover-vehicles armed with VRF Gaussguns and carrying a single fire team, and two light hovertanks mounting VRF Gaussguns and GMS/H heavy tac missiles. Both types of vehicle, plus mortar carriers, use the same chassis and hull.
• Telerines prefer hover-vehicles to grav vehicles for ground vehicle roles; grav-equipped units are used only for Thin atmospheres, heavy vehicles in Standard atmospheres, and vacuum/Protected Forces deployments.

Typical Lakonian Mercenary Skimmer Infantry Lochas (Company) TO&E (TL10)

• Four Skimmer Infantry sections, each of four fire teams (ACR and ALMG-10) and two heavy weapons teams (AutoRAM-GL and GMS/L tac missile). All infantry sections are on one-man hover-skimmers, with heavy weapon loads broken down between the team’s skimmers
• Mortar section with two mortars on light hovertrucks.
• Armored Car section with two light hovertanks, each mounting a VRF Gaussgun and GMS/H heavy tac missiles. (The same type as the Fire Support Section of a Republic Prodomos platoon.)

Because of the skimmers and hover-vehicles, this lochas as equipped would hire out or deploy only on Standard or Dense-atmosphere worlds. For Thin atmosphere or vacuum deployments, the infantry sections would be carried in twelve-passenger G-carriers (two per section) and the mortar carriers/armored cars would be grav instead of hover vehicles. Infantry would be in imported TL11 Combat Armor instead of TL10 Combat Environment Suits.

Telerine Army/Ground Forces Table of Ranks

In the Republic’s armed forces, only Citizens can be commissioned officers. Metikoi are limited to enlisted ranks, and within a single rank, a Citizen outranks a Metic. This is especially true for Korvan Colonial troops, whose officers are all Telerine.

Lakonian practice is similar, except all Lakonians must serve in the armed forces (or mercenaries) before they can be granted Citizenship. First-timers are the equivalent of Metikoi in the Republic’s forces; veterans are normally Citizens.

Telerine Ground Forces Officer Ranks
Traveller Rank	Telerine Name	Translation	Shoulder Board Insignia
Rank 6	Stratigos	General (generic)	(gold) Phoenix* + 1 to 4 Star-pips
Rank 5	Syntatagmatarchis	Colonel	(silver) Phoenix* + 3 Star-pips
Rank 4	Antisyntatagmatarchis	Sub-Colonel	(silver) Phoenix* + 2 Star-pips
Rank 3	Tagmatarchis	Major	(silver) Phoenix* + 1 Star-pip
Rank 2	Lochagos	Captain	(silver) 3 Star-pips
Rank 1	Ypolochagos	Subcaptain	(silver) 1 or 2 Star-pips
Rank 1 contains Anthypolochagos (Junior Lt, 1 star-pip) and Ypolochagos (Senior Lt, 2 star-pips). Rank 6 contains Taxiarchos (Brigadier, 1 star-pip), Ypostratigos (“Sub-General”, 2 star-pips), Antistratigos (“Junior General”, 3 star-pips), and Stratigos (General, 4 star-pips). * The Telerine Republic uses the phoenix; major regions within the Republic substitute their regional badge (octopus, gorgon head, etc.) for locally-raised units; Korvan Colonial forces use a Korvan puma’s head, and Geolan Militia a wasp’s face. The Kingdom of Lakonia uses a lambda.

 

Telerine Ground Forces Enlisted Rank
Traveller Rank	Telerine Name	Rough Translation	Sleeve Insignia
Rank 6	Archilochias	Master Sergeant	3 Chevrons + 1 Rocker + Phoenix in center
Rank 5	Epilochias	Oversergeant	3 Chevrons + 1 Rocker
Rank 4	Lochias	Sergeant (generic)	3 Chevrons
Rank 3	Epsedoros Lochias	Corporal-Sergeant	2 Chevrons
Rank 2	Epsedoros	Corporal	1 Chevron
Rank 1	Stratiotes	Private	None
Metikoi use a flat bar instead of a curved rocker, and have different-colored chevrons from Citizens. All chevrons are worn point-down.

Telerine Navy Table of Ranks

The restrictions on Metikoi in the Ground Forces also apply to Naval service.
 

Telerine Naval Officer Ranks
Traveller Rank	Telerine Name	Translation	Cuff Stripes
Rank 6	Navarchos	Admiral (generic)	Wide band + 1 to 3 stripes
Rank 5	Ploiarchos	Captain	4 stripes
Rank 4	Antiploiarchos	Junior Captain	3½ stripes
Rank 3	Plotarchis	Commander	3 stripes
Rank 2	Ypoploiarchos	Subcommander	2½ stripes
Rank 1	Anthypoploiarchos	Lieutenant (generic)	1 or 2 stripes
Rank 1 includes Anthypoploiarchos (Lieutenant, 2 stripes) and Simiaoforos (Ensign, 1 stripe) Rank 6 includes Archiploiarchos (“Overcaptain”, Wide band only), Yponavarchos (“Sub-Admiral”, Band + 1 Stripe), Antinavarchos (“Junior Admiral”, Band + 2 stripes), and Navarchos (Admiral, Band + 3 stripes). Half-stripes are dashed; the top stripe is looped in a diagonal rhomboid

 

Telerine Naval Enlisted Ranks
Traveller Rank	Telerine Name	Rough Translation	Sleeve Insignia
Rank 5	Archikeleftis	Chief Petty Officer	4 Chevrons + 1 Rocker
Rank 4	Epikeleftis	Senior Petty Officer	3 Chevrons + 1 Rocker
Rank 3	Keleftis	Junior Petty Officer	2 Chevrons + 1 Rocker
Rank 2	Diopos	Able Crewman	2 Chevrons
Rank 1	Naftis	Crewman	1 Chevron
Metikoi use a flat bar instead of a curved rocker, and have different-colored chevrons from Citizens. All chevrons are worn point-down.

Telerine Orthodox Ecclesiastical Ranks

Clergy

Clergy are always male; Rank 1-3 may be married or single, Rank 4-6 are always single, and are usually chosen from the ranks of Archimandrites (Monastic Order priests). They wear long black cassocks, black cylindrical kalimafi hats, and beards.
 

Telerine Orthodox Church Clergy Ranks
Traveller Rank	Telerine Name	Translation
Rank 6	Makariotatos	Patriarch
Rank 5	Archiepiskopos	Archbishop
Rank 4	Episkopos	Bishop
Rank 3	Hieras	Priest
Rank 2	Archievlavestatos	Archdeacon
Rank 1	Evlavestatos	Deacon

Cenobites (Monastics)

Cenobites may be male (monks) or female (nuns), and are always; Archimandrites are always male. Some orders provide psionics training; their monks/nuns have a good chance of being psionic.

Male Cenobites dress as priests, but with long hair and a Havelock-like black veil descending from the back of the hat as a sign of their vow of celibacy.

Female Cenobites dress in head-to-toe black, with only their hands and face visible.
 

Telerine Orthodox Church Monastic Ranks
Traveller Rank	Telerine Name (male/female)	Translation (male/female)
Rank 4	Igumenios/Igumeni	Abbot/Abbess
Rank 3	Archimandrite	Order Priest
Rank 2	Adelphos/Adelphi	Brother/Sister
Rank 1	Archarios/Archari	Novice