Rice Papers
RICE Paper: Jae Tellona/Rhylanor
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Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 14:23:07 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
Subject: RICE Paper: Jae Tellona/Rhylanor
The second in my line of Rhylanor Subsector RICE papers. Porozlo will
be following soon. Hope y'all like it!
RICE Paper #SM-2814
Jae Tellona System
Jae Tellona (Rhylanor: Spinward Marches/2814)
A560565-8 N Ni De Mr 913 RE F9 IV
G=0.61, Day=17:07:15.6, Year = 8y 140d 12:16:48.72
Atmo=1.2, No Weather Control
Temp= +29.0 (5/lat +15 to -35) (season +7.2 to -12.0, 12 deg lat)
Daily temp range 13.35
Ores, Compounds; Agroproducts, Metals; Weapons; None
Progressive/Advancing, Unaggressive/Neutral, Harmonious/Friendly
Legal: 5-53476 Tech 88-88789-8898-88-G
If your astrogator made the mistake of plotting his course for the
"habitable" zone of the Jae Tellona system, don't chastise him too
severely when you arrive in an asteroid belt. Jae Tellona, the system
mainworld, is located one orbit into the outer zone of the system.
When settlers originally came to Jae Tellona (ca. 230), they made the
same mistake. The small flotilla of settlers from Gushemege Sector
arrived in system to stake their claims only to find they were in the
middle of the system's solitary asteroid belt. Thinking they had been
suckered by a corrupt colonial-office tree-kraken-oil salesman, the
angry settlers prepared to embark upon the long and costly flight home
across The Rift to collect some payback. Fortunately, a crewmember on
one of the ships took a closer look at the system charts and
discovered their folly.
Even at this distance, Jae Tellona's average temperature remains in a
survivable range because of the absence of large oceans on Jae
Tellona's arid surface. Because there are no oceans present to cool
the planet, the energy of Dikaai, the system's solitary subgiant star,
is conserved rather well. Oddly enough, if a planet with Jae
Tellona's hydrosphere were in this system's habitable zone, the
temperature would be infernally high and render colonization next to
impossible.
Jae Tellona's original settlers came from Gushemege's rimward edge.
This region was particularly hard hit by The Long Night. The peoples
of the region were eager to ply the lanes of interstellar space
looking for a better opportunity after centuries of hardship and
subjugation at the hands of more populated and technologically
advanced worlds.
The Jae Tellonan settlers were the descendents of mixed
Vilani-Solomani stock. Their Vilani blood came predominantly from
several warrior caste worlds of the old Vilani Empire, including
Answerin. During the Interstellar Wars, several roughriding Terran
squadrons were sent into the region to do battle with the Vilani.
After peace was made, many of them stayed. The hybrid of the two
cultures featured some of the best characteristics of both human
strains. The settlers who were to become the Jae Tellonans were known
for their Answerin fearlessness as well as the frontier spirit of
their Terran ancestors.
While colonizing a desert world is a dismal proposition for some, the
Jae Tellonan settlers welcomed the challenge. In christening their
world, the settlers chose the name of an inspirational Gushemegan
military leader who helped guide the people of the Gushemegan colonies
through the waning years of the Long Night and into the Twilight Era.
The Jae Tellonans learned to maximize their use of the planet's
limited moisture resources. In addition, they learned to distill
water from the skimmed atmosphere of Uunkida Gar, the gas giant Jae
Tellona orbits. It therefore comes as no surprise that Uunkida Gar is
named for one of Vland's largest oceans, considering its primary use
for the Jae Tellonans.
While the Jae Tellonan colonists held a commonality of purpose, they
could never completely overcome their militaristic roots. Descended
from spacefaring soldiers, the clannish colonists found themselves
splintering into opposed camps. Soon warfare began to break out
between the clans. By 350, the warfare between the clans became so
severe, Jae Tellona's population began to experience a sharp drop, at
one point even dipping into pre-colonization levels. The number of
young men and women began to dwindle to the point that they could no
longer sustain the population growth necessary for a colony to
continue to grow and prosper.
It was then that Makhid Jellosonar, a general of the Hyosonuri clan,
went to the Duke of Rhylanor for help. Jellosonar invited
intervention by the Rhylanori to quell the discontent at home. At
first, Rhylanor was loathe to accept the offer. While Jellosonar was
the most powerful warlord on Jae Tellona, he was the only one to come
to Rhylanor for help. The resistance, bred for desert fighting, might
be strong and Rhylanor had no desire to become embroiled in a
prolonged conflict. Jellosonar sweetened the deal by offering a
lucrative trade pact to Rhylanor provided they help to establish him
as the solitary ruler of the planet. Rhylanor accepted and dispatched
military advisors to help Jellosonar conquer the enemy clans and bring
them under his wing. Using advanced Rhylanori weaponry, he succeeded.
Since that time, Jae Tellona has existed under nearly a millenium of
military rule. The Jae Tellonans, used to a hard life, willingly
submit to the fiat of a central ruler. The central ruler is drawn
from the general ranks of Jae Tellona's army. No pretense of
pluralism exists on the planet. The ruler is referred to as "general
commandant" by the citizenry. The general's hierarchy of staff
officers provide the network by which he rules the system. Each
general commandant is elected by his peers in the Jae Tellonan army.
Election of a general commandant is not taken lightly, as he rules for
life once appointed.
Staff generals are appointed to cities and territories by the general
commandant. The native city or region of a staff general has no
bearing on his appointment. In fact, staff generals are usually
appointed to regions that are not their native element. The Jae
Tellonans believe this promotes unity and dissipates clan
ethnocentricity.
One element of Jellosonar's trade agreement with Rhylanor that
continues to this day is the "Rashakhra Provision." The Rashakhras
are Jae Tellonan soldiers conscripted into the Rhylanori military
services as commandos. They are trained on Jae Tellona and known as
one of the toughest, most disciplined military units in the Regency.
The number of conscripts is limited based on current population levels
so as not to upset the balance or personnel numbers of Jae Tellona's
army. Though many Jae Tellonans have come to resent this provision,
for most it is considered an honor to serve among the Rashakhra ranks.
The delicate balance of peace between the clans is maintained by the
checks and balances of a system that could best be described as a
draconian feudal technocracy. The military ranks controlled by the
general commandant consist of carefully mixed clan blocs so as to
prevent any one clan from obtaining a controlling majority of a
military unit. Each clan bloc is privy to a large stock of
top-of-the-line Rhylanori military technology, enabling them to hold
power by the sheer potential force of their ranks. While some of the
old clan conflicts continue to simmer to this day, the historical
threat of self-destruction and the strength of the general commandant
maintains the peace.
Jae Tellona's novelty tech level is of particular importance since it
reflects the military technology level. While domestically
manufactured weapons, sensors and computers may be purchased by the
general populace for commercial and self defense purposes, only the
military is allowed use of imported high-tech weaponry and
electronics. The Jae Tellonan military trades with only two preferred
partners: Rhylanor and Porozlo.
The above description may give the wandering traveller the impression
that Jae Tellona is a powder keg waiting to blow. Just the opposite
is true, however. Jae Tellona maintains a remarkably harmonious
society. While the planet is technically under military rule, this is
more out of tradition than necessity. Jellosonar's unification of the
Jae Tellonan clans was looked upon as a paradigm shift in the history
of the planet. The military was not looked upon as an oppressor, but
rather a liberator, freeing the citizenry from the self-imposed prison
of perpetual war.
The military is actually proportionately smaller than those of most
other Regency systems. The revered training and discipline of a Jae
Tellonan battalion, however, makes them the equal of most Regency army
brigades. At age 17, all Jae Tellonans are conscripted into the army
and are taught, in addition to basic weapons, tactics and fighting
skills, the tenets of civil defense and desert warfare. The length of
conscription is one term. Many Jae Tellonans opt to remain in the
military for a second term, but for the most part, the only "lifers"
in the Jae Tellonan military are those who become Rashakhras.
Jae Tellona's populace for the most part thrives on trade, producing
components and materials for many offworld industries. The Jae
Tellonan silicon industry, for instance, claims to cut more silicon
than the rest of the subsector's worlds combined. Indeed, Jae
Tellona's main specialization is the production of military-grade
silicon components.
Jae Tellonans take pride when they see their part in the greater
scheme of things. While the planet's pre-stellar TL-8 doesn't allow
them to compete with neighbors Rhylanor and Porozlo in most
industries, Jae Tellonan craftmanship and attention to detail is
respected subsectorwide.
As a leading exporter of many technological components, Jae Tellona is
resented by many other systems in the subsector for their trade
surplus. Jae Tellona ships a great deal, but is rather stingy on
importation for several reasons. First and foremost is the
aforementioned trade limitations imposed by the general commandant.
Second is the culture of the Jae Tellonans themselves. Accustomed to
hardship and relatively few material comforts, Jae Tellonans simply
don't demand many consumer products. They work hard, play hard and
enjoy travelling the wild outbacks of their harsh and unforgiving
world, but they don't buy much in the way of entertainment, fashion or
leisure products.
Because of this, Jae Tellona is frequently at the center of TNS
financial news pieces. They have been subjected to numerous economic
sanctions in the past from other systems in Rhylanor Subsector, but
maintain their monolithic stance and show no signs of abating their
aggressive trade policies.
Hyosonuri Starport, located in the industrial city of Dan Mokheidi, is
a meticulously maintained and highly functional starport, albeit a bit
small. A large portion of the starport is allotted to Jae Tellona's
government-controlled freighter fleet and small but efficient SDB
squadron. Eight ports are reserved for offworlder starships.
The seat of government lies in the small and seemingly provincial city
of Brokari Ai. Located next to one of the planet's few permanent
oases, Brokari Ai is more a military base than a city, though a fairly
large commercial sector exists to serve the needs of the general
commandant's brigade.
Offworlders will find Jae Tellonans surprisingly friendly and
forthcoming. They criticize their leaders quite freely and without
fear of reprisal. Casual observers and self-proclaimed civic experts
attribute the unwillingness to overthrow the government to a general
malaise or complacency on the part of the Jae Tellonan masses. Those
who are so misinformed fail to remember that Jae Tellonans are
descendants of Vilani military castes. Committed to duty and
efficiency, the Jae Tellonans subscribe the old addage, "If it ain't
broke, why fix it?"
Their society, under military rule, prospers to a degree that the Jae
Tellonan populace finds satisfactory. Most see no reason to alter the
system or liberate the government, thereby risking a return to the
bloody days of old.
Jae Tellonans, for the most part, are dark skinned with black or dark
brown hair. Their eye colors have a much greater natural range, with
hazel, amber and light brown being the most common. Jae Tellonans,
due to their ascetic lifestyles, are rarely overweight. Poor physical
condition is taboo in Jae Tellonan culture. "The gluttonous man," it
is said in Jae Tellonan proverbs, "has drawn too long on the well that
nourishes us all."
Jae Tellona System Details
Orbit Name UPP Remarks
Primary Dikaai F9 IV
0 Rake H400265-7 Va
1 Pilot Y320000-0
2 Carlotta G500436-8 Nv Co
9 Mabry Y200000-0 Va
25 Wake Y200000-0 Va
3 (Empty Orbit)
4 (Empty Orbit)
5 Sillica G000266-7 As
6 Uunkida Gar Small GG Size 20
60 Jae Tellona A560565-8 N Ni De Mr
7 Argenta Small GG
8 Giilushum Y2A1000-0
50 Rizid Y200000-0 Va
8 Macon Malloy Y742000-0
10 Cartosy Y553000-0
9 Caloyka Small GG
10 Tregent GS00124-7 Va
13 Silas Y400000-0 Va
10 (Empty Orbit)
11 Quarl FA6A366-8 Nv Ic