Gashikan Sector
From Traveller Wiki - Science-Fiction Adventure in the Far future
| Gashikan Sector | |||||||||||||||||
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| Sector Data | |||||||||||||||||
| No. of Stars | 519 | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | 656,398 million | ||||||||||||||||
| Majority Control | Third Imperium of Gashikan - 75% | ||||||||||||||||
| Secondary Control | Drr'lana Network - 7% | ||||||||||||||||
| Gross Sector Product | BCr2,693,801 | ||||||||||||||||
| Trade Volume | BCr3,957 | ||||||||||||||||
| Imperial Coordinate | 1 / 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| This sector has a world list | |||||||||||||||||
| This sector has a trade map | |||||||||||||||||
| This sector has a data file | |||||||||||||||||
| map from Travellermap.com Gashikan style="width: 250px; height: 350px; border: solid 1px black; float: left; margin-right: 20px" | |||||||||||||||||
Gashikan sector, also know as the Lloeilerz sector to several Vargr empires in and around the sector.
Gashikan Sector Overview
Anti-Vargr attitudes are endemic to Gashikan sector, dating back to before the fall of the Ziru Sirka by the Terran Confederation and the formation of the Rule of Man.
Gashikan sector has given its name to three Empires. The First Empire of Gashikan was formed in about -2400, when Vargr, who had obtained jump drive from the Vilani in Corridor and Windhorn, began coming around the coreward end of the Windhorn Rift and entering the area beyond the Vilani frontier. This Empire was more of a protective organization, with loose ties between its worlds; more was not needed, as the Vargr were not operating in a broadly organized manner. Trade with the independent Human and Vargr worlds in the region was extensive, as was trade with the Ziru Sirka to rimward. The native Yileans of Gashikan itself were the driving force behind the Empire, which collapsed shortly after the collapse of the Rule of Man removed the primary stabilizing influence in the area.
The Vargr population of the area saw an upsurge at this time, and with it came a similar increase in raider and corsair activity. This led to strained relations between Human and Vargr communities, and low-level wars were not uncommon. Vargr not involved in raiding were often seen as an exploitable resource, and Vargr serfdom, peonage, and slavery appeared and began to spread.
Tensions exploded in -1658 when a Vargr raid on Gashikan ended in a global holocaust as the raiders used nuclear weapons to virtually destroy the planetary civilization. The Human view of Vargr immediately changed from "exploitable resource" to "danger to be exterminated", and a centuries-long campaign of attempted genocide began.
The Sack of Gashikan also caused many Human worlds to band together in protective alliances, and in -1646, many of these alliances consolidated into the Second Empire of Gashikan.
The Empire embarked on a number of projects designed to end the Vargr menace; the most notable of these was Project Wolvesbane, begun in the -1400s, which was an attempt to develop biological weapons that would kill Vargr without harming humans. The release of Wolvesbane in -1427 fell short of its goals due to heroic efforts by individual Vargr, but Gashikan sector was rendered almost totally free of Vargr.
The conflict continued until about -1000, with a gradual change in attitude. Vengeful humans would still kill Vargr, but it became increasingly common on many worlds to enslave them. A major exception to this trend was the formation of the Legion of Breskain, an order of Knighthood based on Gashikan and dedicated to the extermination of all Vargr. While not the first such organization, the Legion was the best-organized and had access to greater resources, and it rapidly absorbed the other organizations. Today, the Legion of Breskain maintains its purpose, although it is no longer under the control of the Empire or of Gashikan; rather, it acts as a mercantile and mercenary operation, providing resources and assistance to any organization in conflict with the Vargr.
Vargr slavery rapidly became one of the most important industries in the region, reaching its peak in -300. After that, it began a long decline, with further Vargr immigration and the occasional emancipation. By the time of the founding of the Third Imperium, it was still quite important in the Empire, but stagnation was beginning to set in, in contrast to the dynamism of the Julian Protectorate, where Human-Vargr cooperation was on the rise.
By the late 900s, the Empire's technological progress, never much more than anemic at best, had stopped, and was showing signs of reversing. Internal tensions over differing policies toward Vargr and other causes grew, and in 1070 shattered the Empire in civil war.
A group of relatively strong planets in Trenchans Sector embarked on a plan of reconquest, and by 1078 had recaptured much of the rimward portions of the former Empire, incorporating it into the Third Empire of Gashikan. Many planets on or near the Mendan Main elected instead to join the Julian Protectorate; the prosperity that seemed to go along with improved Human-Vargr interaction appeared difficult to resist on worlds which had experienced little of the raiding and corsair activity that had so inflamed the coreward regions. The Empire and the Protectorate are in a technical state of war, but military activity is generally limited to occasional Gashikan raids that are easily repulsed by the Star Legion. It is believed, but not proven, that the Protectorate Member State of Rar Erral (Wolves' Warren) has been carrying out raids on Gashikan worlds in Trenchans sector, in spite of protests from other members of the Protectorate.
Today, in the Third Empire of Gashikan, Vargr slavery is still common, especially in the coreward areas and in most of Trenchans sector. On Gashikan itself, Vargr are subject to immediate and summary execution; elsewhere in the rimward sections of the sector, Vargr segregation, serfdom, and peonage are more common than outright Vargr slavery, although the latter is far from unknown.
| This article was copied or excerpted from the following copyrighted sources and used under license from Far Future Enterprises and by permission of the author. |
| – Alien Module 3: Vargr - named but no further data |
| – Alien - Vilani & Vargr - Dot map provided |
| – Challenge49 |
| – Jeff Zeitlin |
