Tawasy

System: Tawasy

Hex Location: 1724

Star Type: Single M5 VI

Number of Worlds: 8

Gas Giants: 7

Planetoid Belt: Kuiper and asteroid belt

Starport Type: E frontier star port

World Size: Earth-sized

Atmosphere Type: Earth-like

Surface Water: 86%

Population: Medium 17 million

Political Affiliation: Dhangetan Cartel

Tags: Thaumatophilia, Xenophobia, Oceanic cities

Notes: Centuries ago, during the early years of the Marian Empire, some of the constituent races remained more apart from each other than they did later on. The southern Rubicon sector was one where many Altairans settled where, although politically part of the Empire, they could yet practice their culture in something somewhat like isolation rather than see it converge into Marian culture overall. Later, as the Empire waned and finally fell, these polities became independent. Some of them have now been independent for centuries, like the Altairan Ascendancy further to the sector west, but the Galaide Monarchy was another one, centered just to the galactic north of the Carthen and Carrick areas, including worlds 2123 Kari Jora, 2221 Leneback, 2223 Fthughu, 2224 Cadon, 2321 Xotha, 2421 Peydon, 2422 Onola and 2522 Sycha. There, they developed their own unique culture, quite different from that of the Altairan Ascendancy, and they venerated in particular their Magi (both psionic knights and warlocks).

For over a hundred years, however, their worlds have fallen to the Dhangetans. In part, this was not a conquest so much as it was a gradual ceding of power through diplomacy and corrupt, oligarchic elite who enriched themselves and then left with piles of money. The unique culture of the Galaide worlds is significantly diluted by the Dhangetans who arrive with their sleazy entourages of skiffers, their Cilindarean and Janissary mercenaries, and all of the other hangers-on of various races and groups that tend to come with them.

However, some hardliner conservatives fled the Galaide worlds to Tawasy, which was at the time an uninhabited world, but pristine and beautiful. There, they built their cities, usually in the oceans themselves, where they harvest aquatic plant and animal life to support themselves, and continue their Galaide way of life, venerating to a degree that is almost worshipful their Magi and resisting the incursions of alien philosophies, and as much as possible, aliens altogether. However, they were only allowed to do so in peace by accepting the protection and vassalage of the Cartel, paying tribute to them, and allowing their business, slight though it may be in this system, to go on unhindered.

In reality, this is unlikely to change anytime too soon; the Cartel business rarely actually happens in the oceanic cities, and it mostly consists of caravans, traders, smugglers, or mercenaries passing through on their way to somewhere else. Although other nearby systems usually mean that stopping through Tawasy isn't necessary, it is often desirable, because of the many gas giants in the system, many of which are not tainted by very many heavy elements, unrefined fuel can be picked up easily and quickly, and scrubbed in half the time that it usually takes, allowing a quick stop and then jump back out on your way to some other more distant destination. The Dhangetans have, in particular, made agreements with the Revanchists and a very steady traffic between the Carthen and Rhyne colonies passes through Tawasy unmolested. Some, at least, of the Revanchists know that the Dhangetans do not do this for altruistic reasons (although many Revanchists are true believers in their idiot ideology and believe that of course everyone would support them unless they were the ultimate evil) and wonder what designs the Dhangetans have on these colonies and the region overall by offering this support.