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Old 06-19-2018, 05:08 PM   #591
jeff_wilson
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Default Re: 'Imperial Culture' (non-canonista)

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Which does not prevent local fluctuations of such kind from taking place.
If by local fluctuations you mean a war, sure. If you mean there's a system or a sector that made a peaceful truce with the Imperials such that the Navy doesn't patrol their space, that doesn't mean the IN lacks the *power* to do so, more like it lacks an excuse.
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:13 PM   #592
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Highland Kudebeck:

A variant of Kudebeck Gazelle distinct from the famous Victorian breed with an affinity for hill regions. These are usually raised by transhumance. Indeed on at least one world it is common practice to maintain ranches in the shape of strips of land up and down the slope. Often settlements will be subsidized and protected as clients in return for seeding the pastures as ordered. Like other variations of Kudy, the type of diet affects the color of ivory so how a pasture is to be seeded is within the rancher's purview and usually he buys his own seed. In between cultivated pastures they subsist on natural grass.

Highland Kudys are known for their intelligence and their distinct life-cycle. The growth of horns is staggered so that at least some young rams and wethers will have their horns in a saber-like shape fit to be used as weapons at any given time. In the trade they are called, "guardrams" and they stand at the point, flank, and rear guards of a herd to watch for predators. The elder or "queen" Ewe stands in the center with this year's mate. In this stage they are strangely cooperative with dogs and herders. Later the male horn grows to a curled shape. This is the horn used to fight for mates. During mating season the herd is segregated. Some of the herd has been wethered; some ranchers consider a vasectomy more humane then straightforward gelding though of course that is a more complicated procedure and difficult to use en masse. They are however branded according to a hierarchy. Prime ivory is the favored product and the rams and ewes producing that are separated and branded appropriately. Lower grade ivory, milk, fur, and sometimes meat are gotten from the lesser herd. Some ranchers ruthlessly wether their stock to breed ivory producers but it is more common to allow the lower class to breed as well and only wether the least favored. During breeding season the males are traditionally allowed to fight for the attention of ewes, though watched carefully to ensure against serious injury. It is customary on the slopes to use this time as a time of feasting as well as watching and wagering on the fights. Often fights are taped and the video or holographic images sold in town. Envoys are often sent between ranches and settlements and breeding time is also used as a time to negotiate politics and commerce as well as arrange weddings among humans or any other sophant who is herding them and many note the irony. When the horns are shed they are collected. The horns of the most successful ram are a sign of virility in many cultures and used in marriage rituals, according to one tradition hollowed and used as a pitcher. After the breeding season he will accompany the Queen Ewe for the rest of the year.

After breeding time horns are shed and harvested. However because of the staggered pattern of Highland Kudy life cycle there are always still guardrams available. The prime horns are incorporated into the most precious artwork and craftsmanship. Having a good supply of less expensive ivory is however often profitable, as it is in high demand. One use of it is as spacer's scrimshaw and many spacers will have a supply on hand.

One of the unfortunate eccentricities of Highland Kudys is their fear of vehicles. For that reason mechanized vehicles are primarily used for outer perimeter and high altitude watch, while sophant herders mounted on horses or miniphants and dogs handle the inward work. Command is either at the high watch vehicle or the headquarters tent of the camp.

The outfit of a herder is reminiscent of a cowherder of cinema with mount and lariet as well as accessories including survival gear. Another piece of equipment almost always found is tranq rounds for the animals that are to far to be captured with a thrown device. Some herders actually wear a traditional broad brimmed hat though that is often considered an affectation. A more modern component is communications gear which allows a link to the whole ranch. Some prefer an Aslan fierah with a specialized rig to a lariet or use it as a suppliment. Though highly intelligent and more able to take care of themselves then cattle or sheep, Highland Kudys are apt to stray and must be regularly tracked. Typically a transponder is implanted at birth.

Planets that deal in Highland Kudebeck often consider it a valueable as well as romantic part of their economy. Traditions regarding the industry can go back thousands of years.

It is common for ranchers to cultivate raptors to be sold to falconers as well as various forms of game with a natural favor for insect eating creatures that make for a more abundant pasture. Sometimes game tickets are sold to sportsmen and sportswomen.

Some experiments have been conducted recently with an eye toward crossbreeding with the Victorian strain.
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Old 07-27-2018, 03:47 AM   #593
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Default Re: 'Imperial Culture' (non-canonista)

If your Kudebeck is a gazelle or any other antelope, it has horns -- and horns do not shed; they're there for life. The type of stuff on their heads that sheds are antlers.
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Old 07-27-2018, 09:21 AM   #594
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If your Kudebeck is a gazelle or any other antelope, it has horns -- and horns do not shed; they're there for life. The type of stuff on their heads that sheds are antlers.
Gazelle is a misnomer. In fact according to the Traveller Wiki they are hexapedal. Which goes only so far as it also says that they are only found on Victoria, which is contrary to my purposes, and just one reason to make them a different breed. They look a little like antelope though and also a little like bighorns in the sketch. If you look at Nobles, one of the main points of Kudebecks is that they shed for that allows ivory (actually horn or whatever you call it) to be harvested repeatedly without slaughtering it. If you wish to make a technical difference between horn and antlers that is fine. The original canon did not make such a difference. In any event the horns of a Kudy do not branch like antlers. In the sketch it looked like a bighorn.

One thing Traveller wiki did show was that females have horns that curl and these can only be used for fighting their own kind. So I will edit it to say that there are status fights among females too but those come at a different cycle. So we will say that there is a roughly three years as an adolescent (between the horn's first sprouting and the year as a full sized guardram) and one year after until the first breeding and every two after for males. For females status fights come every four years but at a different time then male status fights. They choose not only which are most desired as mates but who is the queen ewe and nearest accompaniment, who gets precedent for feeding and who gets to be closer to the center of the herd and thus safer from predation.
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Old 07-27-2018, 11:19 AM   #595
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Aha. I didn't realize that the animal was a creature from Traveller canon. In that case, a misnomer (intended by the author) makes sense.

Last edited by SteveS; 07-27-2018 at 11:21 AM. Reason: Clarification.
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Old 07-27-2018, 11:37 AM   #596
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Aha. I didn't realize that the animal was a creature from Traveller canon. In that case, a misnomer (intended by the author) makes sense.
It was an interesting creature in some ways but had no characteristics assigned to either it's biology or the ranch culture other then producing ivory. And according to the sketch being hexapodal and having status fights. Making my version a different breed allowed me freedom in that area. It also alowed me to put Kudy ranches on other planets besides Victoria. Of course the wiki does not say why there was no artificial transplant but the coloring of the ivory depends a lot on the feed, and ranchers have esoteric combinations. Presumably something about Victorian Flora effects that breed which may not effect a breed raised on another world.

Come to think of it there will probably be a number of Victorian breeds. Indeed the same would go with any other strain. It would probably be like wine where it is not only classified by region but several variations within, depending of course on the soil and climate.
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Old 07-27-2018, 08:02 PM   #597
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Nobles claims Kudys are raised on several worlds. Which contradicts Traveller Wiki, but is more likely. In any case saying that A)Victorian Kudys are a specific cluster of breeding types and B)My description also refers to another type is convenient. It allows me dispensation to make a reasonable description to my satisfaction without interfering with others,
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Old 08-05-2018, 12:33 PM   #598
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The Phayloi

The Phayloi are a humani species from a planet poor in metals and totally without fossil fuels. They lacked viable draft animals as well. As a result, their technology was limited in its development. However, once discovered by the Imperium, the Phayloi discovered they had another card to play, good looks.

By common consent among the peoples of the 3I and the Solimani, and other major and minor human groups, the Phayloi are the most beautiful of all the humani species.

Normal appearance for a Phayloi is Very Handsome or Very Beautiful, and all Phayloi have at least two levels of Charisma and Voice. All Phayloi also tend to smell very nice if healthy and clean. And this is a normal Phayloi. Above average Phayloi are mindblowing.

Phayloi tend to be clever (IQ 11) healthy (HT 12) and graceful (DX 12). Musical and Artistic Talent are common too. Thus the Phayloi tend to do well in certain sectors of Imperial society. Many have become media stars. Others have married into the nobility, the good looks, higher than average IQ, and good health tend to breed true.
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Old 08-08-2018, 03:19 PM   #599
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Dancing and Dancing Masters

The Nobility of the 3I, like any other nobility, use social occasions to network, display wealth, display power, to destroy enemies, etc... Nobiles therefor learn to dance, and to dance well. As no one style of dancing dominates in the 3I this is physically demanding and a time eater. However, Dłn wǔ, the shield dance, has become popular. Dłn wǔ is a martial arts system derived from both East Asian and Afro-Carribean fighting systems. Thus a highly flexible martial art is combined with a highly flexible system of dance training. A massive time savings and a highly useful way to disguise bodyguards and hired warriors. After all, if dancing masters are martial arts senseis, and your kids have to learn formal dancing for social reasons, then you've got a perfectly valid reason for hiring a deadly warrior or more.

Thus, Dancing Master, becomes an excellent PC job for warrior types. You mainly build a sensei and add in etiquette, dance, and current affairs (high fashion). Fops will be the deadliest hand to hand warriors.
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Old 08-26-2018, 07:02 AM   #600
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Spiritualism

Mediums trying to contact the dead for the sake of the living are a commonplace of humaniti cultures. Often these figures are persecuted either because their very existence challenges the power structure, as in Medieval Europe or Traditional China or because society denies they can be anything but a fraud, 20th century USA. In the 3I mediums are assumed to be in cahoots with the Zhodani.

Mediums themselves range from the sincere to ice hearted frauds. Some traditional cultures provide cover and a respectable social position for mediums, but most do what they do under the hostile eye of the authorities. Some worlds have the equivalent of the New Age movement where the medium can be a spiritual advisor. But the anti-psi police are always out in force.

Still, none of this ends belief in an afterlife, nor the will of people to contact the dearly departed. Or for that matter either the will of believers to aid them or the will of grifters to rip them off. And the Zhodani really do use mediums and their hangers-on as cover.

However you slice it, it leads to playable complications.
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