'Imperial Culture' (non-canonista)

[Astromancer]

Fizzy Drinks!

Most Humaniti groups either invent or adopt some sort of carbonated beverage. However the preferred flavors vary wildly. Tamerid is a popular flavor in both Mexico and India it's distinctly a niche flavor in the states. Just remember the look of horror on the young man (who didn't work out as a member of the TARDIS crew) when Rose Tyler said the flavor of the soda was "Roast Beef."

The opportunities involved in securing an acceptable flavor of soda pop without offending local sensibilities should be obvious.

"You mean the Duke doesn't like Limburger flavored sodas?!"

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Star Squiggles!

According to who you ask Star Squiggles is either a dangerous urban legend or an insidious Zhodanni (sic) plot. The game Star Squiggles is supposed to be hidden in other games. If you find the hidden back doors in their other games you can play Star Squiggles . The hidden game is supposed to be amazing fun and it causes latent PSI to awaken psionically! Other people say the game isn't real, it a psyops to root out those interested Psi Powers. Still others say it's a double bluff, either by the Empire or the Zhodanni. Many people say the story of Star Squiggles itself is dangerous.

Note: Several designers have made their own version of Star Squiggles which complicates things no end.

That's a good one!

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Spacer's Sandals:

Due to the artificial environment aboard ship, there is little need to protect feet from harsh temperature. In fact many informally minded captains allow their crew to go barefoot in areas where debris are unlikely to be found, perhaps including the bridge, depending on the captain's sense of his own dignity.

In the hold, and similar places, however there is likely to be stray fragments, glass, nails and what not. Enough of chance that Spacers often wear their distinctive sandals with reinforced soles, sometimes hardened with metal or plastic plating.

It occurs to me that people who spend large amounts of time in Zero-G would soon discover how flexible feet can be. Many spacers would be as dexterous with their feet as their hands. Specialized Foot Gloves for the same reasons we ware specialized gloves on our hands. Foot Gloves to aid the less experienced in using their feet as a second pair of hands.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

It occurs to me that people who spend large amounts of time in Zero-G would soon discover how flexible feet can be. Many spacers would be as dexterous with their feet as their hands. Specialized Foot Gloves for the same reasons we ware specialized gloves on our hands. Foot Gloves to aid the less experienced in using their feet as a second pair of hands.

Well yes though most craft have artificial grav by now.

[jason taylor]

Lociculture:

A multidisciplinary art form involving the applying of imagination to a location. Each "setting" as it is called is given a particular set of visual, auditory, culinary, aspects designed to compliment each other.

This art is relevant to figures as exalted as court chamberlains and as lowly as pub owners and a successful lociculturalist receives high praise.

[jason taylor]

Precedence clause:

In both the First and Second Caledonian Constitutions of Caledonia amendments pass by a traditional supermajority. However the supermajority required is reduced if the advocate for the amendment can satisfy a special session that there is sufficient examples of a similar constitutional plank working in a similar context. Activation of the precedence clause requires a unanimous vote of a special meeting of the crown bench.

Note: yes guys I did mess up. I just reread the part of the Imperial Encyclopedia that deals with the Crown Bench and there was no reason to change.

[jason taylor]

Biological anomalies:

One uncommon phenomena but common enough to be noticed is transplanted varieties of the same or related species on differing worlds.

Their is considerable debate about this. Some say it is because of terraforming by an unfound extinct or not-so-extinct civilization. Maybe more than one. Others say they were transplanted during the Long Night and forgotten. Some even say they were there at the beginning of the universe and others that they came from a transuniversal or transchronological jump of some kind. Or even a weird sort of misjump. In fact there is an explanation for each instance. Though not always known.

Note: this is just a convenience device so a worldbuilder can transfer some interesting creature into his world that doesn't seem to belong.

[jason taylor]

"Magic Books":

A generic name for an art form designed to store books of cultural heritage. Traditionally it alternates a page made of traditional paper or similar material, often coated with flame resistant. This page is written in illumination and caligraphy often with expensive dyes. It contains the main "backbone" or "trunk" of a book. The alternate pages are of datacloth which lets the reader reference notes, reviews, fan-forums, even alternate plots. The spine and cover of the book are as thick as a pre-starflight laptop and naturally contain much more material in a purpose built computer. Magic books are works of art and are often treasured and kept as display pieces.

Works rendered into this form include the Maar Ki Zon; the various Aslan Epics; the Kenningsboken; the Gramslings (or Gramsmen) Saga, and other Sword world sagas; several books in the Authorized Legal Library of Caledonia, and many more. On some worlds first editions or books winning prizes are copied in this fashion. Naturally expense varies. Only the books judged finest or of greatest import are likely to get such perks as handwriting, traditional illumination, and high priced inks and dyes.

The name took popular form because of an actual rumor among the superstitious that these were actual grimoires. In fact it is not unknown for a work actually claiming to be such to be written in that fashion. It is more common for accompaniments to literature or especially interactive drama written in the fantastic or Neo-gothic genres to be fictional versions of such. But that aspect is only a small part of the many famous literary contributions written in this manner.

[jason taylor]

Cantons:

A Sword Worlder military district, it is the home base of regular and reserve units raised there. Each Canton has a name and a number, supply and training facilities and so on. The military geography of the Sword Worlds is superimposed over the political geography. In some places (notably Colada) there is no distinction. In others a Jarldom may overlap the borders of a Canton but not be the same. In others several Jarldoms may share a Canton or vice-versa. Some Cantons particularly those close to starports are naval oriented while others army. Tizon with it's outsize naval pride has more naval cantons than most worlds.

Each Canton has museums dedicated to it's "home units." It has two senior officials, a ceremonial one (Generaloberst or Kommodore) and an administrative (Landstaab). The Landstaab is chosen by traditional means of military bureaucracy but the Generaloberst or Kommodore is chosen according to varied tastes which can be quite eccentric. Sometimes it is a subsidiary title of a Hertug or Jarl. Sometimes it is granted by the Thing as a reward. Sometimes it is given the most senior officer on retirement. Sometimes it is a famed war hero. But there are many other possibilities. One Canton chose a miniphant as it's Generaloberst to much joking about how he was more qualified than most of the High Command.

[jason taylor]

Vilani Staff:

The traditional Vilani staff is descended from several traditional tools and weapons of the Edir-Zirka ethnicity used in mining, construction, siege warfare, and subterranean combat.* It evolved into the Vilani hot stick which was used to handle delicate conductors on ships and in starports. The use of it as a weapon came from the common custom of settling shipboard quarrels with arranged fights-similar to the use of the Imperial Marine Cutlass but not as lethal. The hot-stick in turn evolved into the fighting staff. This was a stylized version, of varying lengths from the height of an average human to the length of a bat in the Ancient Terran sport of baseball. It is often telescopic or folding for convenience. A formal staff is a shaft with two curved or angular projections in opposite directions on either end often with lanyards attached and striking weights attached to the lanyards giving it the ability to be used as a flail (seldom recommended by martial artists). The style of fighting resembles that of Terran staff fighting but the added features allow options such as grappling or using the projections in the manner of a halberd: convex side like the blade and alternate side like a pick.

One curious development was a Terran spacer who discovered it. He combined it with the Solomoni Modular Entrenching Tool to produce a device he termed a "Denn'bok" after a weapon used in an old Terran space romance. His model consisted of what he called a "corepiece" (a short telescopic rod) plus accessories that could be attached in various ways. The name stuck and to this day the features of the Vilani staff are often included in large multitools sold under the name "Denn'bok". Like the fictional version, the real ones often are given a romantic portrayal and feature in several stories.


*Really I thought the devices mentioned in the "Practical Underground Weapons" thread were cool and so adapted them to Traveller by creating a Vilani subgroup that superficially resembled Cornish in economy. With thanks to contributors.