'Imperial Culture' (non-canonista)

[jason taylor]

Duine Stuama:

Among Caledonian Travellers the "soberman" or Duine Stuama is a notable institution. Travellers have the traditional practice of going on leave in groups with one of the appointed to remain sober. In some clans this is an actual office and in others the job is alternated between spacers. In the event of trouble such as gangs, drunks, or in some cases cops (not all of whom are friendly) the soberman's duty is to get his charges back to the ship or boarding house without harm. Travellers have been notable for their ability to gather together on a word of command and overcome every rowdy in the bar by simple teamwork and a soberman to command. Despite the name sober men were not expected to be teatotals nor were they always men (though someone of intimidating build was always preferred), but

in that regard the Leabhar an Duine Sobr (book of the sober man) was written apparently while in jump space as a field manual in urban survival. It contains information on situational awareness, and all sorts of hazards of an urban environment as well as the fighting style peculiar to Travellers. One of the more interesting things about it is showing how to make improvised weapons. To that in Travellers often take their traditional fifes and hornpipes along on liberty. They are sturdy enough to make a reasonable thrusting or striking weapon and some even go so far as to sharpen the edges of the bells of hornpipes which are usually metal. Unless they are antiques they are fairly easily replaced. Best of all no lawman will bother about them.

The fighting style taught here has become known as one of the myriads of over romanticized martial arts but is based on a solid determination to keep people alive in startowns.

note: this concept was inspired both by stories about Savate which was a harbor brawling style and Robert Escobar's book about odd weapons "Deadly Ingenuity" which told of a similar use of Japanese woodwind instruments. And the sensible observation that people should really watch over each other when they drink in strange places.

[jason taylor]

Terran Authenticist Movement:

The canon puts the Authenticists at the time of the Third Imperium. The problem is that at that time it is just local color. I am putting it in the time of the Interstellar Wars.

1. Large numbers of the new settlers are malcontents disaffected with aspects of modern society. Some are harmless "Old Believer" types inclined more to romance than activism.

2. The situation on the frontier necessitated the revival of old organizational forms such as clientage and tribalism given the inability of twentieth century style bureaucratic institutions to account for the needs of survival, and of the frontier economic and political systems.

3. The new retribalization was not old enough to develop an aesthetic proper to it. It was therefore common to appeal to a romanticized history for that. There was no need for there to be a real copy of previous civilizations but an aesthetic appeal served such purposes as bolstering the cohesion of a tribal group and the prestige of it's authorities.

This change in date has a useful purpose. It allows "hat worlds" to be justified should the option be desired, and there are few sci fis that do not indulge themselves in hat worlds.

[jason taylor]

Vise Bjorn Sagas:

This is e national genre of narrative of the Luffarnir reflecting their history as a scattered people. It is a variation of typical urban stories and features such elements as lawlessness and an ambiguous relationship with official government. Heroes and villains are of such types as mercenary law enforcers and covert warriors, criminals, vigilantes, hackers of the less respectable sort, etc all taking place in the less orderly parts of the city. It is not a unique variant of narrative; many cultures have similar styles. Some dramatists of this genre use scenes of rain and black and white backdrop for a nostalgic effect. One variant that Luffarnir have added is the wide use of preternatural legends some well known in the Sword Worlds, others peculiar to themselves.

One notable difference from the mainstream of Sword World narrative is the greater use of feminine characters. Another is the use of antiheroic characters. The later is not a necessity and some protagonists are heroic in the traditional Sword World sense. Though peculiarly known as a Luffarnir genre they are enjoyed by Sword Worlders of other subcultures and have spread outside the Sword Worlds.

The name comes from the actress and actor "Wise Woman" and "Bear Cub" who are both famously representative of the predecessors of this genre on ancient Terra and who starred as heroine and hero in four cinematic dramas. The consensus among specialists is that the first one of their joint dramas was the best. In fact to this day among Luffarnir a romantic gesture during courtship is the gift of a small wind instrument referenced in that drama.

And you are all free to try to decode the last paragraph.

[Astromancer]

You know how to whistle?

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

You know how to whistle?

Good job...

[jason taylor]

Ship Totems:

The totemization of starships is a custom transplanted from maritime folklore on ancient Terra. It takes several forms some cultures credit ships as having Geni Loci. Others actually use them to effect forenames and surnames.

Use is mostly Chome. A character can be named "Victory" or "Devastation",etc. One can even use it for irony such as a surgeon or artist named "Devastation".

[jason taylor]

Vilani Dragons:

This is a mythological figure common in Vilani myth. Unlike the Terran concept of reptilian dragons, Vilani dragons are made of metal and in fact intelligent or near-intelligent machines which makes folklorists consider it a misnomer. More modern interpretation says they were robotic war machines left by the Ancients but scoffers point out that The Ancients and their works are just another myth so using them as a rationalization for a previous myth is silly.

Vilani Dragons are sometimes good and sometimes evil. Legend has been affected by Terran stories and some resemble the demonic European dragon while others the godlike Oriental dragon.

One archetype Vilani Dragons often fulfill is the Hector-like worthy opponent. Such characters have epic duels with heroes. This role was eagerly seized upon and Terranicized in yet another example of frontier cultural mixing.

[Astromancer]

It would be fascinating to see how real aliens might react to mythical beasts like the dragon, the unicorn, the griffin, Bigfoot, or sea serpents? Would they deal with them as psychological issues or cryptozoology?

Given how common the Ancient Alien meme is in our reality, might real aliens agree and attempt to figure out who Zeus, Vishnu, Oberon, or Isis really was?

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

It would be fascinating to see how real aliens might react to mythical beasts like the dragon, the unicorn, the griffin, Bigfoot, or sea serpents? Would they deal with them as psychological issues or cryptozoology?

Given how common the Ancient Alien meme is in our reality, might real aliens agree and attempt to figure out who Zeus, Vishnu, Oberon, or Isis really was?

There is no reason to conclude aliens would not have an inclination toward romanticism (and a lot of them in fiction, even curiously Vulcans, are presented as having that in their culture). However there is no way to know what they would consider romantic.

[jason taylor]

Brawling Ballads:

This is a tradition going back as far as the Consolidation Wars. It comes from the fact that there is considerable time in space doing nothing. And as well from the fact that spacers, unless apprentices, or in some cases mercenary escorts, are seldom actually the lower-class workers that handled the transportation industry pre-starflight but are educated and often highly cultured. These often have access to the earliest oral and literary traditions and those who are not familiar can become so. Furthermore many spacers are accomplished poets or storytellers in their own right. As a result spacers have developed their own heroic culture.

One outlet of this is the "brawling ballad". These are songs about confrontations between crews or between crews and port personal. They borrow tropes from ancient verses about tribal warfare with hand weapons for striking or throwing. This is one of the greatest commonalities in space-it is found among Vilani, Solomani, Aslan, Vargr, and even the orderly Zhodani have their own traditions. Some ballads are timed to a sequence that can be used to pace work but not all. Each cultures traditions are reflected. For instance Sword World ballads draw on the Skaldic traditions: "Thunder of the Mead-hall" is a knuckle duster, and "Tyr's lightning" is a shockstick. Brawling ballads are found alone or in anthologies but also incorporated into other types of works including officially approved epics of several star nations.