Main / HierateSpace

Library Entries - Perceived Attitude

Hierate Space

Hierate Space is name for the systems under control of the Aslan. They control a wide swath of Charted Space both Rimward and Spinward from the Imperium and Solomani space.

The Aslan homeworld is Kusyu/Kilrai' [Dark Nebula 1226]. This verdant world is located far Rimward-Trailing ['South-East'] of the Trojan Reach Sector. The Aslan came late onto the interstellar stage and many worlds relatively close by Kuzu were already claimed by humans from Terra /Sol. Because of this the great burst of Aslan expansion proceeded to Spinward ['West'] from Kusyu until until it reached the Great Rift. From that border, it has primarily extended Rimward ['South']. However a great branch of Aslan clans have also explored and exploited a Jump-5 Route across the Great Rift and they now control roughly 11 subsectors, centered in the Trojan Reach Sector.

Aslan culture is driven by three priorities: aggressiveness, a love of propriety, and their concept of honor and a balance between all three.

- The race does not deny their ancestry as predators, instead they embrace it. The understand that they, males especially, have an inborn aggressive nature and that this is a drive for their advancement and expansion. This leads to Aslan being touchy and prone to insult in circumstances that humans might shrug off. Because of this, the second priority of their culture was developed.

- Propriety means many things to Aslan. It means knowing one's place, knowing when and when not to challenge that place, when to speak and when to hold their peace. An Aslan will take all they can hold, but no more, and defend what they have at all costs. But in most situations this will be conducted with respect to their rivals, courtesy to all deserving of it, and with attention paid to traditions and superiors.

- Honor is a complicated subject among the Aslan. Where most human cultures, even those with strict honor codes, have at most three or four words for concepts of honor, the Aslan have more than 40 words which finely shade and define honorable behavior as applied to any given moment. Where most humans consider codes of honor to be quaint and somewhat hackneyed, the Aslan consider honorable behavior [as they define it] to be the hallmark and centerpiece of civilization. Abiding by the Aslan code denotes a civilized sophont. Failure to abide by this code labels one a barbarian.

- Balance is the equilibrium between all these drives. It is living an active life with all aspects in harmony to such an extent that dishonorable behavior is impossible.

  • The Glorious Empire

The Aslan wholly control the Rimward [or 'bottom'] half of the Trojan Reach Sector. These are connected to the Hierate by long J-5 Route across the Great Rift through the Riftspan Reaches Sector.The distance between the Trojan Reach and Dark Nebula Sectors has necessitated a separate council of great clans that is patterned on but is in no way responsible to the Tlaukhu on Kusyu.

The Aslan Race

From the Traveller Core Rulebook 2022 Update:

ASLAN: The Aslan are the youngest of the great powers, an expansionist species of feuding clans and predatory warriors, eager to seize all the universe has to offer. Aslan are descended from four-limbed carnivorous pouncer stock, which was originally near the top of the food chain in the forests of their homeworld,Kusyu. True to their pouncer ancestry, Aslan are capable of short bursts of speed somewhat greater than that manageable by humans. They also have slightly superior hearing and night vision. Otherwise, they are one of the most human-like of all alien species, excepting, of course, the Vargr (who are, after all, genetically-altered mammalian stock originally from Earth). Early Terran explorers regarded the Aslan as ‘lion-like’ and the simile has stuck ever since, although the Aslan bear only a passing resemblance to terrestrial lions. Nonetheless, this early misnomer has influenced a great deal of human thinking about the Aslan, including terminology (the use of 'pride' to translate ahriy, for instance) and ascribed behavior –which is not at all leonine.

Characteristics: Aslan Travellers have the following modifiers applied to their characteristics: STR+2, DEX-2 With their focus on dueling, Aslan may take Melee [Natural] as a background skill. [note: this is house rule that Bob and I agreed on]

Traits: Aslan Travellers all possess the following traits: 

 - Dewclaw: All Aslan have a dewclaw, which can be extended to make for a vicious close combat weapon. The dewclaw uses the Melee (natural) skill and does 1D+2+STR DM damage.
 - Heightened Senses: Aslan have better night vision, hearing and sense of smell than humans. All Aslan receive DM+1 to any Recon and Survival checks they have to make.

The Aslan [or Fteirle, as they name themselves] are a Major sophont species descended from carnivore /pouncer stock on the world of Kusyu /Kilra'i in Dark Nebula Sector. On average they stand about 2 m [6.5 ft] tall and 100 kg [220 lbs] in weight. There are two genders, male and female, and both share most characteristics, though males are stockier and have a more pronounced mane. Males are considered stronger but slower while females are considered faster but slightly weaker. [note: There is no difference in terms of in-game statistics].

Being descended from hunting carnivores, Aslan have a primarily carnivorous diet. They do enjoy plant-based spices and eat fruits, grains, and grasses as garnishes but avoid root vegetables by preference. When forced to eat mass produced foods [such as low-quality ship rations] they can often tell when the proteins they're consuming are plant based by flavor and texture. Some worlds have common foods that Aslan cannot digest easily, and this gives rise to certain gastro-intestinal problems, but there are daily medications that fully alleviate this.

Aslan require slightly more rest than Humaniti, roughly one-third of their 32-hour day. They usually choose to rest after a large meal and are less effected by the day /night cycle than Humaniti. Lack of sleep effects Aslan to roughly the same extent as Humans.

Their predator ancestry gives Aslan acute senses in both the ocular and auditory spectra. Their vision extends slightly into the infrared and they possess excellent night vision. Their hearing range can detect sound a lower ranges than Humaniti and is more accurate in pinpointing the location of sounds. However, their senses of taste and smell are slightly inferior to Humaniti's.

Aslan hands sport three clawed fingers that are thicker and less dexterous than Humaniti's, and a thumb centered at the base of the palm. Were an Aslan to splay out their hand, you would see three fingers pointing one direction, with the thumb being diametrically opposed to the center finger and pointing in the opposite direction. You would also see one of the defining characteristics of the Aslan race: their dewclaw. The dewclaw is a viciously sharp pointed claw that rests in a muscular sheath at the base of the palm. Unlike the claws at their fingertips, the dewclaw is fully retractable. One may 'shake hands' with an Aslan with no fear of being pricked. The extraction and retraction of the dewclaw is obviously a holdover from their hunting ancestry and is often a visible sign of strong emotions in an Aslan... especially the males. Aslan society considers it a sign of mental discipline [a trait they emphasize] that a male can accept bad news or an insult without fully displaying his dewclaw.

The Aslan reproduce via sexual activity between males and females. Females bear live young after a 10-11 month gestation. Most births are single children, with twins rare and triplets unheard of. Newborn Aslan are more developed than Humaniti, While still largely immobile at birth, a newborn weighs between 4 to 6 kilos [roughly 8-13 lbs] and their senses are acute from birth. Aslan children develop at a faster rate than Humaniti, able to walk at 1 to 1.5 years old and begin their educations at approximately 4 years. They are considered adults at age 14. They remain vigorous until about the age of 24 years old, when there is a slight decline in their constitutions. Old age sets in during their mid-40s to early 50s and proceeds rapidly from that point. On average Aslan males live to be 60 or so human years old. Females die slightly earlier, sometime around 56-58.

Aslan Society and Culture

[NOTE: Human texts about Aslan relationships almost uniformly slip into the 'Aslan are big kitties' trope, using terms like 'cubs'for children and 'pride' for **ahriy.** I am consciously avoiding this.]

Aslan society is characterized among Humaniti as having four main focii: a] the obsession Aslan males have with owning land, b]the balkanized nature of Aslan territories, c] the Aslan views of gender roles, and d] lastly and perhaps most importantly, Aslan concepts of honor and honorable behavior. These factors combine to occasionally make the race confusing to Humaniti and has led to widespread misunderstandings between them. The single most important thing to understand about the Aslan as a people is that they are in no way 'cat samurai'. While their appearance is leonine to the casual viewer, their behaviors are in no way catlike. While the Aslan have philosophies regarding what humans call 'honor', these philosophies are wholly Aslan concepts. There is no 'Book of Five Dewclaws' or code of Bushido. The Aslan would read the works of Nietzche and wonder how someone could spend hours describing something that they see as both simple and obvious. Aslan concepts of proper behavior are their own and anyone who forgets this will probably regret it.

Society Like most Humans, Aslan base their society around the family. In this culture, the family [or **ekho** ] consists of a male leader [called a **tao**], his wives, and their collective children. It may additionally include unmarried siblings of the male, elderly parents no longer maintaining their own households, and adopted orphans of relatives. The importance all Aslan feel towards their family is difficult many Humans to understand. Each member of the family feels a responsibility to each other that is not found in many races. They attribute this to their pouncer heritage but in point of fact one other race exhibits the same level of devotion to their families, the K'Kree... who attribute their care of family to their grazer origins. It is, however, a killing matter to suggest the similarity to either one.

Several **ekho** combine to form an extended family called the **ahriy,** led by the dominant **ekho's** **tao** and is called the **aewar** in this role. The **ahriy** is the first unit in Aslan society to be considered a political unit.